Doctor Who: speculative questions about current and old canon, ships, and other companions

[timepiececlock]

I was re-dicussing with mswyrr our Vash=The 9th Doctor comparison theory here, and it got into a discussion about the Doctor's relationships with Rose, Sara Jane, and other companions.

Some vague discussion of the newest episode was there, and this assertion came up regarding the episode:

mswyrr: "I think it's a rewriting of canon to say previous Doctors loved their companions the way Nine/Ten loves Rose. They didn't."

I've not seen much of the older Doctors except Eight's movie and the 6 minute clip of Sarah Jane's scene for leaving the show. But what I got out of that clip was the sense that the Doctor didn't at all care for her the way he cares for Rose or the way his conversation with Sarah Jane at the end of "School Reunion" implied. He did exactly what Sarah Jane accused him of doing: he dumped her with barely a thought. Which is not to say he didn't care for her at all, but just that it appeared (by his abrupt dumping of her) to be more of a friend/teacher's pet kind of affection. I can't at all imagine him leaving Rose so callously, and I don't buy into the idea that it's just because it was an old tv show and that's how things worked back then.

But my speculation is mostly moot, given how little I know of Four/Sarah Jane except that short parting clip. What do you guys think?

A.) Do you think this latest episode ret-conned to imply a deeper past affection on the Fourth Doctor's part for Sarah Jane than the original series implied? Or do you think it was actually just confirmation and not convenient rewriting of canon?

B.) Do you think that he does or doesn't see Rose as different from his other companions?


I can't answer A, but my answer for B is "yes," because of two main reasons:

(1) because he told her she outright that she was different in this episode (or at least different from Sarah Jane of the past, who he did dump)

(2) because she was clearly that significant to the Ninth Doctor, and the Doctor's Tenth incarnation was literally born from the Doctor's act of giving his life away out of love for Rose [I make the distinction here between sacrificing your life as an act of pure nobility and the deliberately romantic aspect Nine's sacrifice was given]. Though Nine and Ten are becoming more visibly different, I think the Doctor's feelings toward Rose are actually where Nine and Ten are the most similar. No surprise, given the circumstances of his regeneration.


EDIT: I guess I should say that when I think about it, my answer #2 is actually not answering the question B, it's answering a different question entirely: which is whether or not Ten loves Rose enough not to just dump her... That's a different question from "is she different from the other companions?", because I don't necessarily mean that loving Rose meant he didn't love any of his other companions.
...ARGH. I'm confusing myself here. It's really hard to try to answer these questions when I've only seen stuff of Eight, Nine, and Ten, and the most I know of the others is a 6 minute clip of Four. This is why I want your various and sundry opinions.


That's enough of my view; what say you folk?

Comments

[mswyrr]

because she was clearly that significant to the Ninth Doctor, and the Doctor's Tenth incarnation was literally born from the Doctor's act of giving his life away out of love for Rose.

One thing. She isn't the first companion he's died for. The Fifth Doctor gave his life to save Peri in Caves of Androzani.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

Well, I didn't say exclusively. :D I meant that part more as a evidence that he was in love with her, based not so much on the fact that he died for someone but the way it was presented in episode 13-- as being an act of love. And the assumption that Rose is different (or at least in the upper tiers, as it were) comes primarily from his quote this episode saying he wouldn't leave her like he's left the others. I guess I was kind of blurring the two points.

Thanks for pointing it out, though. ::goes to clarify, if possible::

[mswyrr]

Well, I didn't say exclusively. :D I meant that part more as a evidence that he was in love with her, based not so much on the fact that he died for someone but the way it was presented in episode 13-- as being an act of love.

Yeah, he can do the same thing for different reasons, and with different feelings. I haven't had the chance to watch Caves of Androzani, but from the summaries/discussions I've read, I think his dying for Peri could be read as him taking responsibility for her safety. He has more than one life to lose, and he's willing to sacrifice it because (1) that's what you do for the fragile creatures with only one life, especially when you're the one who invited them into danger, and (2) he loves her as a friend.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

He has more than one life to lose, and he's willing to sacrifice it

More than that, he thinks he's actually going to die in Caves of Androzani: he's been putting off regenerating (I think it's in episode three the effect starts, he blinks and shakes his head, and it stops) and by the time it's down to the choice between him or Peri it might actually be too late.

[mswyrr]

Oh, here's a tidbit: when the Fifth Doctor regenerates into the Sixth, he tries to strangle Peri.

We Doctor/Rose shippers can always say, "He died for her -- and then he didn't choke her out! Pwn!" ;)

[my-llama-girl.livejournal.com]

Personally I don't blame Six for trying to strangle Peri...

[webeh.livejournal.com]

Was she a very annoying companion and only Six finally realized that? ;)

[alto2.livejournal.com]

The only companion who might have been more annoying (IMHO she was, but your mileage may vary) is Mel. Peri was whiny and stupid, and drove a lot of people crazy.

[my-llama-girl.livejournal.com]

put it this way I like to think so...