More companions better than 1?

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• Jethryk Posts: 1,355

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  24/07/14 - 01:46 #2

  Firegazer wrote: »

  If you don't know already (I'm sure I've said it a good 5 times) I'm rewatching all the episodes of Doctor Who! :):)
  
  I really loved the concept of having more than two companions aboard the TARDIS. It displayed more of a family-like experience and I feel that it would be amazing to have that again. (and I don't mean a one of Noel Clarke, John Barrowman esq, I mean a full season). This allows us to choose which companion we like the most and make preferences (more of a choice).
  
  Although I don't see this happening (it hasn't happened for a good ton of years), I thought I'd express my views and hope to god Moffat performs some telepathic response and fulfil my dream. I also have noticed how a lot of you complain about you disliking companions. Maybe with more of a variety you won't be so butthurt.

  
  
  Personally I think 3 companions is too much. It worked in the early years because The Doctor's role was different but I don't think it worked in Davison's years and I wouldn't want to see 3 again.
  
  That said I have always like 2 companions one boy,one girl. I think it worked without causing problems in the Troughton years and Sarah & Harry have always been a favoured companion line for me.
  
  I didn't vote because that wasn't an option.

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• Abomination Posts: 6,483

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  24/07/14 - 01:56 #3

  It very much depends on the Doctor, and indeed the companions in question. I mean generally I prefer to be able to explore the relationship between The Doctor and his sole companion - it's so much more compelling when everything else about the show is susceptible to constant weekly change. But with that in mind, I actually also find the Nine/Rose/Jack trio the best TARDIS combination there's ever been (followed oh so closely by Ten/Donna). I think what worked was that they were three individual and distinct and unrelated characters, two of whom were 'picked up' by the leading Doctor - Jack didn't disrupt the Nine/Rose dynamic, he enhanced it. It's more effective than, say, Eleven/Amy/Rory where the marriage of the latter two interfered with their relationship with The Doctor in a not-too-compelling way a lot of the time (I did like Eleven/Amy/River a lot though - and that again worked because they were in Series 5 at least, three unrelated characters simply all connected through The Doctor).
  
  Clara's been a bit divisive. I didn't much care for Eleven/"Impossible Girl", as it were. But the Eleven/Clara dynamic we seemed to get once her enigma arc was wrapped up was so much more compelling and it was a shame to see the brilliant chemistry of the two ended so abruptly. All the same, it makes it compelling to see the one-on-one interaction in the show again with Twelve/Clara, now that I feel a genuinely decent companion has been established. As long as Danny Pink and anyone else doesn't come along to disrupt whatever Twelve/Clara dynamic we're getting I'll be happy. I'd say the show is calling for that more intimate one-on-one interaction right now - it was one of the few things I can't find fault with about the last few episodes of the show.
  
  
  For reference, all the Tardis crews of NuWho so far (excluding the actual 'Children of Time' gathering of Series 4 as they only travelled all together very briefly). I decided to rate my opinion of them out of 5 in my infinite boredom, just to see if I could see whether I preferred smaller or bigger 'crews'. Of course some were very brief indeed, but it's fun to rate things anyway
  
  Nine/Rose - 5/5
  Nine/Rose/Adam - 3/5
  Nine/Rose/Jack - 5/5
  Ten/Rose - 3/5
  Ten/Rose/Mickey - 2/5
  Ten/Rose/Jackie - 4/5
  Ten/Martha - 4/5
  Ten/Martha/Jack - 4/5
  Ten/Donna - 5/5
  Ten/Donna/Martha - 5/5
  Ten/Donna/Rose/Jack - 5/5
  Ten/Wilf - 5/5
  Eleven/Amy - 4/5
  Eleven/Amy/River - 5/5
  Eleven/Amy/Rory - 2/5
  Eleven/Amy/Rory/River - 5/5
  Eleven/Craig - 4/5
  Eleven/Clara - 3/5 (though a strong 4 given their last few episodes)
  Eleven/Clara/Paternosters - 3/5
  Eleven/Clara/Paternosters/River - 4/5
  Eleven/Ten/War/Clara - 4/5
  Twelve/Clara - We'll see, I have high hopes which is probably a dangerous thing.

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• [Deleted User] Posts: 89

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  24/07/14 - 02:11 #4

  I Would Like A Few Companions At Once Too But As Long As They Were Well Written For On Every Story Instead Of Them Just Being There. I Personally Loved "Boom Town" Purely Because It Focused On The Characters More As A Group, I Thought The 9th Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack And Mickey Worked Well Together And I Would Have Liked To See More Of Them.
  
  I Think Many Companions Would Work Well If They Wasn't All Human, I've Been Really Hoping For An Alien Companion For So Long! If I Could Choose Two Companions To Join The Doctor And Clara For A Full Series, I Would Choose Strax And K9! Strax Would Bring Humor As Well As His Character Devopment, I Would Love To See Him Interact With Other Races And Just Be Wondering Around The TARDIS. And I've Always Loved K9, They Should Make Him Fly So He Can Shoot His Laser Gun Around From The Sky And Not Be So Defencless. Imagine The Scenes Between Strax And K9! ^-^
  
  We Could Have One Story Where The Doctor Has A Conflic With The Sontarans And Starx Has To Decide To Either Fight Against His Friends Or His Own People!

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• [Deleted User] Posts: 611

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  24/07/14 - 02:37 #5

  Jethryk wrote: »

  Personally I think 3 companions is too much. It worked in the early years because The Doctor's role was different but I don't think it worked in Davison's years and I wouldn't want to see 3 again.
  
  That said I have always like 2 companions one boy,one girl. I think it worked without causing problems in the Troughton years and Sarah & Harry have always been a favoured companion line for me.
  
  I didn't vote because that wasn't an option.

  
  I agree very much. Two companions in my opinion is the best number for the Doctor. Three worked well in the Hartnell Era because the story structure was different, and allowed the characters to each do their own thing in the story without the feeling as though the writers were scratching the heads, trying to figure out what to do with a character. I felt this was an issue with the Davison Era, since most of the episodes with Adric, Nyssa and Tegan usually featured at least one of them never really doing much.
  
  I also prefer TARDIS trios over duos because is allows more dynamics between characters. In a duo you only have Doctor/Companion, while in a trio you can have Doctor/Companion1, Doctor/Companion2, Companion1/Companion2, and Doctor/Companion1/Companion2. My favorite times during the show was when the Doctor traveled with two people (one man and one woman I feel are best); Two/Jamie/Zoe, Four/Sarah Jane/Harry, and Eleven/Amy/Rory.

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• johnnysaucepn Posts: 6,775

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  24/07/14 - 09:18 #6

  Mrfipp wrote: »

  I felt this was an issue with the Davison Era, since most of the episodes with Adric, Nyssa and Tegan usually featured at least one of them never really doing much.

  This. The problem with more than two companions is how do you split them? The Doctor might need someone to relate plot exposition to, so one nearly always needs to stay with him, fair enough. The second character can be split off in order to discover things for the audience that the Doctor doesn't know, or to have experiences that the Doctor can't help with. So what of the third character? Not easy to juggle a third plot thread - you could do it once or twice, but not every week. So they usually end up tied to the second, for more exposition. This is what the Fifth era had trouble with.
  
  Basically, the more characters you have, the less there is for each of them to do, and it becomes a bit forced.

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