Welcome to Fluffy Sci-Fi Fridays. On Fridays (not every Friday, okay?), we’re gonna get a little nerdy here. Still love doctrine. Still love pews. But I love some Doctor Who. So we’re gonna talk Who. We’re gonna talk some Star Trek TNG (because Picard 2020 can you even!). We might even tiptoe carefully into Middle Earth – might! – because honestly the thought of unintentionally marring any work of the Inklings is ghastly to me, and others have already done it better. Hold onto your Longbottom Leaf just in case.
Also, it’s not really fluff, because 10.5 million Doctor Who viewers and I can’t be wrong, right? Right?? And when I say “Doctor Who”, while I love (really!) that this show has been around since 1963, it took my husband 2 years to convince me to even start watching where it picked up in ’05. NuWho is as close to the original as I’m gonna get.
Basically, I have tried (very unsuccessfully) to get my friends into Doctor Who so we could have colorful conversations about this, and they just won’t do it. Upon reflection, my error may have been starting with the season 9 opener, but how would I know they would make little weird eyeball “hand-mines” and freak everyone out?? Anyways, now nobody will watch Doctor Who with me, which means I get to pour it all out to you, internet-ether-reader.
So, scootch out of the pew and step into the Tardis. Let’s talk companions. I’m gonna do a broad overview today but this is going to turn into a Companion Compendium, with all sorts of nitty-gritty nonsense. We could start with the Doctors, but I’m still shook over the 13th, and I’m not ready to talk about it.
We should probably begin with Rose, even though I only ever want to talk about Clara (so complex! such great style! much clever!). So, Rose. She’s my second-fave for so many reasons and we all know if Shakespeare were around today we’d be reading about Rose + Meta-Crisis Doctor instead of Romeo + Juliet because their love story is just. that. good. He grew a new doctor out of his severed hand, y’all. Just to keep his boo company for the rest of her life! If that’s not love, I don’t know what is. Rose Tyler, you beautiful flower, I love you.
Donna Noble, now there’s a win. Donna is hands down the wittiest companion the doctor has ever had. Her story arc was just excellent. I cried more at him losing his bestie Donna than I did at him burning up an actual star for Rose.
*Wilf. Wilfred gets an asterisk because I’m not sure he qualifies as a technical companion (after all, I’m not going to write about Mickey or Jack). But he’s just brilliant and I want him to be my granddad.
Martha Jones, defender of the world. She loved the doctor and he couldn’t get it together, so she moved on AND still saved the world AND kept her dignity. Thank you, queen.
Amy + Rory Pond. I’m gonna make some enemies here by saying that my husband loves Amy and I just don’t understand it. He also doesn’t share my love for Rose, and I also don’t understand that. Marriage is a mystery, folks.
River Song, his actual wife. I love her and she’s never done a thing wrong in her life except maybe when she killed the Doctor. She’s like, the only person that knows the real name of the Doctor, and don’t even get me started about The Singing Towers of Darillium. River, you spicy, self-sacrificial minx, we all love you.
Of course, this brings me to Clara. She loved the doctor, she took risks and she did it scared. She also died doing it, but that’s for another time. Additionally, what she brought out of the Doctor was so complex and captivating. By guilt or obsession or a little bit of both, he spent 4.5 billion years drawing on her memories, only to break every rule of his people to get her back from death, which she thanked him for by abandoning him. Oh, Clara. Lots to talk about there.
I’m gonna be honest, all the post-Clara companions are just living in her shadow in my book, but at least I know that’s unfair, and I’m telling you the truth about not giving them the objective love they deserve. I’ll work on it before we actually get to them in future Fridays. Bill Potts, Nardole, Graham, (Grace, rest in peace), Ryan, and Yas – good work.
So, the compendium is primed. Did I leave anyone out? Do you think I’m way off? Are you reading from your sanctified heavenly dwelling because you died of boredom three paragraphs in? Trust me, this show is so much fun! It’s bigger on the inside!!
xoxo,
Chels