2. They Both Do Brilliant Things With The Companions
If you don't like Rose, you probably don't like Davies. If you don't like River, you probably don't like Moffat. and sure, everyone has a right to their opinion on whether they liked a story. But that doesn't make story, character, or writer THE WORST. I'm going to take the position that Rose and River were both AWESOME. And even if you didn't like them, their stories were FASCINATING Here's why: Rose was the first companion on the new show. She was the first companion who was not pretty easily replaceable. I've watched a random selection of classic episodes, and those girls were changing so fast I stopped bothering to learn their names! None of the episodes were really about them: they were about the adventures they tagged along with. They could be swapped without changing an episode.
So making a new companion the focus of the kickoff, putting the spotlight on her emotional journey, and making her the ultimate hero of the season, was a pretty daring choice. And it was absolutely necessary, because the show needed to go to new places with companions. They couldn't just be the +1, they had to matter, had to have voices of their own and noticeable effects on the Doctor. Rose was PERFECT for that, because her uncomplicated humanity made the alien Doctor feel like a real person. And she was the first human (to my knowledge) to call the Doctor on his long line of interchangeable companions, and how small that implied she was.
River, and her mum Amy, were both very cool companions. River was a brilliant experiment in the time travel drama, in how to build a romance in reverse, and in just how un-interchangeable a companion could get. River was always confident of her place in the Doctor's life, never willing to let the Doctor get away with crap, and always very forcefully herself. She was, above all, fun. And she was a fascinating look at the effect the Doctor could have on companions, at the way he could ruin their lives. 'Cause in the end, both Davies and Moffat were turning a critical eye to the effect the Doctor had on his companions' lives. These aren't stray dogs: they're people, and in their relationships with the Doctor both are changed. Rose and Martha became dark, sad soldiers; Donna became the most important person in the universe before being destroyed; Amy's childhood was stolen by the Doctor and she became a mother and a writer and a name on a gravestone; River's life was ruined by the Doctor (just as she reveled in shaking up his life); and god only knows how Clara will end. So dislike each companion all you want, but you can't deny they all have quite the story behind them.