In the classic days a companion would be a friend of the Doctors who would go on wild adventures with him and battle scary monsters.

But since Moffat has taken over the companion had become the story.
Look at Amy, Rory and iver for examples. During their time on the show the show basically became them and the main story revolved around them.

Then Clara comes along and it turns out that she has already died twice so their is a huge mystery around her aswell.
I wish the companions would be just ordinary people again.

Both Rose and Donna dominated their respective series. And Rose cast a looming shadow over the entire RTD era. To its detriment. So this is not a Moffat thing at all. If anything he has dialled it back with Clara. It is present but not front and centre week in week out.

S1- Rose is the Bad Wolf

S2- This is the story of how Rose dies

S3- Rose ruins things for the new companion

S4- She is returning. Plus Doctor/Donna. Donna is the most important woman in the whole of creation.

Just normal people? Erm no.

I'm not being funny but surely people do realise that times have changed and that for a companion merely to be there, look pretty, ask stupid questions and scream on cue isn't enough?

They're the second lead in the show and therefore should be pretty central to the plots as well as the Doctor.

Well the current primary story is "Doctor Who?" with the finale called "Name of The Doctor" with the tagline "His Secret Revealed."

I think we're good on Doctor story coverage this year.

Quite right.

But even in Classic Who they weren't all 'normal people'. Not even close. Some were but many weren't.

And as you say times have changed. People wouldn't buy it anymore.

I admit Amyand Rory dominated the show during their time but Clara's not as bad despite the fact she's unrealistic.

But did they? Really? S5 was all about the cracks in time and leading to the Pandorica and the exploding Tardis. And S6 was as much about the 'death' of the Doctor as it was Amy and Rory. I think theyve given equal billing to both far more than previous years.

Also its noticeable that in both S5 and S6 it was the Doctor who saved the day and masterminded the resolution whereas in S1,3 and 4 he was largely a bit part player as the companion solved it all. (With a little help of course).

How is Clara unrealistic?

To me, her responses/reactions to everything so far has been pretty believable.

It's the way she talks. There is no proper conversation from her at all.

If anything this was more of a "problem" with Russell than Moffat - I actually think Clara hasn't been enough of a focus this season.

When Moffat took over as showrunner he did an interview where he said the show was really about the companion and it was their story being told. However, asides from S6 which felt companion heavy though was really, as someone above said, the story of the Doctor dodging death, I think Moff's kept it quite low key compared to RTD. You only have to watch the final twenty minutes of TEOT to see that Ten's era was much more about the companions than the Doctor.

This ^^

But why let the facts get in the way of someone introducing yet another Moffat bashing thread?

Only love is all maroon?

God forbid the companion do anything but stand behind the Doctor.

Indeed. The thing is I think it was right and proper they took that approach. It helped make the RTD era the success it was and drew the viewers in. But I find the revisionist history of the OP strange as it doesn't fit with what was on screen and so comes across as another reason to criticise Moffat. Why?

Fact is the whole of the Ecclestone series was pretty much told from Roses viewpoint. And it was all the better for it. But why deny it?

I don't see anything wrong with the story being told from the companions' viewpoint, after all, the audience experiences the Doctor through their eyes.
What has really started irritating me is that every single companion since 2005 (maybe some before but tbh I can't remember) has had some kind of 'special purpose in the end', they're 'the promised one' to a greater or lesser degree (even Martha).
To me especially as a child the main companion always represented 'one of us' - it was exciting because in my childish mind one day the Doctor could pick me - because it seemed to me that he chose ordinary, everyday, unremarkable people to help him on his adventures. Now, not so much.
Also the fact that too often nowadays it is the companion either being equal to the Doctor or virtually single-handedly saving the day rather than being the 'support' act.

Sorry if I'm not explaining myself too well but hopefully you get the general idea that I'm trying to convey.

It's still the same - these people are special because they've come into the Doctor's life, or have otherwise got themselves caught up in the weirdness that surrounds him and the constant alien threats to Earth.

Amy, for example, was a perfectly normal girl until the Doctor dropped into her life. Any future oddness that happened to her (including her parents disappearing) happened because the Doctor took her with him.

The message is that not only do you have to have The Right Stuff to be the Doctor's companion, you have to accept the consequences of the danger that puts you in.

Sometimes the 'unremarkable person' with an amazing power is exactly what draws kids in - they feel boring and normal, but would love to find out that they're actually a wizard with a destiny at Hogwart's, or that they get bitten by a spider and can now crawl walls.

I don't know. She seems pretty natural to me.

I suppose in terms of NuWho, Series 3 arc wasn't centred on the companion but the return of the Master i.e. sound of drums

Was she though?? Even if that's accurate, she still had a 'destiny' to fulfil as the mother of River Song. Which because of Silence in the Library was pre-destined before Amy personally ever met the Doctor. So in her scenario, what came first the chicken or the egg? Not so ordinary after all imo.
I think that Martha is the closest to fulfilling the ordinary profile but she proved to be planet Earths' Saviour and in terms of importance for her series finale was equal if not more important to saving the day than the Doctor.
Don't get me wrong I'm not saying what I think is 100% accurate or there are no flaws in my belief but as a viewer this is how overall it has come across to me at least.

I likee the comapnion tto be the main source
susan ,gtrankid , dontt remember doinggggg much -63-hartnell
jaamie and zoe-random people from differenttt times -66-cant rember them being useful-troughton
jo grant-looked pretty and asked questions-ranndom meeting -70-pertwee
sarah jane smith-actually got involved and argued -73-77-t baker-came back to save the universe
teegan-whined andd got into trouble-81-84-picked up by t baker-she mainly sstayed with davison
pperi-was saved byt hee dr(fool)-84-87(??) c baker mainly had her as a assistant that moaned at him
mel-ok again accident meeting with dr-c baker then mcoy-87-88
ace-was ace and was qquite a deep character 88-89, meet by chance with mel
grace-was okissh but saved dr's life 96 ,she was the surgeon that saw to him when he was shot
mcgann was the dr and he kissed her , wasnt bothered really by that buttt eric roberrrts as the masster nnnnnnnnnnnnoooooo
rose -excellent saved the dr a lot only from warking at a shop with eccleston and tennant and was saved anddddd saved donna herself 2005-09 (appeared to see off tennant)oh yeah aanddd 2013 for the birthday
Martha -actually good and met the dr through her wwork , she surviedd C**p and got a job at unit and torchwood and saved thee world and kiccked ass with thee daleks,she befriended donna and a cloned version of herself she also nearrly died at torcchwood buttt was saved by oweeen ahhh, she worked hard to help the dr and diddd well butt had a annoying crrush on ten but in fairness he egged her on aand was rude to her 07-09
Donna-the best and was again the victim of consquence again and again kinda like clara, did help the dr butt was dragged along really , being a bride was her fave bit and int he end married a nice geezer 06-09

amy pond and rorry-10-12 was a little girl when meeting the dr then a kissogram then a wife then a mum , rory was sort of the mickey out of matt's era but ahd dignity , they also gave birth ttto rriver , nobody is perfect ,sort of helped him but was more bothered about it seemed heself and rory thats ok and her daughter river too

clara -odd 12-? does she help him donttt know , it seems he helps her more , got a strange feeling about her

The chicken. When Amy and the Doctor set down that path, neither of them knew that River was where it would end up. Amy was normal until the Doctor screwed up her childhood, and then messed up her adult life even worse.

Harry Potter, Spider-man, Bella from Twilight, Frodo Baggins - we identify with them all because they are regular Joes made amazing by their adventures, not already-exceptional beings like James Bond, Gandalf or Superman.

I would argue that Who companions fit more into the first category than the second.

I see what your saying but I'm not totally convinced. Amy may have been a normal girl yes but the Doctor HAD to meet her because she was destined to be Rivers' mother, because he met River first. Ergo, she wasn't just some random, ordinary girl albeit in hindsight. Maybe we just view it differently?
Also the common theme among each character you mentioned in the first category is that they are heroes in their own right from blockbuster movies; to me a companion ought to be a sidekick/supporting artist to the Doctor not a would be hero competing for the limelight with him. It's like Robin trying to outdo Batman!

Things change. Its like how the original Star Trek was all about Kirk, Spock and McCoy and the rest of the cast were consigned to the end of show credits. Then Next Generation came along and made it an ensemble piece, with more focus on the entire senior staff, more episodes devoted to each member playing the "lead," etc.

One of the reasons for this is because if you want to get decent actors in, you need to give them some material to chew on. If you say "your job is to ask questions in order for the Doctor to spout exposition and occasionally run and scream when a monster comes along," the actor will go looking for another job with a better role. At most you might get someone who wants to raise their profile via the show, but you'll be back to having companions last no more than a year, as no-one will be interested in staying on.

Making the companion a major part of the story means lots of different acting opportunities for the actor. That makes the part more enticing for them.

Read the title and thought Corden was coming back.