Why I’ll Never Be a Companion: Genders in Doctor Who
Jenna- Louise Coleman was announced as the brand spanking new companion to accompany Matt Smith in his journeys across time and space in his incredible, indestructible wooden spaceship known as the TARDIS. Beneath my own whimpers as I huddled in a dark corner with a blanket wrapped around my shoulders clicking my lack luster plastic sonic screwdriver I came to the sad conclusion that I would never be one to accompany the Doctor on his life and death voyages throughout space. Not only from my lack of an acting ability but also because despite what my friends would call a myriad of feminine qualities I encompass- I still have a penis. Throughout the decades that Doctor Who has been on the air there has generally been one static aspect of the show that it would very rarely deviate from- the gender of the Doctor and the gender of his companions.
With the introduction of River Song as a more prominent character in the last few seasons, even with Matt Smith questioning his own gender after his regeneration, it is unlikely that the Doctor would ever be played as a woman and it would not serve well. Just on the over arcing qualities that make the Doctor, the Doctor, he is an entirely male character. Slightly aggressive within the new series, a little less empathy for others, and a more sinister complex since The Last Great Time War- he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder like a lot of men. Not to mention the fact the he had children so it would be a little ood if there was the possibility of a gender bender with every regeneration. It would be an incredibly difficult adjustment for the children. “Last week I had a mother and father. This week I have a mother and a ginger mother. We’re adjusting. Gingers are a little difficult to cope with.” However, something that does not have to remain stagnant is the Doctor’s choice of companion.
Since Doctor Who has been on television there has never been an inherently male companion- just a guy the Doctor finds interesting, cool, witty, or even just a good bud to hang out with that does not ovulate once a month. While there have been male companions Adric, Ian, and of course Rory, Mickey, Captain Jack- they have all been supplementary. Not necessarily chosen by the Doctor for travel, just the boyfriends and fiancés of other companions. The only one to really have a strong connection with the Doctor as a male would be Jamie McCrimmon, which new Whovians would barely know. As a writer there are probably a few reasons as to why this is. In particular the type of conflict that can arise by throwing two people of the opposite gender into a whirlwind of life and death situations and the romantic inclinations this can create. Most predominantly this can be seen in Tennant’s doctor and the relationship he has with his companions. Rose was the love interest, Martha was the rebound girl, and Donna was finally a “mate” and by far one of the most popular companions the Doctor has had.
Of course another reason that the doctor generally takes a female companion within her twenties is simply because it gives him a stronger human and empathetic element. Donna is the one that convinces him to save the family in “Fires of Pompeii” and other examples- especially throughout the new series after the Last Great Time War. As well, with another admission by Matt Smith, he kind of sheepishly likes them and by having them in their twenties and mostly all human (another aspect stagnant in the Doctor- despite travelling throughout all of time and space his friends are predominantly human women from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries) it gives the audience a character to relate to- to be just as lost in what the Doctor is doing but to have enough faith in him that he will fix what is going wrong.
There is nothing wrong with having a female companion, however if Donna was the most popular companion and Rory beating out Amy in the new series in popularity- it can only stand to reason that perhaps the audience would like a change every once in a while. After all Wilfred Mott was being pushed as a possible exit buddy for the Doctor. But who knows? With Moffat’s secrecy about Coleman’s characteristics maybe she will be a robot from the planet Zenon and shoot lasers beams from her fingernails. Maybe she’ll secretly be man. But all I can hope for to satiate my own fan boy fantasies is that Doctor finds twenty something year old college students as suitable companions for space travel.
I imagine that’s what heaven is like.
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