Ranking Doctor Who’s modern day companions

Amy Pond

Karen Gillan’s Amy Pond was the first official companion of the Steven Moffat era, and like most anything to do with his time in charge of Doctor Who, her character is somewhat controversial. Her initial debut as a small child is pitch perfect, and her season 5 fairytale-esque journey to reclaim her life and family from the crack in the wall is honestly magical. Her arc became more complicated and problematic as her time in the TARDIS continued, but let’s face it: We forgave this character a lot because of how fantastic her first season was.

Amy is sassy and strong, full of opinions and unafraid to stand up for herself to anyone, be they human or an alien monster. She loves fiercely, angers easily, and can be loyal almost to a fault. (There’s a reason that her sobriquet is “The Girl Who Waited,” after all.) In many ways, we watched Amy grow up, so we can’t help but root for her happiness, no matter how many poor or rash decisions she might make.

Interestingly enough, though, Amy was often allowed to be unlikable and make selfish choices. She could be rude and demanding, and her constant demeaning of Rory often came off as irritating, and happened so frequently that even when it was meant to be a backhanded affirmation of her feelings for him, it fell flat. Doctor Who also struggled to really tell stories from Amy’s perspective, particularly when you consider that season 6 saw her get kidnapped, replaced by a copycat Ganger replica, lose her baby all in the space of a few episodes only to almost completely ignore the impact any of those events had on her as a person. (And that’s not even touching on the “surprise, your baby is actually River” twist.) Had we spent any time on Amy’s feelings and reactions to these, quite frankly, horrific events, it would have gone a long way toward making her a well-rounded character, rather than simply a feisty one-liner machine.

Best episode: Season 6’s “The Girl Who Waited.” It’s a dark masterpiece that sees Amy stuck on an alien planet for 36 years after getting separated from the Doctor and Rory. Gillan does double duty playing both a young and an older Amy, a much more hardened, cold, even grizzled version of the woman we know and love. While waiting, she’s become a master at survival – and not a half bad swordswoman – and has come to hate the Doctor for leaving her behind. The crux of the story comes down to the need to choose one Amy over the other, and in doing so we experience not only heartbreak, but a reminder that the Doctor himself can be much darker (and more manipulative) than we as viewers usually like to admit.

(Honorable mention, however, to season 5’s “The Big Bang,” just for that wedding moment about something borrowed and something blue.)