Catherine Tate - So who's eating Humble Pie Now

[Larry]

I will not deny that when I heard that Catherine Tate, was going to be the companion for series 4 I did have my reservations but as all ways with these things I was going to give her a chance before judging her.

Now at the end of series 4 I have to say that I can't find one fault with her she has been absoloutly fantastic right from episode 1 and got better and better with each episode.

She has proved to all her doubters wrong weather is was a comic moment or an touching and emotional scene her performances have shown what a quallity all round actress she is .

In fact out of Billie Piper , Freema Agymen and Catherine Tate, I'd have to say with out hesitation Tate has been the best out of the three of them.

[Wayne]

Not me look.

[Paul Monk]

Nor me seing as I started the thread Wayne's just linked to.

[SiHart]

Nor me, I always thought she'd be good. And she was.

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

I thought she might be good, but I was honestly surprised at how brilliant she was. The episodes 'Turn Left' and 'Journey's End' both emphasised how much Donna had changed as a character. We've had loads of different versions of the character, from the caring mother in Silence In The Library to the scarred version that was forced to move to Leeds and worse. Her scenes with Bernard Cribbins were an absolute joy as well. Hurrah!

[WhiteCrow]

Yeah I was a bit nervous, as you imagine one of her Catherine Tate show characters moving into the Tardis. No she wouldn't work - I was sure - companions had to be young, keen, pretty actresses there as eye candy to reel in the older male viewers. Her character had the potential to whinge, being another Tegan.

Instead we got an older actress - but she could act. She's been a revelation, it's felt she's kind of redefined the role of a companion. She played the comedy great, but she played the drama better.

[Antony Cox]

As a 'name' perhaps I was a little concerned, but I'd always enjoyed her own show and thought she was very talented.

There's one particular sketch in her show where she plays an 'older' woman who tries to find love on the internet by marrying some bloke from Iran who's supposed to be meeting her at Heathrow but never does.

Although it was obviously a comedy sketch, the emotion she put into being upset by him standing her up was really excellent, so I knew she was going to be at least reasonable.

In the end, as we know, she was bloody great!

[Perry Vale]

I didn't mind her in 'Runaway Bride', in parts, but never warmed to her in S4. She kept slipping in to her comedy characters in almost every episode, which had the effect of taking me out of the 'drama'.

[Rob McCow]

Not having seen the Catherine Tate show might be an advantage. If that show highlights her entire range, then there's going to be comparisons between Donna and her other characters.

[Dirk Gently]

I will freely admit that I was apprehensive about her. I thought (& said) that if she was the same as she was in Runaway Bride then I wouldn't be impressed, but thankfully she was only like that in small doses & all in all she was very good in the role.

[Wayne]

The episodes 'Turn Left' and 'Journey's End' both emphasised how much Donna had changed as a character. We've had loads of different versions of the character, from the caring mother in Silence In The Library to the scarred version that was forced to move to Leeds and worse. Her scenes with Bernard Cribbins were an absolute joy as well. Hurrah!

Agreed. In fact Donna's 'journey' has been the most interesting running theme for me throughout S4.
I thought one of the best aspects of 'Journey's End' was Donna having to lose everything she'd gained through travelling with the Doctor. It may have been a bit of a downbeat end to her journey, but i found it far more poignant than all that sickly Rose crap that preceded it.

[Stuart Wallis]

I'm in the same boat as Tim on this; I wasn't impressed with Donna's first appearance either, but she got very much better very quickly.

[Alex]

I guess I am partially as I thought she'd ruin the series and make it all but unwatchable - but I still think she was pretty shoddy in places (especially when being all shouty - I know that was supposed to be part of the character but she didn't pull it off well imo), and some episodes she annoyed me incredibly. And I'm glad she's gone now to be honest, and I hope she doesn't return.

[Dirk Gently]

To be honest I don't think any new series companions need to be revisited.

[Alex]

I'd definitely agree with that, though there's the odd character I'd like to see again, like (predictably) Sally Sparrow or the Doctor's Daughter, either of those would make for great companions. Though maybe they'd work better in Torchwood, in that at least there's a chance of seeing them semi-naked...

[Dirk Gently]

Nice thought!

Although Moffat would have to clear the use of Sally with the writer who created her...Oh wait...

[SiHart]

Oh God. No! Not Sally bloody Sparrow please. The less reminders of that overrated episdoe the better if you ask me.

Si xx

[Captain Tancredi]

As somebody once put it to me, she's had knockers but not detractors...

[Jamie McCrimmon]

Sally Sparrow? Who was she?

[Logo Polish]

The one who was the main featured character in the episode Blink, and who seemed to have a bit of a fetish for dressing like Tom Baker.

[Si Hunt]

I'm absolutely eating humble pie. To be honest I was mostly dissapointed because, as I recall, they made a big deal out of the fact they would be revealing the "new" companion and then after a big fanfair it turned out to be one we'd already had. So that was a little dissapointing. But I wasn't pleased - I enjoyed her for being different in "The Runaway Bride" but didn't want her back at all.

I should really have trusted them, because like the geniuses they are they turned her into the best companion yet. I loved Donna Mark 2, I think she was everything a companion should be - older, glamorous, witty, clever, sensitive, flame haired. Having someone a little more stable and mature really worked. And of course it's heartbreaking now she's gone. But I'm not going to doubt anything they do in the future - I've learned my lesson. Except if Russell, Julie and Phil leave and someone new takes over, of course...

Si.

[shada pavlova]

I think it was exceedingly unfair that RTD gave Rose such a happy ending, but Donna got the worst possible send-off (short of actually killing her off). Donna was so much better, Rose was just the classic screamy, inquisitive companion in '05, then pretending-to-be-brave in '06.

Worst. Sendoff. Ever.

(Except maybe Dodo. Hold on, didn't the same thing happen to her?)

[Rob McCow]

People have been upset by Donna's send off, but surely that shows that you care about the character? Perhaps caring even more for the way she left the Doctor.

[Si Hunt]

I don't object too much (either way we don't get to see her again; at least this way she COULD come back one day) but I can see why people do. It's a little bit nasty and cruel; The end of Rose's storyline attempts to "complete" her journey. In a way Donna's ending retrospectively cheats us and her out of not only the end of it, but the rest of it too.

Si.

[Jon Masters]

Not having seen the Catherine Tate show might be an advantage. If that show highlights her entire range, then there's going to be comparisons between Donna and her other characters.

And that's my problem. Yes she can act, but that was obvious from her comedy show anyway. For me there were still a lot of occasions where her comedy characters reared their heads (but then again, having seen her on Graham Norton she seems to be quite like that in real life, so perhaps its a bit unfair).
I can't say I was that bowled over by her, and I'm not particularly sad that she's gone. Certainly the character made a nice change from Rose or Martha, but I think any competant mature actress could have pulled it off just as well.