dragonofmemory (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dragonofmemory) wrote2013-01-06 06:23 pm
dragonofmemory) wrote2013-01-06 06:23 pm
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On the topic of companions...
So I was reading an article on the Best and Worst companions of DW. I disagreed with them. Not only did they list Rose as the second best, but Nyssa was one of the wost? Which, granted, I'm not that big a Nyssa fan, but she was far from the worst character on the show. Plus WHAT'S WRONG WITH K-9? Just because you hate him is no reason to put him on the list. There was also one talking about the best and worst Doctors, which I may have disagreed greatly on the topic of Nine. >.>
So here is my own list. I will not be discussing the worst Doctors, because I'm rather fond of all of them despite my grumblings about Eight audios. Besides, we all know my Doctor is Three. But let's talk about companions, shall we?
Best companions:
1. The Brigadier. No, he's technically not a companion. Do you really think that'd stop me from listing him? Especially putting him in first? Yeah, no. We all know where my allegiance lies on this one. He's just that awesome, eyepatch and mustache-less evil alternate universe double and all. The Brigadier is just the best.
2. Dr. Evelyn Smythe. I'm aware next to no one knows who she is. Does that make her any less unbelievably fantastic? Nope. She's a history college professor, well past the age most people would consider 'her prime' who is addicted to chocolate and knits bad sweaters for her students. How is that not awesome? Seriously, forget the usual trope of pretty young things for the Doctor's companions. Do this more often! The best bit though is that she really doesn't take any of the Doctor's BS. All the younger companions are always so impressed with the Doctor, even if they're not half in love with him in the new series. Evelyn is far from impressed with the Doctor. She can take him down a peg when she needs to, and she's one of the best friends that the Doctor's had in his companions. I adore her lots. Arrangements for War made me cry, even if Death in the Family was a bit underwhelming... We won't get started on that one audio about after she'd stopped traveling with the Doctor and meets Mel that nearly made me cry happy tears because it was so damn fluffy and emotional. Don't be an idiot, Doctor. Give her that dance! *wibbles*
3. Sarah Jane. Yes, me and every other Classic Whovian out there agrees on this. It's not really a matter of opinion, to be honest. Sarah Jane is just that BAMF that she tops all other companions easily. She's had not one, but two spinoffs for the character. If you ask an older fan who the best companion was, it'll always be Sarah Jane. She was the companion, much like Four was the Doctor. Maybe it's going along with the crowd, but for once the crowd has a point.
4. Donna Noble. She's loud, she's brash, and she's not falling all over the Doctor. I'm aware that there's a big divide on whether people like her or not, but this is my personal list so she's making it on here. XD She's also the reason I managed to get into the new series after a spectacular fail on RTD's part to lure me in. I loved her first Christmas special, and the fourth season quite a lot, especially when she was given a lot of emotional undertones that the Doctor sometimes failed to pick up on. Seriously, Doctor, she just lost her fiancee. Get out of your head and try some empathy for once. I am very fond of her character.
5. Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton. Technically, they are two characters. But at the same time, they're a bit like a hand and glove. They just fit together. And they are adorable. There's a scene in The Romans where it's revealed that Barbara accidentally hit Ian over the head with a vase, which lead to them being captured as slaves. When Ian finds out it was her, he chases her around in a tickle battle that was just so cute. I may have melted. It probably doesn't help that they're both teachers made of win. They're pretty brilliant characters too. They set the bar really high in terms of character development for the series.
6. Jo Grant. Yes, she was ditzy. But you have to admit, her courses on escapology were fairly effective. Plus, I'm a bit of a softy for ditzy characters and I love her 70's-ness (despite UNIT technically taking place during the 80's). She's just a lot of fun.
7. Tegan Jovanka. Again, she's another highly controversial character. You either love her or you hate her, and I'm on the side of loving her. Yes, she was brash and whiny, but I fell in love with the way she riles the Fifth Doctor up. Admit it, he's adorable when he's angry. I just like her and her Aussie-ness lots.
8. Leela. Leather bikini. Really, what more needs to be said? XD In more serious lines of discussion, I like that she's unapologetically savage. Kill first, ask questions later, and get frustrated by the Doctor when he doesn't allow her to protect him properly. It was a great dynamic for the Doctor, to have someone who constantly saw things completely differently from him. Plus, I may ship her and Boudicca because of a Big Finish audio.
9. Rory Williams (Pond) and Hex Schofield. Again, two different characters, but this time they really are completely different. Except they're not. Hex is basically the Big Finish precursor to Rory, and I love them both for the same reasons. Hex is the nurse who gets dragged into the Doctor's adventures when he's maybe not really up for all this adventuring. Sound familiar? Yeah, that's basically how Rory starts out. XD I love Hex's unrequited crush on Ace too. That and all the horrible things that happen to him just make me want to snuggle him. He tries so hard. Rory has the same thing, though his love life isn't unrequited. He does have that adorable 'how is this my life' sort of outlook though that needs snuggles.
10. Frobisher. I should totally have talked about either Ben and Polly or Victoria for ten, but really, Frobisher deserves a mention. I've sadly only been able to listen to the audios of him, but what's not to love? He's a talking penguin. Technically, he's a Whifferdill, a race of shape-changing aliens. But he's a P.I. with an angsty past and a Brooklyn accent. This is from wikipedia: "Frobisher was once married to Francine, another Whifferdill, who left him because she was a better detective than he was. Apparently, he was very fond of her in penguin form, and so adopted it to remind himself of her." SO MUCH ANGST. XD He's also mostly ridiculous, but hey. Talking penguin. Really, that says it all.
Okay, and now it's time for the least favorite companions. Keep in mind, I've had next to no experience with Mel and either of the Romanas outside of a few audios. Mel was the top of the original list's worst characters, but she didn't seem too bad in the audios? Anyway, here's my list.
1. Adric. One article I read on him actually compared him to Westley Crusher from Next Gen. In all honestly, Westley at least had his moments. Adric did not. NO REDEEMING MOMENTS. Seriously, I cheered when he died. It was supposed to be sad. I was not sad at all. >.< He's just... so annoying. He's smart, but he's all about proving himself in an annoying teenaged way that leaves you with no sympathy for him. He's also needy to the max, which was ridiculous. No, the Doctor really doesn't care about if you can fly the TARDIS. So sorry. Take your gold star and leave.
2. Rose Taylor. Ugh. I'm sorry Rose fans, because I know there are lots of you. But I cannot stand this character. At all. And yes, I do have major issues with RTD because of her. She's just so selfish. The way she treated Micky, like she was just tossing him away because the Doctor was newer and better really irked me. Everything revolved around the Doctor, and it was all like... so go get a grip or something. Life happens without the Doctor too, ya know. I dunno. I really like Jackie and Micky, but I could not stand her at all.
3. River Song. Okay, remember me saying I hated Rose because her life is all about the Doctor and she can't do a thing without it dealing with him? Yeah, same problem to the extreme. There are sometimes moments when I do like River. Those moments are few and in between with her glaring problems though. I liked her when she was talking to Rory, both times, especially when she was talking to Rory about her relationship with the Doctor, like you'd expect a young girl to talk to her father. Babbling about her birthday? Yeah, that was just a bit adorable. And while I may have hated the kiss between her and the Doctor, I did like the heartbreak as he walked away saying there's a first for everything and she added "And a last." I'm pretty sure those are the only three times I've actually liked her character though.
4. Peri Brown. The ultimate whiner. And what's worse, was that the writers basically decided she was eye candy. She was there to have big boobs and wear skimpy outfits, rather than be an actual character. In the audios she's still kind of grating, but she's at least not as bad and I really like her and Erimem, but every serial I've seen her in makes me just want to scream.
5. Charley Pollard. Yeah, I apparently have issues with characters who are in love with the Doctor. Charley is no different. I dunno, but she could have been an awesome character. An Edwardian Adventuress should have been good, right? Instead I was mostly just really annoyed with her and wanted to strangle her. Surprisingly, I came to like her quite a bit while she was traveling with the Sixth Doctor, but not with the Eighth.
I'll cut that off at five, cause I'm not sure there are enough characters I hate to really keep going. Grace could make the list, I suppose. But that's most of them. Yay for lists!
Oh, fine. I'll go ahead and list the Doctors in most to least favorite order.
1. Three. This surprises no one.
2. One. Everyone thinks he's a grumpy old man because all they've seen of him is the first serial and/or The Five Doctors. He's an adorable old man though. I love his laugh.
3. Ten. Yes, I'm a Tennant fangirl. So shoot me.
4. Audio Six. I'm a bit on the fence with Six of the actual series, but I love him to pieces in the audios. He's fantastic.
5. Five. I may hate to write him, but he's the closest I have to a first Doctor. Plus he's adorable.
6. Nine. I (surprisingly) really enjoyed writing him. Sadly, I've not had a reason to write him since, but despite not liking most of his episodes, I really do sort of like his Doctor.
7. Seven. Oh, Seven. I love his voice and his audios. His serials tend to be a bit overly complicated though.
8. Eleven. He's a bit dark for the Doctor, but I do sort of like him. The fifth season is also my favorite of the new series.
9. Two. I feel like I should like Two a lot more than I actually do. I blame the fact that most of his serials were lost and it's harder to get a sense of him.
10. Four. My mother is a Four fan. Me, I'm just largely unimpressed with what I've seen? Don't get me wrong, I do like him. I'm just not in love with him like the majority of the rest of Classic Who fans.
11. Eight. I tried to like his audios, I really have. A lot of the times I just can't stand his companions, but even then I'm not too keen on him. I don't hate him, but he is my least favorite.
I could talk about non-canon Doctors too, but that would just be stretching this out and I have other things to do. ^_^;;;
In other news, I need to apparently re-do the dates on my fic list and FAQ. They're apparently currently set on Jan. 20th, 2013. XD I probably need to go through my FAQ and update it, but that's for another day when I'm feeling less lazy.
Also, I've been going through and editing my gift exchange fic with edits I didn't really have time for over the holidays. Only to realize that I probably completely gave myself away on the friending meme without meaning to. And I'd tried so hard too, to keep from mentioning something that would really give me away (which was bloody hard, considering some of the conversations going on the friending meme), but I'd completely forgotten that I'd put a certain statement in Tony's mouth. -_-;;; Hopefully no one will notice. T_T I tried, damn it.
So here is my own list. I will not be discussing the worst Doctors, because I'm rather fond of all of them despite my grumblings about Eight audios. Besides, we all know my Doctor is Three. But let's talk about companions, shall we?
Best companions:
1. The Brigadier. No, he's technically not a companion. Do you really think that'd stop me from listing him? Especially putting him in first? Yeah, no. We all know where my allegiance lies on this one. He's just that awesome, eyepatch and mustache-less evil alternate universe double and all. The Brigadier is just the best.
2. Dr. Evelyn Smythe. I'm aware next to no one knows who she is. Does that make her any less unbelievably fantastic? Nope. She's a history college professor, well past the age most people would consider 'her prime' who is addicted to chocolate and knits bad sweaters for her students. How is that not awesome? Seriously, forget the usual trope of pretty young things for the Doctor's companions. Do this more often! The best bit though is that she really doesn't take any of the Doctor's BS. All the younger companions are always so impressed with the Doctor, even if they're not half in love with him in the new series. Evelyn is far from impressed with the Doctor. She can take him down a peg when she needs to, and she's one of the best friends that the Doctor's had in his companions. I adore her lots. Arrangements for War made me cry, even if Death in the Family was a bit underwhelming... We won't get started on that one audio about after she'd stopped traveling with the Doctor and meets Mel that nearly made me cry happy tears because it was so damn fluffy and emotional. Don't be an idiot, Doctor. Give her that dance! *wibbles*
3. Sarah Jane. Yes, me and every other Classic Whovian out there agrees on this. It's not really a matter of opinion, to be honest. Sarah Jane is just that BAMF that she tops all other companions easily. She's had not one, but two spinoffs for the character. If you ask an older fan who the best companion was, it'll always be Sarah Jane. She was the companion, much like Four was the Doctor. Maybe it's going along with the crowd, but for once the crowd has a point.
4. Donna Noble. She's loud, she's brash, and she's not falling all over the Doctor. I'm aware that there's a big divide on whether people like her or not, but this is my personal list so she's making it on here. XD She's also the reason I managed to get into the new series after a spectacular fail on RTD's part to lure me in. I loved her first Christmas special, and the fourth season quite a lot, especially when she was given a lot of emotional undertones that the Doctor sometimes failed to pick up on. Seriously, Doctor, she just lost her fiancee. Get out of your head and try some empathy for once. I am very fond of her character.
5. Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton. Technically, they are two characters. But at the same time, they're a bit like a hand and glove. They just fit together. And they are adorable. There's a scene in The Romans where it's revealed that Barbara accidentally hit Ian over the head with a vase, which lead to them being captured as slaves. When Ian finds out it was her, he chases her around in a tickle battle that was just so cute. I may have melted. It probably doesn't help that they're both teachers made of win. They're pretty brilliant characters too. They set the bar really high in terms of character development for the series.
6. Jo Grant. Yes, she was ditzy. But you have to admit, her courses on escapology were fairly effective. Plus, I'm a bit of a softy for ditzy characters and I love her 70's-ness (despite UNIT technically taking place during the 80's). She's just a lot of fun.
7. Tegan Jovanka. Again, she's another highly controversial character. You either love her or you hate her, and I'm on the side of loving her. Yes, she was brash and whiny, but I fell in love with the way she riles the Fifth Doctor up. Admit it, he's adorable when he's angry. I just like her and her Aussie-ness lots.
8. Leela. Leather bikini. Really, what more needs to be said? XD In more serious lines of discussion, I like that she's unapologetically savage. Kill first, ask questions later, and get frustrated by the Doctor when he doesn't allow her to protect him properly. It was a great dynamic for the Doctor, to have someone who constantly saw things completely differently from him. Plus, I may ship her and Boudicca because of a Big Finish audio.
9. Rory Williams (Pond) and Hex Schofield. Again, two different characters, but this time they really are completely different. Except they're not. Hex is basically the Big Finish precursor to Rory, and I love them both for the same reasons. Hex is the nurse who gets dragged into the Doctor's adventures when he's maybe not really up for all this adventuring. Sound familiar? Yeah, that's basically how Rory starts out. XD I love Hex's unrequited crush on Ace too. That and all the horrible things that happen to him just make me want to snuggle him. He tries so hard. Rory has the same thing, though his love life isn't unrequited. He does have that adorable 'how is this my life' sort of outlook though that needs snuggles.
10. Frobisher. I should totally have talked about either Ben and Polly or Victoria for ten, but really, Frobisher deserves a mention. I've sadly only been able to listen to the audios of him, but what's not to love? He's a talking penguin. Technically, he's a Whifferdill, a race of shape-changing aliens. But he's a P.I. with an angsty past and a Brooklyn accent. This is from wikipedia: "Frobisher was once married to Francine, another Whifferdill, who left him because she was a better detective than he was. Apparently, he was very fond of her in penguin form, and so adopted it to remind himself of her." SO MUCH ANGST. XD He's also mostly ridiculous, but hey. Talking penguin. Really, that says it all.
Okay, and now it's time for the least favorite companions. Keep in mind, I've had next to no experience with Mel and either of the Romanas outside of a few audios. Mel was the top of the original list's worst characters, but she didn't seem too bad in the audios? Anyway, here's my list.
1. Adric. One article I read on him actually compared him to Westley Crusher from Next Gen. In all honestly, Westley at least had his moments. Adric did not. NO REDEEMING MOMENTS. Seriously, I cheered when he died. It was supposed to be sad. I was not sad at all. >.< He's just... so annoying. He's smart, but he's all about proving himself in an annoying teenaged way that leaves you with no sympathy for him. He's also needy to the max, which was ridiculous. No, the Doctor really doesn't care about if you can fly the TARDIS. So sorry. Take your gold star and leave.
2. Rose Taylor. Ugh. I'm sorry Rose fans, because I know there are lots of you. But I cannot stand this character. At all. And yes, I do have major issues with RTD because of her. She's just so selfish. The way she treated Micky, like she was just tossing him away because the Doctor was newer and better really irked me. Everything revolved around the Doctor, and it was all like... so go get a grip or something. Life happens without the Doctor too, ya know. I dunno. I really like Jackie and Micky, but I could not stand her at all.
3. River Song. Okay, remember me saying I hated Rose because her life is all about the Doctor and she can't do a thing without it dealing with him? Yeah, same problem to the extreme. There are sometimes moments when I do like River. Those moments are few and in between with her glaring problems though. I liked her when she was talking to Rory, both times, especially when she was talking to Rory about her relationship with the Doctor, like you'd expect a young girl to talk to her father. Babbling about her birthday? Yeah, that was just a bit adorable. And while I may have hated the kiss between her and the Doctor, I did like the heartbreak as he walked away saying there's a first for everything and she added "And a last." I'm pretty sure those are the only three times I've actually liked her character though.
4. Peri Brown. The ultimate whiner. And what's worse, was that the writers basically decided she was eye candy. She was there to have big boobs and wear skimpy outfits, rather than be an actual character. In the audios she's still kind of grating, but she's at least not as bad and I really like her and Erimem, but every serial I've seen her in makes me just want to scream.
5. Charley Pollard. Yeah, I apparently have issues with characters who are in love with the Doctor. Charley is no different. I dunno, but she could have been an awesome character. An Edwardian Adventuress should have been good, right? Instead I was mostly just really annoyed with her and wanted to strangle her. Surprisingly, I came to like her quite a bit while she was traveling with the Sixth Doctor, but not with the Eighth.
I'll cut that off at five, cause I'm not sure there are enough characters I hate to really keep going. Grace could make the list, I suppose. But that's most of them. Yay for lists!
Oh, fine. I'll go ahead and list the Doctors in most to least favorite order.
1. Three. This surprises no one.
2. One. Everyone thinks he's a grumpy old man because all they've seen of him is the first serial and/or The Five Doctors. He's an adorable old man though. I love his laugh.
3. Ten. Yes, I'm a Tennant fangirl. So shoot me.
4. Audio Six. I'm a bit on the fence with Six of the actual series, but I love him to pieces in the audios. He's fantastic.
5. Five. I may hate to write him, but he's the closest I have to a first Doctor. Plus he's adorable.
6. Nine. I (surprisingly) really enjoyed writing him. Sadly, I've not had a reason to write him since, but despite not liking most of his episodes, I really do sort of like his Doctor.
7. Seven. Oh, Seven. I love his voice and his audios. His serials tend to be a bit overly complicated though.
8. Eleven. He's a bit dark for the Doctor, but I do sort of like him. The fifth season is also my favorite of the new series.
9. Two. I feel like I should like Two a lot more than I actually do. I blame the fact that most of his serials were lost and it's harder to get a sense of him.
10. Four. My mother is a Four fan. Me, I'm just largely unimpressed with what I've seen? Don't get me wrong, I do like him. I'm just not in love with him like the majority of the rest of Classic Who fans.
11. Eight. I tried to like his audios, I really have. A lot of the times I just can't stand his companions, but even then I'm not too keen on him. I don't hate him, but he is my least favorite.
I could talk about non-canon Doctors too, but that would just be stretching this out and I have other things to do. ^_^;;;
In other news, I need to apparently re-do the dates on my fic list and FAQ. They're apparently currently set on Jan. 20th, 2013. XD I probably need to go through my FAQ and update it, but that's for another day when I'm feeling less lazy.
Also, I've been going through and editing my gift exchange fic with edits I didn't really have time for over the holidays. Only to realize that I probably completely gave myself away on the friending meme without meaning to. And I'd tried so hard too, to keep from mentioning something that would really give me away (which was bloody hard, considering some of the conversations going on the friending meme), but I'd completely forgotten that I'd put a certain statement in Tony's mouth. -_-;;; Hopefully no one will notice. T_T I tried, damn it.
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I agree so hard about Rose. She was so selfish, she just used the people around her, especially Mickey and the Doctor. I had a lot of compassion for Nine because of how he loved her yet knew she really wasn't in it for him; at least, not at the first.
I also agree so hard about Donna and Rory, oh my gosh. The Doctor needs someone who keeps him humble or makes him explain himself.
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Hm, River just... I don't know. I've never quite liked her, even back from Silence in the Library. I think it's a great idea for a chracter, meeting out of order like that, but it felt like the execution of it wasn't up to par. Also, I tend to frown on romantic plot lines involving the Doctor, which, let's face it, didn't help. And her being an archaeologist was still because of the Doctor, so she could find him again. It's just seriously creepy to me that their relationship is supposed to be 'romantic' when it's horribly out of balance in terms of dependency. There have been a few times where I did like her, which put her a step above Rose, but I just can't get over the fact that she's got nothing in her life that doesn't revolve around the Doctor in some form. Moffat's form of romance could really use some work.
Yay for more people agreeing with me on Rose! All my Whovian friends in real life (except for my mother, who agrees with me) all adore Rose. It gets old after a while. -_-
You'd probably like Hex a lot if you like Rory. He's a dear, and has a fantastically dramatic backstory that ends up putting him at odds with the Doctor for a little while. It was actually one of my favorite plot arcs in the BFA's. I like characters that don't necessarily fit with the Doctor's life style, or wouldn't have chosen it for themselves. Victoria was the same. Technically, I suppose Turlough is as well, but Turlough is... difficult. Sometimes I like him, sometimes I don't.
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Part of my like for River is that she is the only person besides the Doctor who walks into a situation and knows what is going on and what should happen; and it's interesting to see how someone with the same power wields it so differently. I do see what you're saying, though. I would love her a thousand times more if they'd left out the romance.
Rose actually disturbs me. I think a lot of people like her because she's an easy self-insert and the Doctor actually likes her even though she's an absolute idiot. OK, I may be being harsh.
Ah, I really really am looking forward to Hex because Rory is by far my favorite character.
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Jack could do that too though, to a certain extent. I liked Jack much better. There are a few others who can give the Doctor a run for his money like that, though I tend to like companions who are more of a foil. Yes, the Doctor can do all of that amazing stuff, but can he notice that the space whale is playing with the children? No. Thankfully, Amy does. XD We generally don't need more than one Doctor (That requires getting along with himself which only Eleven has willingly managed to do so far), but we can always have more than one Companion.
It may be harsh, but that seems an accurate assessment to me? Then again, I do hate her, so I'm possibly not the best judge. <3
I love any character who is snuggle-able. Both of them fit that very nicely.
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**is not surprised Three makes first place**
Haha, the only reason I don't know most of the audio companions is I haven't listened to many of the audios. But you have mentioned Evelyn before, and she does sound tres awesome. I'd probably like her a lot. :)
**still hasn't seen Leela**
So pretty much I'm on board with all your top 10 companions, with the exception of perhaps Tegan. I don't mind Tegan all that much, but I guess it's more like I didn't like her at first, but then she got better later on?
**hasn't seen much of Adric so doesn't feel like she can agree or disagree, but is in favour of agreeing**
More or less agree with your least favourite companions, too.
I'm surprised Five's rather high up on your list, but I guess for one reason or another we haven't talked about him much.
Man, I want to love Two more. It's those darn burned serials, though. Curse you, BBC!
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You need to watch some of Leela. She's got some good ones. XD Plus Leela herself is quite awesome.
Like I said, Tegan is a pretty controversial one. For some reason I've always liked her, despite the complaining. I really hate some of her outfits though. >.<
Just trust me. Adric really is that bad. >.>
Five is higher up on the list mainly because I haven't tried to write him recently. He's generally a lot lower after I've attempted fic with him. But he is technically the closest I've got to a first Doctor, so sometimes he slips back up after I've forgotten how much effort he is to write.
I know! It's a shame, because especially with Victoria and/or Polly and Ben, I could have really enjoyed Two. But sadly, the majority of their serials were destroyed. T_T
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That, and more of Who in general. :P ONE DAY, SCHOOL, I SHALL BE FREE OF YOUR BONDS.
I just know I would like Two more if the opportunity were there. In the few I've seen/heard of him, he's an absolute sweetheart. <3
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Tegan is a bit of a hard one to like at first, but for some reason I've always been fond of her. Then again, the first thing I saw was the Five Doctors, so there's probably a bit of 'first group of companions' in there between her and Sarah Jane.
It's good to know that even if I can't get it in real life, I do have online friends who hate Rose as much as I do. Sometimes I think it's only me and my mother among my Whovian friends here.
Everyone has issues with season six, even those of us who like Moffat. >.< I had a rage moment when Clara kissed him, but I've pretty much come to the conclusion I'm going be highly skeptical of her plot line anyway.
Hex I'm pretty sure is just from the audios, but Frobisher originated from the comics, if I remember correctly. They are definitely pretty awesome. <3