Doctor Who: 10 Reasons Donna Was The Best Companion

Donna Noble was the third and final companion the Tenth Doctor had by his side. She was played by the hilariously funny comedian Catherine Tate and quickly won fans over, with many considering her to be the best Doctor Who companion ever.

We’ve taken a look at every episode she was a part of and decided on ten reasons why Donna was the best companion the rebooted version of the show ever brought to our screens.

10 She Came Back

Rose was the first face we ever saw on Doctor Who and Martha (while Freema Agyeman also played a different character at the end of season two, making things a bit confusing) was first introduced at the start of her season, Donna was a returning character. She had first been introduced in the Christmas special, ‘The Runaway Bride’, rejected a request to travel with the Doctor, and proved to be such a fan favorite that she came back for a full season a couple of years later.

This meant that when they bumped into each other again, they were already friends.

9 And She Changed A Lot

The version of Donna we saw in ‘The Runaway Bride’ was angry, sarcastic and very untrustworthy. She also didn’t really believe or trust anything she saw, and in terms of understanding, she didn’t know what was going on half the time.

By the end of her time with The Doctor, she had grown into someone hugely compassionate, kind and caring, while her understanding of everything going on around her was just as strong as any of the other companions we had met before.

8 She Was His Funniest Companion

Donna might have had the inbuilt advantage of being played by an incredibly talented comedian, but no matter where it came from, she was The Doctor’s funniest companion by far.

We might have had some laughs from both Martha and Rose, but nothing beats the way Donna was able to shout The Doctor down or express the confusion of the audience through her own angry tone and sarcastic line of questioning.

7 They Were Just Friends

When Rose was introduced, we spent two seasons watching a love story. Rose was in love with The Doctor, and he was in love with Rose (even if he wouldn’t admit it). When Martha showed up, she fell in love with The Doctor but he wasn’t interested in the slightest.

The best thing about Donna Noble is that she and the Doctor didn’t bother with any of that. There wasn’t even a hint of it; they were just really good friends with no romantic tensions getting in the way at any point.

6 She Isn’t Afraid To Speak Her Mind

Going back to the way Donna was able to shout the Doctor down when he was getting on her nerves or not making any sense: She didn’t care what anyone thought about her opinion.

She used her attitude to save the lives of a family in Pompeii, and they were what saved The Doctor from the Racnos. She also manages to shout directly in the face of The Shadow Proclamation when they look down on her for being a human.

5 With Her Came Wilf

The loveliest man in the history of humanity has to be, without a doubt, Wilfred Mott. He was so loved that he ended up as the Tenth Doctor’s final companion, surviving until the end.

He had a small cameo much earlier in the show, way before Donna’s existence, but he ended up playing her grandfather, meaning that with Donna came Wilf. Bernard Cribbins (the actor who played Wilf) actually played The Doctor’s old companion, Tom Campbell, from the 1966 film Dalek’s Invasion Earth 2150 AD.

4 And Sylvia

She may have been slightly overshadowed by the brilliance of her father, but Donna’s mum Sylvia was also pretty great. She was the polar opposite of her father, constantly warning Donna not to go off with The Doctor and mistrusting him pretty much consistently, but she came around eventually.

Her constant state of stress and worry was almost as funny as that of her daughter, and somehow she manages to perfectly mirror the nuances of Donna, convincing the audience that they’re actually related.

3 She Was Ridiculously Important

The one thing Donna never quite understood was how important she was. The episode ‘Turn Left’ was built exclusively around how important Donna was as a character, with her decision to turn left instead of right creating an entire parallel universe. In this universe, her lack of involvement in The Doctor’s life led to his death and the destruction of Earth itself.

It’s pretty impressive to be this important and not even believe it.

2 Doctor Donna

Speaking of the importance of Donna, the episode ‘Journey’s End’ saw her become even more important when her consciousness combined with that of The Doctor, forming The Doctor Donna.

This sent her brain into realms it had never accessed before, giving her all the knowledge and power of The Doctor himself, meaning she was able to save the world once again with her newfound power, making her even more important than she already was.

1 Her Ending Was The Most Tragic Part Of Doctor Who

However, the existence of The Doctor Donna wasn’t really possible. As such, it overwhelmed her brain and The Doctor was forced to wipe her memory and take her home to Wilf, creating one of the most heart-breaking scenes in the history of the show.

It might not be pleasant to watch, or really have much to do with Donna given the fact that she is unconscious, but without her existence as a character we wouldn’t have been given what is arguably the most emotionally heavy scene the show ever managed to produce.