Companions past and present

[gallifreyanking88 @gallifreyanking88]

In New Dr Who the companions (not including people like Mickey and Captain Jack) ranked have to be.

1. Clara Oswald. She was funny, smart, and didn’t completely fall for the Doctor.

2. Amy Pond. Because she was so Amy. So many companions acted different around the Doctor, but Amy acted the same whether she was in Venice or Mars.

3. Bill Potts. Not everyone liked her but I found her to be lively and fun to be around.

4. Graham O’Brien. He was really sweet to Ryan who wasn’t always the same back and after Grace died I’m impressed that he didn’t take his grief out on the Doctor.

5. Dan Lewis. He was great and really kind, but he felt quite 1 sided.

6. Martha Jones. She kind of deserves to be higher up, but I found her obsession a little needy, although when she marries Micky that is epic.

7. Yaz Khan. She was nice enough and the stuff with the Doctor was good, but I thought there wasn’t a lot of backstory there.

8. Rose Tyler. She annoyed me. Dyed blonde hair, hoop earrings, blinding white teeth. Why does everyone love her? I was sad when she went, but I enjoyed Martha far more.

9. Donna. She was the worst. Always criticising, always complaining, always being frankly offensive. Why oh why did the Dr put up with her? I know Catherine Tate is most people’s favourite, but she is so irritating.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@robertcaligari

Yes. Chibnall will be largely defined by the problems with 13. Although you won’t get anyone involved with show to admit this; no-one wants to lose the sale.

But Jodie Whitaker was unfairly served by her scripts. That’s down to Chibnall. And there were a lot of other problems.

Having said that, being DW showrunner is tough; a ‘Lady Doctor’ was going to be a particular problem and the reason for that is the 10/Rose furore. Classic didn’t have any kissy shenanigans did it?

Well… let us not forget that 4 and Romana 2 were actually an item in the real world, until they weren’t anymore, and it did look as if JNT was teasing Peter Davidson’s liking for the Nyssa character, but JNT wanted to sell Tegan to Australia and let’s face it, they couldn’t flush her away.

After that the entire cosmos could lust after Peri and her horrible costumes, courtesy of JNT’s humble opinion of what a straight dad might go for.

6’s relationship with Ace was a bit disturbing.

The thing is they all backtracked, finding reasons why an alien wouldn’t go for easy Earth girls…

Martha – unrequited

Donna – geezerbird

Amy – teased. She was keen but actually turned to be his mother in law. Pfft.

River – forget what came before… even more disturbing. Eyepatch lady could open a grooming class in a northern town.

Clara – again, teased but as it turned out improbably abstract, then platonic, and then I’m not sure. My own personal theory is she became the woman who moved in with 12’s mum. Embarrassin’.

Bill – gay. Safe. Though there was that ‘am I done?’ ‘Do you want to be?’ exchange. What was that about? Old man misjudgment? Forgot who he was, did 12?

Moff pushed it as far as he could really; what the hell was Chibnall to do with 13? Basically, she wasn’t a ‘Lady Doctor’ but a Trans Doctor. Inform the Daily Mail! And I reckon the corp was already looking for a streaming deal. Keep it clean. Make her a bit daft. Crowd the Tardis.

The obvious alternative was to make 13 asexual. ‘But you’re a woman.’ ‘Actually I’m an alien.’ Moff might have done it. I can see why the great or good might not like it. Or ignore the question: dump granddad, god he was annoying; they never did a thing with Ryan anyway; what could be safer than a reserved Community Support Officer taught by the Doc to be anything she wants to be? If she needed that. Cos it sounds a bit Craig from strictly.

It was tricky. Chris Chibnall was not the man.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@gallifreyanking88     Ranking doesn’t ‘have’ to be  🙂   I usually avoid naming preferences (in case of arguments).   But I’d agree with most of that (even Donna, sorry, Tait fans)

*Except* for your ranking of Rose.   IMO the success of NuWho has got to be down to Rose and Nine/Ten.    Billie Piper had a sort of fresh impulsiveness about her that drew me in.    I wanted to see what happened next.

Martha tends to be overlooked, I liked Martha.   Intelligent enough to realise the Doctor was never going to notice her and walked away.   But – marrying Mickey?   The tin dog?   That was unnecessary.

And Graham did nothing for me.   I like Bradley but his character just didn’t ‘click’ with me.    I found Dan much more interesting, though he was only in it briefly.

<span class=”useratname”>@ps1l0v3y0u  I don’t know much about oldWho companions, except that Seven and Ace certainly seemed to have a degree of ‘chemistry’.   Sophie and McCoy evidently got on well together from the few videos I’ve seen of them at cons.
</span>

I wasn’t aware that Ace was around for Six, was that a misprint or my ignorance?

Amy was a strong character.   Summed up in her comment to Madame Kovarian – ‘River didn’t get it all from you, sweetie.’

I think 13 plus Yaz – only – might have worked better.   But 13 was atrociously written and Whittaker’s acting choices were equally terrible (do we blame her or Chibnall for that?).   She came across as a hearty Yorkshire-lass Girl Guide leader, the sort of person I instinctively avoid.   ‘Fam’ – ugh!   And ‘I’m the Doctor.   Sorting out fair play throughout the Universe.’    Simultaneously bombastic and bathetic.   The sort of line I might write if I were lampooning Who.   The sort of clumsy line a script editor should have cut immediately.   And she delivered it without a hint of irony.   I’m afraid she never did quite climb her way out of the mental pigeonhole that dropped her into.

 

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@ps1l0v3y0u   Um, half my previous comment was responding to you.   For some reason this comment box doesn’t seem to like your name.   See if it works this time.

[Robert Caligari @robertcaligari]

@ps1l0v3y0u I’m more than aware of the kind of B.S. a showrunner has to endure, but that still doesn’t excuse some of the downright mind-boggling creative decisions by Chibnall. Not once did I ever get a vibe of authentic depth or darkness from Jodie’s Doctor; she never stopped being the irritating klutzy bubblehead vs. the brooding, stygian creature that Tom Baker and David Tennant could channel so beautifully at the drop of a hat. For someone who was a fan of the show since childhood, Chibnall managed to conceive the most bafflingly one-note take on the character ever.

Good Lord, can you imagine how awesome it would have been if Whittaker’s goofy, doofy persona suddenly receded to reveal the terrifying ancient entity we briefly saw in stories like “Pyramids of Mars” or “The Family of Blood?” The fact we already know that Whittaker had the acting chops to go dark if the script called for it makes the wasted potential of her incarnation all the more infuriating.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@dentarthurdent

Yes I mean of course 7 & Ace. Ace was the saving of 7; one reason I’m not that happy about Mel working for UNIT. Tell the truth I didn’t really watch much 7 at the time but I have caught up with series 25 & 26. 7 is manipulative and my impression was he doesn’t spare Ace.

Bradley was as badly served by Chibnall’s scripts as Whitaker, but the real problem is you can rarely get find enough dialogue for more than three protagonists in the Tardis. I suppose you love the Doctor you grew up with and maybe Chibnall really wanted to write his own Nyssa, Tegan, Adric, Turlough snooze fest. He tried it before in Hungry Earth/Cold Blood and we ended up with an unnecessary two parter.

But apart from the very occasional gem (and I DON’T mean Earthshock) series 19-21 were mainly notable for unintentional hilarity: Nyssa’s striptease in Terminus or Turlough, resplendent in very short shorts delivering ‘Best news I’ve heard all day’ in a manner that might have inspired Julian Clary. And the Myrka!

The bad taste and violence were then ramped up for Colin Baker. I loved it at the time; many stories were quite terrible but at least Peter Davidson wasn’t being a drip and I could put up with Peri’s accent. I suspect RTD always had a soft spot for that era; it’s like he’s still trying to bait Michael Grade.

Chibnall’s lack of humour was startling. Tim Shaw! Er. That’s it? You need a laugh track mate. It’s as if he never thinks someone might laugh at his work for the wrong reason, and so can’t nail down the right reason either.

Having said that I gave up after the Timeless Children.

NuWho companions… Karen Gillan had 2 modes (patter and moody) at last at that stage. Arthur Darvil deserves a mention. I have no issues with any Nu Who companions. If there’s a problem it’s people say ‘she ain’t Rose,’ (whoever it is and yes it’s always a she)… which is the point I was making.

I did like Pearl Mackie. That was a cracking season, with the exception of ‘Thin Ice’. But she made it.

[winston @winston]

@dentarthurdent I agree with you about Rose, Billie Piper is one of the reasons I kept watching Who after the early demise of the 9th Doctor. I had never watched old Who on any regular basis although I had seen it late at night here in Canada a few times. I watched because I knew  Eccleston’s was a great actor so I thought I would give it a try.I really liked it, and I enjoyed him and Billie together. I was so shocked when 9 regenerated (I had no computer and no idea!) that I might have given it up but for Rose. Rose, her Mum and Mickey provided the continuity I needed to get over 9 and get used to 10.

I have enjoyed all the new companions, finding they bring something different to the Tardis. Martha was strong and resilient, Donna brought humour and  empathy,Amy was fierce and loving, Clara was independent and brave and Bill Potts brought quirkiness and loyalty. I have found something to like and admire in each of them.

There are so many other companions that made me happy like Captain Jack,Rory ,Mickey,Wilf, Dan, Nardole and of course River Song and some that made me not so happy like the entire “Fam” and the lad who ended up with a port in his forehead ( I forget his name) but on the whole if they are good enough for the Doctor……

I wish Astrid Peth could have had at least one trip in the Tardis.

stay safe.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@robertcaligari Just reading your comment (which I agree with btw), I just have trouble visualising ‘Whittaker had the acting chops to go dark if the script called for it’. I believe you, most people seem to share that opinion, just that I’ve only ever seen her as the Doctor so I can’t imagine her as ‘dark’. Reportedly she was advised not to watch previous episodes, I think that was a huge mistake, if she’s as good an actor as people say she is, I think that would have added a lot of depth to her interpretation.

@ps1l0v3y0u (please edit box get it right this time. pretty please?) yes I noticed, watching the last few episodes of Seven, that his witty exterior could well hide a dark streak. How far would he risk Ace to attain his objective? – my impression is, far more than Nine or Ten would risk Rose, for example. I don’t think he ever did, at least in the episodes I’ve seen, but it wouldn’t surprise me.

One of the problems with the ‘fam’ was indeed too-many-cooks. An ensemble cast always diffuses the intensity of relationships and you end up with a Charlie’s Angels scenario (reputedly each of the Angels had a contract guaranteeing equal exposure so they ended up saying lines in turn). Good for comedy but not for drama. If Yaz had had more to do (as in a couple of later episodes, but way too late) it might have helped.

@winston If you’re going to do a completely fresh start (only the name is the same) then you need a strong performance to draw people in. NuWho has had three of those. Nine and Rose (mentioned already). Eleven and Amy – and I must admit I was a bit adrift at losing Rose and Ten, in fact I dropped off watching about three episodes into Season 5. Eleven just seemed too young. When I went back and picked it up later, though, the strength of Amy’s character (and I guess I just got used to Eleven’s youthfulness) drew me in again. And then there was Thirteen and the Fam, ah well, never mind.

Astrid was a great character, enthusiastic and vivacious, and delightfully acted by Kylie Minogue. She would have made a great Companion, and the Doctor was conveniently ‘single’ at the time. Possibly it was felt that another young blonde pop star might be a bit repetitive.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@whohar

I’m posting this here because there really does seem to be a word count issue on The Chibnall blog. Or maybe I need to be more succinct.

You are right. We shouldn’t make excuses for Chibnall finding it too difficult. There are lots of potential stories out there; but can they be used? Well that question pretty much defines the best of Who. Takes us somewhere good.

‘a story during the Suffragette era’; of course, history stories since The Highlanders (if you don’t count Black Orchid and I don’t) are really historical alien stories. Chibnall managed to get two historicals in both of his first two series. Personally, I can’t see why a pure historical couldn’t be done again. Yes, it’s either ‘you can’t change history’ vs ‘would you believe it, we changed history by mistake, but it worked out fine’ vs ‘watch out! History is happening and we’re in the way’ vs ‘we changed history a bit, but no-one noticed, and we learned a valuable lesson/felt good/bad about it.’ Or any combination of the above. Quite a wide field really. Lots of fams with problems in the past.

Well, very few of the pure sci-fi stories are really original, are they? We could always do with more history.

The suffragettes are particularly interesting because if you look at the Pankhursts it become a class story (ooh no we don’t want Cook voting!) and women got the vote because they followed the money and enabled patriarchal/imperialist total war. I reckon that could be a Moffat two-parter.

 

Time Lord society works when everyone can change gender; does it? Make any difference that is? Who we got: The Doctor’s foster mum? The Rani: geezerbird with nail polish; or Tecteun, if they’re not one and the same. The Soothsayer: two things you must know about the wise woman my lord, neither of which explains why she draws on her face with sharpies. I think you would basically be rewriting The Time Lords. Better than turning them into Cybermen.

Now hold on. CyberWOMEN?? Let us remember Seven of Nine had no trouble reading Ensign Kim’s mind.

 

The Doctor in a situation where traditionally masculine traits would have been a disadvantage: Surely this was the case since 10 blubbed at The End of Time?

 

Use the Master to contrast the Doctor’s experience; are they that dissimilar? There’s been too much Master. He’s just a loon.

 

Set a story in a female-led society: I can only think of The Minoans and they fell pray to rapists incorporated aka The Myceneans. Or the Kindans… I always wanted a full-on Mara story… one where the snake has been enthroned for so long that black is white, the rivers boil and cats live with dogs.

Otherwise, trad sci-fi hasn’t got a great record: all dumb role reversals and ‘there’s no one left; we hate each other too much to get jiggy.’ Though I’m sure Ursula Le Guin must have cooked up something good; problem is a nurturing stable female society doesn’t seem to be at much risk unless it’s from… nasty males from outside? Ah.

 

So, I’m afraid we might be looking at male dominated societies embellished by notable woman. Pericles/Aspasia: democracy is under threat from a bunch of military supremicists whose women are somewhat bizarrely more free than ours. Ah. Hypatia: a universally admired genius brutally slaughtered by a bunch of religious extremists. Mathilda and the Chaos: full on Lion in Winter; ‘Mum. I’ve decided to marry an older woman… who carries a knife’, ‘does a screwdriver count?’ Some of these ideas seem more relevant today than they would have five years ago.

 

Have a single, male, companion and explore how that relationship is similar to – and different – from the traditional set-up; 13 + closeted man perhaps? Or roaming the universe with Captain Jack, 13 patiently telling him she can’t stand him because he’s immortal (though apparently she is too… a bit hypocritical). And he really must stop treating sentient trees or super intelligent shades of the colour blue like pieces of meat.

You could even revisit additional sexes as per Azimov’s last truly great novel, ‘The Gods Themselves,’ or brain transplants as in Heinlein’s ‘I Will Fear no Evil’ (NOT like Spock’s Brain or Turnabout Intruder or New Earth).

Was it all too much for Chris?

Or he was told exactly what he could and couldn’t do? Let’s face it, some of the outlines above would have the three tabloids of the apocalypse frothing more than ‘Fury from The Deep.’

I do wonder about this last point. Was Chibnall the only one who would accept the brief? He was a competent enough writer before, but those three series seem to have been knocked off like he was waiting for the cheque.

[WhoHar @whohar]

<span class=”useratname”>@ps1l0v3y0u</span>

I had some issues with posting on there also.

Yeah, there are lots of options but Chibnall didn’t really seem all that interested. Like you say,  maybe he wasn’t allowed. In that case he should have argued better or walked away.

I’m sure, given sometime and thought any number of people on here could come up with a decent female-led story, so it’s strange that the lead writer of Who didn’t. Is all I’m saying.

Re the Who historicals: I thought the Chibnall one’s leant very heavily into the historical and bolted on the Who part, which I find very unsatisfying.

I much prefer a Who story where the outcome affects history, but in a way we already kind of know about. E.g the spaceship exploding at the end of City of Death being the trigger for life on Earth, or the other crash that started the Great Fire of London, that sort of thing.

To end on a positive Chibnall note: that bit in Rosa where Graham realises he is the one that Rosa Parkes is being asked to move for, was just lovely acting. The look on Bradley Walsh’s face spoke volumes. I suspect that was down to Walsh’s acting rather than Chibnall’s writing (ok, so not all that positive then).

[WhoHar @whohar]

@ps1l0v3y0u

See above….

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@whohar

Chibnall’s historicals were generally the most positively received episodes from series 11 & 12, maybe because Chibnall didn’t write them (tho ‘Rosa’ was part written by him). ‘Tesla’: quite daft historical high-fiving. ‘Demons’ seemed to be a reworking of Testimony from ‘Twice Upon a Time’ (well, this happens on lots of stories). ‘Villa’ had great dialogue and George Byron with his tongue out, thereby contravening the Chibnall Boredom Protocol.

’Rosa’ seemed to be a worthy attempt with just a hint of being a bit worthy, though if the message was ‘racism is self conscious and always with us’ then you have to applaud it. But there you are: the episode is very difficult to critique and not because it’s perfect.

During lock down we had a ‘zoom’ family quiz and one question was about Rosa Parks: did her protest happen because she was: a communist; contravening the bus company’s regulations; had some history with that particular bus driver; or furious about the murder of Emmett Till?

The writer touched on 3 in the beginning but the answer seems to be unequivocally 4. If the writer had written this directly rather than alluding to it with Ryan’s scene, the episode would have been stronger. Bradley’s acting diffused an awkward scene. Is he an agent provocateur? A white guy doing the right thing for Rosa?

Perhaps the problem with historicals is there are too many smart Alecs.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

<span class=”useratname”>@ps1l0v3y0u</span>    I have a significant quibble with ‘Tesla’.    For a start, the power generating station at Niagara Falls was built by George Westinghouse’s company for the Niagara Falls Construction Company with technical advice from Tesla.   To cut a long story very short, after Tesla split with Edison some years earlier for uncertain reasons (and the $50,000 dollar bonus offer recounted by ‘Edison’ was more likely an invention of Tesla’s), George Westinghouse’s company licensed, then later bought up, Tesla’s patents for AC motors.   The ‘battle of the currents’ (AC versus DC)  was essentially Westinghouse vs Edison, with Tesla very much on the sidelines, since he had gone off to try and develop radio and wireless power transmission (the Wardenclyffe project).   A ‘battle’ which was conclusively won by Westinghouse.   Yet the episode makes it sounds exclusively Tesla vs Edison, the name Westinghouse appears in the episode – zero times.     Yes I know it’s sci-fi, but it shouldn’t distort known history.       Okay, rant over.   🙂

I had noticed that ‘Demons’ was a repeat of Testimony.   “It isn’t an evil plan.   I don’t know what to do when it isn’t an evil plan.”  – Twelve.

[nerys @nerys]

@ps1l0v3y0u But Jodie Whitaker was unfairly served by her scripts. That’s down to Chibnall. And there were a lot of other problems.

I absolutely agree with this. For those who criticize her Doctor, I believe she could have done so much better with scripts that measured up to her talents. That didn’t happen. I have no idea why. Too many cooks in the kitchen? But whatever the reason, a show’s success or failure usually ends up at the feet of the showrunner.

There were some good episodes. Just as I felt a season was gaining momentum, it fell flat. Repeatedly. “Eve of the Daleks” was the one standout episode, for me. The plot, the humor, the acting, the chemistry between the characters all came together like a proper Doctor Who episode. I wish more of Chibnall’s episodes could have been like that one, but that’s the one by which I choose to remember Jodie Whittaker’s tenure.

[Dentarthurdent @dentarthurdent]

@nerys Everyone says Jodie Whittaker is a fine actor. I’ve only ever seen her as the Doctor so I find that hard to credit. Intellectually, I recognise ‘everyone’ is probably right, just that I haven’t seen it myself. Part of that is the scripts, I don’t think Matt Smith or Capaldi could have done much with them either. And part of it is Whittaker’s interpretation of the character, which is just so ‘off.’ She’s just so ‘Yorkshire lass’, it’s off-putting. And that has to be down to the direction / showrunner. For some reason this didn’t happen with Ecclestone’s Lancashire (‘Lots of planets have a north!’) or Capaldi’s Scottishness – I’m not sure why, I think just because they were better written *as the slightly alien Doctor* so their nationality came second. Same with Missy’s Scottish accent – I could totally have accepted her as a Doctor.

While each new Doctor brings their own flavour to it, they have to be recognisable as the same ongoing character underneath, and Whittaker just wasn’t. Telling her (reputedly) not to bother watching previous episodes, and using directors who had never directed a previous episode of Who, virtually guaranteed that. Plus changing all the companions and remodelling the Tardis and even the sonic screwdriver made the discontinuity complete.

I thoroughly agree about Eve of the Daleks, if I had to choose one of Whittaker’s episodes, that would be far and away the best. Perhaps not coincidentally, it had a relatively limited focus and not some galaxy-spanning mind-numbing catastrophe.

As an aside on a completely different topic, I just re-watched ‘Layer Cake’ (I often do that with a ‘new’ movie or episode after a couple of weeks) and I liked it better, I could follow the slightly complex plot and distinguish the characters much more easily this time round. (I think it was you I was discussing Layer Cake with? – apologies if I got that mixed up).

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@nerys

Chibnall. Whitaker. I won’t start ranting again. Everyone is probably being a bit unfair, conscious of a previous show runner who may have saved the show for a few years but ultimately got it cancelled. We don’t want that again. The people involved with the show don’t either, so they stay schtum and we won’t find out what went on for a few years.

Speculation: was there a real continuing Cartmel masterplan, expanded later by RTD and Moff to reflect the earlier cancellation? Chibnall either didn’t get it or was told (and Moff too) that they couldn’t do that? The BBC under Tony Hall was having a big shake up. It was time for less meta. Less Mail baiting. More diversity in production. Fewer jobs for mates. You can see why a safe writer like Chibnall would get the nod off the back of his mega hit. Or, if the management were really interfering, was he the only one willing to give it a go?

It’s hard to see why Chibnall would want to ape JNT… but he oversaw the loss of strong co-writers, the crowded Tardis (aka the fam) and a difficult characterisation for 13. It’s downright spooky!

I started watching series 11 with interest. Which dwindled. I was appalled by Spyfall. The next series was no better. I gave up with the Timeless Children. Exposition! No! It never works. Exposition almost ruined the otherwise excellent Human Nature/The Family of Blood.

I should watch Flux I suppose, but… are there the hours in the day? It struck me that this arc might be a rehash of The Silence and eyepatch woman. Was the exploding Tardis (never really explained) meant to be another aspect of the flux? Can I be bothered to check? The big stories are meh.

The thing is, this doesn’t explain the character of 13. She was, I’m afraid, a little bit annoying, mainly because of the fam, but Whitaker herself must have had some doubts. There is that resemblance to Shona from Last Christmas  – a well written character acted brilliantly. Is it a case of a former potential companion first ditched and then grown into a new Doctor? Except they couldn’t make it work?

Bad time to have a fail!

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@thane16

sorry about my user name…

the Silence, The Papal Mainframe, Madam Kovarian: was The Tardis exploding with River inside because the universe was collapsing, or the universe collapsing because it was disappearing up its own crack because of the exploding Tardis? Or did Kovarian’s bunch of crazy crazies (shomebody shtop me!) do it (how?) because they needed to stop 11 going to Trenzalore. Hey! That worked.

Don’t say wibbley wobbly.

I always thought something was missing. The use of exposition in Time of the Doctor is telling.

But… themes repeat in WHO. Metaphysical speculation often ends up in the same place. So you could say it’s same theme.

[nerys @nerys]

@ps1l0v3y0u Yeah, the endless exposition is one of many things that doomed “The Timeless Children” … if you have to explain everything (and have the Master, of all people, doing it), then that’s probably a clue about the quality of the storytelling. “Show, don’t tell.”

@dentarthurdent Yes, you and I were discussing Layer Cake. It may be worth a second watch for me, too.

The only other thing I can recall seeing Jodie Whittaker in was Broadchurch. She was part of a large ensemble cast, not the star of the show. But her character was so pivotal that she got a fair bit of screen time in a demanding role, and her acting impressed me.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@nerys

I just hope, loon that he is, The Master has been told it wrong.

[nerys @nerys]

@ps1l0v3y0u I just hope, loon that he is, The Master has been told it wrong.

Now, wouldn’t that be providential? The Master as an unreliable narrator. Except that it seems too easy, in the same way that “it was all a dream” was a cop-out for Dallas (but brilliant for Newhart).

[SirMatthewKBE @sirmatthewkbe]

I loved Adric.  I am only about 1o years younger than Matthew Waterhouse, and as young child watching Doctor Who, I had such a crush on Adric.  He was the first companion to be around my age and he was so smart! All the contacts I have found for Matthew Waterhouse are outdated.  He’s not been on Twitter in ages and his official website hasn’t been updated, either?  Anyone know a way to contact him via social media?  Rewatching Doctor Who on PlutoTV and Britbox, I wish that such things had existed when the show was new.  Alas.

For companion rankings, I’d have to say, I really did enjoy what few shows I’ve been able to find with the First Doctor.  Ian Chesterton was rather a gallant man, and was well paired with Jacqueline Hill.

I liked Jamie as the 2nd doctor’s companions the best.

Of course, who didn’t love Jo Grant? Her pairing with Jon Pertwee was perfect.  The two of them had me laughing often.  I don’t know if UNIT characters were considered companions, but I did love pretty much all of UNIT.  Bridagier, Benton, Captain Yates (SO HANDSOME!).

Fourth Doctor, I’d have to say Harry Sullivan in addition to the aforementioned Sara Jane Smith.  Leela was awesome! I think my favorite Leela episodes were The Robots of Death.  The first Romana was my favorite of the Romana’s.  K9? Was he a companion? I LOVED LOVED LOVED K9! Then of course Adric, as well as Teegan and and Nyssa, though I have to admit Nyssa was my least favorite of the bunch.  Nothing against the actress herself.  I think the writing was always the best where she was concerned.

Fifth Doctor, in addition to the companions who were already around, I’d have to say I did like Vislor Turlough.   I didn’t dislike Peri Brown, but she wasn’t one of my favorites.

Sixth Doctor, I adored Mel Bush!

Seventh Doctor, again, Mel Bush! I have to say that while Sophie Aldred is a fabulous person in real life, she got a little grating on me, her calling the Doctor “Professor” bothered me for some reason.  I know she was a VERY popular character, and there were a number of episodes which I DID enjoy her but overall,  she just wasn’t my favorite.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@sirmatthewkbe

Straight in there with Adric… well! He was, of course, no thesp. His debut was ok, but come Logopolis, you can hear Tom Baker’s teeth grinding. Nonetheless, the source of magnificent legendarium. Campari vomit in Castrolvalva? You got it!

Great send off too. But Jamie is the best male companion (not a lot of competition)

Leela. Yes! Robots of Death… yes, yes, YES! Favourite line: ‘do not throw hands at me!’

You ignored Liz Shaw. Boo!

Peri was ridiculous and I wept with laughter. Mel made me weep and then leave the room. She was ridiculous.

Ace was Ace.

[nahh @nahh]

I wonder if bringing a very obviously non-human companion for more than just a one-off episode would be a good way to bring some creativity?

Nardole is obviously a concrete example, but you would never really guess him as non-human until he says a dialogue or makes certain expressions in situations. But you don’t actually see something like a Silurian or other very clearly non-human species being such a developed character to that extent, at least as far as I can remember. Give them a bit of human personalities, and I think it can really add to portraying how different from the rest of the universe the Doctor really is.

And there are so many opportunities to create interesting interactions as well. For example, we know that the Doctor’s fashion style can be pretty goofy on earth (11 mainly). But consider that he has knowledge about so many races. Maybe it’s just way too much for him to know, and the universe is bigger (in Doctor Who) than we can even comprehend. Let’s say the show develops backstory for one of the companions and the social standards for their species, and shows a bunch of fashion standards completely wild by human standards. Just off the top of my head, I’ll take the species that the Doctor mentioned that communicates by disemboweling from its 60+ stomachs. Their species will probably have a pretty wild irrigation system. I can imagine them wearing pipes near the part where they disembowel from to hook into those irrigation systems, and said pipes come in different styles and shapes.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@nahh

interesting points there…

Nardole… he kind of lost the script when a humorous companion was abruptly not required/not written half way through the series. Bill Potts had similar issues… great acting, love the character, but once her Mum had saved the mind of the World, it was pretty much a set up for the darkness of the final two-parter. Great writing, but Bill deserved more.

So, though writers can lose the plot with companions (in Classic Who that was the case for anyone who showed too much gumption and/or didn’t scream enough), I’m afraid Moff ran out of road.

Silurian companion? Well, we had the Paternoster Gang. I laughed. How about 14 finds Vashtra? I know it was supposed to be during a tube line construction but instead how about a visit to the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum complete with a Donald Trump Terrorbird character insisting it’s going to get cold real soon. Ncuti carts her round the universe for a series and then we have a mutli Doctor story including 11 who takes her back to Georgian/Victorian times where she receives an education from Gentleman Jack. Complaints from The Mail ensue.

Bowel evacuating people. Hmmm. Unfilmable. So was Foundation and I am giving it a try but I suspect it shouldn’t have been filmed.

Possible ‘sympathetic’ alien species.

Sentient Tree Humanoids. Fire extinguisher obligatory.

Vinvocci (+shimmer??) Wilf, those cactus comments were pretty offensive.

Zocci! (Cyborg enhancement not necessary).

Cyberman (or woman or whatever orientation) with modified emotional inhibitor (thanks Doc).

Kaled! Pre Davros obvs. No way you can tell him/her they’re human. Maybe a bit of historical denial happening??

Silence. The Doctor keep forgetting he’s travelling with someone. Aaahh! You surprised me…

Tasha Lem! Yes! Oh but she’s human. Does urban count as alien?

Ood? Why not? Seriously, why?

Jim the Fish. Could he be a Heth?

However, where DW scores over Star Trek is in the facial prosthetic department: aliens are more alien; Planet of Hats NOT.

[nahh @nahh]

<span class=”useratname”>@ps1l0v3y0u</span>

Agree with you. Bill had a lot of potential, and it was a bit of a sudden ending. I will say, pretty creative way to not completely kill her off. A watery atom-restructuring entity seems way too powerful to me to just be casually thrown into the plot like that though. Isn’t that just absolute power? With all the talk about Daleks and powerful races, if she can bring someone back to life by just restructuring a bunch of atoms, isn’t Heather just the absolute most powerful entity in the universe? Unless even in the Who lore, it’s not quite as simple as she explained it.

I don’t know what Gentleman Jack, or The Mail is :). Thermal Maximum, love it. Time is threatened because some race wants to keep the Earth cool to make it more habitable, maybe?

Yeah, I think you’re right. Bowel evacuations are gonna be a rough one to put on TV. Seems to me like wonderful novelization material though.

Tree Humanoids: thought of it. Last showed up for an episode for the 9th, and then not really anything. Can be a good character to bring back. Vastra, Vinvocci, Zocci, etc all top tier choices. They were super humanized though, everything from clothing to personality. It didn’t really feel like they are alien, or that much different from humans other than looking different and having maybe a few customs changed. I feel like many of the societal nuances weren’t explored. Like for example, filming the Tivolians and how they surrender to everything in existence, but actually showing it instead of just mentioning it.

Silence is awesome. We still don’t know how they operate together, whether they have a society or are just straight up assassins/tools for the Church. Tasha Lem is too powerful to be a companion I think. She has a major role to play as the leader of the Mainframe.

How would you add dynamics to the Ood? They have grown to show up at significant points in the Doctor’s timeline. There would need to be a reason/something that the Ood is doing to guide the Doctor, in my opinion. Just an Ood for whatever reason seems hard to do now that they’ve had a lot of plot time and  a general role you’d expect them to play.

[ps1l0v3y0u @ps1l0v3y0u]

@nahh

Great DW non-human aliens tend to be monsters.

The Boneless, for instance, seem to be relentlessly inimical; how would The Doctor deal with ‘nice’ Boneless, how would they manifest, one trick pony or superpowered? I mention them because they are reminiscent of Azimov’s race that has three sexes/larval forms (The Gods Themselves) who are trying to induce the physical rules of their universe into ours, hoping to blow up the sun thus supplying themselves with perpetual power. But there are also ethical weirdo aliens who object.

David Walliams’ Tivolian was droll, Paul Kaye in Before The Flood was less good. Toby Whithouse probably ‘owns’ them; if we got Toby back as part of the package, I would be quite happy.

In the classic series, Nyssa and Adric were both aliens. Peter Davison was reluctant for the showrunner to write out Nyssa because he thought The Doctor ought to relate closely to her… as an alien. But she was basically human, and the scripts were awful. They wrote just as badly for Adric who was adolescent and apparently on the spectrum… I hesitate to say that combination is the next thing to alieness.

Obviously, many of my suggestions were crack. The human companion is supposed to be a foil to The Doctor but it’s normally the Doctor who instructs as you imagine. Clara is sassy but only Donna ever challenges him. Tasha (obviously before she became a lady-pope so NOT super-powered), a nameless Kaled, or an Ood would ask The Doctor very different questions, which I imagine is what you’re after.

But could all the writers cope with a non-human companion? The track record (with Nardole in mind) is not good.

Gentleman Jack is a Brit biographical drama about a C19th cross dressing female land owner… an upper class Jenny basically. The Daily Mail is a ‘serious’ right wing tabloid which wouldn’t tolerate anything resembling that.

 

 

[winston @winston]

@ps1l0v3y0u     @nahh   I have always thought it would be great to have a more alien companion,just to change things up a bit. Maybe even an android or cyborg or a robot.

I think the human companion is there to connect us to the Doctor through them and let us travel with him. I also think the human companion provides a contrast, the Doctor is a weird and strange alien and not from earth. The Doctor is also very humanoid and if not for the 2 hearts he seems a lot like us. Maybe a companion that was very alien would make the Doctor seem more human and less “other” by contrast.

stay safe

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