sarah!Tears for a companion I’ve never really liked
Perhaps it was the particular date causing the tears to roll down my face at the end of “The Dalek Invasion of Earth” earlier today. Perhaps I’ve got the beginnings of PMS. Perhaps I’ve been saving up my tears over other things for too long now. It may be a combination of all three. Watching the Doctor double lock the doors to the TARDIS, thereby leaving his granddaughter Susan behind caused innumerable tears to fall and I cursed that man, I cursed him good and loud for doing it to me again, for this is certainly not the first time I’ve cried watching the fool show (and no, I have not watched the last S! J! S! episode yet), and I’m quite sure it won’t be the last (yes, I’m still holding off on the last S! J! S! episode).
There were tears for Adric. There were tears for the second Doctor when he sent Jamie and Zoe back with no real memories of him. There were tears for the third and fourth Doctors when they regenerated into the fourth and fifth Doctors respectively. There may have been tears early on in my Who education for Rose when the Doctor left her behind in that parallel world. There were tears for the sixth Doctor because of Mel. There were tears over Tegan because…well, it was Tegan.
No, not really. I’m just being mean to Mel.
I’m exaggerating about Tegan, but only by this much.
To quote a bit from an email I recently sent:
Yes, I still prefer Barbara over Susan, but I will no longer unequivocably declare dislike of anyone in the Whoniverse. I learned my lesson with Pertwee. That being said, Tegan does not, nor ever fall into that category, should you be wondering…
I think I might have cried a little when Susan was left behind as well, but I felt sorrier for the Doctor than Susan. Susan was being left behind so she could start a new life with the man she loved (though admittedly I thought it was a bit ridiculous that the Doctor would leave his sole remaining family member with a man she’d only known for a week or so), but her departure left the Doctor all on his own with a couple of strangers. It was a sad, beautiful moment, and over 40 years later remains one of the finest Doctor Who scenes to date.
But oh m’chere, if this touching moment had you cursing the Doctor, you’ll absolutely despise him for how he nonchalantly drops S!J!S! miles away from home at the end of “The Hand of Fear”. (Not to mention that the serial itself is pretty bad — though in that goofy, semi-charming, non-offensive way — and that S!J!S! is possessed for much of it, so it’s like adding injury to insult!)
I agree that Adric’s passing was kinda sad, but I shed absolutely no tears for Tegan. Daleks and Tegan’s prompt resignation from the TARDIS gang made that one of the best episodes ever. ;)
Oh, and I thought Susan was pretty hot — in that adorable mousey way, though she did show some endearing sass when she wasn’t spraining her ankle or screaming or being otherwise completely useless — so that also made her departure rather depressing. ;) No tears will be shed when Catherine Tate exits stage left!
I suppose she could be pretty sassy (although I admit to having seen, at the very most, three episodes with her), but the whole ankle sprain thing was pretty lame. I mean, who recovers from a sprained ankle that quickly? Ummm, I think I already despise the Doctor for dumping S! J! S! in what he thinks is Croyden; I mean, couldn’t he have made sure before he left? And how did she get home from Aberdeen?
As for the screaming factor, who would you say screamed more and generally was more useless? Susan or Sarah? (Actually, Sarah Jane was never useless…she wore clothes like nobody’s business!)
I didn’t feel so badly for the Doctor - I’m not saying I was kicking up my heels and thumbing my nose at the curmudgeon, but he at least was familiar with his surroundings and Barbara (oh, Barbara, that hair was like a fuckin’ helmet, wasn’t it?!) and Ian…what if David had turned out to be a mad serial killer?
I’ve yet to see any Tate episodes, except for The Christmas Invasion. I’m holding off until I watch more of the classic shows.