Least favorite Doctor Who companion


Television


Several companions seemed rather 'flat' to me, but the most annoying must have been Adric...


Vislor Turlough... though Adric is a STRONG second..for last place?

Greg

Grand Lodge

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Adric was a peach compared to Adam, but then again Adam was designed as a prick.

Liberty's Edge

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Adric always gets no love. I also actually like Mel too.

Least favorite companion is probably Turlough. Or Kamelion.


Amy Pond. She overshadowed the Doctor, and made it seem like he was HER companion

Dark Archive

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Scott Mullock wrote:
Amy Pond. She overshadowed the Doctor, and made it seem like he was HER companion

I can see this but, Donna is by far the worst companion ever.


I've been working my way through old Doctor Who and have almost finsihed the Peter Davison era, so both Adric and Turlough are fresh in my mind.

I started out liking Adric, but there seemed to be less and less for him to do other than be a brat as time went on. Especially once Nyssa and Tegan joined he became much less likeable. He didn't seem to work as well with Davison, either.

Turlough was more interesting. One of the few companions with any real character development of his own. I didn't like him at first, but once he rejects the Black Guardian he becomes much better. Always cautious (or cowardly) he is still loyal to his companions and usually overcomes his caution to help out.

He was also the last male companion until well into the modern show and I prefer the Doctor with multiple companions, preferable one of them male. It feels less like he's cruising the universe picking up chicks.


Rose. Good God she would not leave.


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Rose. Rose Rose Rose.

Her two-season run was fine. I loved Nine, and her episodes with Ten were mostly solid. And then they finished her story arc and wrote her out. A nice clean end, a clean slate.

But then...it was clear RTD had a thing for her. The Doctor wouldn't move on, and poor Martha never really got a shot to be Martha, instead she was simply Not-Rose. And the angst. Oh, the angst. Rose wasn't there, bring on the angst.

And then she came back. And "earned" a ridiculously happy ending that would make My Little Pony look downright grimdark.

I've never understood the hate for Martha or Donna, at least not Season 4 Donna. Totally understand Runaway Bride Donna, but season 4 Donna was a blast. Amy's not bad and completely tolerable solely for Rory.

I can't excuse Rose.

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Scott Mullock wrote:
Amy Pond. She overshadowed the Doctor, and made it seem like he was HER companion

I'm sorry, you misspelled Rose.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Agreed on Rose outlasting her welcome.

Mel drove me crazy (sorry Ms. Langford, you may be a wonderful person, but I HATED Mel. "Root for the Rani to kill her" kind of hate.)

Silver Crusade

Amy annoys me. Last season she had so many moments where she acted in a totally self centred and unlikeable manner.A shame because she started off quite well.

Mel is the worst. A total waste of space. Adric was horrible and Martha was annoying but neither of those can say they pretty much killed the series in the way Mel did. Only the awesomeness that was Ace kept the show going for a few years but the damage had been done...


That stupit thief one, the one that stole priceless historic artifacts just for a kick.


I liked Rose. I liked what they did with tying the series more to Earth and coming back and visiting her family and tying the stories more together that way. That was different and I think it worked well. It might have focused a bit much on Rose, since the Doctor didn't have his own supporting cast, but I still think it worked.

I didn't like the romance. Not so much for itself. The Doctor falls in love with a companion is a plot line that could work, but I don't think there was enough to make it seem like Rose was different. Even their relationship, as shown, didn't seem that different than previous companions, until the end. That casts all the old ones in a different light. Really kind of a creepy light.


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And here I wish they'd do a bit more with the whole idea of "the whole of time and space." It's a bit boring to spend that much of the time in modern Britain when your premise is go anywhere and anywhen. Like I said, Rose was fine until she became the thing that would not leave.


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thejeff wrote:

I liked Rose. I liked what they did with tying the series more to Earth and coming back and visiting her family and tying the stories more together that way. That was different and I think it worked well. It might have focused a bit much on Rose, since the Doctor didn't have his own supporting cast, but I still think it worked.

I didn't like the romance. Not so much for itself. The Doctor falls in love with a companion is a plot line that could work, but I don't think there was enough to make it seem like Rose was different. Even their relationship, as shown, didn't seem that different than previous companions, until the end. That casts all the old ones in a different light. Really kind of a creepy light.

The Rose arc ended badly, but I did not think she was a bad companion. I really did resent the "favoritism" that Rose got, over most any other companion. Others had been with him longer and got more of a "Oh, yes, bye then" approach.

Greg

Shadow Lodge

Rose was OK in series 1, and annoying and unlikeable in series 2. But I didn't really begin to hate Rose until she cast a shadow over series 3 and 4. Virtually every scene between Martha and the Doctor involved him referencing Rose to make Martha feel as if the was a second-class companion. Once Martha left, he finally seemed to realize that he was being a complete jerkass, because he didn't do the same to Donna. Only at that point, RTD had Rose show up briefly ever few episodes, then turn up in the last few episodes in person in order to.....do absolutely not a goddamn thing. Although admittedly, that refers to all the other prior companions who turned up as well, along with half the cast of Torchwood.

Even the first special didn't give us a break, since RTD feelt the overwhelming need to name a throwaway character Rosita just so he could have a mandatory (for him, at least) Rose reference.

Bleh. Overrated tombstone-toothed chav.

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Kthulhu wrote:
Once Martha left, he finally seemed to realize that he was being a complete jerkass, because he didn't do the same to Donna.

Unlike Martha and Rose, Donna did not have romantic feelings for the Doctor. Which apparently was something he really needed then and there.

Besides the Rose of the alternate timeline was crucial to Donna's getting her own history (and that of the world itself) straightened out.

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Well, he seemed pretty goddamn oblivious to Martha's feeling for him, so I dunno if that's an excuse.

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 8

thejeff wrote:


I started out liking Adric, but there seemed to be less and less for him to do other than be a brat as time went on. Especially once Nyssa and Tegan joined he became much less likeable. He didn't seem to work as well with Davison, either.

Adric was clearly designed to work with Tom Baker and not Peter Davison. The episodes where he was in 4th Doctor episodes he worked fine as a foil to Four and Romana. But his personality did not suit the way they were planning to write Five. JNT renewed Matthew Waterhouse's contract and re-hired Sarah Sutton because with the departure of such a long-time and well-loved actor to play the Doctor, he wanted as much continuity as possible, but unfortunately it didn't work very well in a combination. Adric and Nyssa were too similar--both alien, both geniuses, both experts in their field, both young and separated from their homeworld, and both having recently lost close family members. And Nyssa was frankly the more likable character (even if a bit bland, but I liked her) and a better partner to Davison's Doctor--and Sutton the better actor. So they stepped on each others toes and the casting created that "crowded TARDIS" feel that many criticize Five's era for having (even though other eras had many in the TARDIS and it worked fine). Nyssa was also the better foil to Tegan, who was the only companion who was written FOR Five, a brash and outspoken counterpart to the quieter and more intellectual Five. I know people tend to love or hate Tegan (I love her, but I understand why some find her grating), but narratively she worked in the way Adric did not, and could bounce off Nyssa in a way that again, Adric did not work. Adric suffered from bad timing and bad casting combinations--in addition to problems caused by Matthew Waterhouse behind the scenes (it is no surprise they killed him off).

I do not like Adric much, myself, personally. Just not to my taste, and again the timing did not help him.

Other least favorites would include Peri (she has likeable moments but I find her very annoying generally, and her fake American accent grates--I liked Nicola Bryant better as "Miss Brown" in the Stranger series where she used her own voice).

I also will add to the choir about Rose. Problem with Rose is she started fine, but ended a parody of herself, and the constant references to her post departure backfired--rather than induce pathos, I just couldn't wait for him to get the frack over her. I think a lot of Rose is less the character and more the "idea" of her and the heavy handed way she was referred to in the script.

River Song too is someone I've grown to hate more for her place in the metanarrative than her personality--I realize her companion status is more iffy because she's not a constant traveling companion, but she's a regular cast member and traveled in the TARDIS more than once, so she fits my personal criteria. I loved her in the library story, but her constant reappearance and eventual bad-fanfic-esque Mary Sue backstory that emerged and the way she seems to be better at everyone at everything is just uninteresting, and I dearly wish she'd go away forever.

For the other most-hated companion Mel, I feel sorry for her. She never got a proper introduction--no origin story the way every other companion has had. We never learned why she traveled with the Doctor or how they met, and I think those factors add a lot to how we feel about a companion or relate to the character. She suffered from nastily bad character writing, at a time when the writers were obsessed more with grandiose plots than character development--and the hiatus at the time didn't help either. Fortunately all the mistakes they made with Mel I think led directly to the creation of Ace, who was one of the best developed companions in the old series.

But I don't hate Mel... sadly because there just isn't much there to feel anything for (and yes, that is definitely not Bonnie Langford's fault). I hear they do good justice to her in the Big Finish audios (sadly too many of those for me to ever purchase and listen to all of them).

(And while I'm here, my favorites, in chronological order: Barbara, Zoe, Leela, Romana I and II, Tegan, Ace, and Donna)


DeathQuaker wrote:
River Song too is someone I've grown to hate more for her place in the metanarrative than her personality...I loved her in the library story, but her constant reappearance and eventual bad-fanfic-esque Mary Sue backstory that emerged and the way she seems to be better at everyone at everything is just uninteresting, and I dearly wish she'd go away forever.

Yeah, gotta agree. She can take the Daleks on at least a two season vacation to let the story get some variety back into it.


The worst? K-9... that thing was designed to strip the show of all credibility.

Donna was also pretty bad (although there were a few moments when she shined).


Maybe Harry or Adric or Ace. I think Amy is starting to wear a bit thin.

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

Re: River.

I like River (and Alex Kingston, I'd almost watch old episodes of ER for her now). Moff seems to understand the Timey Wimey nature of time travel, so we'll likely see 'younger more inexperenced' River w/o the psychosis. I also think Alex Kingston can play a more inexperenced River in a sympathetic way.

That said, I don't want her as a regular. I'd rather her adventures be 'off panel' as it were.

Funny thing is, Rose vs River. Just as there's a lot of "Get over her already" in Rose, to me there's a bit of that pathos working in River. When she quips to the Doctor "You. Me. Handcuffs. Must it always end this way?" It's a funny line that has a double level of wham in hindsight (or foresight, Timey Wimey) because River knows she's in handcuffs for killing the Doctor, and the Doctor (and we) knows she meets her end when he's in handcuffs. It allows the writers (and actors) to put in a lot of gut punch lines spoken innocently.


Kinda surprised at all the dislike of Donna. She was my favorite until Rory came along.

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Donna served a very similar function to Tegan. Both of them kept the Doctor grounded and humbled them in a way.

That and I loved Catherine Tate's comic interaction with David Tennant, and that she wasn't a stick. (Sorry Amy fans. Karen may be a nice enough person IRL, but she needs to eat something).


Hence why I like Rory. He's one of the few Companions who doesn't see the Doctor as the best thing since sliced bread, and has the spine to actually tell him so.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I don't think I've had a companion that I've actively disliked. I sympathized with Adric as I grew up in the decades before being a geek was fashionable. And I understood his poor socialisation. Adam of course you were supposed to hate because he was a pure untempered jerkass who tried to undo history for his own personal enrichment. (And got appropriately punished in the 10th Doctor's Old Testament style)

Put me down as another River supporter she's one of those Companions who holds her own and then some with the Doctor, along with Rory and Donna.

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The other thing about River is that many of her best moments aren't in the series, but in those special shorts, like the pair of "First Night" and "Last Night".


Poor Rory always seems like a third wheel. Caught forever between Amy and the Doctor.

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Aranna wrote:

Poor Rory always seems like a third wheel. Caught forever between Amy and the Doctor.

He came into his own though as "The Last Centurion". And the story of the Two Amy's. But he's not ever been just the Doctor's punching bag. He calls him quite accurately in Venice. He's a lot like Donna in that he serves as the Doctor's needed second voice, but he has a lot more at stake.


In defense of River, I liked the whole 'Each time I see him I know him better and he knows me less, and I dread the day he doesn't know me at all'--a great metaphor for relationships where one person is afflicted with Alzheimer's.


QX, I never thought of it like that. Man, now I'm depressed.

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QXL99 wrote:
In defense of River, I liked the whole 'Each time I see him I know him better and he knows me less, and I dread the day he doesn't know me at all'--a great metaphor for relationships where one person is afflicted with Alzheimer's.

I think that aspect of her character is amazing (and I absolutely have nothing against Alex Kingston, she's an amazing actress. But I try not to conflate actor for character when it comes to like or dislike).

I just don't like the frequency in which she's been used and the details of her backstory--frankly I think it all feels a bit forced.

Orthos, I don't get it either, I thought Donna was brilliant (though I hate the way things ended for her). But I like the companions who frequently put the Doctor in his place. I like the ones who are there to "stop" him--or at least try. But I think those characters also tend to be either loved or hated for that very same reason--it's hard to feel ambivalent about a character with that kind of role.


Donna was actually one of my favorites...hated her ending though. But that is a dark path to let my thoughts go down.

Greg

Scarab Sages

Tegan hands down... The Aussie one.

Okay I am Australian but for fark sake woman... do you have to be so head strong annoying!!!

After reading this thread, it seems like it a golden age of dreaded companions... 4th thru to 5th doctor.


Yeah, definitely hated the way Donna's ending went. Doubly so since it followed so closely on the heels of Rose's Super Duper Storybook Happy Ending.


For me it's a 4 way tie between Teegan, Nyssa, Donna Noble, and K-9.


<sneaks in, puts on troll, er, Master face>

Your favorite. :P

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Grey Lensman wrote:

<sneaks in, puts on troll, er, Master face>

Your favorite. :P

Ace, Romana (Sorry to hear about Mary Tamm's death, this has been a bad year for old companions dieing), Donna. Finally watching some very old ones and I'm starting to like Zoe.

Least favorite, Amy Pond, Mel.

Mel, unfortunately had very bad scripts, so I don't blame Bonnie Langford.

Amy Pond and the reason I don't like her is almost the opposite of why I like my favorites. Her evolution as a character is rather limited. Ace, who is my favorite (and I think of as a prototype for the new series companions) was like the Doctor's adopted daughter/apprentice and grows as Seven mentors and teaches her. I like what they had planned for her in season 27. Donna, also grow and learns in her adventures, and her fate is truly tragic because of it.

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@ Kerney,

IIRC, the Sylvester McCoy episodes were the first to go to an hour, so Ace benefitted from being able to be more than the exposition character.

Third Doctor: It appears he was eaten by a grue.
Jo: What's a grue?
Third Doctor: Why it's a monster that lives in the darkness and waits for you to make a wrong turn. Now you and the audience are both up to speed.

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My candidate for worst companion is Romana.

As characters, well-defined and terrific chemistry with Tom Baker. Played by strong actresses capable of a lot of different fashions and settings.

As companions, terrible. Like Matthew says, the role of the companion is to ask leading questions, to allow the Man from Gallifrey to exposit on things the viewers need to know. And a Time Lady is terrible at that.

Fourth Doctor: It appears he was eaten by a grue.
Romana: Hmm-mm. A left-handed one, by the looks of it.

K-9 failed, for the same reason.

For least favorite companion, I'm in the Turlough camp.

The repeated-to-boredome scenes of Turlough sneaking away to desperately consult with his secret masters and plan his betrayal got old, and stayed old. And then, after all that build up ... a simple Heel-Face Turn, and all is forgiven. And forgotten. And after that, there's nothing left of Turlough's personality. He was built for one storyline, and then shuffles his feet through the rest of his time with Five, waiting to be forgotten in some alien parking lot.


Adric, followed by Tegan. Peri was fairly useless, and her accent was a bit off at times, but she was way better than those two. So was Turlough.

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Matthew Morris wrote:

@ Kerney,

IIRC, the Sylvester McCoy episodes were the first to go to an hour, so Ace benefitted from being able to be more than the exposition character.

They only did one season of hour long episodes, under Colin Baker. They they switched back to the half hour format during the Mccoy era. Some of the DVDs though do have extended versions (Curse of Fenric for sure, the others I don't know).

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