Favorite Characters: Donna Noble (Doctor Who)

My favorite New Who companion hands down and one of my top five companions of all time.  So much love for Donna – she didn’t quite grab me in “The Runaway Bride,” but when she returned for series 4, she was made of awesome through and through.  After Rose’s thing with the Doctor and Martha’s crush on him, what the Doctor needed more than anything was a friend, and he found a pretty fine one in Donna.

Donna is another terrific example of RTD’s “amazing ordinary people.”  She’s a temp who’s bounced around any number of offices and assorted jobs, and her shrew of a mother is fond of reminding her that she has nothing to show for anything she’s done.  Once, she was frivolous and self-absorbed, but a chance encounter with the Doctor shows her the size of the universe.  It’s not just that she can’t go back after that; she refuses to go back, and she learns how to chase the alien and the impossible.  It’s simply gorgeous to see where she goes from where she begins.

So where does she go?  Oblivious no more, she seizes the past, the future, and alien worlds with both hands, drinking in the wonder.  She develops a keen eye that picks up on important details, and she throws herself determinedly into all manner of situations.  She proves herself to be remarkably brave; when she gets kidnapped by a baddie of the week (she’s a companion, it has to happen some of the time,) she’s as liable to give them lip as anything else, and she does what needs to be done even when she’s terrified.  She isn’t the least bit cowed by the Doctor – he’s her friend and she loves him, but when she thinks he’s in the wrong, she gives him what for and doesn’t back down.

Though her initial appearance shows her to be rather self-involved, that’s not the Donna who joins the Doctor’s travels in time and space.  Instead, she reveals an earnestly sensitive side that I know surprised me.  From massive events, like desperately trying to save the people of Pompeii before the eruption, to quieter ones, like comforting an Ood in his last moments, even stroking his bare head, she displays care and empathy throughout her time with the Doctor.

Even her temping skills come in handy.  More than once, Donna discovers a vital clue because she sees the mundane little details that don’t jibe, while the Doctor is too focused on the big alien picture at hand.  On these occasions, she cheekily toots her own horn, but for all her bluster, Donna has a hard time seeing the excellent woman that the Doctor and the fans see.  She’s been told for many years that she isn’t good for anything, and for every self-congratulatory moment, there’s another in which Donna insists she’s nothing special.  But oh, how she is.

Best of all is Donna’s relationship with the Doctor.  They have splendid fun in the TARDIS, sometimes joking, sometimes bickering, and always in the thick of things together.  As someone who generally prefers their Doctor-companion dynamics sans romance, I love their purely platonic bond, and what’s more, I love how important it is.  Time and again, Donna shows just how well she knows the Doctor, and she gives him exactly what he needs.  Whether that’s a crucial alien doodah, a sharp talking-to, a listening ear, or a back to help shoulder his burdens, Donna is there.  When I imagine an ideal platonic partnership, it looks an awful lot like this lovely friendship.