Doctor Who... well, commentary, I suppose.

[lyssie]

Contains spoilers for oldskool.

This meta? idk if it counts as that, came about because I've been seeing some of the same thing said over and over again about River Song (and to a lesser extent, Amy). And it was said about Rose Tyler (rather a lot, in fact) and Martha Jones and Donna Noble at various times, too.

But the River Song stuff was what finally acted as a catalyst for my annoyance.

sigh. You know, there is this recurrent theme in newskool companion meta, wherein people talk about how companions before were young girls who needed training/needed the Doctor to be real people/were rather rubbish/had no lives before and after him/spent most of their time screaming or with twisted ankles, were useless and pointless, etc. And it is annoying. I am very well aware of the difficulties in the oldskool years (there is lots of fail), but that is no excuse not to acknowledge that most of the companions were perfectly capable human beings who were living their own lives merrily before he entered and saved the day (some stowed away, some joined accidentally, some were sweet-talked, some joined of their own volition), almost all of whom left and went off to have THEIR OWN adventures.

And while I do think the Doctor brought some magic into their lives, they weren't lacking before they met him.

Not to mention that not all of them were young (teen) women. Nor did any of them start out as incomplete people who needed instruction. Ace was really the first "I'm taking you along to Teach you The Ways of the Universe" type that continued with Rose. (my apologies to Grace Holloway, but she really does blow that entire "needed the Doctor to realize she was awesome" theory out of the water--er, Grace. Ace, otoh, was sort of screwed over by fate, so it's only kind of Seven to help her get over her fears so she can kill Daleks with baseball bats and explosives)

so, let's do a run-down, shall we? (I apologize for sort of skimping on the men, but they're really not the big point of this anyway, despite being as badly-written and even cardboard at times; Steven, I'm lookin' at you, lad.)

• Barbara Wright. Schoolteacher; stumbled into the TARDIS. Pls do not even try that shit on with her.
  
• Susan Foreman. Young, yes. She's his granddaughter. Tended to twist her ankle. I will give you the abandoned to a life not so great bit. Though I always assumed she ended up helping lead the humans to rebuilding their society.
  
• Ian Chesterton. Schoolteacher; stumbled into the TARDIS. Tended to bumble around and get treated badly by One. Left with Barbara for sexytimes.
  
• Vicki, Dodo. Both young; not entirely sure how either joined. I'm afraid I know very little about them, other than that Dodo was literally dropped in the middle of a story and we will not discuss what extended canon says of her.
  
• Steven Taylor. Man in his 20's. Was the stereotypical action!hero Buck Rogers type. Don't know how he left.
  
• Katarina. Young servant/slave girl; I'm not sure how she joined the Doctor. I do know she took out a bad guy when she airlocked herself with him to save the day.
  
• Sara Kingdom. Older woman (JEAN MARSH, fuck yeah); joined during the Dalek Masterplan. Was awesome, carried a gun and shot things. Ended up being aged unnaturally to death to stop the Daleks. (she and Katarina were the first 'companions' to die, and the last, for a very LONG time)
  
• Polly Wright. Youngish; stumbled into the TARDIS. Was a happy mod 60's type. Seem to recall her being rather fabulous and intelligent. Don't know about her departure (one assumes she went back to being groovy)
  
• Ben Jackson. Man in his early 20's. Was in the merchant sailors when he decided Polly was a girl to follow around. Don't remember much about him, either.
  
• Jamie McCrimmon. Young man from 18th c. Scotland. While I love Jamie, he wasn't very smart, but he was courageous and solicitous of young women. Was mind-wiped by the Time Lords, presumably died at Culloden.
  
• Victoria Waterfield. Oh, dear. Teenaged girl, orphan. Father had dealings with the Daleks; joined the Doctor because she had nowhere else to go. Spent lots of time screaming and being helpless, but was occasionally fabulous. Her screams were a weapon in an episode. Wiki informs me that she found a family to replace her old one.
  
• Zoe Herriott. Ah, Zoe. Young woman; I think she snuck aboard, iirc. Marvelous memory and quite intelligent. Ended up getting mind-wiped by the Time Lords, along with Jamie. (they always have been a rather unlovely bunch)
  
• Elizabeth Shaw. Older woman; dumped upon the Doctor by the Brigadier. Scientist who could keep up with the Doctor and frequently called him on his patronizing bullshit. Was dumped by the producers for being too smart (aren't we lucky they're not running the show now). Presumably went back to her thinktank at Cambridge and was awesome.
  
• Jo Grant. Brought in to be the opposite of Liz, young, cute, screamer; got an uncle to pull strings so she could join UNIT (the Brig assigned her to the Doctor). Also an expert in escapology and quite stubborn. Left the Doctor to marry a man who was a younger version of him. (went off to have adventures in the Amazon, and quite probably was marvelous)
  
• The Brigadier. Older man. Never really traveled in the TARDIS, ran UNIT for a while. Bluff, autocratic and followed orders, even when he didn't like them.
  
• Sgt. Benton. Man in his 20's. Also didn't really travel. Spent time in UNIT.
  
• Cpt. Mike Yates. Man in his 30's. Didn't travel, was in UNIT.
  
• Sarah Jane Smith. Youngish, probably in her 20's; stole away in the TARDIS. Journalist and feminist. In her first episode went off on her own and basically stormed the castle. Called the Doctor on his shit a lot. Kept having to be sweet-talked into staying by Three (I think by the time Four was there, she'd resigned herself to Adventures in Space). Eventually left because he couldn't take her to Gallifrey. Went off to have her own adventures on moors with a robot dog. Currently being awesome in her own series.
  
• Harry Sullivan. Man in his 30's; sort of stumbled into the TARDIS. Spent lots of time being an imbecile and the Action Hero, but was mostly a navy doctor at heart. Left the TARDIS to continue his career.
  
• Leela; scampered into the TARDIS because she'd decided there was possibly more to life than being married young, having babies, and dying. Savage young woman, whom the Doctor tried to teach manners. This rarely went well. More liable to knife you than smile at you. Left the Doctor to scandalize Gallifrey with Romana the Captain of the Guard.
  
• Romanadvoratrelundar. 1 and 2. Woman in her ...well, I believe she was 126?; thrust upon the Doctor by the White Guardian. Aristocratic and smarter than the Doctor. Called him on his crap, knew how to fly the TARDIS better, managed to fix it on more than one occasion. Left the Doctor to save the Tharils in E-Space. Eventually became Lord President of Gallifrey.
  
• Adric. Teenaged boy; stowed away on the TARDIS. Smart, liked math, frequently annoyed the Doctor. Was the third companion to be killed when he destroyed the dinosaurs of Earth. (GO, ADRIC)
  
• Nyssa of Trakken. Teenager; the Master brought her to Logopolis, and then destroyed her homeworld. Was very naive and young, but matured as the series went on. Gifted in bio-electronics with a bio-chemistry penchant (between Nyssa and Liz Shaw, I was all SCIENCE IS COOL as a small child). Left the Doctor to help the people of Terminus cure the Lazar disease (and to synthesise them the drug they needed). It wasn't an easy life, but I doubt she ever looked back. Once built a sonic device that destroyed an android, and she and Adric piloted the TARIDS on their own.
  
• Tegan Jovanka. Woman in her 20's; got lost in the TARDIS on her way to her first day as an air hostess. Most emphatically not enamored with the Doctor. Spent most of her run criticizing him, attempting to get back to her life, and being awesome. Eventually left when there was a huge run of deaths that she couldn't handle anymore. Extended canon has her missing him iirc.
  
• Vislor Turlough. Young man (though Planet of Fire makes it sound like he's possibly a bit older); joined the TARDIS crew in order to kill the Doctor. Coward. Whined a lot, sometimes came through. Left the Doctor since the regime which exiled him to Earth was over with and his brother was alive.
  
• Kamelion. Robot metamorph/shapeshifter who was enslaved by the Master. Spent most of his time trying to avoid psychic attacks from the Master. Ended up dying at the Master's hands. (he's only in, like, two episodes, iirc, there were issues with the F/X)
  
• Peri Brown. Teenager; Turlough brought her aboard after she nearly drowned. Student--botanist major who was on holiday. While she did rather spend time screaming, she also tended to stand up to the Doctor, and occasionally they remembered the botany thing and she'd get to hunt for plants (and almost get turned into a tree). We do not discuss her ending, because I still haven't forgiven JNT/Saward for it. (suffice to say, it is FAILcakes)
  
• Melanie Bush. Woman in her 20s. Computer tech who obviously had a life of her own before deciding the Doctor needed her help (tbh, I don't think I've ever learnt how Mel originally boarded the TARDIS). Spent most of her time screaming, being charming, smart, and mocking him. Left to become a space pirate.
  
• Ace. Teenager. The first companion to be asked aboard the TARDIS so she could be Taught How To Survive (and as a favor to Mel). Stubborn, not prone to screaming, also Special and called him on his crap. The series ended before she could leave.
  

And that's just the ones who were televised. That's not counting Benny, Roz, Chris, C'Rizz, Lucy, and a mountain of others who were written in a time when they controlled large portions of the narrative.

These women (and few men) were compassionate, loyal, brave, intelligent, and managed to stand up for themselves. Many of them questioned the Doctor. Most of them, even while screaming, still managed to do things. Even Victoria, who fainted that one time (give her some fucking slack, girl's from a time where women were supposed to sit around in corsets, sew, and have babies), managed to do shit and be awesome.

And you know what? Most of them weren't written in a time when women who could pass fandom muster had to be Ellen Ripley, Sarah Connor, Kara Thrace, Laura Roslin and Aeryn Sun all rolled into one.

Do I think they were underused, frequently turned into a damsel, would randomly twist their ankle, and sometimes pushed to the background? Yes. Do I think that's a product of the years they were being written (most of them are from 63-83, not exactly enlightened times for television, though I'm not sure 83-03 was any better)? OH FUCK YES.

Do I think if they were being written today they'd be different, with more agency and allowance in the plot?

I don't know. I would like to think they would be, that the stories would contain more of their awesome, that ankle-twisting would be at a minimum, and that none of them would be married off randomly (though the latter seems to have been the point of EVERY SINGLE newskool companion, so I'm not sure I'd have any luck there. And let's not even talk about the Secretly In Love With The Doctor stuff).

If I look at the Big Finish (and earlier Virgin and BBC) companions, I think they'd be better-written.

Comments

[lizardbeth-j.livejournal.com]

dude, what I know about Doctor Who (in all incarnations) would fill a teacup, and even I know Ace and Jo and Tegan were pretty freaking cool companions. And Romana of course, which I did watch way back in the day. hrmf.

But it's very cool to see your rundown and realize I knew even more names than I thought.

[amaresu]

Let's think, I'm not sure how Vicki came aboard, but she left to preserve history by marrying an ancient Greek guy. Something about how history said she was there so she had to be there? I did rather love her in The Time Meddler and the Companion Chronicles she's been in show her to be at the very least content with her life (but that's EU, so). She enjoyed mocking Steven.

Dodo stumbled into the Tardis looking to call the police iirc.

Steven left to go help set up a new planetary government. Or something along those lines. And he spent all of The Time Meddler trying to disprove that they'd traveled in time.

I don't think Mel ever officially got an introduction story. Beyond Trial, but by then she already knew the Doctor.


But, yes, word to all of this. I hate all of the lies that originally got spread when New Who was starting about previous companions. A lot of the Rose build up was done by knocking down Classic Who companions and that's just a shitty way to go about things. There were a lot of good and interesting things about Rose that made her stand out from past companions. Then the lies got spread and people believe them. When I first started watching Classic Who I was shocked by all the really awesome companions I was given. (It didn't hurt that I went from Romana to Barbara there.)

The worst thing though is that this belief that all Classic Who companions did was scream and need to be rescued keeps people from actually watching and finding out the truth. They don't want to have to deal with "crappy female characters" so they don't even bother. This makes me sad.

[abates.livejournal.com]

Katarina was a servant girl who helped Steven into the TARDIS in the middle of the fall of Troy because he was wounded. Even though the stuff the Doctor was doing was incomprehensible to her, she still did things on her own initiative, like take Steven out of the TARDIS when it looked like they were in danger.

Polly came up with a concoction that kills Cybermen. That in itself is awesome.

[theta-g.livejournal.com]

Vicki was a future girl, shipwrecked and rescued. She left to love a Trojan lad.

Dodo was another stumbler from 60's London. "There's been an accident - a little boy's been hurt." Steven had stormed off for good but came back suddenly to warn The Doctor that a couple of policemen were on their way to use the box. The Doctor hurriedly dematted, forgetting entirely about the hurt little boy and the strange girl standing in the console room.

Katarina helped carry a wounded Steven into the TARDIS when the Greeks sacked Troy. The Doctor couldn't wait for it to get safe outside and brought her along on his quest for medicine. She thought she was on some magical boat to the afterlife anyway.

Steven left to become a kind of revolutionary leader on an obscure little planet in the distant future. Half the indigenous race had been reduced to living in caves - a glittering population of futuristic city dwellers was literally draining the life force out of them regularly.

Polly and Ben had the briefest of departure scenes; the TARDIS happened to touch down back in their own time and place and they both went back to being groovy.

Victoria was vocally fed up with the constant mortal danger, in her final story and the one before. Nice lead up to a weird departure, but foster parents from the future still beat out running from monsters.

Melanie Bush was doing some contract IT work in Brighton when she first met The Doctor. He made an effort to deny her request to accompany him because he wanted to avoid the Trial ever happening. Ultimately he concluded she was inevitable.

[blinovitch.livejournal.com]

Liz became an investigator of oddities and weirdness after leaving UNIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.R.O.B.E.

tougher than the rest?

[auroramama]

Because my knowledge of old Who is so sketchy, I don't know how much of the old-companion dissing is specific to the show and the characters, and how much is the universal tendency for advocates of Character W to find the rest of the alphabet wanting.

There's a kind of opinion-guided bias in knowledge, anyway. Naturally I'm going to know more of the details about the character/series/time period I love than I do about the others. My ideas about the others will probably be less informed. And there's the confirmation bias affecting what I see after I've made up my mind.

I also suspect, but know myself to be almost entirely ignorant about, a kind of variation in people's expectations about love, friendship, and the universe. Can a person have multiple soulmates, even serially, even in potential, or can there be only One True BFF? Some people lean towards One True, others toward More Than One, or at least the possibility thereof in some alternate universe. It feels to me almost like a difference in orientation.

(Edited for focus.)

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

no excuse not to acknowledge that most of the companions were perfectly capable human beings

THIS. So very very very very much.

Bless you for taking the time to list all this out.

And even Grace may have needed the Doctor to realize she was awesome, but in order to realize that, she had to already be awesome.

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

And this is part of the reason why I have an enormous problem with the whole Peter Pan analogy that seems to get applied to Doctor Who every once in a while. The companions on the whole are not Wendys who need a trip in Neverland in order to "grow up." (Nor is the Doctor as ultimately a pathetic a character as Peter Pan.) (Nor is TARDIS travel a fantasy.)

Great list!

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

Leela!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And her Captain of the Guard, Andor! I think they were my first ship. :P

[scarfman]

We'll find out what happened to Jo in an upcoming Sarah Jane Adventures. But RTD is writing, so we may be looking at another School Reunion with Amazing Retconned Pining-Away-For-Years.