A Big Post of Love for Ten/Donna

[meddow]

Of the many brilliant moments in the Stolen Earth, one of my favourite is a little one that flies in under the radar, when the villain is revealed Donna leans over to the Doctor and quietly says: "Doctor, it's alright. We're in the TARDIS. We're safe." She's basically treating him like he's having a PTSD flashback to the Time War, which he probably is. Really, it's just another little moment of the many this season that illustrate how the Doctor and Donna are just ridiculously perfect for each other. She gets him, and even better, it works both ways. He thinks she's brilliant, even when she doesn't think so herself. RTD calls the Donna the Doctor's best friend in the whole of time and space. I wouldn’t go that far, but I would call her the Tenth Doctor's best friend in the whole of time and space.

They are certainly my absolute favourite Doctor and Companion team, surpassing in my affection even Sarah and Four and the One, Susan, Ian and Barbara team which, although I was wildly enthusiastic about the prospect of Ten and Donna together in July last year, I didn't expect would happen.

Thing is, I think the Doctor and Donna have finally managed to capture all the best the new series has to offer, in that there is much more time spent on character and relationships, and the best of the old series, in that it's two people travelling through time and space having a great time with a relationship that doesn't ever get weighed down in baggage. I'm not intending to slight either Rose or Martha by saying this, but the teenage co-dependency that developed between Ten and Rose was not particularly fun to watch, and neither was it fun to watch Martha being left in the cold by the Ten.

And then add on to that the fact you've got David Tennant and Catherine Tate, who have such brilliant natural chemistry they should really star in a screwball romcom. Plus it seems that with Catherine Tate as the lead actress the writers have been willing to do more with the Companion. Small things like giving Donna a good share of the funny lines instead letting the Doctor do the vast majority of the comedy serves to emphasise their relationship as a genuine partnership of equals. And even in scenes when she's just standing there while the Doctor is talking, her reactions to him (usually variations on WTF?) are always fascinating to watch and seem to reinforce their bond.

And then there's Donna herself. She's not smitten with him (although he may well be with her, DT certainly seems to play it that way sometimes), she finds the romance in the travel and adventure not in the Doctor. The complete lack of jealously and hero worship on her part gives him someone to confide in. He's working through his issues. This all combined means that finally, the Tenth Doctor has become a Doctor I can love to pieces (like Nine, One and Four).

I must admit, I do kind of ship them, as much as I do Sarah/Four, in that I sometimes love interpreting everything in a way that’s shippy, and sometimes I just leave them as best mates and adore them that way.

I can say that series four has been my absolute favourite of the new series, and a large part of that is because of the Doctor and Donna team. The other part is because of Donna by herself. (Actually, I think for me my series four love breaks down to 40% Donna/Catherine Tate, 35% The Doctor and Donna 15% the Doctor/David Tennant and 10% Harriet Jones, Martha, UNIT, Sarah Jane, Mr Smith and Luke).

Thing is, I don't while we don't know yet what's going to happen in Journey's End to split them up, they are going to be split up. And while I'm alright with this fact, and I have been alright with this since the beginning of the season ('alright' in the Time Lord code sense of the word), they're still going to break up. So I shall hope for more Ten and Donna books, and then hopefully one day Ten and Donna Big Finish audios, and tonnes of wonderful fanfic about them because they shall probably forever more be my team TARDIS of choice and I love them to bits.

Comments

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

I am getting so pathetically ahead of myself mentally constructing the day that Big Finish will manage to recruit both the New Series crews and Tom Baker so I can have Four/Sarah and possibly Four/Romana I (I'm guessing his other two leading ladies wouldn't be so keen to work with him, or he with them) and possibly Nine/Rose and Nine/Rose/Jack (and any Mickey that can be stuck in there as well <3) and Ten/Martha and Ten/Donna and etc. etc. etc. audios over which I shall squee like mad.

[artic-fox.livejournal.com]

She's not smitten with him (although he may well be with her, DT certainly seems to play it that way sometimes)

I love his interaction with Donna. Usually he is so in the lead with everything, but it almost feels like he is by her SIDE rather than a leap ahead of her like it felt with Rose or Martha. I kind of like the idea that perhaps he is a bit in awe of her awesomeness and that he needs her more than he'd ever admit. It would be healthy for him to have that sort of relationship with someone instead of being hero worshiped like he has been in the past.

You hit the nail on the head in so many ways with this post, and I think I love season 4 the way I do, because of the brilliance of Donna, and the character they have given her. Sometimes Season 3 was so painful to watch because of the way Martha was treated (Family of Blood/Human Nature were brilliant episodes, but I just hated the whole use of Martha there), and sometimes even S2 got a bit much with all the candyfloss and glee before having a big moment of Emo Angst to balance it out. (Don't get me wrong, I love Who so much that I love both seasons, but S4 seems to be more balanced and equal).

I know whatever happens, we say goodbye to Donna on Saturday (or Sunday for us), and I think I'll be sad, but I'll be okay as long as her storyline ends appropriately. It will probably still break my heart, but I can be pleased that her character has been done justice.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

I'm getting rather pathetically ahead of myself in that regard as well. Big Finish audios of the new series and Four's tenure would be fantastic. And there can be Ten/Rose/Mickey and I'm sure they can find reason to five us Ten/Donna/Martha and Ten/Martha/Jack as well (they could have gotten lost on the way back from Messaline/The end of the Universe and made some wrong stops).

[meddow.livejournal.com]

She does tend to drag him places. I get the feeling that other than his TARDIS flying skills, Donna really doesn't need him at all and he's actually more aware of this than she is. Rather they travel together because she does have quite deep affection for him. And it makes for a much more equal and healthy dynamic.

They seemed to have gotten the formula just right with S4. With lots of shows they tend to start feeling tired by S4, but with Doctor Who it seems the other three seasons were lead up to this (particularly given the pure reckless bombast of TSE) and that they've learn from, built upon and even turned some things on their head. Like how they set up the new series Companion conventions with Rose and Martha (such as the giving of the TARDIS key), and a lot of humor has been had out of Donna turning those conventions on their head in a fourth wall grazing manner this season. It's wonderful.

And I'm with you. As long as Donna's story is done justice, I don't mind if I get my heart broken.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Basically yes to everything you said, especially:

Thing is, I think the Doctor and Donna have finally managed to capture all the best the new series has to offer, in that there is much more time spent on character and relationships, and the best of the old series, in that it's two people travelling through time and space having a great time with a relationship that doesn't ever get weighed down in baggage

Because I've seen people declare that Ten/Donna feels like a return to an Old School combo, and well, yes and no. They wouldn't have been written that way back in the day, and Donna certainly wouldn't have been given that much room and development. (Ace was near the end of Old Who, but Seven/Ace was very much mentor/protegé, which is a very different type of relationship.) As you say, what's great about Ten/Donna is that you can see writers and actors combining the virtues of both old and new Who.

And then add on to that the fact you've got David Tennant and Catherine Tate, who have such brilliant natural chemistry they should really star in a screwball romcom.

They should. I think it's mentioned somewhere in either the podcasts or in an interview that they were planning on a "Donna-like" companion for s4 until hearing they could actually get Catherine Tate back, and then it was just no question at all. It makes me mad when people dismiss The Runaway Bride (and Donna in it) because the great give and take both between Donna and the Doctor and CT and DT as actors is really visible from scene one. (Though of course their relationship changes and deepens in s4.) The production team struck gold there, and thank god, they realised it.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

If they ever did really return to a pure Old School Doctor/Companion relationship in the New Series, I don't think anybody would like it at all. As much as I love the Classic Series, the lack at times of even constancy of the characterisation of companions, never mind development and arcs, can make for frustrating viewing occasionally. Some seem to be forgetting this, I think.

They really did strike gold with DT and CT. According to the commentary for the episode the rooftop scene, which has such beautiful performances from the both of them it has to be one of my favourite scenes of the series, was the first scene they filmed together (besides that ten seconds in Doomsday). That's just amazing.

And I'm one of The Runaway Bride's biggest fans. If there was one episode that's in desperate need or reassessment of Who fandom at large because it's gained such an unwarranted reputation for being a poor episode. The way RTD and CT develop Donna alone makes it brilliant.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

The nostalgic view of the past, I suppose, the grass is always greener, and so forth. Like you, I love Old Who, but I don't think it's perfect.

Oh, this reminds me - in the pre-season 4 SXF interview that got a lot of people upset because of the "there will be tension with UNIT remark", the interviewer called Donna and CT "the most controversial companion since Bonnie Langford" (when in doubt, bash Mel, huh?) and basically asked whether she wasn't a huge risk for the show, and much as RTD can make one headdesk sometimes, his retort was just great. First, he said that anyone claiming "Catherine Tate screeched her way through "The Runaway Bride"" can't have seen the special at all, that this was not a matter of opinion, but fact, and pointed to both the rooftop scene and the "sometimes, I think you need someone to stop you" scene as two of his favourites that they've filmed in the entire show. And then he said Catherine Tate would blow everyone away with how amazing she is in s4. I do hope when they get around to their season overview in that magazine, they admit how utterly true that was.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

I remember reading those comments in SFX and quietly cheering. There was some utterly ridiculous things said about Catherine Tate from not just fandom, but the media. And really, there was always about as much chance of Donna saying "Am I bovvered?" as there was of Rose bursting out into the chorus of "Because We Want Too", but that seemed to occur to very few people. Sometimes RTD can say the just right thing.

[lounge-lily.livejournal.com]

I pretty much agree with everything you've said. Donna Noble is probably my favourite TV character of all time.

And I'm one of The Runaway Bride's biggest fans. If there was one episode that's in desperate need or reassessment of Who fandom at large because it's gained such an unwarranted reputation for being a poor episode. The way RTD and CT develop Donna alone makes it brilliant.

Amen. The Runaway Bride is still my favourite episode and I don't get how anyone could hate her in it. It was a fabulous, layered performance by CT and the roof top scene and the final scene outside her house are just brilliant.

And then add on to that the fact you've got David Tennant and Catherine Tate, who have such brilliant natural chemistry they should really star in a screwball romcom.

I was only thinking the other day how most of their scenes together resemble all those 40's rom/coms. I certainly hope someone else is clever enough to put them together in something else soon; their chemistry is gorgeous.

I remain unspoiled for Saturday and for everything else beyond it so I don't know jack about how it all plays out but if we're only going to get fourteen episodes of The Doctor and Donna, I'm pretty happy with the fourteen we got.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Donna has got to be my favourite TV character as well.

It is a wonderful performance from CT in TRB. Some only seem to remember the first 16 minutes of The Runaway Bride in which Donna yells a lot. Even in those 16 minutes it's not just CT yelling lines at the camera, there's just a bit of distress and fear beneath it and the comic timing of it all is terrific. The yelling is Donna trying desperately to keep on top of a situation wildly out of her control and so far beyond everything she's ever experienced before.

And if I were a casting director or writer, I'd be busy writing parts for the both of them. Give them a good intelligent script and it would be magic.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Even in those 16 minutes it's not just CT yelling lines at the camera, there's just a bit of distress and fear beneath it and the comic timing of it all is terrific.

A great example of how comic timing and rhythm works is when Donna, after getting more and more worked up for understandable reasons, opens the door of the TARDIS and comes to a complete stop when seeing outer space. Then we get both Donna and the Doctor quietly exchanging a few sentences, with CT and DT adjusting their performance accordingly, and then as soon as the Doctor closes the door again it's back to hectic exchanges.

Give them a good intelligent script and it would be magic.

With all the fanboying and -girling of The West Wing they've done this season in interviews etc, maybe someone alerted Aaron Sorkin? *wants Sorkin scripted CT/DT performance*

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Aaron Sorkin writing a romcom for those two would be far too fantastic for words. If it wasn't for the existence of The Stolen Earth, I'd say it was what the word fangasm was created to cover.

[reserve.livejournal.com]

This was exactly the kind of philosophical reverie I found myself having in the car yesterday when a song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoCcnpbco58) came on that reminds me of Ten and Donna. I suppose it really does come down to my being prepared to have my heart broken, but being so pleased with what we've got...that its bittersweet potentiality is just the consolation prize I need. So DoctorDonna ends... but my imagination, songs like this, the internet keeps me going :)

They are wonderful together. They really are.

[reserve.livejournal.com]

All the rapid fire, walk-and-talk banter would KILL ME.

Bring it on.

[airie-fairy.livejournal.com]

I don't know how much I'd want to go near Ten/Rose/Mickey even though Big Finish would probably do a nice job improving it, but I am eager on the other accounts. =D

[gloriatempest.livejournal.com]

I agree with every thing you just said...Also, how can we contact the BBC and suggest they create a romantic comedy staring Tate and Tennant...and how can we spread the word so thousands of people make the same request??? HuH, HuH. LOL

[buffyaddict13.livejournal.com]

i wish i could say something intelligent and witty to your amazing post, but all i really have is a resounding "EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAID!" i adore ten and donna so very much and i feel s4 has been the best season so far...and i LOVE rose with the passion of a million suns. so big fluffy kudos to ct because she's gold.

i love the ten/donna dynamic so very much, i'm going to to blubber for days when she's gone. if the next companion is half is good, then well done, show.

thank you for this lovely lovely post.

*hearts*

[popzealot.livejournal.com]

That scene in stolen Earth is superb. She doesn't take her eyes off him.

David and Catherine need to be in an Aaron Sorkin romcom right now. seriously. It would make me ridiculously happy, and it would make them ridiculously happy - everyone's happy!

I love Donna so so much (like a ridiculous amount) and the Doctor/Donna relationship is perfect. I love them as best friends, and I also reserve the right to ship them ;)
Season 4 has been an absolute joy, and I'm just so sad it's over.

[tebasile7.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree with you!
Especially the sometimes shipping them an sometimes just enjoying their wonderful friendship and Donna and DoctorDonna being the reason why I love season 4 so much more than the previous ones (which I still love but this is so much better).
The only one in RL I can talk about Doctor who with is a colleague whose English isn`t good enough to watch the show.
So she´s watching it on German TV (early season 2 now, with no idea if anything after that season will ever be shown) and when talking to her I realize , yes I like those episodes, but season 4 is in a whole different league for me.
I`m really anxious about what`s going to happen on Saturday.....
Getting my heart broken seems to be given....

[meddow.livejournal.com]

A big 'Yes' to all of that. I'm so glad fandom is around to keep the DoctorDonna going past the TV show.

That song is unfortunately region locked, and I can't see it.

[cromarty.livejournal.com]

Hello [here from who_daily. Wonderful post, and if you had told me that Catherine Tate would be my favourite companion ever at the end of Runaway Bride, I would have laughed at you. Not because I disliked her in TRB, but because I could never have envisaged the way she would grow and blossom and the way CT would transcend all fandom's preconceptions. I am resigned to it being over all too soon on Saturday but if they take away all that development from Donna, I am going to be so sad. And I'll probably start writing fix-it stories and seriously, RTD, no one wants that *g*

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Hopefully somebody at the BBC has been watching the show and come to the same conclusion. RTD's going to be jobless soon and he seems to recognized those two are gold.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Thanks:)

I'm really grateful we're getting those apparently companionless specials for a year and not the show, because Donna's going to be one hell of an act to follow.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Everybody wins with a DT, CT & AS romcom. Except maybe Aaron Sorkin since we don't know his thoughts would be on the matter, but who cares.

And season four has been fantastic. Why does it have to end?

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Occasional shipping is the most fun, I think. You get the benefits of both worlds. I was watching Doomsday recently with a friend who was watching it for the first time and out of order, she's already seen most of season four. There was a cheer when Donna showed up from her. Season two has its moments, but season four is something else.

And I really hope future seasons get shown on German TV. Another Who obsessed flatmate of mine is German and she'd be saddened visiting to find Germany's missed out.

[meddow.livejournal.com]

I had high hopes for Donna on the announcement of her returning, but she's surpassed even those. And the amount of people that have admitted they were wrong and the way fandom's embraced the character is just amazing. I figured a lot of people would be proven wrong but I didn't think she's become so popular so rapidly.

And count me as another who will probably end up writing fix it stories if RTD screws it up and takes Donna's development away.

[reserve.livejournal.com]

This (http://boxstr.com/files/2308872_8ix32/Nicole_Atkins-Maybe_Tonight.mp3) link should work just fine for you. Check it out, it's a good song. :)

[meddow.livejournal.com]

That song is gorgeous. And it is very much them. Thanks for pointing it out to me XD.

[tebasile7.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately German TV is showing Who on Sunday afternoon in summer, not really a good place to get noticed. And they don`t advertise it at all.... so not looking good at the moment )-:
Thanks for reminding me not to wtch Doomsday with my colleague, she`ll be heartbroken by the end and I`ll be cheering when Donna appears, not really appropriate. (-;

[popzealot.livejournal.com]

Sorkin would love them. And if not, well, tough. I demand it happens anyway.

[popzealot.livejournal.com]

And I'm one of The Runaway Bride's biggest fans. If there was one episode that's in desperate need or reassessment of Who fandom at large because it's gained such an unwarranted reputation for being a poor episode. The way RTD and CT develop Donna alone makes it brilliant.

Runaway Bride is my most re-watched episode. It causes me almost physical pain when fandom declares it a load of rubbish, becuase it's simply not. It's a fantastic episode. I wish I could force everyone to give it another try. Maybe they'd see the Donna they missed the first time around.

[chloris67.livejournal.com]

Hi! I'm not sure how I got here. I was just clicking and trying not to think too much about the finale. Maybe it was from artic_fox.

I sometimes love interpreting everything in a way that’s shippy, and sometimes I just leave them as best mates and adore them that way.

Excellent post on the Doctor/Donna relationship! This is about how I feel about them as well. I love them on both levels and the show completely works on both levels too. I do think that the Doctor is a bit smitten with her. I love the fond little grins he gives her when she's not taking any shit from anyone. But the Doctor being smitten with her is not the same as a human male being smitten. His emotions work differently, so there's no need to see him as in love with her.

And season 4 is by far my favorite of the new series as well. I love the Doctor the way he is with Donna.