What Happens Next: A Gallimaufry

melancholic romantic comic cynic. bi & genderqueer. fantasy writer. sysrae on ao3.

redqueen93 asked: Hey, I just wanted to say I really enjoy your writings, it's awesome for me to see someone who notices the same things I do in the Who Universe. But any who, I was wondering, from series 1-6, could you list off you favorite to least favorite companions, and explain why they sit where they do?

Ooh, good question! Let’s see - in order of favourite to least favourite, we have:

1. Donna

I’ve almost surprised myself, putting Donna first, but even though what happens to her at the end is wholly, utterly heartbreaking and effectively erases everything you come to love about her, the fact is that, of all the recent companions, she undergoes the most change while travel. She’s angry and sharp and defensive on the surface, but when she starts out, it’s a false confidence: she doesn’t believe in herself at all, and underneath she’s really quite sad and uncertain. But by travelling with the Doctor, that confidence becomes real, so that her everyday sharpness softens; she becomes less selfish, more empathic, and comes to believe in herself. Which is why seeing her revert at the end is just devestating: the loss of her memories is vastly less important than the loss of the person their acquisition helped her to become. Plus, she’s the only female companion without a romantic attachment to the Doctor, which is both refreshing and awesome.  

2. Rose

Rose grows on you. She can be frustrating at times, with her Doctor-faith and flashes of naivety, but the fact is, she’s a genuine adventurer, and the joy, the sheer glee and delight she takes in exploring the universe, coupled with the quiet curiosity with which she goes about asking questions, always makes me love her. 

3. Martha

Martha is, I think, the most under-utilised companion, in the sense that she left too early. She was also given a raw deal by being constantly compared to Rose; lovelorn wasn’t a great look on her, and I’d have loved to see her stay for another season without being in love with the Doctor. But even so, she was magnificent: she literally saved the world single-handed, had the strength to leave a situation that was hurting her, and had some truly spectacular adventures.

4. Captain Jack

As much as I love Jack Harkness, he’s like salt: a little goes a long, long way. But I would kill to see him paired with a Doctor who actually loved him back while they travelled together. No lie: I would ship the hell outta that.

5. Mickey

Mickey was a third wheel. True, he got some decent development, and I loved him in School Reunion, but he was basically the redundant third of a love triangle that was never going to resolve in his favour, and as that was sort of obvious from the outset, there was only so far he could really go as a character. 

6. Amy

Amy isn’t underutilised - she’s just consistently badly written, to the point of being nothing more than a memory-wiped damsel. What would’ve been so much better is if, rather than returning when she was an adult, the Doctor came back for her while she was still a child, because Amelia had promise, and has always been an infinitely more endearing character than Amy - plus, that would’ve made for some truly awesome episodes. But no. 

7. Rory

Rory is Mickey the Second - and as stated above, I wasn’t a fan of Mickey the first time. Either he’s a third wheel, a woobie, being chased down a corridor or being a passive-aggressive Nice Guy. Which… yeah, no thanks.

  1. fozmeadows posted this