Lol @ people still trying to force through the myth/lie that Moffat is more companion obsessed than RTD. Oh please. Watch the show.
Doctor saving the day in the finale in RTD era: 1/4
Doctor saving the day in the finale in Moffat era: 2/3
Rory and Amy were the two most regular companions in many a year.
I loved RTD and the way he used his companions. But its depressing to see such barrel scraping from the anti Moffat brigade. If you want to slate Moffat pick one of the many true faults he has. Stop inventing them.
It's the 50th anniversary of the show this year, and if you go watch the early Hartnells you'll find they're as much about Ian and Barbara as they are about the Doctor, with Barbara's brain and Ian's brawn often helping the old man (the First Doctor) out of tricky situations.
Important companions are nothing new.
I have seen all of the First Doctor (and I am currently watching the Second Doctor) including all of the missing stuff via reconstructions. Yes, the early companions did their job. Sometimes they were there just to get into trouble: Susan, Vicky and Dodo are great examples of this. Other times, they thought of the plan to save the day. However, none of them were the best thing since sliced bread. None of them were a Demigod, the Savior of the Human Race, the mother of the one who kills The Doctor or The Only Mystery in The Universe Worth Solving.
Series 4 was surely the height of the Doctors impotence:
Planet Of The Ood : Ood Sigma & chap from "Friends of the Ood" save the day, The Doctor and Donna run around a lot
Sontaran 2 parter: Clever whizz-kid repents and saves the day (and the Doctor from his self-sacrifice)
Unicorn and The Wasp: Agetha Christie saves the day
Midnight: Hostess saves the day
Turn Left: Rose & Donna save the day
Stolen Earth/Journeys End: Donna saves the day.
It's just a fact of modern storytelling that we no longer have a male main character who always saves the day and a female companion who essentially just screams and gets themselves into trouble. That doesn't sit well with a modern audience so the companion has a much bigger role than they did in the Classic days.
That said, "The Impossible Girl" or "The Only Mystery Worth Solving" does annoy me a little. Perhaps saving the Doctor throughout all his history is taking it a bit too far...although I'm not really going to lose much sleep over it. That arc has been more or less finished so it will be a return to Clara being just a normal companion in future episodes. Hopefully when Twelve arrives we'll get to see Clara's character developed more than she has been and who knows- maybe the Twelve/Clara duo will be become one of the most memorable Doctor/Companion relationships.
However, none of them were the best thing since sliced bread. None of them were a Demigod, the Savior of the Human Race, the mother of the one who kills The Doctor or The Only Mystery in The Universe Worth Solving.
Definitely agree with this, especially the part about "The Only Mystery in the Universe Worth Solving". Clara is the ONLY mystery in the entire universe worth solving? Say what?? Talk about producer Moffat putting one of his characters up on a pedestal. Not that producer RTD didn't do the same thing with Rose (and Moffat also with River)-both new Who producers are obviously determined to have their own characters be the most special and wonderful companions ever in the entire history of the show but I think Clara in particular is really being built up and she hasn't even had that many episodes yet. At this point she'll probably end up being the great love of the Doctor's life and become the Mother of the new Time Lord race.
Definitely agree with this, especially the part about "The Only Mystery in the Universe Worth Solving". Clara is the ONLY mystery in the entire universe worth solving? Say what?? Talk about producer Moffat putting one of his characters up on a pedestal. Not that producer RTD didn't do the same thing with Rose (and Moffat also with River)-both new Who producers are obviously determined to have their own characters be the most special and wonderful companions ever in the entire history of the show but I think Clara in particular is really being built up and she hasn't even had that many episodes yet. At this point she'll probably end up being the great love of the Doctor's life and become the Mother of the new Time Lord race.
Actually, she will probably stop Hurt from genociding the Time Lords whilst leaving the Daleks in the time lock so that the Time Lords come back and Galifree is once again in existence and the entire Time Lord race is saved. She is just that special. :rolleyes:
Actually it was Ace who began the trend of companions becoming more important, not Rose. Everyone seems to forget about Ace, now doubt because it doesn't sit well with their opinion of classic Who being some sort of golden paradise and Nu Who being evil propaganda.
Series 4 was surely the height of the Doctors impotence:
Planet Of The Ood : Ood Sigma & chap from "Friends of the Ood" save the day, The Doctor and Donna run around a lot
Sontaran 2 parter: Clever whizz-kid repents and saves the day (and the Doctor from his self-sacrifice)
Unicorn and The Wasp: Agetha Christie saves the day
Midnight: Hostess saves the day
Turn Left: Rose & Donna save the day
Stolen Earth/Journeys End: Donna saves the day.
I would completely dispute any argument that the Doctor is impotent just because he doesn't strike the final blow. That's like saying that the rest of the football team aren't important, only the striker that scores. Or perhaps a better analogy for the Doctor is the team manager?
Without the Doctor's interference, most of those event would have gone a different way.
Still, Planet of the Ood is the one which, even on my first watching, I was struck by the way that the Doctor and Donna don't do anything that affect the unfolding of the plot in any significant way. They're merely observers of someone else's story.
May i say the ccomapnion is the main partand theey earn their graft nowadays exxpect amy pond well ssort off
susan-familyish , screamed zzzzzzzzzzzzz
jamie and zoe - again what did they do ?
liz was involved with unit so was already pratical
jo what she brring?
saraah argue3d bbut still palyed the damsel until shee came back and gott with kidz in her owwn life
leela had spirit maybe but still needed savin
romana 1and 2 good at the comedy but still got saved , ok sshe heelpeed the time war aappartenlyy ??/
adric , only onee that did any work
nyssa helped another plaanet buttt not the dr
teegan got into trouble and diddd not help the dr
turrlough helped andd hindred the dr
pperri again needded savin zzzzzzzzzzzz
mel sort of helped the dr
ace did sort of bbutt he was like a dad tto her
grace helped the dr a lot and went ffunny too bbbut more indepeendentt than mosst
the guyy who found mccoy deadish and passed him tto the kind grace dr
but went funny too wwith the master
rose at first kicked ass twice bbut needed helpingg in fathers day , she then needed help a wee bit but helped the dr in doomsday and had more brass aat times than most
martha again aat times a tad wet but got a paair and gott wise sort of now with mickey bbut they had to be saved eveen tthen
donna the best but wass a coward at times but managed ttto be pussheed to ssave the universe
by another daleek !
amy ok at first but got soppy wwitth rorry and moodddy at times , made river though
rorrry genius , was forr amy and river really than the dr , brian his dad was a more mature wilf
mickey sorry forgot him but he was gooddd too
wilf ok at times sad he and the dr fell out over knocking
gavin aww
stormageddon class
jackie god i hate her eeeeeeeeeeek
jack harrkneess what did he actually ddo?
good in torchwood actually
the spins off dont count but areee good on their owwn
lucy saxon not a companion bbutttt interesting
brigiadier ok aX
:cool:SORRY BLOOOMING heck
the lizard vestra -kool
strax -awww he trys:)
jenny why wasnt she maatt's assistant , they worked well togteher :mad:
clara-like her , gooddd writing:)
river again- at times annooying but was a sstrong wwoman :mad:
victttim of cirrcumstence rather than baddie !
winston-funny:D ax
Comments
Doctor saving the day in the finale in RTD era: 1/4
Doctor saving the day in the finale in Moffat era: 2/3
Rory and Amy were the two most regular companions in many a year.
I loved RTD and the way he used his companions. But its depressing to see such barrel scraping from the anti Moffat brigade. If you want to slate Moffat pick one of the many true faults he has. Stop inventing them.
I have seen all of the First Doctor (and I am currently watching the Second Doctor) including all of the missing stuff via reconstructions. Yes, the early companions did their job. Sometimes they were there just to get into trouble: Susan, Vicky and Dodo are great examples of this. Other times, they thought of the plan to save the day. However, none of them were the best thing since sliced bread. None of them were a Demigod, the Savior of the Human Race, the mother of the one who kills The Doctor or The Only Mystery in The Universe Worth Solving.
Planet Of The Ood : Ood Sigma & chap from "Friends of the Ood" save the day, The Doctor and Donna run around a lot
Sontaran 2 parter: Clever whizz-kid repents and saves the day (and the Doctor from his self-sacrifice)
Unicorn and The Wasp: Agetha Christie saves the day
Midnight: Hostess saves the day
Turn Left: Rose & Donna save the day
Stolen Earth/Journeys End: Donna saves the day.
That said, "The Impossible Girl" or "The Only Mystery Worth Solving" does annoy me a little. Perhaps saving the Doctor throughout all his history is taking it a bit too far...although I'm not really going to lose much sleep over it. That arc has been more or less finished so it will be a return to Clara being just a normal companion in future episodes. Hopefully when Twelve arrives we'll get to see Clara's character developed more than she has been and who knows- maybe the Twelve/Clara duo will be become one of the most memorable Doctor/Companion relationships.
Definitely agree with this, especially the part about "The Only Mystery in the Universe Worth Solving". Clara is the ONLY mystery in the entire universe worth solving? Say what?? Talk about producer Moffat putting one of his characters up on a pedestal. Not that producer RTD didn't do the same thing with Rose (and Moffat also with River)-both new Who producers are obviously determined to have their own characters be the most special and wonderful companions ever in the entire history of the show but I think Clara in particular is really being built up and she hasn't even had that many episodes yet. At this point she'll probably end up being the great love of the Doctor's life and become the Mother of the new Time Lord race.
Actually, she will probably stop Hurt from genociding the Time Lords whilst leaving the Daleks in the time lock so that the Time Lords come back and Galifree is once again in existence and the entire Time Lord race is saved. She is just that special. :rolleyes:
Other than that, you are right.
Otherwise the companions would be glorified extras if they were lucky.
I would completely dispute any argument that the Doctor is impotent just because he doesn't strike the final blow. That's like saying that the rest of the football team aren't important, only the striker that scores. Or perhaps a better analogy for the Doctor is the team manager?
Without the Doctor's interference, most of those event would have gone a different way.
Still, Planet of the Ood is the one which, even on my first watching, I was struck by the way that the Doctor and Donna don't do anything that affect the unfolding of the plot in any significant way. They're merely observers of someone else's story.
susan-familyish , screamed zzzzzzzzzzzzz
jamie and zoe - again what did they do ?
liz was involved with unit so was already pratical
jo what she brring?
saraah argue3d bbut still palyed the damsel until shee came back and gott with kidz in her owwn life
leela had spirit maybe but still needed savin
romana 1and 2 good at the comedy but still got saved , ok sshe heelpeed the time war aappartenlyy ??/
adric , only onee that did any work
nyssa helped another plaanet buttt not the dr
teegan got into trouble and diddd not help the dr
turrlough helped andd hindred the dr
pperri again needded savin zzzzzzzzzzzz
mel sort of helped the dr
ace did sort of bbutt he was like a dad tto her
grace helped the dr a lot and went ffunny too bbbut more indepeendentt than mosst
the guyy who found mccoy deadish and passed him tto the kind grace dr
but went funny too wwith the master
rose at first kicked ass twice bbut needed helpingg in fathers day , she then needed help a wee bit but helped the dr in doomsday and had more brass aat times than most
martha again aat times a tad wet but got a paair and gott wise sort of now with mickey bbut they had to be saved eveen tthen
donna the best but wass a coward at times but managed ttto be pussheed to ssave the universe
by another daleek !
amy ok at first but got soppy wwitth rorry and moodddy at times , made river though
rorrry genius , was forr amy and river really than the dr , brian his dad was a more mature wilf
mickey sorry forgot him but he was gooddd too
wilf ok at times sad he and the dr fell out over knocking
gavin aww
stormageddon class
jackie god i hate her eeeeeeeeeeek
jack harrkneess what did he actually ddo?
good in torchwood actually
the spins off dont count but areee good on their owwn
lucy saxon not a companion bbutttt interesting
brigiadier ok aX
mickey
the lizard vestra -kool
strax -awww he trys:)
jenny why wasnt she maatt's assistant , they worked well togteher :mad:
clara-like her , gooddd writing:)
river again- at times annooying but was a sstrong wwoman :mad:
victttim of cirrcumstence rather than baddie !
winston-funny:D ax