I wouldn't be keen on this idea. As well as the “every companion must be in love with the Doctor” idea, the other thing I don’t like about the modern day companions is the notion (Martha excepted) that they’ll travel with the Doctor forever.
I’ve always seen travelling with the Doctor as a bit like your gap year before going to University. It’s that time of your life when you have no responsibilities, when you’re young and adventurous, when you take yourself off hiking through the Amazon, or bumming around Australia or hitch hiking through Vietnam having wild adventures. But very few people turn this into a lifestyle choice. The majority see a bit of the world but then go home to settle down with a mortgage, a job, a partner and some kids.
I think there’s only so long you could travel with the Doctor before you’d have had enough. Yes it might be wonderful and exciting, but it’s also scary and stressful. I can only imagine how many companions must have PTSD! It must be a confusing, lonely life at times and I really wonder how long anyone could do it for.
The classic series may not have always handled the companions well, but in terms of why people travelled with the Doctor, and why they eventually left, I think the classic series often managed this far better than the new show has. In fact I’d go as far as to say the best companion exits came from the classic show, and I’d cite Tegan’s exit as something I’d expect to happen more often. A young woman who’s seen wonderful things, but also horrible things, a woman who’s finally seen too much horror and death. As she says; “It’s not fun anymore, Doctor.”
It’s about variation. A companion who chooses to travel with the Doctor, fine, a companion who falls in love with the Doctor, also fine, and if a companion imagines they’re going to travel the universe forever this is also fine. But not every bloody companion should fit this mould.
I’d like to see a character accidentally end up in the Tardis again (harder to do now he seems to have such more control of where and when he can go I grant you), I’d like to see a character who had no choice but to travel with the Doctor, and I’d like to see a companion who just ups and says one day; “You know what, Doctor. It’s been fun, but I miss EastEnders and my boring old life as an accountant. Can you take me home please?”
I’ve always seen travelling with the Doctor as a bit like your gap year before going to University. It’s that time of your life when you have no responsibilities, when you’re young and adventurous, when you take yourself off hiking through the Amazon, or bumming around Australia or hitch hiking through Vietnam having wild adventures. But very few people turn this into a lifestyle choice. The majority see a bit of the world but then go home to settle down with a mortgage, a job, a partner and some kids.
I think there’s only so long you could travel with the Doctor before you’d have had enough. Yes it might be wonderful and exciting, but it’s also scary and stressful. I can only imagine how many companions must have PTSD! It must be a confusing, lonely life at times and I really wonder how long anyone could do it for.
The classic series may not have always handled the companions well, but in terms of why people travelled with the Doctor, and why they eventually left, I think the classic series often managed this far better than the new show has. In fact I’d go as far as to say the best companion exits came from the classic show, and I’d cite Tegan’s exit as something I’d expect to happen more often. A young woman who’s seen wonderful things, but also horrible things, a woman who’s finally seen too much horror and death. As she says; “It’s not fun anymore, Doctor.”
It’s about variation. A companion who chooses to travel with the Doctor, fine, a companion who falls in love with the Doctor, also fine, and if a companion imagines they’re going to travel the universe forever this is also fine. But not every bloody companion should fit this mould.
I’d like to see a character accidentally end up in the Tardis again (harder to do now he seems to have such more control of where and when he can go I grant you), I’d like to see a character who had no choice but to travel with the Doctor, and I’d like to see a companion who just ups and says one day; “You know what, Doctor. It’s been fun, but I miss EastEnders and my boring old life as an accountant. Can you take me home please?”
