Doctor Who: Oh, dear...

[fajrdrako]

The latest news from BBC about season 4 is very disappointing to me.

Ah well. I couldn't expect my honeymoon with Doctor Who to last forever, could I?

Comments

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

Is she the one that someone described over on TWOP as being worse than Lana Lang?

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Do you think they might be trying to tone down the hype or something?

BTW, there're gorgeous photos of DT in a red velvet suit (*cue me melting*) from the Harry Potter premiere (04nbod has most), and some beauties of TW filming on barrowmanfans - if you haven't seen those, well, they might atone for the news. Short term, I mean ;)

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

Aaargh! The antithesis of Martha, and (as far as I could see) likely to be written as a total pain in the ass. Even Dr. Who redemption only goes so far.

Why???

[teaphile.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I didn't dislike Donna, but I was kind of hoping he'd pick someone up from the past rather than our present, just to shake it up a bit.

[benbenberi.livejournal.com]

It's not the news I would have hoped for. The bits of her comedy I've seen are not at all to my liking, and although I didn't absolutely hate her in The Runaway Bride I can't say I wanted to spend more time with her.

Still, one hopes for the best. She was rather an overbearing presence at Xmas, but if we're lucky they'll tone her down a little without losing the things I liked about the character, i.e. that she's ballsy and self-assertive and unimpressed with the Doctor's Doctorishness. After 3 seasons of being adored by his companions it's time he had to deal with someone a bit more prickly and emotionally independent, who is not only willing to call him on his bullshit (which Martha did for a while) but tell him flat out when he's going too far. Our Doctor's not in a very good place right now, and if they write Donna well she could be what he needs to get his balance back.

[lilithlotr.livejournal.com]

I've always liked her, so I'm hoping for the best. 13 episodes seems like way too many, though.

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

*grumble* *grumble* she is not by any way the companion I would pick. She was more or less OK in the Christmas special, considering it seemed to be setup as a relatively humorous interlude. But that character, as it was, I cannot see as a permanent companion. The character will have to do an enormous amount of growing to do and I don't know Catherine Tate well enough to say if I think she is capable of showing that.
Apart from that, I find her considerably less attractive than Rose and Martha, but than again, many people on this world are. Lets just hope the team writes a set of episodes that play up to the strengths without making it in some kind of comedy series.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

We'll see. But Doctor Who has survived having annoying companions before (Jamie, Adric (much-detested!), Mel, Peri), and some that were just plain dull (Tegan, of whom I recall nothing memorable whatsoever).

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

An alien would be good. He's had non-Earth companions before.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'd prefer someone from the past, too.

I didn't actually dislike Donna, really, either, but I didn't want to see her again.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The antithesis of Martha

Yes. I would be happy with Martha forever!

likely to be written as a total pain in the ass.

She was rather fun in "The Runaway Bride", but grating on my nerves a little by the end. All her reactions were wrong. The "pain in the ass" factor seems inevitable.

Why???

I would guess, because Catherine Tate is popular in the UK. At least, I assume she is. She seems to have a high profile.

I think they wanted a contrast with Rose and with Martha. Unfortunately.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the links to pretty pictures to cheer me up!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Is she the one that someone described over on TWOP as being worse than Lana Lang?

LOL! I have no idea. She doesn't strike me as being the least bit like Lana Lang, thank goodness ... maybe more like Lois Lane in her more shrewish and thoughtless moments. She's played by a rather shrill comedian, whose specialty is being a bratty and contrary teenager. A lot of that bleeds through to the character of Donna, though Donna isn't a teenager. She's a ditz with an attitude. She didn't want to travel with the Doctor - had no interest in time/space travel at all, and thought the whole adventure she had with him was a nuisance - so I wonder why she'd change her mind.

Some of her dialogue was very funny - I loved it that she kept calling the Doctor a Martian, and the poor guy would mutter, "I'm not from Mars." It was actually a rather comedic lead-in to a very dramatic moment later in the episode where the Doctor said the name of his planet for the first time in the new series.

But I was very glad to see the last of Donna at the end of that episode, and it's depressing to think I'll have to put up with her on a regular basis. Yes, I'll certainly give her the benefit of the doubt and give the series a try, but it doesn't make me look forward to series 4 the way I would like to be able to do.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The bits of her comedy I've seen are not at all to my liking

I've only seen one clip of her comedy, that bit she did with David Tennant as a teacher. I thought he was very funny - and she was difficult to understand. Her humour seems to be based on an annoyance factor.

I liked Donna's dialogue in "The Runaway Bride". She was actually sort of fun in many ways - but enough was enough and I was glad at the end that I woudn't (I thought) have to see more of her. You're right, if they get the writing down and play her right, she could be a wonderful contrast to Rose and Martha, a companion with no sense of wonder and not much respect, let alone eager adortion.

Our Doctor's not in a very good place right now, and if they write Donna well she could be what he needs to get his balance back.

That's the most encouraging thought I've heard yet about the situation. I like that idea. Thank you for offering me hope!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

13 episodes seems like way too many, though

You say that - and you liked her?

Heh.

I'm hoping for the best, too. If she has good dialogue, and plays down the ditziness, she might be fun.

I just... don't have a lot of faith that they'll get it right.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

*grumble* *grumble* she is not by any way the companion I would pick.

No. Her amusement factor treads that thin line between "really funny" and "really annoying" and I found a little bit went a long way - the length of "The Runaway Bride" was just about right.

I loved Martha. I came to love Rose. I can't imagine loving Donna. But they've surprised me before.

The thing is: if we're supposed to identify with the companions - I can't imagine myself identifying with Donna Noble! And I fear the show will veer over too far into the realm of comedy. I love the comedy in Doctor Who as it stands, but mostly because it give such a wonderful variance of tone between the comic and the serious, or even the comic and the tragic. I find it hard to imagine taking Donna Noble seriously, and part of my pleasure in Doctor Who has been that it makes the unreal seem real to me, and meaningful.

"Some kind of comedy series" is exactly what I don't want.

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

I read a little further last night and the "Lana" character is called "Rose." Unless I'm confused and have the wrong program altogether!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm sure the show will thrive. And maybe I'll like it more than I think I will - a lot depends on the stories and the writing. Maybe Donna will be more sympathetic and palatable than I expect her to be. It's just that... with hundreds of English actors who could become the Doctor's companion, and whose announcement would fill me with anticipation or at least curiosity, my reaction here was, "Oh, no! Not Donna again!"

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I thought it might be Rose they were thinking of. You've stumbled on a currently explosive issue in Doctor Who fandom, the Rose shippers vs. everyone else, particularly the Martha lovers. The reason they compare Rose to Lana (regardless of any personality issues) is that even when Rose was long gone from the storyline, the Doctor continued to talk about her, even pine after her - which seriously annoyed the fans who wanted him to forget her and get on with life.

Personally, I liked both Rose and Martha, and had no complaints about the way the story went. So - for me, not like Lana. But I can see how, if you didn't like Rose, it would be excruciating stuff.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I would love it if he had an alien companion! That would be terrific!

[benbenberi.livejournal.com]

Me, I would take Jamie out of the annoying column -- I loved Jamie! -- and put Tegan into it. She was always whining and complaining, and I didn't miss her one bit when she left.

I always felt bad about hating Adric, though. The actor was just a kid who lucked into a role without any acting experience, and the character was very young too and worked well with Tom Baker; but Peter Davison was not old/mature enough to be credibly paternal with him, and Adric fell into the troublemaking brat role by default. And he died heroically, which is redeeming.

They did go through a run of bad companions there in the 80s, though, didn't they?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

They did go through a run of bad companions there in the 80s, though, didn't they?

It sounds like it! So which of the companions did you like? who would you call the good ones?

[benbenberi.livejournal.com]

I liked a lot of them, really. In the Good Companion column I would include: Ace, Turlough, Romana I and II, Leela, Sarah, Harry, Jo, Liz, Jamie, Zoe... The Brigadier was never a companion, but he was great too. (The earlier companions all sort of blur together for me, & many of them I haven't seen enough of their episodes to tell whether they were really Good or Annoying or Just There. Not a Hartnell fan, here.)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thanks for telling me your assessment. An interesting bunch!

[medelle.livejournal.com]

I agree, I loved Rose and I certainly understand the Doctor still being in mourning. I mean it hasn't been THAT long in the timeline!

And I was not prepared to like Martha, but I actually really did. I thought she was different enough so as to be sort of a breath of fresh air. I don't blame her at all either, for falling for the Doctor - I know I sure as hell would! :D