Doctor Who's Greatest Companion

Donna Noble is the greatest Doctor Who companion, and there has been no one since to change my mind.

1. She tells the Doctor what he needs to hear and not what he wants to hear. Sometimes, the truth is hard, but it is necessary. Their relationship is not a romantic one, but a true friendship. While there were times that the dialog seemed rude, it was quickly realized that it was meant more as an eye-opener than it was as a mean comment. Donna rebuked him when he needed it, but also encouraged and soothed him as well. She “helped” him by pushing the button to make Mount Vesuvius erupt, thus sharing the emotional burden. She also forced him to recognize his daughter, despite how she was conceived. Donna understood that the Doctor needed to have companions, so she recorded a message telling him to find someone who would “keep him going.” The Doctor made sure that Donna was taken care of, after their adventures, by gifting her with a lottery ticket for her wedding. She believes it to be a cheap gift, but Wilf and Sylvia know that is so much more.

2. She was important! While her mother may push her buttons by making her doubt herself, her grandfather Wilf and the Doctor made her feel useful. Wilf would never leave England because of his loyalty to the crown, but he also believes in the Doctor for that same reason. Donna knows that Wilf will be there for her, and is always waiting to see them both. He never leaves her or her mother when times get hard. Wilf reminds her of her courage from when she was six and got on a bus on her own to go on holiday. The Doctor, unknowingly, teaches her to feel smart. She’s not book smart like Martha, but she has experience. She notices the simple things that others ignore, like a missing file or numbers that look like dates. It is quite clear when Donna meets Dr. Riversong that something has happened to Donna. However, just the fact that Dr. Riversong had such a visible reaction to Donna was enough to make even Donna aware that she must have done something. This is portrayed in the episode ‘Turn Left’ when Donna changes her personal history, never meeting the Doctor, and such catastrophic events unfold. Her sacrifice brings everything back to the way it was, and Donna begins to recognize what it was Dr. Riversong, Wilf, and the Doctor had been telling her all along. She was brilliant.

3. She is the most changed companion. She went from trusting no one and nothing to understanding how important everyone and everything around her was. She was kind and understanding. Most of the characters had time to adjust to the adventures and near deaths of traveling with the Doctor. Donna was baptised by fire, literally, when he takes her to Pompeii. But she ends the episode by insisting that the Doctor must save someone, not everyone, just someone. She was also hugely empathic, which is why her ending was more tragic than any of the other companions. The slavery of the Ood showed her the evil side to humanity, and she went about freeing them. In exchange they gave her forewarning of the Doctor Donna, but she thought it was more of a honor. In the end, she truly understood the Doctor by becoming the Doctor Donna. She literally “walked in his shoes.”

So Donna is the greatest companion that the Doctor ever had. This must be a fact because even a dalek, Dalek Caan, states that she is “the most faithful companion”, and the Doctor in turn tells Donna that she is his best friend.