The New Companion

[Coolhand]

Originally Posted by pyan

To be fair, I think it's a case of "wait and see." You never know, she may surprise everybody.

I can understand people saying “give her a chance” but we’ve already done that. It was the Xmas special. Donna destroyed it. And give the track record of character writing on the show, we have no reason to trust that she’ll be any better the next time around.

Originally Posted by pyan

What, you don't like what he's done to drag a moribund, cancelled show back to the point where over nine million people watched it last week? And now you want rid of him because of a decision that we won't even be able to evaluate until next year!

See, this is the odd thing. I’m quite schizophrenic about RTD and I think a number of other people are too. I have great respect for what he has achieved: resurrecting a SF show that almost everyone classed as dead and buried, and making it one of the most popular things on BBC1. Like you said, that is a phenomenal accomplishment and something that he should be very proud of. It’s probably the greatest thing he’ll ever achieve professionally and he deserves an award.

Simultaneously, the actual episodes he writes are often awful. I wanted to get rid of him long before the start of season 3.

He seems to make a great producer, seems to have a massive love of the show and obviously has the drive and fire to get projects green-lit. But he has little to no skills at SF writing, and some of the big ideas he’s brought in (Love interests, screeching Chavs, RTD bingo, the worst Master in the history of the universe and Donna) are a horrible price we’ve had to pay for seeing the Doctor again.

And let’s not forget Torchwood, which is basically what happens when RTD tries to create his own show without existing source material or an iconic character to give him a head start.

So yes, I think he’s achieved a wonderful thing in bringing back the show. And yes, I think the sooner he’s gone the better.

Originally Posted by HoopyFrood

Yeah, she'll certainly be unlike the others...Hear that, RTD, she will not fall in bloody love with him! She won't be afraid to put him in his place when he starts getting all 'Doctory'.

To be honest, Hoopy, if Catherine Tate’s ignorant nightmare of a screechy character tries to put the ancient, heroic, wise Time Lord “in his place” EVEN ONCE I shall create a device that transports me into the fictional world of Doctor Who, use it, drag her out of the TARDIS, feed her to the Haemoavores, and then let Feneric himself feast on her soul...
Sorry, sorry, think happy thoughts, Coolhand needs Ritalin…Coolhand needs Ritalin...
You ARE right, Hoopy, a companion who can stand up to the Doc would be great. But not Donna. Maybe Romana....are you listening RTD?

[Jon George]

I’ve just had a nightmare thought …

I’m old enough to remember William Hartnell and Susan(?) with her referring to him as grandfather. Perhaps Catherine Tate will be the one The Doctor has sex with to get the linage going …

Well, if you’re going to ruin a series with the likes of her in it, why not go for broke?

[the_faery_queen]

it's going to be bad.
she's a terrible actress. she's annoying beyond belief
and added to russel t davies awful scripts of boring, repetitive themes and ott ness, it's just going to be so snoozy! not even lovely david will make it watchable. i think i will wait until martha comes back, hope that balances it out, and only watch it until then if russel hasn't written the thing.

he really sucks. when will they get rid of him! *cry*

[Kostmayer]

They should bring back Sarah Jane Smith - she's still smoking.

[mistera]

Originally Posted by Coolhand

I’m quite schizophrenic about RTD and I think a number of other people are too. I have great respect for what he has achieved: resurrecting a SF show that almost everyone classed as dead and buried, and making it one of the most popular things on BBC1. Like you said, that is a phenomenal accomplishment and something that he should be very proud of. It’s probably the greatest thing he’ll ever achieve professionally and he deserves an award.
Simultaneously, the actual episodes he writes are often awful. I wanted to get rid of him long before the start of season 3.

I'm with you on this one, Coolhand. I have massive respect for RTD as someone who's been able pull together some great writers, scrounged a decent budget, cast some fine actors, etc. and corralled it all into a show which delivers a fine slice of family entertainment and preserves the legacy of the show to a large extent.

At the same time, his self-penned episodes are always my least favourite: the attempts at humour (farting Slitheen, the Abzorbaloff's whole persona, the Master being 'wacky'...); the deus ex machina denouements (ah yes, everyone in the world saying the word "doctor" will of course turn a feeble aged Time Lord into a demi-god and the Master will instantly give up); the overdone pop culture (or just contemporary) influences (the Master has conquered Earth, turned his greatest foe into a decrepit oldie and is on the verge of interstellar conquest, so what does he do? A little song and dance number to a Scissor Sisters number...)

Originally Posted by Coolhand

And let’s not forget Torchwood, which is basically what happens when RTD tries to create his own show without existing source material or an iconic character to give him a head start.

Bingo! I've commented on what I think of this one on the Torchwood forum, but you've done it much more succinctly.

On the subject of Tate as the new companion, sounds like I'm with the majority (on this forum, at least) in despairing at the BBC's announcement. I actually quite liked her comedy show when it first aired. The concept of the Lauren character ("am I bovvered?") is, like Little Britain's Vicky Pollard, quite an astute and witty observation about modern youth. However, her humour does wear thin after a while and I felt the latest series was just not funny - and in a couple of instances, actually rather offensive.

At least Martha will return for four episodes...

[Interference]

Micky.

There's a lot more to that lad than they ever brought out of the script. The actor did all llll lll the work.

Love the idea of Sarah Jane coming back, though. The Doctor has never repeated a companion, as far as I recall.

Is it only cost considerations that has kept the passenger list down to 1 (female, no hand baggage) for so long? So much of the entertainment was derived from the interaction between companions, and it took the pressure off the writers to find the Doctor something to say other than "Invert the phase and power up me interositor". I honestly don't think "I love you, Rose" every couple of episodes, especially now she's gone, is much of an improvement.