Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, TV | Tagged: bbc, Bernard Cribbins, billie piper, catherine tate, david tennant, doctor who, freema agyeman

Doctor Who: The Doctor and Donna Was Always The Right Endgame

In Doctor Who, Donna Noble was the most adult friendship The Doctor ever had, and his retirement with her and her family was his best ending.

There's a reason The Doctor's friendship with Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) is the most memorable on Doctor Who. Yes, Rose Tyler (Billy Piper) has fans since she was the first modern companion in the show's 21st Century return, and kids could identify with her since she was pretty much a kid meeting The Doctor for the first time. Every companion's arc in the current series is of someone who discovers the vastness of life and the universe after meeting the Doctor and how it changes them for the better. Donna's arc has been the fullest.

Unlike Rose or Martha (Freema Agyeman), Donna was not in love with The Doctor. She was a woman in her thirties, not one at the beginning of her life as an adult trying to find her way in the world.  The Doctor's companions tended to be lonely orphans like him, being it Ace, Mel, or Rose. He felt superior to Martha and took her for granted, and she had her family for support when she had enough and left him. Donna was the one companion it could be where The Doctor was definitely not even her type. She had a family with a dysfunctional history. Her mother Sylvia (Jacqueline King) belittled her, but her grandfather Wilf (Bernard Cribbins) and father Geoff (Howard Attfield) doted on her, and she was a bit of a mean girl and bully to other girls, especially to her friend Nerys, the latter a running joke in the series. Donna started as a bridezilla who wasn't even that bovvered about getting kidnapped by aliens than being late for her wedding. Her meeting with The Doctor changed her and made her see beyond herself and investigate suspicious alien activity around London until she met him again, then they were off together. Their friendship was one of equals since she was never in awe of him. The first ending of her story is the show's most tragic since she had to lose everything she ever learned or became, and The Doctor had to lose her.

Donna's return in the 60th Anniversary Specials was the third act in the Doctor and Donna's story. She was not only restored to his life, but now she had her own family and a daughter. Her love for Rose (Yasmin Finney) is like karmic redemption for all the girls she was mean to all her life. She even became The Doctor-Donna again, which is the ultimate form of their friendship. The Fourteenth Doctor (David Tennant) finally retiring and settling down with her family as they adopt him is also the ultimate endgame for the lonely wandering who can finally rest while his successor is out there with his own new story to chart.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!