The official 2015 Doctor Who (with spoilers for aired episodes only) thread

[Morrus]

I liked Victorian Clara. I wish she'd been the companion. Much more interesting than Contemporary Clara.

 

[Staffan]

Is that sort of always going to be the case though? Either you walk away or you stay with the Doctor long enough that something bad happens to you, such that you can't stay with him anymore.

I'm not an expert on old Doctor Who, but I did read some Wikipedia on old companions. Most left because they had other stuff to do - perhaps they found a mate or some other purpose in life. Very few died or left on account of being unable to continue.

 

[Ryujin]

I liked Victorian Clara. I wish she'd been the companion. Much more interesting than Contemporary Clara.

I definitely agree with you there. She was far more interesting to me being of her time, and yet a strong female character who bucked the status quo of her time.

 

[Tonguez]

Jamie gets mind wiped

Tegan ran after Ressurection of the Daleks saying “It’s stopped being fun - I’m sick of it.”

Mel of course runs off with a pirate

Peri might also have been either killed by or married to Brian Blessed (or both)

oh and most famous Companion Sarah Jane Smith was dumped so the Doctor could return to Galifrey

 

[Staffan]

Jamie gets mind wiped

Tegan ran after Ressurection of the Daleks saying “It’s stopped being fun - I’m sick of it.”

Mel of course runs off with a pirate

Peri might also have been either killed by or married to Brian Blessed (or both)

oh and most famous Companion Sarah Jane Smith was dumped so the Doctor could return to Galifrey

My point exactly. The Doctor and these companions, other than Jamie (according to Wikipedia Peri survived and married Yrcanos), all parted ways for various reasons before permanent damage was inflicted. By comparison, the new series has:

Rose Tyler - stranded in a parallel reality. She later managed to return, but that was temporary.
Martha Jones - left because she was in unrequited love with the Doctor.
Donna Noble - mindwiped.
Amy Pond (and Rory) - got Weeping Angeled.
Clara Oswald - (seemingly) died from her own overconfidence.
I guess you could add River Song to this list, getting electrocuted and uploaded to a library. But I'm not sure she counts as a regular companion.

 

[Morrus]

I don't think Amy and Rory's leaving was sad at all. They went and lived a happy life together, albeit in a different time period. Theirs was a happy ending.

 

[Bagpuss]

I'm not an expert on old Doctor Who, but I did read some Wikipedia on old companions. Most left because they had other stuff to do - perhaps they found a mate or some other purpose in life.

So they walked away.

Very few died or left on account of being unable to continue.

The ones that didn't.

I'll agree that in this new era more have suck about until something bad happens, makes for more interesting telly I guess.

 

[Bagpuss]

I liked Victorian Clara. I wish she'd been the companion. Much more interesting than Contemporary Clara.

I wouldn't mind seeing a non contemporary companion.

 

[Nagol]

So they walked away.



The ones that didn't.

I'll agree that in this new era more have suck about until something bad happens, makes for more interesting telly I guess.

The one exception would be Sarah Jane Smith who got abandoned by The Doctor rather than walking away.

 

[Guest 85555]

Is that sort of always going to be the case though? Either you walk away or you stay with the Doctor long enough that something bad happens to you, such that you can't stay with him anymore.

Besides I still don't see how Clara can die as such. This one can die sure, but he's already seen two other version of her die and how many other version are still out there?

I think in a show with time travel and alternate dimensions, it is never really possible to completely wipe out a character (the way they handled Rory when he was eliminated from existence seems like the only one with any real sticking power.....and they found a way around that). The writers can always find a way to bring them back if they really want to. It seems like when they do really get rid of somebody, they have to jump through all kinds of hoops to explain why it isn't possible to bring the person back in some form. It is actually harder to swallow that they are truly dead sometimes because there are so many means available to the doctor to undo that kind of thing, or foresee it and prevent it. Given the nature of the setting, it actually strains my disbelief less when people pop back in after being dead or sent to another reality, more than when they stay dead.

In terms of Clara, I would think if they wanted to, they could easily use Clara's fragments to bring her back. It sounds like Jenna Coleman is onto another show but I wouldn't be surprised if she makes appearances on the show down the road.