What I don't understand is why they went for the one actor that had a ton of obligations to fulfill so he couldn't put his all into the series. Put the black actor aside. Put the DEI/woke/etc dialogue aside. Why him? He's not that particularly good as an actor. He's not particularly charismatic, witty or fun, nor is he particularly bad. He's an average joe from all I've seen. So why the one guy who had scheduling conflicts. Especially after the very controversial Judy era.

I think the issue with Clara was a combination of the inconsistency between the earlier and later characterisations, the fact that the former was very flat creating a bad first impression, particularly in contrast to the Ponds, and Moffat as a writer being just not quite as good at this sort of complex character work as Russel was. I've kind of always been able to see parts of what they were going for, but felt like the writing didn't really deliver on it consistently and subsequently missed the full potential of this character. It's nice to see somebody explore it in depth.

Another great one is The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers! My comfort book

13:04 It’s actually 4. Romana in Warrior’s Gate. A bit more oblique than the other 3 examples as the romance was sort of implied by Baker and Ward’s chemistry present even as their actual relationship deteriorated, but Romana stayed behind in E-Space when the Doctor returned to the normal universe. There even was a fandom joke I recall: “they split, she got the dog (K9) and The Doctor was stuck with the kid (Adric).

I would have been left with respect for character if she left after The Name of the Doctor. However, they just ramped up the Clara Show so I just stoped watching and never came back.

I would have been left with respect for character if she left after The Name of the Doctor. However, they just ramped up the Clara Show so I just stoped watching and never came back.

If u hate it so much why talk about it and ruin it for us ?

I wanna watch the pilot where can i ?

18:25 Actually, he only didn’t say it because he didn’t want to loose her.

I loved the season. Not in my top favourite series but I really liked it. 😊

I absolutely love all your Doctor Who videos! Can you do a video about romance in Doctor Who, I would be especially keen to hear your take on 11 and Amy. I always felt weird about it, especially when you consider Amy and Rory too. The series never really addressed who she actually fancied or why she started to love Rory in later seasons?

I disliked Rose quite a bit, and really didn't enjoy her relationship with the 10th Doctor. The 9th Doctor is my favorite, and I wish he'd had a better companion. Though Rose was less unlikable with him than 10.

Nine always annoyed me.

She had such an immense potential but was a bit wasted

I hated how they treated micky.😢

I'm sorry, we're on 15 now? It feels like last week I was watching the first series of 13

"companion shenanigans" tickles my brain

Came here to say I'm one of the people who hated Clara and stopped watching Dr Who during her time with Capaldi (I love Capaldi especially since watching season 10). I loved Victorian Clara, but Modern Clara was insufferable and anything and everything important was given to her. I have no idea why they made her so important. There have been far better companions who have received far less than her.

The problem with Clara for me is that she was the least interesting version of the character, I've heard it reported that the BBC shot down the idea of a non-contemporary companion, which I believe has been a huge mistake with the modern show. I like Clara just fine, but I do wish they would take more chances with the companions like non-contemporary, aliens, or a character from one of the spin-offs. We don't actually need every year or two someone to run in and out of the Tardis and exclaim that "it's bigger on the inside!".

Clara deep dive, please. I agree with your summary of her characterisation; it would be good to hear more.

I liked Clara from beginning to end, I don't agree with any of your or anyone else's criticisms

I need to rewatch her time with 12 because I wasn't a fan at the time, but that opinion might have changed. I think one of my biggest complaints with Clara is her being brought back after her death. I though Face the Raven was such a beautiful ending to that build up, they had been building up her arrogance and her trying to be the Doctor and that was such a meaningful ending that showed that no one can be like the Doctor and was such a good lesson that shows how dangerous the Doctor can be and I feel like they completely threw that message out by bringing her back and going "Nah she actually is basically the Doctor now by making her effectively immortal and giving her her own Tardis. I feel like her staying dead would have been a much better ending, or at the very least her choosing to go back willingly and accept her fate not long after being brought back instead of "going the long way round". Clara for me post impossible girl just felt kind of messy, at the time it just felt like they didn't quite know what to do with her after her big mystery was solved and there was some good ideas and arcs but they kept getting canned the longer she stayed until ultimately when she did go it ended up being lackluster and negating such a beautiful lesson that would have very nicely tied up her arc

I think there were lots of ellipses and cut scenes. There were moments when the Doctor asked Ruby "Do you remember when I told you X?" but we as the viewers never saw that happening. I think I felt I was left out of their friendship by not showing me how they bonded and when he told her that.

For whiny narcissists who betray their friends, i watch American politics. I want Dr Who to be about becoming better.

Although I would LOVE a book accurate The Selection show I think it would´ve only worked back then in the 2010s

I'm _so_ glad that you touched on the fact that Rose treated Mickey HORRIBLY. It's one of the reasons of why I could never like her character. In fact, I know that I will probably get a ton of hate on this, but I felt like both Rose _and_ the doctor were terrible people. The doctor knew after Rose that having a female companion was risky, yet even still he _selfishly_ continues collecting young, female companions knowing FULL WELL that there was a risk of the two of them falling for each other. Heck , even if he had gotten a male companion it _still_ could very well have happened. I especially felt sorry for poor Martha. ☹️ She didn't deserve the emotional turmoil the doctor put her through. He showed Rose _so_ much more respect but Martha was ultimately punished due to him not processing his feelings. She was essentially a rebound companion. 😮‍💨 It would have been kinder to simply _not allow_ Martha to travel with him. As for Rose, I was a little irked by her "happy ending" with the hand clone and you perfectly articulated my feelings. I really enjoyed everything about this discussion. You are the first _Doctor Who_ fan who openly admits that the relationships in this show are not perfect. I really appreciate the fact that you looked at BOTH sides rather than just the shipping side. 😊 Thank you for that. I will most DEFINITELY be subbing and watching your other vids!

Romance is not, and never should be part of Dr Who.

Something rather insightful about your restructuring of the episodes is that it also helps explain the 4th wall breaks. In the original structure, there's a bit of discontinuity with the Doctor and Ruby's 4th wall breaks, however, restructuring as you have, the 4th wall breaks show a "Power Level Progress" where at the beginning of the season, they didn't seem to have that ability, but by the end, The Devil's Chord and 73 Yards, we see the Doctor is now starting to play by the new rules of the Universe he helped usher in back in Wild Blue Yonder. If that was the intention of RTD, I wish it would've been more explicitly implicit.

I know folks didn't like her in series 7, but 12 and Clara are arguably the best written pair of the show. You get to see why becoming the doctor is a bad idea and it highlights some of the less savory parts of the doctor. You get to see flawed people interact in such a fun way.

The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet in the background! Heck yeah!

I mean, in the revived Dr. Who, all of the recurring companions who were women had their own unique relationship to the Doctor. Rose Tyler was the Doctor's Lover, Martha Jones (Although being kinda tricky to place because I don't think they quite knew what role they wanted to give her) was the Doctor's herald. Donna Noble was the Doctor's conscience. Amelia Pond was the Doctor's friend(and Mother in Law) River Song/Melody Pond was the Doctor's wife Clara Oswald was the Doctor. I kinda fell off near the beginning of 12's run and haven't watched Doctor Who since then, but to me, the 9th through the 11th seemed to be on a journey of healing and acceptance, he needed different people in his life to guide him on that journey because the Doctor was never okay with the Doctor until after Trenzalore. There's something Donna says when she's calling the Doctor out for his casual genocide to protect humanity, she tells him that he needs companions to stop him, but I don't think that's quite it. The Doctor's primary characteristic that unites all of his incarnations is that he lacks something, he doesn't even always know what he lacks, but the companion either fills in that something or helps him find it. I think that if it hadn't been for Clara, the Doctor wouldn't have loved himself enough to be able to love River Song properly at the end and her rant about a sunset not loving you back would've been true.

Love the character break down the Algorithm recommended your channel

I think the episodes are too short. I think you need to have time to establish settings, characters, problems, antagonists, finding the solution, implementing it, resolving loose ends. Every story should be 2 episodes of at least an hour each. Basically the classic series average runtime. You need that much time to tell interesting stories. The thing I've noticed is that with the reboot in 2005 there's a lot of shortcuts taken to move the story along - sonic screwdrivers, psychic paper, big red reset buttons. But it's been so long now that we're getting shortcuts of the shortcuts and it just isn't working that well for telling compelling stories. I also think the revelations in the Chibnall era were just not good for the show and needs to be undone. You can do that with good stories rather than just ignoring it or running with it because it isn't compelling. It took more than it gave to the show. I feel like since the Disney launch, reality has been breaking down - I swear that's where they're going with all the 4th wall breaking and weird fantastical things happening. Hopefully they were just holding onto the real stuff until they had Gatwa properly.

i didn't like clara at all when her tenure was airing. on my second watch she grew on me a lot, as did peter capaldi(who is now my favorite doctor)

he looks like franco colapinto

While I did not hate Rose, I did find her a bit needy. Personally I preferred his relationship with Donna Noble. It’s David we loved, his companions being secondary but important to his growth. As to Martha, she never stood a chance with him on the heels of Rose.

Tbh I really disliked Clara in some episodes. I absolutely despised “Kill the Moon” and Clara’s stance and the doctors manipulative inaction. Like I hate that episode to a point where I can hardly stand to watch either clara or 12. They just come off as so arrogant and righteously moral at times.

Honestly, Ruby has outdone Clara in my mind as a bad companion in my eyes. Both Ruby and Clara had plot points and series arcs overtake their actual development for a whole series, but Clara is a more, well, developed character in her first series. Clara was never that bad, just confusing to start. Neither is Ruby to be honest, she's just not interesting. I've grown to not only like Clara, but absolutely LOVE series 8 and The Snowmen Clara

I have to disagree with what seems to be your take on the difference between the Impossible Girl arc and the mystery around Ruby's parents- wasn't the resolution to the Impossible Girl storyline /already/ that Clara wasn't some special entity? That she was just a normal girl from England who given the opportunity to do something brave did so? That it wasn't so much that she was special but that the significance the Doctor attached to her made him treat her as a mystery more than a person, until he realises she's nothing but a person? Isn't that the exact kind of turning-on-its-head you say the Ruby storyline did?

Here's how I see the companions Rose was the Doctor's first love and his recovery from his actions in the time war Martha was his rebound Donna was his moral compass The Ponds were his family (literally) Clara was his best friend Bill was his student (which is the best way to describe her because I'll be honest she was the only companion I didn't like because I found her annoying and it was really hard to see her as anything else because of that) After that I can't really say what the other companions are because I only watched series 11 and no one in that series felt fleshed out (not to mention it is the only series without a main storyline) Keep in minds these are my opinions. You are free to disagree with me

This season felt frustrating to watch. The complete whiplash of each episode having fantastic ideas mired by weird writing choices and unsatisfying conclusions just made me angry. What makes it even more of a shame is that Gatwa and Gibson are a brilliant TARDIS team. It's clear they work together well. But the lightning-fast pacing and constant want of the show to try and wow you with the new high budget is really harming the show tbh.

I've always been strictly anti Doctor romance just because I never feel like it feels right be it Grace, Rose, Martha, Clara, Yaz or Rogue And even companions I love like Charley the romance aspect jm like....idk. I don't mind River or Romana as romantic options for the doctor since they're more able to keep up with him but still. But keeping on topic Rose especially was someone I never grabbed I didn't come in to DW until around 2009 so I didn't really have that nostalgic connection from early youth and then just coming in and the entire show just screaming at me how Rose was the most important thing to ever exist ever and how 10 treated Martha about her and just ..no thanks people cry that he didn't say "I love you" on BWB but I am eternally grateful

i fear astronomy by conan gray was also written about 10 and rose

I agree and I think that Capaldi's run really added and reformed my opinion of Clara. I didn't hate Clara, but she just seemed kinda' blah. She and Peter Capaldi's Doctor really are at the summit of the revised series.

Id like ACOTAR to get a show

I don’t know who is “everybody”, because Clara is best girl.

I adore the 10th doctor and rose but 9 and rose were perfection. I've been chasing the high of that first season ever since

I loved her and was so angry when they killed Danny Pink.

i am an absolute rose tyler stan but the way her and the dr in any form treat ppl when they’re together is actually criminal

I never liked Rose. She was selfish (which could be excused when she was 19 but not later), and she had very little appreciation for the outstanding privilege it was to travel with The Doctor. I always just figured she would stay with the MetaDoctor for a year or two, if that long, and then be bored of him and move on because he wasn't taking her to exotic locales. Ten was much better without her.