4. Donna Noble - Doctor Who
Yes, yes, this was fairly predictable if you've read any of my other articles. I'm a Whovian through and through. I've written articles about Peter Capaldi and Liz X and have an on-going series of Retrospective Reviews of episodes. Donna Noble is the character I most identify with in television or film. I am from the Boston area and we have a nickname that rhymes with a certain a-word and starts with our state's abbreviation of Mass. This means that we aren't ashamed of our opinions or our right to hold those opinions. We don't apologize for not smiling at everyone we run into, for driving as if we own the road, for getting into impassioned arguments with people from any other ball club's fan base, etc. Our motto might as well be "Get used to it or go home." If you've seen
Doctor Who, Series 4, you might therefore understand why I relate to our rude ginger. Donna Noble slaps the Doctor repeatedly in her first episode. She berates him for not doing enough to save the people victimized by his precious fixed points in time. She stands up to military officers who don't even give her a second glance, so much that she commands--and gets--a salute from one of them. Since the Doctor's first companions of the new run have been an awestruck shopgirl and a medical student with a bad case of puppy love, Donna Noble was a breath of fresh air in not being at all like the others. She's not more intelligent--she's SuperTemp and hasn't aspired to anything in her life, really. She's not as trusting--it takes a robot Santa trying to kill her on the motorway for her to trust the Doctor. She says at the end of "The Runaway Bride" that the Doctor needs someone to stop him. In her third episode, "The Fires of Pompeii," she tries to stop him, but has the wisdom to take part in his horrifying decision. What the Doctor asks of her is to be "just a mate." Naturally, this becomes the running joke of them not being together, not at all. (If you want a rundown of these things, you can watch the BBC's "Donna Noble in 90 seconds" homage.) They are more alike than ever when she becomes the Doctor Donna for a few moments of her career. After her departure from his life, Donna is nearly captured by the Master and mind-slaps those trying to come after her. The Doctor explains this as, "Really, did you think I'd leave my best friend without a defense mechanism?" It's not hyperbole. This person who can stand by him and against him in equal measures is perfectly suited to be his best friend.