Anyone think that either Donna, Rose or Martha are in with a chance of staying with the good Doctor? Maybe someone new will be in the frame?

And yes.........Sally Sparrow!.........before anyone suggests her!

Fantasy - Ali Bastian

Reality - that stacey bint in eastenders or sarah platt from corrie.

Kelly Crabtree also from Corrie. I've always said I'd like to hear her click-clack stilettoes running up and down the TARDIS.

Sally Sparrow would be good. I do like Martha, though, and I have a feeling that Donna's going to surprise a lot of people.

I love Rose, but we've had two years of Rose and I think someone else deserves a chance!

Maybe Adam could return to make up for what he did last time.

Well there is now a backlash against a "strong" assitant.

Strong = gobby /mouthy and whingers.

Dr Who needs to bring back the role of the assistant as a more passive, pliant character like Jo, Nyssa or Victoria Waterfield. I find the "modern, emancipated" female assistants to be naseous and stereotypes/

Even a new version of Dodo Chaplet would be better than Tate or her 'bossy' ilk.

Yes those few left watching the programme will be surprised at just how bad she is...

I would like to see Martha stay a bit longer. Personally I don't see Donna staying more than one series.

This is just a hunch of mine but:

I reckon it'll be Martha.

Aye, tha knows they don't mek lasses like they did in our day!

You find Rose to be a stereotyped woman, but Jo not to be?

Nah - surely not? She wasn`t popular enough to be a full time companion in the next series so why on earth would they give her the job next time around?

Well, I'm sure you'll read reports of her performance with interest. Such a shame you won't be able to judge for yourself though. An entire series of Dr. Who that you'll never see!

correct. Most ladies who I associate with are lady-like and show humility.

Rose was a very masculine mish-mash of all sorts of stereotypes - Chav, Feminist, Romantic, Spoilt Brat, Thicko, One parent family kid etc - what a repulsive character - played by a repulsive actress.

Her leaving at the end of series 3 was planned from the start. That's why she's coming back and is going to be in Torchwood. Popularity has nothing whatsoever to do with it.


Which, surely, would make characters who are "lady-like" and who "show humility" the stereotypical ones, wouldn't it?

Incidentally, where do you associate with these ladies? The 1950s?

Strong women scare you, eh? Hmmm...

If she was popular they wouldn't have ditched her for eight episodes. I can't imagine they'd have considered doing even one episode without Rose in it when she was his companion.

Sure, she's coming back but - with a bit of luck - it won't be permanently. Especially if Billie Piper is back for longer than expected.

Once more, it has nothing whatsoever to do with popularity in any way, shape or form. It was planned for her to leave at the end of series 3, to go to Torchwood and for her to come back again. Planned before they started shooting series 3. Popularity hasn't entered in to it one iota.


That's pure supposition. You might as well say that they'd never have considered postponing series 5 for a year and having 3 specials in its place while the series is the highest-rating non-soap television programme on British TV. And, yet, they are.


So you agree that she might, after all?

Popularity has a lot to do with it. They didn't know immediately after Runaway Bride that CT would want to be a permanent companion. The storyboard wasn't initially written with her in mind. Or are you saying that they just arbitrarily decided to shove Martha Jones over to Torchwood for no reason whatsoever? When CT mentioned she`d like to do it - Freema was OUT.

And no - I don't think for one moment that Ms Jones will ever be a permanent companion ever again. She had her time and blew it IMHO. Possibly due to a combination of bad acting and her badly devised character.

Has he?

That interview (if that is where you got this) may just be talking about DT coming back to film the specials (which we knew he was doing anyway) and not Series 5.

On Martha, from what I can tell she was always meant to be 'the rebound' companion (i.e only staying for a year) and depending on how well Freema/Martha did she would stay on.

RTD has pretty much admitted that he ballsed it up with the unrequited love/rejection storyline (yeah funnily enough making a character feel as if they are second best to a character who has already left doesn't really work that well) as well as over doing the Rose references, and pretty much the best way to develop Martha beyond that was to part her from the doctor (temporarily). It's nothing to do with popularity, Martha was popular (despite everything being stacked against her) but all to do with an ill thought out character arch from the writers (I mean how is the audience meant to take to Martha or any companion if the doctor thinks she is second best and there is 'nothing' after Rose?)

I do think if it's any of the 'current' companions staying on it will be Martha. I can't see Catherine Tate doing more than one series, Billie clearly has a career going on and Jack has Torchwood.

Wrong actually, RTD actually wrote a new character as series 4 companion, but soon realised that the character was almost exactly like Donna, he asked Catherine Tate if she would like to come back (not expecting her to say yes) and the rest is history (all this was after Martha had been written out btw).

If Martha had really been a flop, she would have been axed, plain and simple, instead she is returning to not one but 2 shows in the Doctor Who franchises. I sometimes wonder if people realise how television works, actors don't get consolation prizes for being unsucessful.

:yawn: for god sake.

I have no idea where they will go from s4, but i think a few campanions will leave at the end.

Correct. But they did know that Martha was only going to be in the one series before moving to Torchwood.


What I believe what I'm saying is "her leaving at the end of series 3 was planned from the start". That's the reason I used those words in that order.


According to who?


So why did you say that this would only be the case "with any luck"? If you're that sure, why hedge your bets?


And yet, mysteriously, she's not only coming back to the franchise but is also going to be in the spin-off show. She blew it so badly that they asked her to come back twice. Imagine if she'd been even worse, she might have got a guest spot on The Sarah Jane Adventures, too.

Hasn't it occurred to you that if the production team didn't want her around that they might have actually got rid of her? Or do you think she's got some photos of RTD in compromising positions or something?

Yeah definitely. Martha was a good character but would have been even better if not used like that.

Donna will be a good character. She's older than Rose and Martha, there will likely be less interference from her mother as Donna won't be her little girl, again like with Rose and Martha and she'll pretty much be able to get on with her life with the Doctor.

And hopefully, and what is pretty likely, even though the Doctor does change his friends' lives for the better, Donna won't fall in love with the Doctor. She'll just be a good friend to him, which is badly needed. Rose wasn't as into the Doctor as much as Martha but it was there. Hopefully this won't be the case with an older and more mature companion, even if it happened to Jack but that was different considering how he was before meeting and when with the Doctor.

But I doubt she will die. It will be interesting to see how the Doctor reacts as I imagine he'll be completely suididal. He was a state with Rose but at least she was alive, even if it was somewhere else. If Donna died, I imagine the Doctor would be a total wreck.
I've never seen the episode where that Adric (is it him?) died. How did the Doctor react after that?

He actually shrugs it off pretty quickly.

Until he regenerates, that is. His last word is "Adric?"