aztec
Chancellery Guard
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Post by aztec on Apr 15, 2016 14:00:32 GMT
Just for a bit of fun.
Who is your favourite companion?
Do you have more than one, if so, why?
Has your opinion on a Companion changed thanks to Big Finish?
Any companions you dislike, or just don't 'get'?
How do you feel about companions in general? Does the franchise place too much/too little emphasis on their stories and ooint of view? Any preferences? (i.e male/female, alien or human? modern age or historical?
(Please keep things civil)
My favourite companion (of those I've seen/read/listened to...still haven't seen half the Classics, most of BF or any of the Virgin books or comics) would probably be:
Fitz Kreiner, I've only read about half the EDA's so far, but Fitz has rapidly become one of my favourite companions. He starts off as a somewhat self centered, rude and rather cowardly day dreamer, largely looking out for himself and seemingly travelling along with the Doctor because he doesn't have many other options, that alone was a refreshing change, but over the course of the novels he gradually evolves and grows (well, partly) into an intensely loyal (if still self centered), resourceful and hilarious fish out of water best friend to the Doctor and something of an unlikely, un-reliable but admirable ally who sticks with him through thick and tin, it was great to have a deeply flawed male companion who didn't rush out for adventure and glory, wasn't completed wowed by things and challenged the Doctor on some of his more excessive plans and his madcap energy, yet still came across as a completely loyal companion.
Fitz may almost entirely exist in prose form, but I don't think that makes him any less memorable, he's i.m.o the most interesting male companion at least.
Donna- she and Tennant are a hillarious double act, Donna had a wonderful sense of wonder and humor and was able to challenge the Doctor more than Rose or Martha
Jamie-it's Jamie 'nuff said.
Sarah Jane-as above.
The Brigadier-almost like a brother to the Doctor, they may have butted heads on occasion, and the Brig could be full of bluster and red tape at times but they are a winning double act.
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Post by liam on Apr 15, 2016 14:48:05 GMT
Damn only a top 5?!?! I love Nyssa, I don't know why I just have a huge soft spot for her. Leela is just brilliant. For me she was the start of a brand new sort of companion. Evelyn Smythe is without a doubt the best BF companion. She gave me a whole new perspective of sixy too. Victoria Waterfield is another one that tugs my heart strings, she was just great with 2 and Jamie. Amy/Rory both with 11 have in my mind produced the best episodes of Nu-Who. Special mentions to River Song/Romana I/Donna Noble/Captain Jack/Liz Shaw & The Brig!! Now companions I'm not the hugest fan of but by no means hate include Turlough/Harry Sullivan/Tegan/Zoe & Clara. Also I found myself going off of Charley Pollard as the series goes on As for the future I'd love to see a Male/Female combo. And why not someone from an alien planet (who's actually alien) or someone from the past? Also I'd like to mention how much I'm liking Alice Obiefune from Titan Comics. She's a feisty one.
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aztec
Chancellery Guard
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Post by aztec on Apr 15, 2016 14:54:15 GMT
Damn only a top 5?!?! I love Nyssa, I don't know why I just have a huge soft spot for her. Leela is just brilliant. For me she was the start of a brand new sort of companion. Evelyn Smythe is without a doubt the best BF companion. She gave me a whole new perspective of sixy too. Victoria Waterfield is another one that tugs my heart strings, she was just great with 2 and Jamie. Amy/Rory both with 11 have in my mind produced the best episodes of Nu-Who. Special mentions to River Song/Romana I/Donna Noble/Captain Jack/Liz Shaw & The Brig!! Now companions I'm not the hugest fan of but by no means hate include Turlough/Harry Sullivan/Tegan/Zoe & Clara. Also I found myself going off of Charley Pollard as the series goes on As for the future I'd love to see a Male/Female combo. And why not someone from an alien planet (who's actually alien) or someone from the past? Those five were just my top five, there's loads more companions I really like. Big fan of Leela and Rory as well I do like Charley but I think they kept her around too long with 8... I'd like to see a throughly odd couple for the next companions-a male or female companion from Earth's past partnered with an on the run alien from the far future...
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Post by whiskeybrewer on Apr 15, 2016 14:54:36 GMT
Charley, because she has that sense of wonder and adventure, that makes her a perfect companion for the Doctor. Jaime, well because its Jaime lol The Brigadier is just fantastic, although he didnt travel much in the Tardis, he was like a brother to the Doctor
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on Apr 15, 2016 21:08:03 GMT
My favourite companion is Clara. She had great chemistry with both the 11th and 12th Doctors whilst also offering an interesting companion dynamic. I particularly liked her journey to becoming more and more like the Doctor. As for a companion I don't like, I can't stand Martha and the whole unrequited love arc. She really got on my nerves with her jealousy for Rose and I was glad when she left.
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Post by relativetime on Apr 16, 2016 1:34:40 GMT
My favorite companion used to be Romana II, but over the past year, I think it's become increasingly difficult to limit my answer to just a single companion. I absolutely love almost all of the Sixth Doctor's companions equally - they're all my favorite companion when I'm listening to them - and the same goes for most of the other Doctors on Big Finish. Nyssa has been a personal favorite as of late, too. I think I've decided to give up on having a set favorite at this point - they're all brilliant.
Honestly, Big Finish changed my opinions of pretty much EVERY companion they've tackled. I used to think Peri was a bit annoying, but now she's among the greatest companions in my opinion after her adventures with Erimem and the Fifth Doctor. I used to find Nyssa a bit forgettable, but after hearing stories such as Spare Parts, Creatures of Beuty, and 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men, I can barely imagine think of the Fifth Doctor without also thinking of Nyssa. Melanie Bush went from useless and easily frightened to brave and computer savvy. And Big Finish has also made me become attached to companions I knew very little about or had watched very little of, such as Steven Taylor and DEFINITELY Sara Kingdom. Tegan, Leela, Romana II, and Ace have all been given material that allows their characters to flourish even more.
And that's not even counting the plethora of new companions Big Finish has introduced me to, such as Evelyn Smythe and Charley Pollard! In a lot of ways, I really wish the television series would take note of what Big Finish is doing.
The only companion I actively dislike - and I do mean ONLY - is Rose Tyler, unfortunately. I found her to be selfish, self-absorbed, and rude throughout Series 2 and a bit of Series 1. She seemed way more dependent on the Doctor than I felt I had been led to believe in her first episode and she could often ruin an otherwise perfectly fine episode for me, such as The Christmas Invasion, Tooth & Claw, and School Reunion. I'm a bit baffled why a everyone who's a fan of even just NuWho likes her so much when we have SOOO many better companions in even JUST NuWho - Donna, anyone?
I don't dislike stories without companions - Davros is absolutely phenomenal - but the stories I revisit the most do have a companion in them. It's a dynamic in Doctor Who that really lends some mystery to the Doctor without making him a detached character, but also some humanity as well. It brings out the best of not only the character, but the actor as well. I don't really have any preference in companion, just so long as they're interesting, different, and fun to listen/watch to.
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Post by omega on Apr 16, 2016 2:16:48 GMT
I absolutely love Donna. She has a really fun just mates relationship with the Doctor and they make each other better people. The Doctor allows Donna to realise her self-worth and Donna becomes an important moral compass for the Doctor. Out of all the Tenth Doctor companions I feel Donna clicked most with, understood him best. That moment at the end of Forest of the Dead where the two of them share a moment for the people they lost, where Donna picks up on how the Doctor being "just fine" when really he's not fine at all.
Donna didn't get jealous, getting on with Martha like a house on fire (contrast Rose and Sarah Jane initially) and being friendly with the other old faces the Doctor reunited with.
And it was the shadow of Donna after her departure that affected the Doctor more than being separated from Rose and realising Martha had harboured feelings for him since they'd first met. For a period he tried not to take on other companions because of Donna's fate.
I quite like Liv as a companion. Like 10 and Donna she and the Eighth Doctor are good for each other. They can be independent of each other, but in Dark Eyes go through the same kind of character arc of coming out of the darkness and into the light.
Destrii. An interesting character and a good example of an alien companion who the writers are fully aware is alien, using that to influence how she is written and drawn.
Captain Jack. He's fun but he also has a darker aspect to his character that Torchwood explores. The dynamic between him, the Ninth Doctor and Rose in the last few episodes of series 1 is easygoing and brings out the best in all three of the characters. It's a shame the only on-screen examples of that were in five episodes. Boom Town is a fun episode because of their banter (I love the "hard work" "but worth it" lines between Jack and the Doctor). I'm really glad that Cavan Scott has been able to bring this team back for the Ninth Doctor Destiny of the Doctor audio and the Titan Comics Ninth Doctor range. I'm almost tempted to say that Jack is like an equal to the Doctor rather than a companion. Oh, and who was the first guy to share a kiss with the Doctor?
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Post by agentten on Apr 16, 2016 6:21:00 GMT
I love Rose. She came in full speed with the revival and I felt she was just the right tone for a companion who needed to help debut a new Doctor and her curiosity and excitement played very well for me. I also felt she made a great counter point to Nine, who was still in a dark mind set and needed the right companion to help him feel like the Doctor again by seeing their adventures through her eyes.
Also a great fan of Romana II. I love that there's a very clever young Time Lady running around with the Doctor challenging him and keeping him on his toes. It made for such a fun dynamic, especially with the obvious chemistry between Baker and Ward.
Jo Grant is brilliant. Three has this loyal, clever companion who is always up for an adventure. Jo is always fully committed whenever adventure calls. She and Three had such a lovely, warm relationship.
Clara's character arc is impressively handled to me. It's always been in the back of my mind that if someone of the right temperament were to travel with the Doctor long enough and see enough crazy things, that they would naturally start to become more like the Doctor and that might be good or it might be really, really dangerous. I loved every second of it.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Apr 16, 2016 8:02:10 GMT
Leela: she took no crap, didn't scream at the sight of monsters and had real faith in the Doctor, but also argued with him when she felt he was wrong.
Romana: like the Doctors, I don't differentiate between the two incarnations much. She was competent, idealistic but not naive and knew what she was talking about.
Amy and Rory: great dynamic aboard the TARDIS, of a group of equals traveling the universe, arguing with each other when needed but totally having each others backs when the chips were down.
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on Apr 16, 2016 11:22:48 GMT
The only companion I actively dislike - and I do mean ONLY - is Rose Tyler, unfortunately. I found her to be selfish, self-absorbed, and rude Sounds more like a description of Martha to me.
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Post by omega on Apr 16, 2016 11:42:11 GMT
The only companion I actively dislike - and I do mean ONLY - is Rose Tyler, unfortunately. I found her to be selfish, self-absorbed, and rude Sounds more like a description of Martha to me. Actually it's a decent description of series 2 Rose. Being stalked by a werewolf with Queen Victoria's fate in your hands is not the time to try and win a bet Rose. Or her strop in School Reunion when she finds out it's not all rosy being the Doctor's companion. If anything the Doctor was being selfish to Martha. Leading her on with one trip at a time (just one trip, Ok you've seen the past how about the future, hang on what's this about changing what it means to be human?). Then there's him going on about Rose, generally being highly insensitive about it and acting like the universe began and ended with her. It's lucky Martha never interacted with Rose, a slap would be in order (there was that scene at the end of Journey's End, but they'd just saved reality and were in celebration mode). Mickey had it right in Rise of the Cybermen, the Doctor would always choose Rose over him even when it wasn't push come to shove. Just how many died when the Doctor burned up a sun just to communicate across the void to Rose in the parallel world? When Rose finds out Mickey wants to stay behind in the parallel world she's upset because she won't be able to see her again. No mention of Jackie or Mickey's other mates, and Rose had gone off a number of times in the TARDIS leaving Mickey the Tin Dog behind. Rose deciding to go off with the Doctor lead to her not returning for a year relative time, with Mickey accused of killing her until she turned up again.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2016 13:44:55 GMT
The only companion I actively dislike - and I do mean ONLY - is Rose Tyler, unfortunately. I found her to be selfish, self-absorbed, and rude Sounds more like a description of Martha to me. Huh. I never got that with Martha. If anything, she seemed the least self-absorbed of the Tenth Doctor's retinue. I didn't much care for Rose, but then I didn't hate her either. I thought she was serviceable enough for the role of a companion. My favourites would have to be Ian and Barbara for televised Who because they're the two I grew up with. Barbara was always so brave in the face of danger: charging into a raid on the Dalek saucer knowing only that she had to rescue her friends, trying to change the fate of the Aztecs so no more good people had to die, standing up to the Doctor, choosing not to kill Haroun's daughter in Palestine, fighting the influence of the Brains of Morphon. Ian was noble too: convincing the Thals to fight back against the evil of the Daleks, setting off alone to rescue Barbara from her captors, battling against the tyranny at Salem. They really were people who I looked up to, I would love to have been able to travel with them. For audio? Well, it's a tough call, but I have to say, Dr Evelyn Smythe. How can you not love wonderful, intelligent Evelyn? The woman who tamed the Sixth Doctor, who was responsible for the first apology I'd ever heard from him. It sounds like something small, but for someone who'd known him only from his television stories it was a phenomenal moment. No one else could have done that. She alongside Peri is the Sixth Doctor's quintessential companion like Second and Jamie, Third and Jo or Four and Sarah.
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Post by whiskeybrewer on Apr 16, 2016 14:12:32 GMT
I completely forgot about Erimem. How in the name of The Other did i forget about her? lol
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Post by dalekbuster523finish on Apr 16, 2016 14:29:38 GMT
Sounds more like a description of Martha to me. Huh. I never got that with Martha. If anything, she seemed the least self-absorbed of the Tenth Doctor's retinue. I didn't much care for Rose, but then I didn't hate her either. I thought she was serviceable enough for the role of a companion. I hated the way how she always wined about the Doctor not loving her and everything always being about Rose. Particularly annoying in the otherwise excellent Human Nature/ The Family of Blood, where she complains that the Doctor fell in love with Joan and not her.
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Post by relativetime on Apr 16, 2016 15:15:21 GMT
Huh. I never got that with Martha. If anything, she seemed the least self-absorbed of the Tenth Doctor's retinue. I didn't much care for Rose, but then I didn't hate her either. I thought she was serviceable enough for the role of a companion. I hated the way how she always wined about the Doctor not loving her and everything always being about Rose. Particularly annoying in the otherwise excellent Human Nature/ The Family of Blood, where she complains that the Doctor fell in love with Joan and not her. I admit, that bothered me about Martha's character too. Way too often in Series 3, it felt more like the writers were writing Martha more as Rose's replacement rather than a companion in her own right. Still, Martha never really RUINED an episode for me, and she certainly earned my respect for putting up with an amnesiac Doctor and setting the world straight in the finale (even if the finale bombed). I thought she was fine. Definitely overshadowed by Donna, but a definite improvement over how unbearable Series 2 Rose had become.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2016 23:59:44 GMT
I hated the way how she always wined about the Doctor not loving her and everything always being about Rose. Particularly annoying in the otherwise excellent Human Nature/ The Family of Blood, where she complains that the Doctor fell in love with Joan and not her. I admit, that bothered me about Martha's character too. Way too often in Series 3, it felt more like the writers were writing Martha more as Rose's replacement rather than a companion in her own right. Still, Martha never really RUINED an episode for me, and she certainly earned my respect for putting up with an amnesiac Doctor and setting the world straight in the finale (even if the finale bombed). I thought she was fine. Definitely overshadowed by Donna, but a definite improvement over how unbearable Series 2 Rose had become. And Martha was able to eventually make the right choice. When all was said and done, she decided to strike out on her own rather than play second fiddle to a woman she'd never met. I definitely agree that Donna was the companion that the Tenth Doctor needed, someone who respected him but didn't kowtow to him. She knew how to strike a chord with him through her humanity.
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Post by iank on Apr 17, 2016 0:13:34 GMT
Ian and Barbara. Love them both, and Ian was a total badass. My favourite male companion by a long way. Vicki, lovely, cheeky, sparky and genuinely enthused by the adventure. So much more fun than Susan. Leela. Magnificent savage. Both Romanas, especially II. Just a great character played by two great actresses with genuine character development and a wonderful arc. Ace, my childhood fave. Amy. Best New Who companion by far for me, such an original, slightly unhinged character, brought to life with great vivaciousness by Karen Gillan.
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Post by Hieronymus on Apr 17, 2016 0:20:01 GMT
Sarah Jane Smith.
She was my first Companion, and remains my favorite after all these years.
But I really like a lot of other Companions too.
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Post by cr1980 on Apr 17, 2016 3:29:48 GMT
And Martha was able to eventually make the right choice. When all was said and done, she decided to strike out on her own rather than play second fiddle to a woman she'd never met. I definitely agree that Donna was the companion that the Tenth Doctor needed, someone who respected him but didn't kowtow to him. She knew how to strike a chord with him through her humanity. After seeing Runaway Bride I thought Donna would be the ideal "after-Rose" companion, so for me the year with Martha was a bit of misstep. Not that I dislike the character or the season as whole, but at times it felt like Martha was there to be emotionally abused.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2016 4:28:05 GMT
And Martha was able to eventually make the right choice. When all was said and done, she decided to strike out on her own rather than play second fiddle to a woman she'd never met. I definitely agree that Donna was the companion that the Tenth Doctor needed, someone who respected him but didn't kowtow to him. She knew how to strike a chord with him through her humanity. After seeing Runaway Bride I thought Donna would be the ideal "after-Rose" companion, so for me the year with Martha was a bit of misstep. Not that I dislike the character or the season as whole, but at times it felt like Martha was there to be emotionally abused. Thankfully that wasn't the entirety of her character. She existed beyond being the unrequited love and even got to show off her doctoral skills to a woman who thought that she was stupid because she was a girl of colour. I think she was probably one of the best-written companions from the new series so far. Someone who was proficient without being arrogant.
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