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[odiin]

You know, for all the fuss that's been made over the lack of content for the 50th anniversary year (something I'm guilty of as well.) When you really take a step back and look at it objectively, we're actually getting a lot:

• 8 regular episodes
• An extended 50th anniversary special and a Christmas special
• A multi-doctor audio story starring the middle 5 doctors
  Spoiler

  as well as the first 3
• 3 incomplete serials completed with animated episodes
• 1 missing serial completly recovered and another brought down to just one missing episode and more possibly on the way
• A TV docu-drama chronicling the origins of the show
• The debut of a brand new Doctor
• John Fucking Hurt
• MAYBE the return of McGann in a brand new minisode

There's still plenty to bitch about, but sheer quantity isn't one of them as far as I'm concerned.

 

[infiniteloop]

Yeah, people were understandably miffed about losing a season over the last couple of years, but there's been a lot of good stuff this year.

 

[Hot Coldman]

2012 was the shitty year for Who. I think it's not been too bad at all this year.

 

[Trike]

You know, for all the fuss that's been made over the lack of content for the 50th anniversary year (something I'm guilty of as well.) When you really take a step back and look at it objectively, we're actually getting a lot:

• 8 regular episodes
• An extended 50th anniversary special and a Christmas special
• A multi-doctor audio story starring the middle 5 doctors
  Spoiler

  as well as the first 3
• 3 incomplete serials completed with animated episodes
• 1 missing serial completly recovered and another brought down to just one missing episode and more possibly on the way
• A TV docu-drama chronicling the origins of the show
• The debut of a brand new Doctor
• John Fucking Hurt
• MAYBE the return of McGann in a brand new minisode

There's still plenty to bitch about, but sheer quantity isn't one of them as far as I'm concerned.

Not to mention the retrospective on all the Doctors that have been airing once a month all year.

 

[Axiom]

It's these split seasons that make everything feel bad, people didn't really complain about Bond's 50th and that had less content than this by a large margin (though far more respect and a number one hit song)

The seasons may be split, but the way each "half" has been presented these days has been as if they're entirely different seasons. New titles, new companions, overarching themes.
So it certainly feels like we're getting 6 episode seasons at best, and that not only sucks but I'd say is hurting the storytelling of the show. Clara never got any decent character development, replacing said development with 'MY IMPOSSIBLE GIRL!", leading to three side characters being easily more popular companions.

I won't believe Eccleston isn't in it until I see them credits a rollin'.

There was one time when I watched a lot of professional wrestling, and my favourite wrestler ended up winning the world title for the first time on a PPV - but I didn't enjoy it because I kept expecting someone else to show up and make a big return.


Don't let Eccleston be your HHH

 

[Mariolee]

I won't believe Eccleston isn't in it until I see them credits a rollin'.

Same. And it hurts.

No pun intended.

 

[RetroMG]

Not to mention the retrospective on all the Doctors that have been airing once a month all year.

And the short stories and the ongoing comic highlighting each of the classic doctors.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

The 8 regular episodes were of a very poor quality though. I think they're doing enough, but the fact we won't see Capaldi till this time next year is depressing.

 

[JonathanEx]

Blogtor on BBFC:

The DVD and Bluray will also feature an extra called The Day of the Doctor: Behind The Lens which, according to the BBFC, has a running time of 13m 15s and stars Matt Smith and David Tennant.

Might also be the cinema extra?

 

[Exterminieren]

The 8 regular episodes were of a very poor quality though. I think they're doing enough, but the fact we won't see Capaldi till this time next year is depressing.

It's overstating it to say they were very poor, I'd say. Average, sure, but very poor? Nah.

The Capaldi thing can't be helped, unless they wanted him to film series 8 alongside the other thirteen-part series he's spent most of the year filming.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

It's overstating it to say they were very poor, I'd say. Average, sure, but very poor? Nah.

The Capaldi thing can't be helped, unless they wanted him to film series 8 alongside the other thirteen-part series he's spent most of the year filming.

Okay, just poor and not very poor then. Sorry but they were consistently disappointing.

 

[[Fugo]]

http://news.discovery.com/space/ali...tery-exoplanet-shouldnt-even-exist-131030.htm

It orbits so close in fact that the alien world’s surface temperature soars to 2,000 degrees hotter than Earth’s. Referring to Kepler-78b as a “rocky” world is therefore a misnomer — it’s a hellish lava world.

But this is just a side-show to the real conundrum behind Kepler-78b: It shouldn’t exist at all.

perhaps it deserved a separate thread, but was too tempting to not post here - it's totally Satan's Pit

 

[Blader]

The 8 regular episodes were of a very poor quality though. I think they're doing enough, but the fact we won't see Capaldi till this time next year is depressing.

Shouldn't be that late, should it? I thought Series 8 was supposed to kick off in August?

 

[Box of Bunnies]

I liked this year's eight better than last year's.... five, was it? Maybe even more than the series before.

I wasn't big on Bells of St. John but it was okay. Not as good an opener as Asylum or The Impossible Astronaut, though. That's the one point I can really give those.

I know a lot of people are down on Rings of Akhaten, but it really worked for me for some reason.

Cold War was Gatiss' first real Who home run for me. Not an absolute classic story by any means but it did everything it set out to well and was a tight, occasionally tense story.

Hide was intriguing and atmospheric, with a nice twist.

Journey to the Center of the Tardis didn't really live up to the concept, and the salvage characters were fucked up, but it was still a fun run around.

Crimson Horror was another good one from Gatiss. Fun period adventure. Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling are both fab in it. Only problem is the crap grafted onto the end with the kids leading into...

Nightmare in Silver, which is the only real disappointment from this half series, for my money. Gaiman! Doing the Cybermen! This is an episode that should be right up there but it just isn't. Has its moments but is a major letdown.

Name of the Doctor: William Hartnell on Gallifrey in the cold opening! A decent (and hopefully the last, as much as I like her) showing from River Song! Some dude that's far too slim to actually be his Doctor in a Colin Baker technicolour dreamcoat! An indifferent resolution to a halfhearted "arc" that doesn't really provide any extra insight or development to Clara but at least hasn't retroactively tainted half the season like the finale from series 6. A fun romp.

 

[mclem]

perhaps it deserved a separate thread, but was too tempting to not post here - it's totally Satan's Pit

I think you mean an Impossible Planet.

 

[Future Foundation]

The Gallifrey Base 'look back' forum is mental. They're on Series 3/4 right now. Somebody's described The Doctor's Daughter, an episode I'd peg as pretty mediocre (and terrible for Freema/Martha) as, I quote, "A war crime." Somebody's also described Journey's End as "worse than Time and the Rani" which sort of makes my brain melt.

Nobody does it like GB. I can't wait until they hit the specials, just for the End of Time thread.

 

[infiniteloop]

Somebody's also described Journey's End as "worse than Time and the Rani" which sort of makes my brain melt.

Yeah, that's pretty crazy. Time and the Rani is not that bad,

 

[APZonerunner]

Yeah, that's pretty crazy. Time and the Rani is not that bad,

Eh, that episode still has the really nice execution of Davros ripping the Doctor to pieces emotionally. It's got a lot of nice emotional stuff, it's just hidden beneath the fanwank and a really iffy conclusion to the actual threat. It doesn't exactly do the Daleks any favours, really, but then again, has any Dalek episode since Doomsday really made them feel a credible threat?

I had a debate with a mate in the pub about Journey's End last weekend - I was saying it's fascinating, really, when juxtaposed to, say, The Christmas Invasion, New Earth, or even most of Doomsday... The thing that I think is most interesting about Tennant's Doctor is that when he arrives on the scene he's happy, chirpy, the polar opposite of Eccleston. All through Series 2 in particular he's one happy guy, but from losing Rose onwards everything goes fucking awfully for him, and he's a very, very different character by the time he regenerates.

It's interesting, because going into his last two episodes I think Smith's is largely the same Doctor that emerged in The Eleventh Hour. There hasn't been as much of an arc for him emotionally as a character. There's been arcs that have happened around him - River, Amy and Rory, his removing himself from time - but he hasn't changed in the same way Tennant's Doctor did, as that Doctor went from happy to a ruined emotional wreck by the end of his time. And that's not worse! It's just different, and interesting.

Smith as an actor definitely grew into the role more than Tennant did (and, in fairness, had more growing to do), but his Doctor has definitely been a more static, reassuring presence than Tennant's, who was emotionally all over the place and constantly shifting.

----

EDIT: Moffat has confirmed "at least" 13 episodes for 2013. This is good news in general, though this seems to point to that other rumour being correct - that Series 8 will be cut shorter than 1-7 by one episode for 12 instead of 13, then a Christmas special on top.

 

[aHebrewMenagerie]

EDIT: Moffat has confirmed "at least" 13 episodes for 2013. This is good news in general, though this seems to point to that other rumour being correct - that Series 8 will be cut shorter than 1-7 by one episode for 12 instead of 13, then a Christmas special on top.

Thank god, I've had enough with the splits, it seems like i wait longer for more Who. I respect Moffat for this decision.

 

[Exterminieren]

If I had to guess, I'd say it was 12 episodes because the 50th special was part of the overall commission.

In fact, 12 episodes would be perfect for a TSJA-style series of 2-parters, which would be great. It's been way too long since we had a good 2-parter.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Really curious how the Clara/Capaldi relationship is going to play out. Because, for reasons that I think are pretty decently spelled out in this article - the relationship between Clara & Eleven wasn't really all that well formed.

I don't agree with the entirety of the above article, (from May of this year) but I think the writer did put their finger on why Clara never really connected w/ me on a level that even Martha Jones managed a couple times. And I consider Martha the companion I like the least since the new run started in 2005.

 

[BocoDragon]

Really curious how the Clara/Capaldi relationship is going to play out. Because, for reasons that I think are pretty decently spelled out in this article - the relationship between Clara & Eleven wasn't really all that well formed.

(I don't agree with the entirety of the above article, (from May of this year) but I think the writer did put their finger on why Clara never really connected w/ me on a level that even Martha Jones managed a couple times. And I consider Martha the companion I like the least since the new run started in 2005.

You're not alone on that. I don't even really know who she is. She does not (yet) feel like a legitimate companion to me.

 

[APZonerunner]

Really curious how the Clara/Capaldi relationship is going to play out. Because, for reasons that I think are pretty decently spelled out in this article - the relationship between Clara & Eleven wasn't really all that well formed.

I don't agree with the entirety of the above article, (from May of this year) but I think the writer did put their finger on why Clara never really connected w/ me on a level that even Martha Jones managed a couple times. And I consider Martha the companion I like the least since the new run started in 2005.

That's a really great and interesting post with some good expression of that particular viewpoint. I don't agree with it in its entirety either, but I do agree that the major issue I've had with both Amy and Clara - and to a slightly lesser extent River - is that they're both in the Doctor's life primarily because they're mysteries, not because they are deemed worthy of being with him. Amy becomes that, and Clara will, too, I'm sure, but it's not quite the same, and I think in the case of Clara it really backfired because the commitment to the mystery ended up sucking any potential for character right out of her. I really hope that now that the mystery is over she can step up with more to offer.

That said, I do think to a point it's down to a fundamental difference between Moffat and RTD. I've maintained, forever, that Moffat is a better story writer and RTD is a better character writer. For me that's personified in one particular thing - the fact that I can point to pretty much any RTD-era episode, even the awful ones, and pluck out some nice, lovely, character-defining moment. Moffat is a lot more slavishly devoted to plot and story, and ends up with better plots and stories as a result but with weaker characters.

Amy and Rory both really go places as time goes on, but as characters - or rather, to hit the nail on the head more squarely, as PEOPLE - they never really quite seem as rich as Rose, Donna or even bloody Martha. Even Mickey, really. Rory is richer than Amy with much less screen time, weirdly - not sure if that's because he's better at writing men or what.

It's not a sexist thing, I don't think - Moffat has a troubling way of writing women sometimes, but his characterisation of the Doctor is the same, touched upon in my post above about the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor's emotional 'arcs' compared. It's just a difference. Many people would rather have more vaguely sketched characters and tighter plotting, too, and I can't blame them.

If I had to guess, I'd say it was 12 episodes because the 50th special was part of the overall commission.

In fact, 12 episodes would be perfect for a TSJA-style series of 2-parters, which would be great. It's been way too long since we had a good 2-parter.

The 7 episodes of Series 7 that aired this year were commissioned as part of 2012, and the 2013 commission was only 2 episodes. The 2014 commission is separate, and what he's talking about here. It's likely to be 12 for the series plus Christmas 2014.

 

[Forever]

I've maintained, forever, that Moffat is a better story writer and RTD is a better character writer. For me that's personified in one particular thing - the fact that I can point to pretty much any RTD-era episode, even the awful ones, and pluck out some nice, lovely, character-defining moment. Moffat is a lot more slavishly devoted to plot and story, and ends up with better plots and stories as a result but with weaker characters.

I don't think that's necessarily true, at least not when Moffat is focused on self-contained episodes and not big overarching overcomplicated story arcs. The Girl in the Fireplace and The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances have some of the most compelling supporting characters in all of modern Who. He also created River Song. He's not bad at writing interesting characters, he just forgets to do it sometimes.

 

[KingKong]

I just finished watching all of the 'new Who', having never seen any of the old episodes and I definitely enjoyed it. Just a few thoughts

- does anyone else have a hard time caring about standalone episodes? Maybe its the new era of TV where pretty much every show tells a continuous story, but I really didn't enjoy the episodes where there's some threat and then the Doctor solves it at the end and nothing much happens except for some of the two-parters

- I also thought the major plots and twists were pretty poorly done. Practically all of them involved the Doctor dying or the Universe/Earth ending, which we know won't happen and it seems like a lot of the times they wrote themselves into a corner and then had to solve the problem in a really unsatisfying way, which made the finales weaker (the 3 Matt Smith finales especially suffered from this)

- It seems like David Tennant is the most popular Doctor but I found him to be the weakest of the three. Matt Smith was pretty good (except for when he was overacting) but Eccleston was my favourite by far. He's clearly the best actor and he seemed like a much more unique character

- I'm also curious what people's favourite Doctor/Companion pairs were. I thought Eccleston and Rose were by far the best, they had really great chemistry that I didn't get from any other Doctor and companion. Martha was especially weak and I found the constant "Amy clearly loves the Doctor and Rory is jealous so we'll have them say they love each other every episode to make up for them not having any chemistry together" really annoying

- looking back at it, I think Season 1 might actually be my favourite season, mostly for Eccleston/Rose but also episodes like End of the World, Dalek, The Long Game, Fathers Day, The Empty Child/Doctor Dances

- also I really hated the River Song character. just awful

 

[gabbo]

<agree more or less, with some exceptions and "Well maybe not so much" thrown in>

- also I really hated the River Song character. just awful

 

[infiniteloop]

- It seems like David Tennant is the most popular Doctor but I found him to be the weakest of the three.

Eccleston was my favourite by far. He's clearly the best actor and he seemed like a much more unique character

I thought Eccleston and Rose were by far the best, they had really great chemistry

Martha was especially weak

- looking back at it, I think Season 1 might actually be my favorite season
l

yes, agreed. especially the bolded.

 

[aHebrewMenagerie]

yes, agreed. especially the bolded.

My personal opinion is that if David Tennant was the first doctor of the reboot, the show would've flopped. Chris set the show up to be something truly special.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

My personal opinion is that if David Tennant was the first doctor of the reboot, the show would've flopped. Chris set the show up to be something truly special.

I don't know if that's true; if that were, the show would have dropped off a cliff in terms of viewership figures in Season 2, and as far as I know, that's not the case.

Wait, no more series splits?! REALLY? Hopefully the concept can die and never come back. Felt like not enough butter scraped over too much bread, to quote a Hobbit.

I like all three of the new Who Doctors in their own special way, and each one has that uniqueness that makes them stand out from each other.

/neutral, boring post

Yupp! They were all great at what they did, and I expect Capaldi to carry on this trend.

 

[Quick]

I like all three of the new Who Doctors in their own special way, and each one has that uniqueness that makes them stand out from each other.

/neutral, boring post

 

[Bobby Roberts]

So... we expecting a TRAILER trailer tomorrow?

 

[APZonerunner]

I just finished watching all of the 'new Who', having never seen any of the old episodes and I definitely enjoyed it. Just a few thoughts

- does anyone else have a hard time caring about standalone episodes? Maybe its the new era of TV where pretty much every show tells a continuous story, but I really didn't enjoy the episodes where there's some threat and then the Doctor solves it at the end and nothing much happens except for some of the two-parters

- I also thought the major plots and twists were pretty poorly done. Practically all of them involved the Doctor dying or the Universe/Earth ending, which we know won't happen and it seems like a lot of the times they wrote themselves into a corner and then had to solve the problem in a really unsatisfying way, which made the finales weaker (the 3 Matt Smith finales especially suffered from this)

- It seems like David Tennant is the most popular Doctor but I found him to be the weakest of the three. Matt Smith was pretty good (except for when he was overacting) but Eccleston was my favourite by far. He's clearly the best actor and he seemed like a much more unique character

- I'm also curious what people's favourite Doctor/Companion pairs were. I thought Eccleston and Rose were by far the best, they had really great chemistry that I didn't get from any other Doctor and companion. Martha was especially weak and I found the constant "Amy clearly loves the Doctor and Rory is jealous so we'll have them say they love each other every episode to make up for them not having any chemistry together" really annoying

- looking back at it, I think Season 1 might actually be my favourite season, mostly for Eccleston/Rose but also episodes like End of the World, Dalek, The Long Game, Fathers Day, The Empty Child/Doctor Dances

- also I really hated the River Song character. just awful

I wish I could explain why I like Tennant's Doctor so much to you, but I honestly don't know. I just do. He, Eccleston and Smith are all very, very close, in that order (1>2>3) but I find it really hard to put my finger on why.

That said, I agree about Eccleston/Rose, I agree about Series 1 being particularly strong in concept, etcetera, and definitely agree about the finales.

I'm surprised, though, at your opinion about standalone episodes. I think this is one of the strengths of the Doctor Who format - anywhere, anywhen, different every week, very little need for kids/families to watch religiously to become fans and enjoy it - and I've had issue with how sometimes - Series 6 especially - the show has trended more towards proper arcs. Besides, does Who ever do arcs properly anyway? Even in Series 6, if you look at the Flesh episodes, that's a normal "threat/scenario of the week" script that has a series arc defining twist cramming into the last three minutes.

 

[aHebrewMenagerie]

So... we expecting a TRAILER trailer tomorrow?

There was a rumor, but a part of that rumor was that we were supposed to get picture earlier this week, so i guess it's false.

 

[Slowdive]

So... we expecting a TRAILER trailer tomorrow?

Seems unlikely now, the original rumor was November 9th, then 2nd, now 9th again:

From GB

Preview clip from The Day of the Doctor is being shown at Children in Need. Minisode to follow in the week. Trailer on November 9th.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

huh. Ah well.

 

[KingKong]

I'm surprised, though, at your opinion about standalone episodes. I think this is one of the strengths of the Doctor Who format - anywhere, anywhen, different every week, very little need for kids/families to watch religiously to become fans and enjoy it - and I've had issue with how sometimes - Series 6 especially - the show has trended more towards proper arcs. Besides, does Who ever do arcs properly anyway? Even in Series 6, if you look at the Flesh episodes, that's a normal "threat/scenario of the week" script that has a series arc defining twist cramming into the last three minutes.

Well to me I found a lot of standalone episodes to just be kind of uninteresting like pretty much all the 'famous historical figure' ones, and even a weak forgettable episode on an average show like Lost still moves the plot forward and becomes part of a larger story

though I do realize it's hard not to have standalone episodes on a show like Doctor Who where the whole premise is that they go to different points in time and space

 

[Slowdive]

I didn't see before, but a clip for Children in Need is confirmed.

 

[APZonerunner]

I didn't see before, but a clip for Children in Need is confirmed.

It won't necessarily be a clip from the 50th, though. For instance we saw McCoy, C. Baker and Davison recording a staged 'protest' about the 50th outside the BBC offices with signs - "Have a heart - Classic Doctors Want a Part" - that'll almost certainly be a clip for CIN, and Smith and/or Tennant are almost certain to be in the studio on the night as guests as well.

If I had to guess they'll show something from the 50th as well, but again, best to temper those expectations just in case..!

 

[Blader]

So the schedule is:

9th - Trailer
15th - Children in Need clip
Somewhere in 15th to 23rd - Minisode
23rd - 50th

?

 

[Exterminieren]

An Adventure in Time and Space- (probably) 21st

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

If we assume the minisode is a prequel, the DW team usually release it a week before the episode, so 16th.

 

[Slowdive]

A rough translation of the synopsis for The Day Of The Doctor from here.

Spoiler

Clara saved The Doctor on Trenzalore, but entering the time stream awoke The Doctor's dark side. What if The Doctor had chosen differently on the last day of Gallifrey? A millennium as The Doctor, but what now?

Oooh, reminds me of

Spoiler

Turn Left.

 

[Forever]

A rough translation from here of The Day Of The Doctor synopsis from a Finnish TV channel:

Spoiler

Clara saved The Doctor on Trenzalore, but entering the time stream awoke The Doctor's dark side. What if The Doctor had chosen differently on the last day of Gallifrey? A millennium as The Doctor, but what now?

Oooh, reminds me of

Spoiler

Turn Left.

I wonder if this is the origin of the Valeyard.

And wait a minute, wasn't the choice always nuke the site from orbit or all of reality gets destroyed? They've emphasized that as recently as the last episode. Maybe the twist is that they have to convince Hurt to actually do the thing they hated doing in the first place.

 

[aHebrewMenagerie]

I wonder if this is the origin of the Valeyard.

And wait a minute, wasn't the choice always nuke the site from orbit or all of reality gets destroyed? They've emphasized that as recently as the last episode. Maybe the twist is that they have to convince Hurt to actually do the thing they hated doing in the first place.

I can see the Name of the Doctor, The Day of The Doctor, and the Christmas special to all be part of a trilogy-mini-story-arc thing where it shows the birth of the Valeyard. I'm not sure if Moffat will indulge in the Valeyard, but if he will, he'll have to agknowledge it pretty soon, since the Valeyard is supposed to be inbetween Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi's Doctors.

 

[Quick]

Yupp! They were all great at what they did, and I expect Capaldi to carry on this trend.

Looking at that gif reminded me of how young Matt Smith looked in series 5.

 

[Magwik]

A rough translation of the synopsis for The Day Of The Doctor from here.

Spoiler

Clara saved The Doctor on Trenzalore, but entering the time stream awoke The Doctor's dark side. What if The Doctor had chosen differently on the last day of Gallifrey? A millennium as The Doctor, but what now?

Oooh, reminds me of

Spoiler

Turn Left.

 

[Mariolee]

A rough translation of the synopsis for The Day Of The Doctor from here.

Spoiler

Clara saved The Doctor on Trenzalore, but entering the time stream awoke The Doctor's dark side. What if The Doctor had chosen differently on the last day of Gallifrey? A millennium as The Doctor, but what now?

Oooh, reminds me of

Spoiler

Turn Left.

Sounds good.

Spoiler

Kind of an alternate reality game where we get to see the Time War but not as we expected. So then maybe Hurt is actually just an older alternate Eighth Doctor? But then how did Matt Smith's Doctor recognize him if it's an alternate reality? Yeah, I'm probably wrong, but this is exciting!

 

[Trike]

Sounds good.

Spoiler

Kind of an alternate reality game where we get to see the Time War but not as we expected. So then maybe Hurt is actually just an older alternate Eighth Doctor? But then how did Matt Smith's Doctor recognize him if it's an alternate reality? Yeah, I'm probably wrong, but this is exciting!

Spoiler

I think it implies that the Hurt Doctor still exists, but instead of regenerating into 9th Doctor he just stays as he is in this alternate universe or whatever. It is interesting to note that when questioned about the number of regenerations the Doctor has and how Hurt would/wouldn't fit into it, he said to recount the number of regenerations actually shown. So maybe he really is just a really old 8th Doctor. Either that or he is just the 9th Doctor, and somehow turns himself younger. Which I think happened before in Classic Doctor Who.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

I fucking

Spoiler

told you it wasn't just his Time War incarnation

 

[Zen]

- also I really hated the River Song character. just awful

She's one of those characters that only really worked in execution by 'tell don't show'. That's one of the great strengths of Who, in that it builds a lot of things through description of importance than a demonstration, this works well with the scope of the show and the fact that the cheesey sci fi style of it will inherently also have trouble 'showing'.

They were suppose to be a great love story, hat's great, but the problem was that they actually then tried to give her a complete story, that included their marriage and her end from his perspective, all while she had a fraction of the development and screen time that a companion was given. Even worse is that she was also something of a Mary Sue and Deus Ex Machina. These are ok qualities to have but not for a reoccurring semi regular character.

She started out strong but the writers are also to blame, especially for the awful 'Marriage' that was tantamount to the Doctor basically acting like he was just doing it to get her off his back.

If they were serious about keeping her around, they should have made her a companion, but also made her younger self be played by a different actress to help give some space between her 'end' when she was introduced, and what she starts out as.