I did get annoyed at Tegan. I agree that having such a shrewish Companion was annoying. Basically, while I don't like Companions to fawn on the Doctor, I also don't like ones who pick on him, or belittle him. Tegan at least had loyalty, but there was too much picking on the Doctor and treating him without respect, belittling him whenever she could. Amy bothered me the same way, always with the "my boys" schtick, as if they were just her puppies there for her convenience. (I equally hated the way she treated Rory as if he was her lapdog. And it didn't help that the writers wrote him that way, letting her get away with murder when it probably would have been better for her if he'd stood up to her and told her to cut it out. You can be a non-aggressive guy without letting them wipe their feet on you.) Mickey got much the same treatment.
Basically, why have anyone in the Tardis who doesn't want to be there? It's not like they really have time to develop any subplots based on that kind of relationship any more. It just comes off as the Companion pushing the Doctor around. Which seems really weird considering they're basically children who know nothing and he's the ancient alien who's destroyed worlds.
I prefer friends out to explore the universe, working together to solve problems, loving each other, but not fawning over each other, seeing each other with clear eyes, but having the tolerance,and even the enjoyment of personal foibles of friends.
I very much enjoyed the way Classic Companions would always be rolling their eyes about something the Doctor did, while at the same time explaining it away to strangers.
The "intolerance" in Classic Who (with a few exceptions like Tegan) seemed much more friendly and natural. Too much of New Who's relationships come off as fake. Everyone (especially the writers) are stressing too much how "special" everyone is, so they don't have time to just let them naturally be themselves and allow their own natural special qualities shine through.
One of the most special things about Donna was not that she was some special nexus point of the timelines, or that she had something on her back, or that she was the Doctor/Donna, the most "special" person in the universe.
It was simply that she was Donna. The goofy woman who would pack hats in case they went to the planet of the hats. Who would tweak the Doctor by calling him "spaceman" but mean it in an affectionate, but not blindly sycophantic way.
And, frankly, Sarah Jane was the most "non-special" normal person the show ever had. She simply treated the Doctor like a friend. She tweaked him when he needed it, supported him when he needed it, translated his weirdness for others who didn't understand, but also valued that weirdness in him, because it was part of him. Yet she also always knew he was there for her, unreservedly. They didn't "worship" each other, but they valued each other highly.
Yet, along with this deep affection, there was plenty of "I don't know why I like you humans so much," and the first thing Sarah ever did to the Doctor was kidnap him, and the last thing she did was have an argument with him.
Yet, she was not combative. She was simply dealing with his weird world, in the way a normal person would.
(Also, I think it's a very bad idea for the show to cast it's main characters in a bad light. The Sixth Doctor never really got past the "strangle Peri" scene. Amy's character was, I think, damaged by that "jump the Doctor" scene, and the Tenth Doctor would probably be remembered much more fondly if his tenure hadn't ended on him throwing a childish tantrum and then snivelling "I don't want to go!" Which sort of retroactively put his whole character in a bad light.)
If the writers can't think of interesting ways to develop a character other than just giving them "bad traits" in the name of "character development" then there is something wrong. People aren't made more real, simply by making them look bad.
Basically, why have anyone in the Tardis who doesn't want to be there? It's not like they really have time to develop any subplots based on that kind of relationship any more. It just comes off as the Companion pushing the Doctor around. Which seems really weird considering they're basically children who know nothing and he's the ancient alien who's destroyed worlds.
I prefer friends out to explore the universe, working together to solve problems, loving each other, but not fawning over each other, seeing each other with clear eyes, but having the tolerance,and even the enjoyment of personal foibles of friends.
I very much enjoyed the way Classic Companions would always be rolling their eyes about something the Doctor did, while at the same time explaining it away to strangers.
The "intolerance" in Classic Who (with a few exceptions like Tegan) seemed much more friendly and natural. Too much of New Who's relationships come off as fake. Everyone (especially the writers) are stressing too much how "special" everyone is, so they don't have time to just let them naturally be themselves and allow their own natural special qualities shine through.
One of the most special things about Donna was not that she was some special nexus point of the timelines, or that she had something on her back, or that she was the Doctor/Donna, the most "special" person in the universe.
It was simply that she was Donna. The goofy woman who would pack hats in case they went to the planet of the hats. Who would tweak the Doctor by calling him "spaceman" but mean it in an affectionate, but not blindly sycophantic way.
And, frankly, Sarah Jane was the most "non-special" normal person the show ever had. She simply treated the Doctor like a friend. She tweaked him when he needed it, supported him when he needed it, translated his weirdness for others who didn't understand, but also valued that weirdness in him, because it was part of him. Yet she also always knew he was there for her, unreservedly. They didn't "worship" each other, but they valued each other highly.
Yet, along with this deep affection, there was plenty of "I don't know why I like you humans so much," and the first thing Sarah ever did to the Doctor was kidnap him, and the last thing she did was have an argument with him.
Yet, she was not combative. She was simply dealing with his weird world, in the way a normal person would.
(Also, I think it's a very bad idea for the show to cast it's main characters in a bad light. The Sixth Doctor never really got past the "strangle Peri" scene. Amy's character was, I think, damaged by that "jump the Doctor" scene, and the Tenth Doctor would probably be remembered much more fondly if his tenure hadn't ended on him throwing a childish tantrum and then snivelling "I don't want to go!" Which sort of retroactively put his whole character in a bad light.)
If the writers can't think of interesting ways to develop a character other than just giving them "bad traits" in the name of "character development" then there is something wrong. People aren't made more real, simply by making them look bad.
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