With the departure of two companions over the weekend and the imminent arrival of another this fall, I thought this might be the time to talk about what makes a good partner for the lead character on Doctor Who and who I think have been the best ones (and I've seen at least a little bit of each of them along the way).
I think a good companion has to complement the Doctor they travel with, contribute something to the story and the team that the Doctor does not. A bland companion or one who simply echoes the Doctor's role and abilities is not as asset. That's why I never thought either iteration of Romana worked--we didn't need another Time Lord (or Lady), we already have one.
I also think the best companions are the ones who have shown an ability to work well with more than one Doctor. That's why I think the best companion of the classic series was Sarah Jane Smith. She came to the team with Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor and stayed through several seasons of Tom Baker's Fourth....and she was a fine partner to both. Sarah Jane's strength was her "down-to-Earthness"...though she was never thrown by the circumstances she encountered, she also never stopped seeing them through the eyes of a very human journalist (a trait that also made her character work in The Sarah Jane Adventures).
A close second was Tegan Jovanka--her feisty attitude was an equally good fit with Tom Baker's somewhat manic portrayal and Peter Davison's laid-back approach. The absolute worst in that period? Undoubtedly, Peri Brown. Her aggressiveness and argumentative style was a nice challenge to Davison...but it simply ground the story to a halt when she confronted Sixth Doctor Colin Baker all the time.
In the reboot period, my favorite companion will be a surprise to many fans--Clara Oswald. During her time on the show, many fans complained that the stories were more about her than the Doctor...and my response is, "Yes, certainly." By the time Clara joined Number 11 (Matt Smith), we had already seen him with Amy Pond, Rory Williams, and a number of one-shot partners. We knew him quite well already--it was Clara we had to learn about. And when she had to switch to the Twelfth Doctor, in the very different guise of Peter Capaldi, she shifted her relationship well--from the flirty girl-buddy to the stand-up daughter figure. (And she showed an ability to relate to Number 10 (David Tennant) and the War Doctor (John Hurt) in the 50th anniversary special.)
Second place goes to Amy, even though we only saw her with Number 11. My feeling for her comes from the idea that she was the first companion to have a real romance and life during her time with the Doctor.
Who is your favorite?
2 comments:
We appear to be on opposite ends of the spectrum! I have not watched nearly as much Dr Who as you have. My experience is primarily with Doctor #4, some #1, and a couple of 2 & 3. I also watched several seasons of the re-boot but not all by any means.
I despised Sarah Jane. She squealed too much and seemed like a total milk-toast. My hands down favorite of all the companions in original or re-boot would be Leela. She was totally the opposite of any doctor in her approach to any situation ("shall I kill it?"), she was the fighter he needed when he got in a jam, she was unflappable, fearless, and gave him someone to explain things to.
In the re-boot the only one I really liked was the bride (whose name I can never remember). Amy was okay to begin with but her role and her story got too convoluted for my tastes.
I like Leela well enough, but I found her to be entirely one-note. She never grew, she never learned. "Shall I kill it?" remained her approach even after the Doctor told her repeatedly "No."
Sarah Jane was never milque-toast to my eye. She was always willing to go in right beside the Doctor and stand with him. She stood up to the Brigadier when she thought he was taking a military approach in the wrong situation.
The "bride" was Donna Noble (played by Catherine Tate). She was undoubtedly the strongest of Tennant's three companions (Rose and Martha were the other two), but only because she was the one who didn't acquire a romantic interest in the Doctor. I thought Amy worked well because she had a history with the Doctor and still looked on him only as her childhood "imaginary friend" and never let her affection for him override her true love for Rory. The Amy-Rory story was one of the great appeals of Smith's first two seasons.
As I said regarding Clara, in some sense the real story in all these relationships is how knowing the Doctor changes the companion.
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