Binding Judgment

Catherine Tate as Donna Noble

Last night I watched an old episode of Doctor Who on TV. It was the one where Donna Noble sees what might have happened if she hadn’t met The Doctor.  It reminded me of how unimpressed I was with the Donna character when she was first introduced.

I should have known better really. I never like it when a new Doctor Who is announced. I’m always apprehensive that I won’t like him as much as the previous one. In fact it was with a great deal of doubt that I started to watch the new Doctor Who at all but I was a fan by the end of the first episode with Christopher Eccleston. However, I digress, I was talking about Donna.

Donna Noble was introduced at the end of season two  in the Christmas episode “Runaway Bride” and I found her quite annoying. Like The Doctor I was still sad and missing Rose.  I had not heard of Catherine Tate except that she was a British comedienne. The Catherine Tate Show was not on TV here at that time, or if it was I hadn’t seen it. The bits I did see on YouTube  I didn’t care for much. I don’t really like the loud “Little Britain” style of humour.

Well when I discovered that the Donna Noble character was to return as The Doctor’s new companion I was not impressed. I had come to really like the character of Martha Jones  and  didn’t see how  the Donna character was going to work. How wrong I was! Donna was funny! I loved the scene in her first episode “Partners in Crime” where she and The Doctor are having a mimed conversation while spying on Miss Foster. Looking back I think that at that point the show needed that. I loved Rose and Martha but the storylines had become very dark and I found myself crying more than laughing at some episodes. That’s OK, I don’t mind when TV makes me cry but there must be balance and Donna brought back the fun. As it turned out her character was also compassionate, brave and heroic and the end of Donna’s time with The Doctor was one of the saddest of all.

David Tennant and Catherine Tate had great chemistry too as you can see whenever they appear together. I’ve even sat through a few episodes of The Catherine Tate Show to see them together again.

So now, as I wait to find out what the twelfth Doctor will be like with my usual feeling of anxiety I remind myself that the Companion I didn’t think I would like is now one of my favourites.  Anything is possible with Doctor Who.

Further Reading:

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm31168768/ch0009596/