Meta: Donna. The main character of her own life.
Fate of Donna Noble is one of the most discussed topics in my corners of Doctor Who fandom. Through last few years, there were many essays, metas or picspams dealing with season 4 or Donna’s fate particularly. I found myself nodding to few of them, I found myself disagreeing with many of them. In this short essay I want to introduce my ideas based on episodes, metas and fanfiction I have seen or read.
Donna Noble hasn’t had a warm welcome into the fandom. She came immediately after Rose was lost to parallel work and many fans didn’t want anyone to replace her, only if it was for one Christmas special episode. There were still people who warmed up to this feisty redhead and more than one person was happy when her return was announced.
Donna didn’t change much from her last appearance, she still shout and screamed, shut the Doctor up and showed everyone how much bravery and compassion could she had been hiding from the world. The Doctor saw it instantly; he had invited her to travel with him even though she not very nicely told him that he behaved like a lunatic. Maybe she had known more than the Doctor then, but that point could be argued in another text.
In this short meta I want to find and argue points when Donna’s life might have been influenced by Dalek Caan and which are were purely Donna's doing. My goal is to show that Donna Noble was a companion who didn’t need anyone to show her what she can do, she just needed someone to believe in her so that eventually, she would be able to believe in herself too.
In the first episode we see both Doctor and Donna investigating the new diet pill named Adipose. This case eventually brings them together and there are many “happy accidents” that might be caused by some outside power, fate or whatever you want to call it. What about this new pill persuaded Donna that something alien could be involved? Amazing results or the speed with which it spread around the world? It’s difficult to pinpoint the reason for Donna; it might just have been a forum that accused this pill of being extraterrestrial. This is one of the points where Dalek Caan could interfere in Donna’s life, as he could somehow manipulate Doctors TARDIS to call him to the Earth.
“Partners in Crime” has more than this one happy accident. Doctor and Donna stay hidden inside the Adipose Industries at the same time and finally meet, Donna parks her car near the spot where the Doctor lands his TARDIS. Are they signs of fate or Dalek Caan? In this point there couldn’t really be argued because no theory could be proven wrong or right.
Another episode when Donna is fighting against or for her own fate is “Turn Left”. Alternative reality is something that was previously used in Doctor Who. This time it was one Donna’s decision that created one. It cause Doctor´s death and suddenly there was no one to stop Sontarans, no one to stop Titanic from destroying London. In this episode, we meet Donna without the Doctor. She never met him, never traveled with him and yet, she is the same woman. She is trying to change the world by shouting at it.
I could try and controvert why Donna suddenly decided to change her direction and the only way she choose the right one is because of her death from parallel universe. This way, Donna created a loop, one Donna has to die so the another could travel with the Doctor. Could we find Caan involved?
I have only one theory in this regard. Caan helped Rose to find this universe; he needed her to tell Donna those two powerful words, which would bring the Doctor to Earth at the right time.
He very probably saved Donna’s life by making her win that trip too but it was Donna who made it all possible with her compassion and bravery. It was her who couldn’t watch the suffering of human race, who decided to trust a pretty blond with crazy ideas. It was her who offered her own life at the end and unintentionally caused her own “death” in universe she helped to create.
“BAD WOLF” were two words that followed the Ninth Doctor and Rose across the universe. It predicted its end many times, this time they meant the end of Donna.
All events were to follow a pattern that Dalek Caan set; Dalek shooting the Doctor, Doctor releasing the regeration energy into his hand and eventually bringing the TARDIS aboard the crucible just to fulfill the prophecy. “One of your precious children of time will die,” these words are repeated few times during the episode by Caan himself and the Doctor sees the TARDIS sinking into the core and Donna is presumably dead.
But during this time, when Donna battles for her life inside a dying ship, she touches Doctors hand. Why was she pulled toward it? She heard him, heard the beating of his heart but only created him when she touched the jar. Was the prophecy so strong it made Donna do it? Or did she know, did she feel that this one particular gesture can save the whole universe?
In my eyes, it was her, her bravery. Something was pulling her toward it, telling her that there is a way to save herself and all those people she loved. DoctorDonna was created exactly as the Ood prophesied.
There are many opinions about who DoctorDonna was. Was she just another Doctor or a person on her own? DoctorDonna was brave and compassionate, she told the duplicate Doctor to wait for the Doctor before destroying every existing Dalek, and she stood next to him on Bad Wolf Bay with tears in her eyes. She understood their feelings, the dilemma both Doctors were facing.
And she knew that her fate was sealed the moment she touched the glowing jar. DoctorDonna was still Donna Noble, she was still herself but there was one main difference. For the first time Donna Noble believed she was brilliant. She always rebuffed the Doctor when he told her so but this time, with his mind, she finally believed in it. DoctorDonna was simply a stage of Donna Nobles life, a stage when she finally understood why it was her who Lance chose to change into spider food. It was all because of this and if there was someone pulling the strings wasn’t important.
In this we can see the biggest tragedy of Donna Noble, she finally saw what everyone else did before her and not only it was because she took mind of her friend but she also lost if very shortly afterwards. “Don’t make me go back” are her words in the end. Donna Noble didn’t want to go back to her previous life; she didn’t want to go back to hating her life. Donna Noble wanted to be special not realizing she already was.
Doctor Who, being a sci-fi show, gives us the possibility of multiple universes. The world was set a year back after the Master enslaved the humanity with the help of nonexistent Toclafane, there was a world, where Rose´s father was still alive and she was never born, the universe was rebooted multiple times, after the Big Bang or Doctor presumed death. Where was Donna's place in these worlds? Was she finally a hero? Did she realize it and accepted herself? We still can hope for that.
Donna’s life wasn’t about prophecies. Yes, Dalek Caan influenced and manipulated her life but despite not believing it, Donna was strong enough on her own. Those were her choices, her deeds that made it all possible. It was more the Doctor who shaped her character by positioning her in situations that showed the universe what she is capable of.
Donna Noble was and is the most important woman of the whole universe, the only person that doesn’t know about it.
Donna Noble hasn’t had a warm welcome into the fandom. She came immediately after Rose was lost to parallel work and many fans didn’t want anyone to replace her, only if it was for one Christmas special episode. There were still people who warmed up to this feisty redhead and more than one person was happy when her return was announced.
Donna didn’t change much from her last appearance, she still shout and screamed, shut the Doctor up and showed everyone how much bravery and compassion could she had been hiding from the world. The Doctor saw it instantly; he had invited her to travel with him even though she not very nicely told him that he behaved like a lunatic. Maybe she had known more than the Doctor then, but that point could be argued in another text.
In this short meta I want to find and argue points when Donna’s life might have been influenced by Dalek Caan and which are were purely Donna's doing. My goal is to show that Donna Noble was a companion who didn’t need anyone to show her what she can do, she just needed someone to believe in her so that eventually, she would be able to believe in herself too.
In the first episode we see both Doctor and Donna investigating the new diet pill named Adipose. This case eventually brings them together and there are many “happy accidents” that might be caused by some outside power, fate or whatever you want to call it. What about this new pill persuaded Donna that something alien could be involved? Amazing results or the speed with which it spread around the world? It’s difficult to pinpoint the reason for Donna; it might just have been a forum that accused this pill of being extraterrestrial. This is one of the points where Dalek Caan could interfere in Donna’s life, as he could somehow manipulate Doctors TARDIS to call him to the Earth.
“Partners in Crime” has more than this one happy accident. Doctor and Donna stay hidden inside the Adipose Industries at the same time and finally meet, Donna parks her car near the spot where the Doctor lands his TARDIS. Are they signs of fate or Dalek Caan? In this point there couldn’t really be argued because no theory could be proven wrong or right.
Another episode when Donna is fighting against or for her own fate is “Turn Left”. Alternative reality is something that was previously used in Doctor Who. This time it was one Donna’s decision that created one. It cause Doctor´s death and suddenly there was no one to stop Sontarans, no one to stop Titanic from destroying London. In this episode, we meet Donna without the Doctor. She never met him, never traveled with him and yet, she is the same woman. She is trying to change the world by shouting at it.
I could try and controvert why Donna suddenly decided to change her direction and the only way she choose the right one is because of her death from parallel universe. This way, Donna created a loop, one Donna has to die so the another could travel with the Doctor. Could we find Caan involved?
I have only one theory in this regard. Caan helped Rose to find this universe; he needed her to tell Donna those two powerful words, which would bring the Doctor to Earth at the right time.
He very probably saved Donna’s life by making her win that trip too but it was Donna who made it all possible with her compassion and bravery. It was her who couldn’t watch the suffering of human race, who decided to trust a pretty blond with crazy ideas. It was her who offered her own life at the end and unintentionally caused her own “death” in universe she helped to create.
“BAD WOLF” were two words that followed the Ninth Doctor and Rose across the universe. It predicted its end many times, this time they meant the end of Donna.
All events were to follow a pattern that Dalek Caan set; Dalek shooting the Doctor, Doctor releasing the regeration energy into his hand and eventually bringing the TARDIS aboard the crucible just to fulfill the prophecy. “One of your precious children of time will die,” these words are repeated few times during the episode by Caan himself and the Doctor sees the TARDIS sinking into the core and Donna is presumably dead.
But during this time, when Donna battles for her life inside a dying ship, she touches Doctors hand. Why was she pulled toward it? She heard him, heard the beating of his heart but only created him when she touched the jar. Was the prophecy so strong it made Donna do it? Or did she know, did she feel that this one particular gesture can save the whole universe?
In my eyes, it was her, her bravery. Something was pulling her toward it, telling her that there is a way to save herself and all those people she loved. DoctorDonna was created exactly as the Ood prophesied.
There are many opinions about who DoctorDonna was. Was she just another Doctor or a person on her own? DoctorDonna was brave and compassionate, she told the duplicate Doctor to wait for the Doctor before destroying every existing Dalek, and she stood next to him on Bad Wolf Bay with tears in her eyes. She understood their feelings, the dilemma both Doctors were facing.
And she knew that her fate was sealed the moment she touched the glowing jar. DoctorDonna was still Donna Noble, she was still herself but there was one main difference. For the first time Donna Noble believed she was brilliant. She always rebuffed the Doctor when he told her so but this time, with his mind, she finally believed in it. DoctorDonna was simply a stage of Donna Nobles life, a stage when she finally understood why it was her who Lance chose to change into spider food. It was all because of this and if there was someone pulling the strings wasn’t important.
In this we can see the biggest tragedy of Donna Noble, she finally saw what everyone else did before her and not only it was because she took mind of her friend but she also lost if very shortly afterwards. “Don’t make me go back” are her words in the end. Donna Noble didn’t want to go back to her previous life; she didn’t want to go back to hating her life. Donna Noble wanted to be special not realizing she already was.
Doctor Who, being a sci-fi show, gives us the possibility of multiple universes. The world was set a year back after the Master enslaved the humanity with the help of nonexistent Toclafane, there was a world, where Rose´s father was still alive and she was never born, the universe was rebooted multiple times, after the Big Bang or Doctor presumed death. Where was Donna's place in these worlds? Was she finally a hero? Did she realize it and accepted herself? We still can hope for that.
Donna’s life wasn’t about prophecies. Yes, Dalek Caan influenced and manipulated her life but despite not believing it, Donna was strong enough on her own. Those were her choices, her deeds that made it all possible. It was more the Doctor who shaped her character by positioning her in situations that showed the universe what she is capable of.
Donna Noble was and is the most important woman of the whole universe, the only person that doesn’t know about it.