One Of My Hobbies: companions and life outside the Doctor
So there's an interesting post on tumblr from 
taiey pointing out just how many of Clara's episodes feature her home/work life as well as her adventures with the Doctor - she tallies it as 75% up to last week's episode. That seems pretty high! And then I was curious what it looked like for other companions, as well as the time periods spent travelling full time in the TARDIS versus coming along for visits etc.
Note - I don't think that this is a way of working out how feminist or well-rounded a companion's arc is, but given that I have genuinely seen people say that Clara's life revolves around the Doctor (she is the only regular New Who companion to travel in the TARDIS part time throughout her run! why would you say that?! jeez, fandom) it seemed interesting to bear in mind.
A note - I haven't counted cameo appearances such as at the end of Ten's run, and I've erred on the side of not counting borderline episodes (Does Journey's End include Rose's life without the Doctor? mayyyybe?) so these are definitely lower limit numbers.
Rose
She's in 27 episodes in seasons 1 & 2. Her mother and her boyfriend are foregrounded as important characters from episode 1. She travels in the TARDIS full time but comes home to visit and her family get swept up in events. Her life outside the Doctor is primarily represented through Jackie, as Mickey becomes a companion in his own right. In season 4 she returns as part of the season arc, giving her 30 episodes overall.
Episodes that feature Rose's life without the Doctor: 17/30.
56%
Martha
Martha is in 13 episodes in season 3 and 5 in season 4. Her home life is represented as dealing with her large, loving and occasionally difficult family, and her studies to become a doctor. She travels with the Doctor full time in season 3 but it's compressed into a week, Earth time. In season 4, she primarily helps the Doctor from Earth with UNIT, but goes on one adventure with him.
Episodes that feature Martha's life without the Doctor: 8/18.
44%
Donna
Donna is in one Christmas special follow by 13 episodes in season 4. Her home life is characterised by her difficult mother and devoted grandfather and her dissatisfaction with daily life after having met the Doctor.
Episodes that feature Donna's life without the Doctor: 7/14
50%
Amy
Amy is in 33 episodes. Her home life starts out as being characterised by a distant aunt, no other family and few other friends except for Rory. Her developing relationship with Rory and later River is a major arc, and we only see her parents once after they are unerased from time, though we do meet her father-in-law as well. We see her working various jobs. She travels full time in the TARDIS for two seasons and part time for her last few episodes.
Episodes that feature Amy's life without the Doctor: 14/33
42%
Clara
Clara has been in 15 episodes so far. Her home life is characterised by her role first as a childminder and later as a teacher, as well as her grief after losing her mother as a teenager. She is the only regular new Who companion solely to travel with the Doctor part time.
Episodes that feature Clara's life without the Doctor: 11/15
73%
So that's:
Clara: 73%
Rose: 59%
Donna: 50%
Martha: 44%
Amy: 42%
I don't have any firm conclusions that I want to draw from that, but I do think it's interesting! And I think it's a good counterpoint to the idea that any of the companions' lives focus solely on the Doctor, because no, they don't.
I feel like a lot of the lazier Doctor Who reviews out there like to ignore the actual information we have on screen in favour of comments like 'all Martha ever did was pine after the Doctor' or 'Clara has no personality and we don't know anything about her life'. I'm really bored of that crap. You can take issue with their storylines without ragging on the women themselves, it's not hard.
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taiey pointing out just how many of Clara's episodes feature her home/work life as well as her adventures with the Doctor - she tallies it as 75% up to last week's episode. That seems pretty high! And then I was curious what it looked like for other companions, as well as the time periods spent travelling full time in the TARDIS versus coming along for visits etc.
Note - I don't think that this is a way of working out how feminist or well-rounded a companion's arc is, but given that I have genuinely seen people say that Clara's life revolves around the Doctor (she is the only regular New Who companion to travel in the TARDIS part time throughout her run! why would you say that?! jeez, fandom) it seemed interesting to bear in mind.
A note - I haven't counted cameo appearances such as at the end of Ten's run, and I've erred on the side of not counting borderline episodes (Does Journey's End include Rose's life without the Doctor? mayyyybe?) so these are definitely lower limit numbers.
Rose
She's in 27 episodes in seasons 1 & 2. Her mother and her boyfriend are foregrounded as important characters from episode 1. She travels in the TARDIS full time but comes home to visit and her family get swept up in events. Her life outside the Doctor is primarily represented through Jackie, as Mickey becomes a companion in his own right. In season 4 she returns as part of the season arc, giving her 30 episodes overall.
Episodes that feature Rose's life without the Doctor: 17/30.
56%
Martha
Martha is in 13 episodes in season 3 and 5 in season 4. Her home life is represented as dealing with her large, loving and occasionally difficult family, and her studies to become a doctor. She travels with the Doctor full time in season 3 but it's compressed into a week, Earth time. In season 4, she primarily helps the Doctor from Earth with UNIT, but goes on one adventure with him.
Episodes that feature Martha's life without the Doctor: 8/18.
44%
Donna
Donna is in one Christmas special follow by 13 episodes in season 4. Her home life is characterised by her difficult mother and devoted grandfather and her dissatisfaction with daily life after having met the Doctor.
Episodes that feature Donna's life without the Doctor: 7/14
50%
Amy
Amy is in 33 episodes. Her home life starts out as being characterised by a distant aunt, no other family and few other friends except for Rory. Her developing relationship with Rory and later River is a major arc, and we only see her parents once after they are unerased from time, though we do meet her father-in-law as well. We see her working various jobs. She travels full time in the TARDIS for two seasons and part time for her last few episodes.
Episodes that feature Amy's life without the Doctor: 14/33
42%
Clara
Clara has been in 15 episodes so far. Her home life is characterised by her role first as a childminder and later as a teacher, as well as her grief after losing her mother as a teenager. She is the only regular new Who companion solely to travel with the Doctor part time.
Episodes that feature Clara's life without the Doctor: 11/15
73%
So that's:
Clara: 73%
Rose: 59%
Donna: 50%
Martha: 44%
Amy: 42%
I don't have any firm conclusions that I want to draw from that, but I do think it's interesting! And I think it's a good counterpoint to the idea that any of the companions' lives focus solely on the Doctor, because no, they don't.
I feel like a lot of the lazier Doctor Who reviews out there like to ignore the actual information we have on screen in favour of comments like 'all Martha ever did was pine after the Doctor' or 'Clara has no personality and we don't know anything about her life'. I'm really bored of that crap. You can take issue with their storylines without ragging on the women themselves, it's not hard.
-- This entry has
comment(s) at Dreamwidth. Comment using your Dreamwidth account or OpenID.