Rose was the great love and Martha was the rebound but the Tenth Doctor formed his most successful partnership with the fiery Donna Noble. Introduced as a one-off companion for a Christmas Special, Catherine Tate's Donna was an acquired taste and many questioned the wisdom of having her return as a bonafide companion. However, Russell T Davies was no fool and knew that the mouthy Londoner would have to have some of her rougher edges smoothed off before she travelled full time with the spaceman. Straight away, the chemistry Tate had developed with Tennant was there for all to see and Tate brought out Tennant's comedic side to excellent effect (just think of the poison scene in The Unicorn and the Wasp). What Donna brings is a different outlook. If she doesn't agree with the Doctor, she'll tell him and through Donna the viewer is made to question the Doctor in a way they didn't with Rose and Martha. Donna doesn't love or hero worship the Tenth and is an older, more independent person in her own right. The Fires of Pompeii shows Donna at her best, questioning tenets of the show fans have accepted for years but also backing the Doctor up when he has to make the most difficult of decisions. Her begging for the Doctor to save just one family is easily one of the best acted scenes of NuWho. Who would have thought that the noisy chav of The Runaway Bride would travel so far and learn so much only to break every viewers' heart when the Doctor had to wipe her memoires to save her life?
Writer of The Blog of Delights, a review site covering film, TV, cult TV, books and audio. Fan of Dr Who, Bond, X-Men and Marvel. Also the writer of e-book 'Fictional Legends: Doctor Who - the TV Adventures' for Collca.
