I like it when a character's ending (this goes for the Doctor's regenerations too, as well as characters in other shows) is organic to the character and the story. It should never feel like 'oh, the actor quit so the character's just going to hastily disappear' in the moment of watching it. The worst of that with Doctor Who tends to be the companions who decide to get married to someone who they just met that serial.
It IS possible for a five minute scene at the end of an episode to do a good job writing a character off though. Sarah Jane's (first) ending was wonderful that way. The Hand of Fear was a very good but perfectly normal serial. The argument between the Doctor and Sarah felt very realistic. It was probably a fight they'd had dozens of times before, and they would have been over it in fifteen minutes if Gallifrey hadn't called. Then afterwards he just moved on without considering her. It's sad in an understated, end of a relationship sort of way, without anything dramatically bad happening.
I liked Sarah Jane's other ending too, in that it was a non-ending 'the story continues, we've just stopped telling it', which I like much better than Big Dramatic Finale as a way to cancel a series. It feels right so much more often.
With New Who- I liked Rose's Doomsday exit quite a lot. I'd have preferred if she'd actually died (I like Rose, but I think it would have been better for the story), but it was a good compromise, and the emotion was excellent. On the other hand, I hated her Journey's End re-exit, because it made ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE for any of the characters involved. The sci-fi was broken, there was no logic or emotional logic to the Doctor's decision and nobody called him on it (despite him being in a room with a whole lot of people who are good at calling him on things).
Martha's decision to leave was very well done, made sense for her character, and made sense for the story. I actually quite liked Donna's ending because the randomness of it made it even sadder, and I absolutely love it when the Doctor behaves in a way which is flawed and yet entirely understandable where he's coming from (If my best friend were dying, and the only way to save their life was to erase their happiest memories, I'd do it even if they begged me not to.)
I thought that The God Complex was an absolutely perfect ending for Amy and Rory for largely the same reason as I loved Sarah Jane's. It was sad, but still allowed for life to go on. It was a very good conclusion to the themes of the past two series, and it really just fit. Especially since it wasn't even the real Amy and Rory in The Wedding of River Song, and for their entire run in series seven they didn't even want to be there, I'm sad they didn't let that one stick. The Angels Take Manhattan was fine, but it was too overdramatic. They didn't even remotely die, they just got separated from the Doctor. Plus, the hole in the plot was ridiculous. I wish that the ending that was hinted at in The Power of Three actually happened- that Amy telling the Doctor 'enough, this is my life, and if you can't respect that I don't want to travel with you anymore, please leave me alone'.
It IS possible for a five minute scene at the end of an episode to do a good job writing a character off though. Sarah Jane's (first) ending was wonderful that way. The Hand of Fear was a very good but perfectly normal serial. The argument between the Doctor and Sarah felt very realistic. It was probably a fight they'd had dozens of times before, and they would have been over it in fifteen minutes if Gallifrey hadn't called. Then afterwards he just moved on without considering her. It's sad in an understated, end of a relationship sort of way, without anything dramatically bad happening.
I liked Sarah Jane's other ending too, in that it was a non-ending 'the story continues, we've just stopped telling it', which I like much better than Big Dramatic Finale as a way to cancel a series. It feels right so much more often.
With New Who- I liked Rose's Doomsday exit quite a lot. I'd have preferred if she'd actually died (I like Rose, but I think it would have been better for the story), but it was a good compromise, and the emotion was excellent. On the other hand, I hated her Journey's End re-exit, because it made ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE for any of the characters involved. The sci-fi was broken, there was no logic or emotional logic to the Doctor's decision and nobody called him on it (despite him being in a room with a whole lot of people who are good at calling him on things).
Martha's decision to leave was very well done, made sense for her character, and made sense for the story. I actually quite liked Donna's ending because the randomness of it made it even sadder, and I absolutely love it when the Doctor behaves in a way which is flawed and yet entirely understandable where he's coming from (If my best friend were dying, and the only way to save their life was to erase their happiest memories, I'd do it even if they begged me not to.)
I thought that The God Complex was an absolutely perfect ending for Amy and Rory for largely the same reason as I loved Sarah Jane's. It was sad, but still allowed for life to go on. It was a very good conclusion to the themes of the past two series, and it really just fit. Especially since it wasn't even the real Amy and Rory in The Wedding of River Song, and for their entire run in series seven they didn't even want to be there, I'm sad they didn't let that one stick. The Angels Take Manhattan was fine, but it was too overdramatic. They didn't even remotely die, they just got separated from the Doctor. Plus, the hole in the plot was ridiculous. I wish that the ending that was hinted at in The Power of Three actually happened- that Amy telling the Doctor 'enough, this is my life, and if you can't respect that I don't want to travel with you anymore, please leave me alone'.
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