We know far more about Amy in the first story that we ever knew of the background of Rose or Martha. Martha's family got mentioned a couple of times and brought back for the finale, they had very little impact on the events of her run.

Amy has a history with the Doctor, complex character traits, a fiance growing up in the shadow of the Doctor, something to be running away from, mysterious family history, explicit connection to the arc of the whole series.

Jeff and his gran, certainly at this stage, are no more important than any other one-shot character. Nothing to expand on there.

I accept that the characterisation of Amy and the Doctor (and even Rory, by the sound of it) are more complex and layered than we've seen before - and that's not going to be to everyone's tastes - but it's much more rewarding in the long run.

i am compleatly the opposite loving MS, KG and the series as a whole dont really know what it is i have pre ordered volume 1 dvd which is a first for me as i dont have any nuwho on dvd but yet a rather large collection of old. i guess its just diffrent folks for diffrent strokes

All that needs to be said here is the series is as popular as ever and that overall MS has been a terrific hit with the audience. A few people not feeling happy with him to date is inevitable. I doubt there are more than had the same view about other prior docs though. It's imossible to please everyone. What's important is the show has moved in to a new era carrying it's audience as a whole with it. The odd person saying I might not watch it cause of MS are entitled to their view but irrelevent in the wider context.

We know that she is a kissogram and she has an aunt and that is about it, we know nothing more of the family life.

We knew that Marthas parents were split, that her father had left her mother for a young blonde, that her brother had a little child,that her sister had aspirations, that her mother was a lovely well balanced mum . We knew that Martha had a set goal in life and was reaching that goal .

We have already had the 'connection ot the whole arc of the series' through Donna who was the most important person to have ever lived, please dont let it be that SM has written the same kind of storyline for Amy.

Well that's just the thing. It is far too complex and layered. I don't want to watch 12 episodes disliking a companion for being a cold, sulky whinger and then in the 13th episode discover some revelation that's designed to make me like her. Because it'll take a heck of a lot to get me to like her now. I think I dislike her even more than I did Martha - and that's something I never thought I'd be saying! At least the RTD scripts made Martha just about bearable for me.

Soaps on TV:
CS EE E HO H&A N Casualty Holby the Bill

= about 25 hrs a week, all year round.

SF on TV:
dayof the triffids
survivors (just about)
Who

approx: 25 hrs per year!

Arguably though, the change of style may be intentionally to help him avoid direct comparisons with Tennant.

Missing post - again!

Its interesting that the lack of warmth is pointed out as the reason that some aren't feeling this series. RTD went through that every emotion for his years of running the show and if Moff continued that soap/love story/ lonely timelord thing. i think fans would have just accused him of bringing nothing new.

In the original series it wasn't written in the soapy style but was still popular. maybe the style opened the show up to viewers who would have normally avoided Doctor Who. my wife loves the show since 2005 but has said that she still likes it but there is something missing with the new pairing. She likes matt but wants a relationship of some kind with Amy. I can see whats she means, we knew more about the other companion by this stage and shared there time with the doctor through there experiences.

Apart from Wilf, who I liked a great deal, I had no wish to know the companions' families. I wanted Doctor Who not East Enders.

The soap and romance elements introduced by RTD are my main criticisms of his era. Apart from this I generally liked what he did with Who, and I liked both CE and DT in the role of the Doctor.

IMO Moff is also doing a great job with Who and the absense of soap and romance elements (thus far) is a definite plus as far as I'm concerned.

A lot has changed between Series 4 and 5 and it's not going to be to everyone's liking, but for every person not liking Series 5 because it's so different from the RTD era there's another person absolutely loving it because it is.

I agree with her. There is no chemistry or connection between the Doctor and Amy which is odd considering all the talking they both do!

Of course, the main reason for the focus on Jeff's gran is that she is Annette Crosbie....which of course might have been why they cast her!

Slightly surprisingly, she has never appeared in any Dr Who before!

No, we know about her and her back story. Family is only one possible part of that. As it is, Amy is an orphan without siblings.


And in what way did any of that have any impact on the series whatsoever?


What makes you think that Amy is sulky? When has she ever sulked? They've gone out of their way to make her fearless, prone to keep things to herself and not complain, and able to understand and be sympathetic to others.

Watch the hug at the end of The Beast Below and tell me that doesn't move you.

Im loving Matt Smith.
Im loving his portrayal of the Doctor.
Im loving this series.
Im loving the TARDIS.
Im loving the outfit.

Im just loving Doctor Who right now.

Im not saying it did have an impact, but by knowing her and her family, it gave us some insight into her character and mademe for one, like her and care about her. I could not care less about pouty Amy, she does not feel right in the role of a companion. I crave for a good character with an actual personality instead of pouty look and puzzled expression.

Who knows, I may have felt differently about the whole series if the companion was more likeable. I feel nothing between her and the Doctor, no chemistry, nothing.

Now, the outfit I DO like, its quirky.

I don't think this is the case, and I think its more of a generalisation....for some the problem could well be that Matt isn't David, for some maybe they want a romance, for some matbe they want something entirely different, we can't just generalise...and I give you my example. I too feel cold sometimes with at least three of the episodes we have had so far...and love/romance/soap/lonly timelord have nothing to do with that. For me so far the story structures have been jarring with me. For example TEH, at times I found it a little boring, and all the self-referencing was annoying, it felt like less of a story, and more of Moff trying to do too many things, like introducing the Doctor and companion, making it small scale and then making it big scale, trying to make very scary, and make it very funny, the use of past ideas made it very predictable too. So over all it left me feeling that I watched a bit of a mess, than anything to do with missing a love story....because there was planty of flirting in there, as was the theme of Amy's background of not having parents playing on our emotions and pulling our heartstrings.
For the Victory of the Daleks, despite some great things, the pace of it was really jarring for me....every little thing seemed like an after thought, it didn't have a natural flow, just "oh we must have Amy realise that the ship above is the Daleks, oh we must have a crying women at the end to show the horrors of the war" and so on...the whole thing just didn't fit, maybe if it had been a two parter, it would have had time to breath....and there was plenty of soapy emotions going on in there too...after all it was love that defused the bomb
Flesh and Stones, after the terrific first part, this was a huge let down for me, because the story changed gear into focusing on the arc...and not what it had built up to previuosly....and that just left me feeling cold, because everything, even the Angels all became second fiddle to the main story acr, and I just don't feel the balance was achieved that well. The end scene put in the usual soapy romance/comedy moment in it!



So no, its not as simple as there being no soap element to it for me....



Oh and to add to that....do please remember that in series 4....there was a huge lack of romance for most part of the series, even the lonly time lord thing wasn't a huge arc, as the Doctor had his best friend Donna with him. And yet series 4 was a huge success...so soap/romance isn't a biggie in the success of the show....

Fair post. Can I ask though - I am confused by lots of posts saying similar things (I'm not jumping on yours) saying that Moffat has taken out the soap/romance elements. But he's got a companion who is running away from her engagement, throwing herself at the Doctor. How is that taking out the romance/soap elements? To me, a huge part of the current series is the running theme of 'Is Amy going to marry Rory?' which is massively soapy, to me. Why does that seem less soapy to you than RTD's companion's stories? I just am puzzled by that.

That is what I just said....but you said it more simply than me....


I think some people who didn't like the so called soapy stuff seem adment that now its back to the good old days of classic who only because the companion doesn't "love" the Doctor....and the fact that she is an orphan....but however, she is played to be an orphan to win our hearts...not to get rid of the so called kitchen sink stuff, because if that was the case, Moff wouldn't have mentioned anything about her family as thay didn't much for classic who, and she certainly wouldn't have a boyfriend, and a whole villiage who knows her and therefore is like her family....

Donna is my favourite companion and I think that has a lot to with the warmth and humour between her and the Doctor, as well as the scripts.

The soap element in the latest series has been ill thought out and badly written IMHO and that's why it hasn't worked. The whole thing just doesn't flow very well and definitely lacks warmth.

Glad it's not just me then!

I can honestly say I haven't given a second thought to whether she marries Rory! And, speaking for myself, with the RTD scripts, I actually cared about the companions. With Amy I couldn't care less.

If you people don't like Matt Smith and have no intention of sticking around for the rest of his series, then why don't you just leave and stop coming on here to moan about it? I certainly wouldn't care if you left. I'm loving the new series personally, I think the show has become more intelligent and more thought-provoking.

A family isn't character traits, though. Out of the details you gave about Martha, only the fact that she'd set a goal in her life is actually a trait of her character. The rest is just other characters.

I mean we never see Martha affected by her parents break-up. There was nothing in her character that suggested this had left her traumatised, or unable to get close to people , or had made her more determined to acheive a better life for herself. The father running off with a blonde floozy had more impact ont he character of Martha's mother than it did on the character of Martha.

Similarly, I don't see how having no family adversely impacts the character of Amy. In fact, her character seems quite fitting to that of someone who's spent a life without much emotional contact in her upbringing. Her cocky confidence feels like someone who is covering up an emotional scar. She often seems to be after validation from the Doctor (like when she went on about how good she was for working out how to get rid of the Angel coming out of the TV), just as you would expect from someone who'd never had anyone tell them how good they were as a kid. Her job as a kissogram and the now-infamous scene where she tries to seduce the Doctor are well fitted to someone who's lack of parental love has left them only involved in meaningless, shallow attempts at affection - agian, also fitting with why she would run away from her wedding.

I actually think Amy's lack of family is quite defininig of her character. She's a lonely, mal-adjusted girl.

I haven't seen anyone say that they are not sticking around until the end of the series. Besides which, as Dr Who fans they have the perfect right to express a dislike of the new show. If you don't want to read about it, don't read the thread. Simple, really.

Apart from episode 2....can you really say that about any of the others? For me Aliens of London is more thought provoking than TEH, VOTD, and the two parter we just had!


Seriously, why do some people who are enjoying the current series cannot keep themselves from patronising those who happen not to like the stories this series....