Donna Noble ... My thoughts 3.5 years on ...
So I watched that scene from Journey's End again just now ... And now I'm a sobbing mess, with snot and tears all over my face, hands and clothes!
I thought I'd gotten over Donna's fate, as it's been over a year since I last watched that scene, and over 2 years since I watched the full episode (because I really can't deal with the impending doom). The tears started when she was begging him not to mind-wipe her and all he said was goodbye! And again when Wilf said he'll look up a the stars every night on her behalf and think of the Doctor. And is it sad that I remember all the words to those final 10 minutes, and can quote it back?
RTD ... I really hate what you did to Donna! All that teasing us and giving us hope that she'll be back and more badass than ever. Her sparkling ring in her final scene in JE making us all think her time-lord consciousness was trapped in there. All the little shout-outs to her in EVERY one of the Doctor Who Specials. The Next Doctor? "Some of (my companions) leave me ... And some, some forget me. And they break my heart". Planet of the Dead? Christina calls the Doctor "Spaceman", and he's then all sad and thinking of Donna ( And I'm all sad and thinking, "How dare you! Only Donna's allowed to call the Doctor that!). The Waters of Mars? It was basically what Fires of Pompeii could have been if Donna hadn't been there. Even the symbolically opposing titles show this. WATERS and FIRES!
The Doctor NEEDS Donna Noble! And I'm sure RTD was aware of this if he wrote all this subtext referring to her. And it's such a tease, because you can't help but think all this hinting and oblique referencing has to lead to something, right? RIGHT? WRONG!!! After some more teasing with Donna on the verge of remembering her awesomeness and the supposed promise of an epic three-way smackdown of snarkiness between The Doctor, The Master and the DoctorDonna ... Donna faints and is not heard from again until the end of The End of Time Part 2. She doesn't even get a decent goodbye scene with the Doctor. And for this final insult, I had to resort to writing my own fanfic. It's not even a fix-it fic! I just wanted the two to have one last conversation where they call each other Spaceman and Supertemp, just like old times.