Steven Moffat weirdly limits who can be a companion

‘It’s just a question of who credibly is going to agree to go in the TARDIS? Who’s going to do it? Is it going to be a mother of 15 children? No. Is it going to be someone in their 60s? No. Is there going to be a particular age range? I mean… who’s going to have a crush on the Doctor? You know, come on! It’s more than a format. It’s evolved from good, dramatic reasons.’

I like the points this article makes on what Moffat said. He’s basically creating a template for the Doctor Who companion: they must be young, female (because the Doctor finds them attractive), feisty and a bit lost. It excludes pretty much a good chunk of the world’s population.

Moffat isn’t wrong… to a point. Yes, there is a certain personality type that will be drawn to running away with the Doctor. But he’s limiting himself in a way that’s frankly shocking for the guy running a show like Doctor Who, in which the range of dramatic possibilities is far wider than for most other shows.

Does Moffat seriously believe that only young people feel dislocated or dream of outer space or are a bit mad? Does he seriously think that a 60-year-old woman — or a 60-year-old man, for that matter — couldn’t possibly have a crush on the Doctor? Does he seriously believe that the only basis for wanting to run away with the Doctor is a sort of generic low-level disaffection with ordinary everyday life?

I’m sure there are a number of introverts who would love to run with the Doctor. Lynda from Nine’s era and Rita from Eleven’s would both qualify as one, and Martha was feisty, but more studious and grounded than Rose or Donna.

And let’s not forget Bernard Cribbins who was well past 60 years old when he took the role of Wilf, one of Ten’s companions, and Jack Harkness definitely had a crush on the Doctor. Also, will Moffat ever touch on mental illnesses in his characterisations of being ‘a bit mad’ or dislocated? These limitations are restricting ones for a writer to take and rather closed-minded as well.

415 Notes/ Hide

  1. muninnhuginn reblogged this from stfu-moffat and added:
    Having a couple on board made a new dynamic (in NuWho at least), but I have to agree that (to me) many possibilities...
  2. fear-the-dreamer reblogged this from thespidermanvictorious and added:
    Think it’s about time we have a male companion, because: Rose- Mutually fell in love Martha- Unrequited love Donna- A...
  3. joanwatsn reblogged this from endquestionmark
  4. serpentinred reblogged this from stfu-moffat
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  8. inserttemptitlehere reblogged this from ilikelawyersandcaptains
  9. ilikelawyersandcaptains reblogged this from stfu-moffat and added:
    To be honest I don’t actually see why there has to be any romance or attraction at all…
  10. brbchurch reblogged this from burningsunsforgoodbyes
  11. sisterbeatrice reblogged this from margaerynn
  12. brucebananeronawillgrahamcracker reblogged this from disgruntleddiscoheadbob and added:
    here, maybe I can help. I think what moffat was trying to say was, “It’s just a question of who credibly is going to...
  13. burningsunsforgoodbyes reblogged this from margaerynn
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  22. thiswontbebigondignity reblogged this from nurfherder and added:
    I know, you’re the show runner and all. And I really DID enjoy Coupling, Moff. I did. But: Really? Being head of a show...
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