From what i have read so far, i believe Matt Smith and Karen Gillan are both returning for the next series? That is the impression i have got....
Which made me realise, that will be the first doctor/companion pairing to last more than one series since NewWho started.
So do you think it's better to mix and match more or keep a good combo?
And what pairing would you have liked to seen another series of?

Personally, i love 11/Amy so can't wait for S6 (if they both return...) I get annoyed when they switch it so often - the second you like someone lots they leave.
I wish donna had more than one series too, she could have had rose's second run

Not keen on Amy at all, so I am not thrilled at the prospect of her return. I would much prefer for Rory to be the companion in S6, I think he has a great relationship with the Doctor.

Would have loved another series with 10 & Rose and also another series with 10 & Donna.

I think they need to tone Amy down somewhat.

It depends on how Amy turns out after the Finale and what's revealed about the crack etc.

I miss the days of two (or more) companions, male and female, I enjoyed having Rory around (briefly) but the classic Ian & Barbara, Ben & Polly, Jamie & Zoe/Victoria or Sarah Jane & Harry etc- it all just seemed more balanced and had more scope than just one female. Then again they all had a lot more time to get in and out of trouble than 45 minutes at a go.

I love Amy as a character, but I'd also like a trio in the TARDIS again. I'm hoping Rory is resurrected and sticks around.

I prefer Amy to both Rose and Martha, so I'm not too fussed if she stays on.

I'm really pleased Amy is back next series. I also get seriously fed up with the constant changes of either Doctor or companion between series. I know this happened a lot in Classic Who but I think the Doctor/Companion dynamic can work great given a few series together. Look at Pertwee/Manning and Baker/Sladen relationships. Both turned out to be great partnerships are a couple of series together.

In New Who, we haven't had this yet. The show needs some stability in this regard. Amy returning next year will give us that.

I want the pairing to remain the same, as we haven't had that yet. However, though I do like Amy, I don't warm to her like I did Donna and Rose. But more than Martha. Martha was just awful for me, didn't believe her at all. That said, I like that Amy's different to the companions that we've had before, and looking forward to seeing more of her

Yes, that exactly what they should do.
She's a bit OTT. Which is annoying.

Best combo: No. 10 and Donna.

I think it's the combination of Doctor and companion that's been bothering me during this series.

I like Amy. I like the new doctor. I just don't think they are very good together.

Especially after the power house that was Donna and Doctor, I think the lack of chemistry between the two leads has made this series somewhat lesser for me.

I think its a bit hard to completely comapre the past series and the reasons for a seemingly longer stay....current companions have at least ten stories in a series, while the classic series the most it would be is 7 or 8, except for earlier Hartnell series's which sometimes consisted of 10....but even then, we would get changes of some sort at leats every series....for example you point out Pertwee and Manning, well we had some stories with another companion in the form of UNIT, and then we had stories which were away from that period....then we had a series with Pertwee and Sladen, before Tom came along, and for one whole series we also had Harry to that mix who left at the end of the Zygon story...with only Sladen for company for another 7 stories. With Leela in the next nine stories after a companion lite one...with Romana one staying for one series, and so on....so basically there was always some sort of change along the way. Even going back to the Hartnell years....so even though there may be one comapnion that might last more than a series....there was some change along the way.

So the format is different and the changes seem more obvious. It will be interesting to keep Amy and Matt (really hope Matt definitely stays)....but due to Rory having been part of the team, it won't feel stale yet...so there is no need to for an outright change...

Bring back Janet Fielding, she'll soon sort them out.

I'm not a big Amy fan, either. Not to keen on River, though, and I guess if I had to choose, I'd take Amy out of the two.

I'm so glad you said that, I've not been enjoying watching the character Amy for a while now.. loved her at first, but not so much now...

She's become too dominant a character, and the Dr gets lost in her presence.. She's very loud and controlling on screen, I almost get the feeling, it's a battle for Leadership on the Tardis..

but maybe it's just me..

p.s. agree with others, Donna was my personal favourite too

Nope. Not just you.

I think it'll be great to be able to have more of the Doctor and Amy, That's something that hasn't happened in the new stuff. Even with Donna, Rose and Martha, there were family attachments that watered down the Doctor/Companion role and added extra characters to the mix. The current series seems fresher for that. Although i did like the companion families (Jackie being my favourite), i think the decision to make Amy an orphan has changed the show's atmosphere. Rory was a welcome addition,a nd I would have liked to have seem more of him (perhaps he will be back, in the finale???), but a straightforward, longrunning Doctor/Companion combo is very welcome.



I think it's not the number of stories that make it different: it's the number of episodes. In the olden days, DW was on telly for 26 weeks. 45 weeks, back in the B&W days (no wonder Bill Hartnell occasionally forgot his lines). That would mean that some companions did 40 or 50 episodes. That is what makes a companion longrunning.

Martha and Donna probably only did about 15 episodes each. Rose did 26 (?) plus all those endless bloody boring returns on top of that. Rose is a fairly longrunner by any standard, but adding Jackie and Mickey to the mix tended to dilute that.

Don't forget, Crazzy, Romana had K9 alongside her. She was not a standalone companion.

The Doctor with one companion only became the norm from 1984. Sarah Jane travelled alone with the Doctor for a few stories, but her replacement (Leela) didn't get the chance to have the Doctor to herself for long before K9 came along. Before that, and after that, there were all kinds of combinations of companions: male and female; older and younger; human and (humanoid) alien. While it could be argued that Liz and Jo were standalone companions, that had all the UNIT stuff attached to them.

This idea of "Doctor + 1" does not really bear much scrutiny. It was only consistently applied from 1984 to 1987. The 21st century series hasn't really done it, as they have kept all kinds of other "hangers on" attached to the companions. Amy as a solo companion, without Rory, is not as "traditional" as you might think.



I second that emotion.

I would have loved to have seen more of Ace and the Professor

Sorry it was quite late at night, the smell of wood was getting to me and i missed out a chunk of what i wanted to say

i meant that due to the fact that the series consisted of lesser amount of stories, but a larger amount of numbers of episode, the length of the companion would seem much longer (and by episode terms it was), while the new series has 13 episodes to tell about Ten stories.....and before you know it is all over.....but in terms of series' changes in cast, on the superficail level (not counting the amount of episodes) is similar to the classic series.....

Apart from the lack of family, i don't feel the whole Amy is that different to the last five years, because we still have had Rory, who wasn't just another companion the Doctor picked up....it was bit like the Mickey sitaution....and whether Amy has no family connection at all is still remained to be seen....unlike the classic series where we knew most likely we wouldn't see any family memeber at all...and lets not forget River, she is alomost like the Cpt Jack of this series....

I think the relationship the Doctor and Amy have is adorable, I was re-watching the episode when they both say "Gotcha", it's one of the sweetest moments in Nu Who I think
It's really good that they are keeping the same combo, now that they haven't got a new whoever it'll be much easier to see how the characters are going to progress together as a duo rather than just individually. With ever changing Doctors and companions it would obviously be much harder to do that.

Im not a big fan of the trio dynamic. I think it works better with just the doctor and his companion (male or female). But when there's more there's loads of pettiness - like completeing to be right, or cliche love stories (Mickey/Rose, Amy/|Rory)

It doesn't have to be that way, consider Davison, Fielding and Sutton.

Plus it means you can have a smart companion as opposed to an 'intuitive' one.

I've never watched the old episodes, so i'll have to take your word for it!

Although in my experience of new who, i can't stand the trios - epspecially when there was bf/gf. Jack/Rose/9 worked okay, but i still think i'd have prefered either/or

You're looking at the issue purely based on a couple of recent examples, by your own admission. If you watch the sixties stories, where two or three companions was the norm, things were very different and I personally think worked a lot better.

I know....and i did say i don't like the trios in new who, i said i'd already take your word they worked in old stories....

i love the chemistry between Karen and Matt, Matt is my favourite doctor and hope he has a long tenure MORE THAN THREE YEARS!! and love Amy's character and what i must say is a perfect companion, Rory is brilliant also! and yes would love another Eleven/Amy year and maybe an additional companion along the way, maybe River will still be around for adventures after this SENSATIONAL LOOKING/SOUNDING finale! and would love for Eleven/Amy to meet Jack Harkness again!! i've missed my Barrowman!! for a great two part story too

series 5 has been amazing and i hope 6 continues the momentum with an equally compelling story arc, the whole crack,Pandorica arc has been incredible and the storylines this year have been so much crisper and stronger too and the characters are each so apealing and loveable!