Great post & too true too (well I for one agree)!

Sure, but the point is that the characters, in most cases but not all, didn't really have to deal with any fallout from their adventures. Sure, some characters may have gone to live in the stars with their alien spouses, but as choices they made - they didn't get forced into living out their lives fifty years before they were even born, or being made half-Time Lord and having their memories wiped.

Yep I'd agree with this, it's in part I think the Buffy influence. A need for a powerful heroine. I'd have been fine if this stopped with Rose saving the universe a few times but the Doctor-Donna, Amy's remembering the Doctor into existence and Clara being responsible for saving every single Doctor - you start to wonder what is next, how do they top Clara? Perhaps the next companion will have to be be a young Verity Lambert

It's also I think why Rory became so popular because apart from dying a lot he was the most normal (if not always human) in his reactions & motivation.

I'm still not understanding the idea that viewers wouldn't be able to identify with the characters because they, at one point, were made to be super-powered.

Did Rose become any less Rose in Series 2? Was Donna any less a temp from Chiswick?
If anything, Rory was the character most affected by the changes that happened to him.

Rose became a God. Her character changed dramatically. Look at how she views things after leaving The Doctor. Traveling between parallel universes and changing/saving all of reality is just a day's work for her. She moves Heaven and Earth (literally), just to see her beloved Doctor one more time. And it is like nothing to her to do as such.

Donna became a Time Lord/Human hybrid in the form of Doctor/Donna. For awhile, she was "The most important woman in the Universe" and all of Creation depended upon her. The only reason that her personality may not have changed too much is because she had her memory wiped.

These are not everyday people, one in a million people, one in a trillion people or anything even remotely feasible anymore. These are insanely gimmicky, mind-numbingly important, incredibly ultra-powerful super-hero characters.

I could theoretically fight a warrior and possibly win or throw my coat over the eye(s) of a bad guy holding me prisoner in order to escape (as Ian did).
I could theoretically overhear some plans and warn the appropriate people in time to stop an assassination (as Steven did).
I could theoretically do some math and save the day (as Zoe or Adric did).
I could theoretically make a bomb in my bedroom and throw it at the bad guy in order to win (as Ace did).

I can do all of these things now. I can see myself doing them. They are all within my capabilities today. I can understand their situation and I can empathize with them as they take their actions and make their choices.

No matter what I do, I will never, ever, under any circumstances ever become a God and completely destroy armies of bad guys with my mind and make people immortal (as Rose did). I will never, ever become effectively immortal and live for millions of years (as Captain Jack did). I will never, ever lead a rebellion all over the Earth and lead everybody in the world with my Legend to cause them all to say a name on the same day destroying the army of alien invaders (as Martha did). I will never, ever under any circumstances become a Time Lord/Human hybrid with superhuman knowledge and intellect thereby saving the entire universe (as Donna did). I will never, ever will somebody into existence simply by my amazing force of will (as Amy Williams did). I will never, ever, under any circumstance, be able to throw shards of myself throughout all of time and space in order to save somebody at every turn of their lives forever and ever (as Clara did).

Basically, the level of the companion's deeds has been raised from "the right thing at the right time, what any decent, unafraid, able-bodied person would do" to "something amazingly and fantastically superhero and Godlike that saves the Earth, the galaxy, the universe, all of time and space and all of this and all other realities".

I can relate to the former. I can't relate to the latter.



I hope that this helps.

Firstly, those are two completely different cases - as I asked, was Rose any different in Series 2 than Series 1? The example you gave was from much later. And what could be more human than wanting to move time and space to be with your loved one?


So, she was unrelatable for the last five minutes of her tenure? Again, the change to Donna was not what she became, it was what was done to her. She never stopped being human.


No, they're not. They're ordinary people, elevated to impossible heights or thrown into impossible depths.


Could you beat up Daleks with a baseball bat? Could you attempt to save the dinosaurs from being wiped out?

The companions you dislike have all done such 'mundane' things, often as the resolution to the story. It's a little unfair to concentrate on the bigger things that happen to them, and ignore the things they did by themselves.


Because you will never be presented with an opportunity to do so. Rose didn't choose to do that. She wasn't destined to become a superhero. She wasn't born with gifts. She desperately tried whatever she could to help a friend. I'd like to think that's exactly the sort of thing you'd do. Same for Captain Jack, Donna. Amy's revelation wasn't down to any kind of power she had, it was the Doctor's own escape trick.

As a tangent, compare the case of Harry Potter. He's played as a decent, down-to-earth character, who does what he does in a way that I think we all hope we would.
But he's gifted from birth with a fearsome power and terrible destiny. He, by definition, does amazing things that even his fellow wizard's can't. Does that make him less likeable? Less relateable?

What you're describing is not an inability to 'identify' with the character. It sound more like the dislike of deus ex machina, in the most literal sense. You're describing a dislike for the events of the story, not the character.

And in that context, I dislike them just as much as you do. Repetitive and uninspired. It shouldn't be necessary to give the companions that much power in order to make a difference, it's just lazy.

To be honest, nobody's ever going to agree on these because everyone enjoys different companions for different reasons.

The only think which (pretty much) everyone agrees on is who is number 1....

Must admit, personally I'd have had Mel right at the bottom - even Adric wasn't that bad....

Zoe not at number 1? Waste of time then

Well, this is one of the things that rankles with me. I don't particularly like her. In fact she slightly annoys me. So what? you quite rightly ask. Well, I'm not really down with this 'quite rightly so' business. This implication that we HAVE to say she was the best. Sometimes people can even get quite offended if you don't. Some people can even take it as a slight against the actress Elizabeth Sladen if you say you don't really care for the character, which is of course, weird and crazy and kind of frighteningly detached from reality.

I don't really like Sarah-Jane Smith. I don't think she was one of the best companions. What are you going to do about it?



No, I don't agree See above. Rerceived wisdom is rubbish!

I didn't look at the article but I'm assuming Liz Shaw and Victoria Waterfield don't get their due? Grrrrr.

Jamie is the best male companion. Everyone knows that. Anyone who doesn't know it is very non-definitive :P