DWM 451 : Battle of wits Should Companions Die?

Alright so I'm late with this but I thought I'd do it now whilst watching some anime.

In DWM 451 they were discussing whether or not a companion should die. Johnny was against death with the tag line "The companion in Doctor Who is in danger of far more horrific threats then just mere death" whilst Toby was for death with the tag line "Adric went from waddling, one-note irritant to misunderstood, tragic her in one fell swoop."

My thoughts....


I actually agree with Toby that death needs to happen to more then just background or one episode characters.

The thing is these characters are going out risking their lives, they aren't always going to have a happy ending as much as we like to think they will.

Yes that unhappy ending could be anything from losing you memory (Jamie, Donner , to leaving the Doctor when you don't want to (most companions) to anything else. But lets face it, there isn't anyway back from death...

OK there is but at the same time there isn't.

The problem is recently death has been taken so lightly in the show, we've seen so much timey wimey stuff going on that no one really can see an unhappy ending. I personally thought the way Amy and Rory were written out was heart breaking, but the moment I came online I saw 100 threads on certain forums demanding an explanation to why the Doctor didn't do a, b or z to save them. Urm maybe because the actors didn't want their companions to be saved?

A good dramatic death like Adric would be quite heartbreaking if played right, obviously you'd have to move away from the Doctors death storyline, and it would be strange for the new companion to die again, even if her character is a different character.

Death has to become the final point of a story again.

When it does a companion death would really mix it up actually.

I understand you have to be careful and I don't want every companion to drop dead, but the adventures they do have are dangerous and yes people around the companion and the Doctor die but the Doctor takes his companions lives just that little bit too much for granted basically because nothing really ever happens to them until they leave.

There should be no coming back from death, therefore the biggest loss for a companion should be that of their lives.

It shouldn't be the most popular way for a companion to go but a heroic death (like Rory could have had in Angels take Manhatten) would go down a treat for me.