User:SOTO/Forum Archive/Tales from the Tardis/@comment-188432-20140327234318/@comment-4189499-20140331075458

I think one of the problems with this question of which is more important to the Doctor misses the fact that each companion has been put in a different position when it comes to Doctor-rescuing. We don't know if Clara would have been able to help 9 after the time war or if she would have absorbed the time vortex and destroyed all the Daleks, because she didn't get that chance. Likewise, we don't know if Rose would have entered the Doctor's time stream and saved him at every point in his life if she had been presented with that opportunity. On that level, we're really comparing apples with oranges when trying to determine which was the best companion from the 'helping the Doctor' viewpoint.

So that leaves us with comparing the companions on more of a personal basis. I have had to choose Rose on this one, because I feel we have only really had about 4 episodes where we have seen Clara's true personality, and that is including Oswin and Victorian Clara. Most writers haven't seemed to know quite what to do with Clara in stories, and as a result she is left just sort of standing there, occasionally saying the right thing to move the plot forward. So far, she has been used more as a plot device than a full character, and that really annoys me, especially since there have been some episodes where she works well. Hopefully that will change next series now the writers know her a bit better.

Rose, on the other hand, was a full character from the beginning, and the plot of the first two series of revived Who follow her story as much as the Doctor's. Sure, she was a flawed character, but one always knew who she was, and the character development she underwent during her time with the Doctor was gradual and realistic. I even quite like the romance thing between her and the Doctor, as it evolved gently over 2 series out of friendship and mutually earned respect for each other. This is opposed to the romance between Clara and Eleven, which just seems too sudden and a bit too much like it was just put in there for the Tumblr fangirls.

Again, maybe things will be better for Clara next series, but from what there has been so far for the characters, Rose is the clear winner for me.