[ SECRET POST #4038 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4038 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 33 secrets from Secret Submission Post #578.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

03. https://i.imgur.com/nzKCNei.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, but the Doctor in question was Ten. He seriously needed some changing.

[(Anonymous)]

This. I might have objected to that sort of attitude with some of the doctors, but with Ten it was desperately needed.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, Ten was broken, and Donna was keeping him on the rails.

[(Anonymous)]

Exactly. Donna with 11 or 12 would have been grating but with 10 she was perfect.

[(Anonymous)]

Her bossiness put me off, too.

[(Anonymous)]

You're not the only one, OP. I know a lot of people love her, but I am NOT among them.

(Granted, her ending was a bit sad, but I liked her da far more than her.)

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Her ending was super-sad! And as much as I loved her father, I really hated her mother. What an awful personality!

[kaijinscendre]

As someone who only watched Nine and Ten's runs it was refreshing to have a female companion who didn't think the Doctor was "OMG AMAZING! I MUST LOVE HIM!!!"

[(Anonymous)]

Yep. I would say their relationship was refreshing and sorely needed, both from a character and audience perspective.

[(Anonymous)]

I disagree so strongly but I'm keeping my shit cool

obviously, tastes vary, but for me, the character worked for a number of reasons. First, because Catherine Tate is charming and has amazing chemistry with David Tennant. Second, because Donna's point of view was usually right, or at the very least incredibly justified. Third, because Donna's correctness didn't feel (to me) like it was magical or cheap - it felt like it was the logical result of her personality and her experiences. The fact that this person with this deeply moral set of views comes from a really well-depicted place of loneliness, isolation, and helplessness - and not just in terms of being personally lonely, but a loneliness that comes out of a specific social milieu - really grounds the character, makes her believable, and makes her sympathetic.

I also disagree with the idea that it was unreasonable for her to want the Doctor to change his behavior, or generally to be critical, because I really don't see how. Because the Doctor is pretty deeply flawed and amenable to change, and because Donna and every other companion is a meaningful character in their own right with their own, justifiable point of view, and I think that Doctor Who is generally at its best when it's comfortable with that. I think the least interesting version of Doctor Who, by far, is the version of Doctor Who where it's basically an untrammeled power fantasy about the Doctor being rad all the time always. So I fundamentally disagree with that sense of what Doctor Who is.

Now I'm definitely not saying that Donna is perfect, or that her season is perfect, or anything like that - she has flaws, and there are things that I would change. Also, I think you can clearly go way too far with the fallibility and flaws of the Doctor, as both RTD and Moffat did at various times, so just having those themes isn't justified in itself. But still, on the whole, Donna was an amazing character and I love her.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't disagree with everything you said here, but this point?

Donna's point of view was usually right, or at the very least incredibly justified.

Ugh, no, I didn't think so. Sometimes, yes, but most of the time it wasn't.

[(Anonymous)]

That's okay, OP. I absolutely adore Donna and she and Bill are my favorite companions so far. I know a lot of people love her, but I couldn't stand Rose and it felt like she and Ten were super smug and brought out the worst in each other. Donna seemed to call out the Doctor on his bullshit, not because she knew better, but because her moral compass didn't always align with his. I liked how she didn't fawn over him or treat him like he was super special. He was just her friend.

[were_lemur]

I know that I didn't actually write this comment, but I could have written this comment.

Isn't that sort of the point of a companion?

[(Anonymous)]

I've only watched maybe 3 episodes in my life, but I thought the purpose of the companion was to guide and advise - and criticize if necessary. They are supposed to remind the Doctor of his moral duty.

Re: Isn't that sort of the point of a companion?

[(Anonymous)]

Same. I'm a huge Doctor Who fan, and having an assertive personality and a dynamic where they can challenge the Doctor at times is sort of just what companions DO.

I wouldn't say they're neccisarilly supposed to be to be "moral" (even if they do tend to often be) - but they're generally the "avarage mortal human" POV to his (and now her!) "thousand year old alien."

Re: Isn't that sort of the point of a companion?

[(Anonymous)]

But "guide and advise and criticize" is not what Donna did. She was mostly loud and bossy and insulting. And why would anyone expect a 900+ year old alien conform to subjective human morals?

Re: Isn't that sort of the point of a companion?

[(Anonymous)]

... no. They might do that from time to time, but that's not their main role. They are pretty much what it says on the tin and generally serve as the stand in for the audience. They might bump the plot along by helping the Doctor, but they're not the Doctor's advisor or mentor at all.

[wldcatsprstr_14]

No wank formed against Donna will prosper.

[(Anonymous)]

Seconded.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

Not meant as wank, though. I genuinely didn't like her. Fandom loves her, that's why this is my secret.

[(Anonymous)]

How about reasoned criticism? Because they're not the same thing. I don't get the sense that OP is trying to stir the pot at all, and it seems unfair to imply they are trying to start wank just because they have a differing opinion.

[(Anonymous)]

Uh, I didn't get that from Donna at all.

[(Anonymous)]

When you've officially run out of things in Doctor Who to complain about: make like it's 2008 and have a go at an RTD companion.

What are we doing next week, Rose vs Martha shipper drama?

Shrieking harpy

[(Anonymous)]

Dear Lord, she was so God damned annoying. I used to skip her single episode and entire season when I'd go back and rewatch Ten's run. She's no less obnoxious on her own show.