And Doctor Who is back! (Well, the show's not back, but my writing about it is back.) Aren't you excited? I'm excited. So the last time I blogged about Doctor Who, I talked about the Doctor (see here). Now I'm going to put my focus on the companions. They are an extremely important part of the show for many different reasons. The Doctor, himself, is always saying how important everybody is and makes sure his companions know that at all times. I'm putting my focus on the New!Who companions because I know the most about them (and this post would be sooooooooo long if I included all his companions from the beginning. Actually, I'm not even including all of the New!Who companions (just the long term ones).
The Doctor explains his reason for having companions: "I'm 907. After a while you just can't see it. I look at a star and it's just a big ball of burning gas, and I know how it began and I know how it ends. And I was probably there both times. Now after a while, everything is just stuff. That's the problem, you make all of space and time your backyard and what do you have? A backyard. But you, you can see it. And when you see it, I see it."
Also, he's lonely. He needs friends, people to talk to, and as one of his companions points out, "someone to stop you" from going too far.
They're usually female because the writers want to give the show some balance in gender. Because of this, the writers also make it a point that the companions kiss the Doctor at least once XD.
To explain the title of this post, the Doctor always has to leave each of his companions at some point. Each one was heart-wrenching in their own way (some more so than others). I've given a title to each of them that sort of sums up their reason for leaving. But like I said before, they all are important. Each one had a very significant impact on the Doctor's life.
Rose Tyler: The One He Lost
Rose met the Doctor when he saved her life from shop-window mannequins in a basement at her job. He decided to bring her along after she saved his life and helped stop the alien "invasion". She's the only New!Who companion to witness the Doctor regenerate. She and the Doctor, over time, fell in love with each other. However, it didn't last long. To make a long story short, Rose got trapped in a parallel universe and only got two minutes to say goodbye to the Doctor before never seeing him ever again. The One He Lost.
This girl is amazing. She is the girl that saved the Doctor from himself. I mean, he was so alone and so hardened and bitter from the Time War, but then he met Rose who was so full of compassion and it wasn't long before she saw that he needed her. She didn't travel with him for the glamor and fun of the ride, it was because of him. That's true companionship, I think. Her stubbornness and determination is a great characteristic of hers. Of course, in the end, that's what led to her separation from the Doctor. Their goodbye scene was truly tragic. (I cry my eyes out every time.) But she saved the world and got stuck in an alternate universe, she certainly earns the title the Doctor gave her, "Rose Tyler: Defender of the Earth".
Martha Jones: The One Who Left
Martha met the Doctor in the hospital where she was studying to become a doctor. The Doctor decided to bring her along for "one trip" after she saved his life. However, their "one trip" escalated into several trips. When the Doctor finally took her home, they got caught in another adventure to which the Doctor offered to reward her with another trip. Martha at first refused, saying she didn't want to be just a passenger anymore, to which the Doctor agreed to take her on as a full-time traveller. Eventually, Martha saved the world single-handedly, but at a great emotional cost. She decided she wanted to stay behind with her family and to finish becoming a doctor. Plus she had fallen in love with the Doctor, but he didn't reciprocate so she felt she had to get out and move on. The One Who Left.
Martha gets so much hate, and I don't understand it at all. She's freakin' amazing for what she went through. Don't get me wrong here because I love the Doctor, but he was not always completely sensitive towards her. He's completely oblivious of her obvious affection towards him. Also, he's angsty because of his loss of Rose and it's sort of taken out on Martha sometimes. I love Martha, really. I love her intelligence, her bravery, and her selflessness and dedication to the Doctor in the face of all the hardly ideal situations they get into. Then this woman saves the world all on her own. On. Her. Own. No Doctor, no TARDIS, or anything. If that doesn't qualify her as a boss, then I don't know what does.
Donna Noble: The One Who Forgot
Donna didn't exactly meet the Doctor per say. She was sucked into the TARDIS, much to her chagrin. After much confusion and some saving the world, the Doctor and Donna grew to like each other and the Doctor invited her to come along. However, she refused, but advised him to find someone else. This was all before the Doctor had met Martha. Later, after Martha left, Donna and the Doctor crossed paths again, this time Donna said that she would like to join him. The Doctor said she could come on one condition, she must not fall in love with him because it had complicated things in the past, to which she more than happily agreed. Because of complicated reasons that I'm not going to go into, Donna becomes part Time Lord- part Human and saves the universe. However, the Time Lord part of her brain starts to kill her and in order to save her life, the Doctor wipes her memories of all her time and adventures with him. The One Who Forgot.
Donna is one of my favorites. Her sassiness, her chatter, her loyalty, her friendship. The Doctor and Donna just formed this great partnership. They were this awesome duo, you know? Not in a romantic way, because they both agreed at the beginning not to get into that. They were best friends. They were perfectly in sync and they really needed each other. Donna needed someone to reassure her that she was important and that she was special, and the Doctor needed her to make him step back and take a hard look at himself when he needed to.
Amelia "Amy" Pond: The One He Saved
Amy first met the Doctor when she was eight years old, after the TARDIS crash-landed in her backyard, suffering damages from his regeneration. He promised to take her away with him after he repaired the TARDIS, but when he came back, he got the date wrong and returned 12 years too late. He had decided to take her with him when she was little to save her from a crack in her bedroom wall that would have erased her from time eventually, but after she helped him save the world when she was older, it reaffirmed his decision. After so, so, so many life-threatening situations, the Doctor took her and her husband Rory back home telling her when she asked why he'd taken them back, "Because you're still breathing." The One He Saved. (Her story doesn't end here, but I had to give her a title.)
Oh Amy. What can I say about her? I can't say too much without being too spoilery (because I know my mom reads this, and I know that I am going to make her watch Season 6 when I come back home). She and the Doctor have this special bond. Sort of like Donna and the Doctor had, but different. I love how she always teases the Doctor like a little brother. She's so fiercely independent and feisty, yet she's also quite the damsel in distress sometimes. I've been noticing she sometimes has been making up for the Doctor's lack of angst lately, with some of her own. This isn't really a bad thing, it gives the show more emotion and real life. When she really shines though is when she's standing up for her family. She will do just about anything to defend them and she sticks close to them whenever she can. She puts them first. That's what makes her different from the other companions. She puts her family before the Doctor.
Some others who have travelled with the Doctor are Mickey Smith, Captain Jack Harkness, Sarah Jane Smith, River Song, and Rory Williams. (There are also many others who are "unofficial companions").
Nicely done. I don't think you spoiled anything :) Looking forward to season 6
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