Donna and Harry

Written by Andrew Weston Sunday, 14 August 2011

Doctor Who Compandium

Two companions, as different as they could be. One’s a temp with a fiery temperament and hair to match, the other a doctor and a gentlemen of the old school. One feature they do have in common is their – relatively –short time spent with the Doctor, though both suffer from rather unfitting departures.

Donna

Donna aka Donna Noble aka Donna Temple-Noble. There have been few companions – if any – whose introduction in the Doctor’s life can rival Donna’s. Suddenly appearing onboard the TARDIS after the Doctor has ‘lost’ Rose (seemingly forever) it’s immediately clear just what sort of a person she is. Unafraid to speak her mind, she’s more livid at being abducted (as she sees it) than in the actual fact of how it happened or exactly where she is. Though she’s certainly open-minded, and upon finding out the truth of where she is and what the Doctor is, accepts it without too much convincing. Not only that, but in her introductory story we also see a side to her that is oft forgotten about so early on, a mischievous element of her persona present when she manipulates the wedding guests with a fake show of misery in order to avoid answering their many questions. The sly wink at the Doctor is an early indicator that here is someone who is certainly companion material before the very fact of such an act taking place.

There’s a definite uniqueness to Donna in many ways, though not least her turning down the Doctor’s offer to travel with him, yet changing her mind and then seeking out all and any strange happenings in an effort to locate him once more and take him up on the offer. The length of time that passes in-between their meetings is also another interesting development and gives Donna the time to ‘walk in the dust’, or at least to hone her companion credentials by investigating the freak occurrences that she thinks the Doctor will be drawn to. The fact that she actively seeks him out says a lot about her own self, and that this is a woman who (does) now want to see more than her simple day-to-day existence will allow. She tells the Doctor at the end of The Runaway Bride that he needs someone to stop him before he goes too far, and she is keen to be that person. She craves the life of excitement that she had a fleeting taste of, after realising how mundane real life is in comparison.

Donna is a woman of strong mind and a strong heart. Her life after she meets the Doctor is turbulent is many ways, and not always due to the Doctor’s actions. Admittedly, her life undergoes a huge change because of his influence, but her own father’s death must certainly have a huge impact on her world, perhaps even giving her the further push needed to decide to track down the Doctor and travel with him. She has a tempestuous relationship with Sylvia, her mother, who often berates her for not making more of her life. Yet on the flip side of that coin is her grandfather, Wilf, who just wants her to be happy no matter what that entails.  Witness his happiness as he sees her flying in the blue box with the man she’s been waiting for. Or see his joy at her return home in The Sontaran Stratagem and you can truly see the love and the bond between the two of them. Donna’s home life keeps her grounded in many ways, and it’s heartening to see the family unit take a different though equally supportive role to those in the past.

In The Fires of Pompeii, the true horror of the realities of time travel and what the Doctor will and won’t do become readily apparent, and it’s only thanks to Donna’s pleading that anyone is spared from the disaster. It brings the true nature of the Doctor’s world crashing down upon her, yet we don’t see such a dramatic undertaking again, the only other visit to history being The Unicorn and the Wasp and, though lives are at stake, it is more of a challenge; a game to be played. While it does cost human lives it isn’t in any way near the scale of death as that in Pompeii. Perhaps by this point Donna has grown used to the deaths of innocents, since she doesn’t seem anywhere near as appalled by the deaths here.

Donna certainly undergoes her fair share of ordeals in her short time with the Doctor and has not one but two worlds created around her – her virtual life in Forest of the Dead, and a whole alternate reality in Turn Left. The horror at the end of Silence in the Library as the node is revealed to be wearing Donna’s face is a truly chilling image, as is the moment in Turn Left where she knows the only course of action to save her original timeline is to sacrifice her own life. Donna suffers more than many companions have, and it’s a wonder that she wants to continue to travel with the Doctor as a result. Yet that’s another feature that makes her unique. While Tegan found it had “stopped being fun”, Donna goes through these torments and still wants – more than anything – to continue to travel with the Doctor.

There’s a certain sense of foreboding about her travels with the Doctor, and there are clues to be found relating to her ultimate fate throughout. Lucius tells her in The Fires of Pompeii that she has something on her back; the Ood chant for the Doctor-Donna; and River seems genuinely surprised – and a little taken aback – about the revelation that it is Donna Noble that she’s meeting. It’s clear that something – possibly sinister – will occur because of her travels, yet we share in Donna’s ignorance despite these small clues.

Undoubtedly there is a great sadness in Donna’s departure, as the Doctor is forced to wipe her memories of him from her mind in order to save her. Wilf comments that “she was better with you”, which shows just how much she has clearly grown as a person because of the Doctor’s influence and her own experience. It’s a heartbreaking ending, yet not the end of her story. She is given a ‘happy ever after’ (of sorts) with her winning lottery ticket and (this time successful) marriage. Yet it doesn’t seem true to the character, and the fall that she underwent was a far more fitting and poignant – though melancholic – departure for the character than her eventual fate. Yet it doesn’t detract from what a strong character Donna Noble is, and she undoubtedly served as the template for the next fiery red-headed companion, Miss Amelia Pond.

Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble had been saved.

Harry

Harry aka Dr Harry Sullivan, UNIT medical officer. Harry was first mentioned in Planet of the Spiders, called by the Brigadier when the Third Doctor appears to be in a coma after returning – eventually – from Metebelis 3. When we first see him he is initially assessing the newly regenerated Doctor in Robot, though is quickly drawn into the investigation concerning the K1 robot and Think Tank and subsequently becomes a companion.

“Harry Sullivan is an imbecile!” bellows the Doctor in Revenge of the Cybermen, but he’s far from it. Harry is a fairly well-to-do sort of a chap, well spoken and gentlemanly, and always capable to assist in whatever manner necessary. In his first story, for example, he goes undercover to infiltrate Think Tank, uses his fists to floor Jellicoe, and assists the Doctor in creating the virus in order to stop the robot of the title. He is certainly a companion of action, and is the first male companion to set foot aboard the TARDIS (The Three Doctors notwithstanding as regards the UNIT ‘family’) since Jamie.

It’s certainly a refreshing change to have another male companion, and it brings an interesting dynamic to the TARDIS crew. There’s a rather wonderful rapport between him and Sarah, with him rather sweetly referring to her as ‘old thing’, though never meaning it in a derogatory way, rather as a term of endearment. There’s never anything more than an obvious friendship between the pair of them, yet this is exactly what’s required. It’s a solid partnership which never threatens to become anything more than it obviously is. Harry and Sarah are another successful TARDIS pairing, yet theirs is a very short-lived partnership, a shame considering the strength of it.

Harry does get to use his medical skills on occasion too, and it’s a fact of his character that could be so easily overlooked. What is interesting is that it never becomes overbearing or trite, but rather fits into the stories perfectly. All the best companions had skills and characteristics that it was easy to forget until suddenly something was required to use them (Zoe’s perfect recall for example), and it’s the same with Harry. The skill doesn’t define the character, but every time his medical expertise is required, the audience suddenly remembers that yes, he is a medical officer and so it is a completely logical piece of storytelling, rather than trying to shoehorn said feature into each and every story.

What is interesting about Harry is his willingness to get involved in the Doctor’s life without hesitation. Upon finding himself whisked away into space, Harry is impressed with his new surroundings yet doesn’t let it overwhelm him. He finds himself being dragged along by the Doctor on his travels somewhat reluctantly at first, yet is soon as much a part of the crew as if he’d always been there.

Harry is one of the most affable companions, and very protective of Sarah in the way that Ben was of Polly. Yet Sarah doesn’t respond to it as well as Polly did, and rather resents that Harry seems to think she should be wrapped in cotton wool. Yet, in spite of this, there’s certainly great affection between the two, and it’s a shame that this TARDIS team wasn’t given longer to shine.

Which brings us to Harry’s departure, which unlike Donna’s wasn’t even a ‘proper’ farewell. After spending all of season 12 in a very closely linked run of stories, Harry gets kidnapped and impersonated by a Zygon but there’s no indication early on that this might be a final (well, almost final) story for the character. At the end, when he says he’ll take the train back to London instead of the TARDIS, there’s the distinct possibility that we’ll see him again in the next story. We don’t, but he is mentioned, as he is in Pyramids of Mars too, where the Doctor and Sarah are actively attempting to return to UNIT HQ, but don’t quite get their dates right. Yet in the next story we do see Harry once more, but when he does appear he is – for some of the short time he does appear – yet another duplicate. When he’s not the android replica, he could just as well be any generic member of UNIT personnel rather than the slightly clumsy, gallant and genial fellow the audience is used to. Not only that but once more there’s no sign that he won’t join Sarah and the Doctor. Instead he’s left to clear up the mess that the Doctor has left and...that’s it.

It’s rather sad that we don’t see Harry again, and that he isn’t given a suitable ending. It would perhaps have made sense for him to appear again, perhaps in further UNIT stories when the Brigadier is in Geneva/Peru (delete as applicable). Sadly, we aren’t afforded this opportunity, though we do find out courtesy of the Brigadier that Harry was working on something very “hush hush” at Porton Down.

Harry was a companion who worked well, yet wasn’t given long enough to truly become one of the more well-remembered of their number. By those who know him he is well-loved, and he appears numerous times in spin-off fiction, where thankfully he lives on.

And that’s a rather wonderful (old) thing.

Andy Weston is the host of Doctor Who podcast 'Fast Return Switch', available here or via iTunes.