I am sick of "special companions"

[Gingerbread Demon]

A wee vent......

I'm so over all these "special companions" that are unique to the universe in some bizarre way. Like Amy's cracks.... And then in the last christmas special the Time Lords were able to use a crack that looked just like Amy's crack in her bedroom to give him an extra dose of regenerations.. How convoluted was that?

 

[Shazam!]

Amy's crack would certainly give me an extra dose of regenerations.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Amy's crack would certainly give me an extra dose of regenerations.

Yes well that was an unfortunate choice of words on my part but I agree.

 

[Marsden]

I see what you mean. The last "normal" companion was Martha. Even Donna was some kind of "most important woman in the universe" there at the end. I wish the Doctor would just go back to Scotland and find Jamie (sp?) again.

 

[Christopher]

I see what you mean. The last "normal" companion was Martha. Even Donna was some kind of "most important woman in the universe" there at the end.

Except the whole point of Donna's arc was that even the most ordinary person could be the most important person in the universe. She was important because she just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and the importance of that coincidental presence at a moment vital to the history of the universe resonated back through time to bring her and the Doctor together.

And really, the same goes for Amy and Clara. Amy was an ordinary girl who was made special because of the influence of the crack in time, which was created by the explosion of the TARDIS as a result of the Silence's machinations to prevent the Doctor from bringing Gallifrey back at Trenzalore. Clara was an ordinary girl who was made retroactively special by her choice to step into the Doctor's timestream and save him from the Great Intelligence's attack on him at his tomb on Trenzalore. It goes all the way back to Rose, an ordinary shop girl who became a cosmic presence because she opened the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the time vortex. And Martha, who became the most important person in the world in the Year that Never Was because she went around the world telling the story of the Doctor, enacting his plan.

So if anything, the recurring theme isn't that the companions are special, but that the Doctor is special, and his companions are only made special as a consequence of his influence on their lives. This is particularly pronounced in Moffat's run, where every single story arc revolves around the Doctor himself, his enemies' attempts to destroy him, and his attempts to avert one ultimate fate or another. Even River Song was created to be a weapon against the Doctor. If anything, it'd be a refreshing change if we got a companion who actually were special in their own right rather than merely as a side effect of the Doctor's battles.


EDIT: Heck, now that I think about it, I realize that Donna and Clara are basically the same character. The Doctor meets her briefly, then runs into her again later and takes her on as a companion. She becomes his best friend in a bossy and domineering sort of way. He wonders why their paths kept crossing and what's so special about her, but as far as he can determine, she's just an utterly ordinary person. Finally it turns out that the reason they're connected is because she happens to be there with him at a cataclysmic, season-finale moment in which she's transformed in a way that binds her to him retroactively, echoing back through time. The only difference is that Clara sticks around after this is revealed. Well, and also that there was flirtation between Clara and Eleven, but that was never on the table with Donna and Ten.

 

[Jax]

Amy's crack would certainly give me an extra dose of regenerations.

To be fair they were more like The Doctor's cracks than Amy's. I like that the companions have far more relevant to the story than just hanging out with an old guy. After Jenna though I am fine with them toning it down in the future like we had with Martha but lets face it the other ones were more interesting than Martha in part due to their own stories that made them spread out.

 

[DWF]

I see what you mean. The last "normal" companion was Martha. Even Donna was some kind of "most important woman in the universe" there at the end.

Except the whole point of Donna's arc was that even the most ordinary person could be the most important person in the universe. She was important because she just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and the importance of that coincidental presence at a moment vital to the history of the universe resonated back through time to bring her and the Doctor together.

And really, the same goes for Amy and Clara. Amy was an ordinary girl who was made special because of the influence of the crack in time, which was created by the explosion of the TARDIS as a result of the Silence's machinations to prevent the Doctor from bringing Gallifrey back at Trenzalore. Clara was an ordinary girl who was made retroactively special by her choice to step into the Doctor's timestream and save him from the Great Intelligence's attack on him at his tomb on Trenzalore. It goes all the way back to Rose, an ordinary shop girl who became a cosmic presence because she opened the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the time vortex. And Martha, who became the most important person in the world in the Year that Never Was because she went around the world telling the story of the Doctor, enacting his plan.

So if anything, the recurring theme isn't that the companions are special, but that the Doctor is special, and his companions are only made special as a consequence of his influence on their lives. This is particularly pronounced in Moffat's run, where every single story arc revolves around the Doctor himself, his enemies' attempts to destroy him, and his attempts to avert one ultimate fate or another. Even River Song was created to be a weapon against the Doctor. If anything, it'd be a refreshing change if we got a companion who actually were special in their own right rather than merely as a side effect of the Doctor's battles.


EDIT: Heck, now that I think about it, I realize that Donna and Clara are basically the same character. The Doctor meets her briefly, then runs into her again later and takes her on as a companion. She becomes his best friend in a bossy and domineering sort of way. He wonders why their paths kept crossing and what's so special about her, but as far as he can determine, she's just an utterly ordinary person. Finally it turns out that the reason they're connected is because she happens to be there with him at a cataclysmic, season-finale moment in which she's transformed in a way that binds her to him retroactively, echoing back through time. The only difference is that Clara sticks around after this is revealed. Well, and also that there was flirtation between Clara and Eleven, but that was never on the table with Donna and Ten.

Amy, Clara and Reintte all have the same history with the Doctor, Moffat keeps repeating heving the Doctor meeting girls thougout their lifelimes. And no what your inpretations might be, Moffat as gone on record of saying the companions are the star of the show not the Doctor, it's their journey we're on not the Doctor's.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I see what you mean. The last "normal" companion was Martha. Even Donna was some kind of "most important woman in the universe" there at the end.

Except the whole point of Donna's arc was that even the most ordinary person could be the most important person in the universe. She was important because she just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and the importance of that coincidental presence at a moment vital to the history of the universe resonated back through time to bring her and the Doctor together.

And really, the same goes for Amy and Clara. Amy was an ordinary girl who was made special because of the influence of the crack in time, which was created by the explosion of the TARDIS as a result of the Silence's machinations to prevent the Doctor from bringing Gallifrey back at Trenzalore. Clara was an ordinary girl who was made retroactively special by her choice to step into the Doctor's timestream and save him from the Great Intelligence's attack on him at his tomb on Trenzalore. It goes all the way back to Rose, an ordinary shop girl who became a cosmic presence because she opened the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the time vortex. And Martha, who became the most important person in the world in the Year that Never Was because she went around the world telling the story of the Doctor, enacting his plan.

So if anything, the recurring theme isn't that the companions are special, but that the Doctor is special, and his companions are only made special as a consequence of his influence on their lives. This is particularly pronounced in Moffat's run, where every single story arc revolves around the Doctor himself, his enemies' attempts to destroy him, and his attempts to avert one ultimate fate or another. Even River Song was created to be a weapon against the Doctor. If anything, it'd be a refreshing change if we got a companion who actually were special in their own right rather than merely as a side effect of the Doctor's battles.


EDIT: Heck, now that I think about it, I realize that Donna and Clara are basically the same character. The Doctor meets her briefly, then runs into her again later and takes her on as a companion. She becomes his best friend in a bossy and domineering sort of way. He wonders why their paths kept crossing and what's so special about her, but as far as he can determine, she's just an utterly ordinary person. Finally it turns out that the reason they're connected is because she happens to be there with him at a cataclysmic, season-finale moment in which she's transformed in a way that binds her to him retroactively, echoing back through time. The only difference is that Clara sticks around after this is revealed. Well, and also that there was flirtation between Clara and Eleven, but that was never on the table with Donna and Ten.

Amy, Clara and Reintte all have the same history with the Doctor, Moffat keeps repeating heving the Doctor meeting girls thougout their lifelimes. And no what your inpretations might be, Moffat as gone on record of saying the companions are the star of the show not the Doctor, it's their journey we're on not the Doctor's.

I don't like that. It would make it out to be the "insert companion name" show guest starring the Doctor in the TARDIS..

 

[YellowSubmarine]

I think it's the opposite of that. You're supposed to see yourself in the companion, so it's your journey with the Doctor. Of course it's not about the Doctor, it's about you.

 

[Christopher]

I don't like that. It would make it out to be the "insert companion name" show guest starring the Doctor in the TARDIS..

But that's the way it was originally. Ian and Barbara were the heroes who carried the bulk of the action, Susan was the audience identification figure for young viewers, and the Doctor was a mysterious mentor figure who was both an advisor to the heroes and a generator of trouble through his selfish and impulsive decisions. The whole reason the show is called Doctor Who is because the Doctor was conceived as a distant, enigmatic figure that was seen from the outside by the human viewpoint characters. Who is this weirdo calling himself the Doctor? It was only later that the focus of the show shifted more toward the Doctor himself, with the companions moving into a more secondary role.

And the '05 revival did the same thing, starting us out with Rose and revealing the Doctor and his world gradually through Rose's eyes. The modern show has always been made from the companion's perspective, except in those specials where the Doctor was traveling without a companion. So I don't know why you're treating it as a hypothetical. It's the way the show has been done for the past ten years.

Yes, all of Moffat's plots revolve around the Doctor, to people's reactions to him and their pursuit of him, but that's not the same thing as making him the viewpoint character. He's more the Macguffin, the thing that motivates everyone's actions and choices even when he's not around -- as last night's episode made very clear. (And yes, I know that a Macguffin is something that obsesses the characters but is of no importance to the audience, so it's not a perfect analogy, but I couldn't think of a word that conveys the former without the latter.)

 

[Australis]

I've never been able to see myself as a companion. Never wanted to.

I also am sick of the "MOST IMPAWTANT COMPANION EVAH!" stuff.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I agree with Christopher that the plot point has consistently been that it's the travels with the Doctor that ultimately make them important (since, in time travel, actions are not necessarily seen as linear). That being said, this premise started with Rose and it's still going. An argument could be made that a change of pace would be nice. Martha's pretty much the only companion who didn't seem mysteriously important for actions we as the viewer hadn't seen yet. I guess Amy, to a degree, because at least all cards were on the table (the special deal was the cracks, which we saw from the beginning). Although she still has the connection to River Song.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I generally agree with Christopher, however I do NOT think the Doctor is simply the McGuffin. I still think the show is largely about the Doctor, and the companions are largely the identification figures for the audience. The fact that they change but the Doctor stays the same means that the Doctor is not the McGuffin, but rather, the centre of the show's attention.

 

[Christopher]

^I did state that I did not intend the "Macguffin" analogy to be exact. You're latching onto the specific part of it that I overtly said I did not intend to evoke.

My point was that all of Moffat's storylines are driven by various groups' reactions to the Doctor and their attempts to find, contain, or destroy him, and that everything that happens to the companions in Moffat's storylines is a side effect of that, no matter how central they are. As I commented on io9, this is no longer a show about the Doctor exploring the universe; it's a show about the universe obsessing over the Doctor.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Amy's crack would certainly give me an extra dose of regenerations.

I'm glad I'm not the only filthy minded person here.

 

[Mad Jack Wolfe]

Amy's crack would certainly give me an extra dose of regenerations.

I'm glad I'm not the only filthy minded person here.

Yeah, after that statement the rest of the thread has been a hazy blur.

 

[RoJoHen]

Moffat writes fairytales, and that's one thing I really love about it.

The Girl in the Fireplace
The Girl Who Waited and The Last Centurion
The Impossible Girl

River Song doesn't really have a nickname, but she's basically his fairytale princess, cursed to meet him in the wrong order through all of time and space.

I love that his companions are special. If they were just random people tagging along on his adventures, I would have no reason to care about them.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I've never been able to see myself as a companion. Never wanted to.

Same here; for me, the Doctor was the focal point for the audience--for viewers to follow, as his very nature made him compelling, while many of his companions were just there to be the typical sidekick sounding board. Only a small number actually contributed to the story and Doctor without resorting to that inane Mary Sue crap.

I also am sick of the "MOST IMPAWTANT COMPANION EVAH!" stuff.

You are not kidding. That is such soap-opera writing, that it is no wonder so many of the new Who episodes--most not even a decade old--do not stand the test of time when that pandering became a running plot of importance (or took center stage). Even the very good (but by some DW fans, astoundingly overrated) "Blink" almost moves into the dreaded Mary Sue territory.

Thankfully, Sparrow did not pledge undying love for the Doctor, and she was not your "MOST IMPAWTANT COMPANION EVAH."

 

[RoJoHen]

Thankfully, Sparrow did not pledge undying love for the Doctor, and she was not your "MOST IMPAWTANT COMPANION EVAH."

No, but it still bums me out that she never popped up again.

 

[Kirk1980]

I would like to have a companion who was once again properly scared of the holy shit crap your pants things that the Doctor runs into. It helps to keep the audience grounded. If she is the audience identification point, then let her react as if this stuff is not something to be laughed at or met with steely-eyed gazes. If they're humans from our era, they should be terrified of most of this stuff, asking for explanations, etc.