User:SOTO/Forum Archive/Tales from the Tardis/@comment-188432-20140327234318/@comment-174.16.194.149-20140329202105

It must be Rose.

She is the companion who finally did that thing that no other companion on screen was able to do. She did that one thing that many hardcore Whovians could never imagine: Rose got the Doctor to love her back...on screen!

Sure, we fanboys (and girls) like to imagine the Doctor romancing with Sarah-Jane and Jo and Romana, but watching the classic series, the romance is certainly understated if even there at all. The closest thing we get to romance is in City of Death with Romana. Even in cases where romance needed to be there (such as with the Doctor & Tegan) it glaringly wasn't. In the one case with Grace during the Fox TV Movie, romance was more of a humorous subplot than anything else, especially since Grace surprisingly never went anywhere.

Rose's victory makes sense from a creative perspective as well: Clara's plot was handled relatively quickly and simply from a writer's standpoint, certainly not anything nearly as engrossing as Amy and River's entwining stories, and not anything as in-depth as the progression of Rose's relationship with two very different and important incarnations of the Doctor.

Let's not forget that Rose was the companion when the show came back as a ratings powerhouse, while Clara hasn't had nearly the depth of Rose, Martha or Donna, despite the fact that Clara's had almost as much screen time, was the companion for the 50th anniversary, and is arguably the most important companion EVER considering how she changed time against the Great Intelligence. Still, after all that, Rose is more engrossing in her episodes, if not more likable or compelling than Clara. Rose was the anchor for the show when it could have floundered from Eccleston's strong series 1, to Tennant's weak series 2.

That being said, time has not been good to Rose. The second season was not the best, and not superior to Martha or Donna after her. Looking back, she was a bit possessive of the Doctor, and we can't help but agree that the real 10th Doctor could never be with her. Her Doctor was the 9th, but he was too emotionally broken to survive with her (so he sacrificed himself for her). But she settled down with the Doctor (even if it was just a hand-clone) which is something NO other companion will ever do outside of the Curse of Fatal Death (Har-har)

Personally...I like Clara WAY more. She feels like a classic companion. But I voted for Rose.

Honestly though, I'd take Amy or Donna any day over either of them.