Jenny: A Future Companion? 

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50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition Review (Part 1)

Guest contributor Andrew Gledhill-Carr thinks the Doctor’s daughter should become a companion.

In the final moments of Doctor Who’s Eighth series, we see our dear Clara walk away from her life with the rebel Time Lord. Her future in the show still uncertain, we might start looking at who will fill her role in the upcoming series.

I say we need not look further than the Series Four episode – The Doctor’s Daughter. Yes. That’s right. I’m talking about Generated Anomaly, born by a genetic extraction of diploid cells from good ‘ol Ten, better known as Jenny, should join the Twelfth Doctor. The whole of time and space at their whim. There are after all planets to save, civilisations to rescue, creatures to defeat and an awful lot of running to do. And I can’t think of anyone better to do that.

What is most tantalizing about this prospect is the potential dynamic between Georgia Moffett’s Jenny and Peter Capaldi’s Doctor. One is old, wise and grumpy. The other is young, bouncy and naive. They are virtually opposites! And opposites end up attracting, making sparks too.

But perhaps more fascinatingly, Jenny is a soldier. Now the Doctor has always made it clear his disdain for soldiers, but Twelve took it to new extremes. Therefore, given a biological daughter, born in battle with nothing but the knowledge of a warrior, we might just see the Doctor pushed to the very edge as he takes responsibility for her, while understanding their frightful similarities, as both a soldier in the Time War and more recently, the Siege of Trenzalore. I think, with Danny’s sacrifice, he has come to accept soldiers better than he did before and so there is change enough in the Doctor to not outright refuse Jenny like he did Journey Blue in Into the Dalek. But it doesn’t mean he’ll at all be happy about it.

But there is perhaps another advantage of this pairing that might just be what some viewers need to grow to love this new incarnation of our hero. By giving him a daughter, you give him the opportunity to mellow. To become kinder as he teaches young Jenny what it means to be a Time Lord. Fatherly traits could develop and the grumpiness, while still there, falls away behind a wall of unconditional love. Jenny could end up helping the Doctor as much as he could end up helping her. And I think the Doctor needs that more than ever. If he’s about to lose his best friend, and is longing for his home, what better way than to give him a companion who in a way, is a memory of Gallifrey and everything he stands for. A Doctor. The man who makes people better.

And speaking of which, there is poetic beauty in the idea of a search for his home planet with a daughter who wasn’t even born there. It would be a search for home for him as much as for her, if only to show Jenny her heritage and give her the opportunity that she should have been given if born on Gallifrey. And not being sure where you belong, nor who you are could be the two main themes brought up because of this, as Jenny is a soldier, a Time Lady and the Doctor’s Daughter. They seem to conflict. While also not born on Gallifrey, or having spent her childhood with her father and having left her “birth-planet” (which would even be radically different and new after the source cracked), I can imagine Jenny might struggle to understand where she fits into the world. A question I’m sure many of us have pondered.

But I think, truly that bringing Jenny on as a full-time companion would most of all inject a lot of fun into the show. Her naive, but willing-to-learn, almost hyperactive personality mimics perhaps the show’s largest audience. Children. It gives them someone to associate with. While the adults, mothers and fathers, can empathise with the Doctor as he tries to do the best for his child, even if she was born unintentionally in a pretty poor situation. This would be especially true of single parents. She is undoubtedly the family companion. But moreover, she is unique.

After having watched five strong, sassy women, with no connection to the Doctor, whisked away from their lives to travel all of time and space, it would be refreshing to see how the expected relationship norms (of being a daughter, a child of the protagonist even if it’s only a technicality) play off against the ones that actually develop. And there is the whole “being a Time Lord” aspect to play with that really might question exactly what a Time Lord is.

All in all, there is an awful lot of possibility to explore with these two characters travelling together and with the soldier developments of Series 8, it seems like Jenny is the only natural response to that. And besides, a returning fan favourite (or, in some more unfortunate cases, fan least-favourite) is far more exciting than a brand new character we know nothing about. It’ll give the opportunity for Jenny fans to love her even more, and Jenny haters to change their minds. It worked once with Donna. It could work even better here.

Regardless of who becomes the next companion, the show’s future is still incredibly bright and I know, as a keen fan just as all you readers are, most will grow to appreciate whoever takes that spare TARDIS key.

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I think the train for having Jenny as a companion left in 2010 at the latest. It is to late now to bring back a character from a single, mid-series story that was shown 6 years ago (7 if we are talking Series 9). Single episode might work - but only with a massive trip down memory lane and exposition.

As interesting as it may be to consider, I doubt we\'ll see that character return anytime soon, if ever. It was a nice nod to her, with Clara\'s speech in \'Death in Heaven\', but beyond that, I think she\'s now relegated to the same limbo as Susan.

I think this would be a brilliant idea. To all those who think her personality might have been annoying, remember how Donna mellowed and became such a loveable companion - to the point where she was easily mine and many others\' favourites? Yes, a lot of people also seem to be getting annoyed at the whole "standard 20-something earth woman" companion, but this time these worries about a young woman fancying the Doctor become irrelevant due to the couple\'s relationship, him being her father. We\'d also see a hark back to the feeling between the Doctor and his granddaughter - this paternal, loving figure who would, undoubtedly, mellow over time. This is a fantastic idea, and a fantastic article Andrew, thank you. 

Bringing back Jenny will harken back to Hartnell Doctor and his granddaughter. Imagine what the Doctor has learned after traveling with so many sassy women. Win-Win, in my book. But only after a few more series with Clara. I\'m not ready to see her go, yet...unless she gets her own show...

At the end of Doctor\'s Daughter, I expected a spin-off with Jenna in the Doctor role. This would be a good second choice.

Yes, having Jenny as a companion would be great, maybe even a male one as well.

Bringing back Jenny is a good idea, though I\'d kind of prefer it if they brought back epic one shot companions like Canton (who was freaking awesome) or Perkins :)

In fact I can\'t think of any reason why not to bring back Jenny.

Yes, definitely yes. I\'m surprised that they\'ve still not brought her back, especially how open her character was left, off to travel the universe, save civilizations and do an awful lot of running. It seems inevitable that she would eventually bump into The Doctor. To be honest, I\'d like to see Jenny return and start her run as a full time companion alongside Clara, with Clara helping The Doctor to understand Jenny, and to also help Jenny understand The Doctor. 

I\'d have to disagree. While I think it might be interesting to see her maybe one more time, just so the Doctor knows she\'s still alive, I wouldn\'t want her as a companion. I was very torn with how I thought of her. On the one hand, she was intriguing, but on the other her bubbly personality grated on my nerves a bit. I find bubbly girls like that to be supremely irritating and oftentimes fake and insincere, not that Jenny would be like that, but I could see her character becoming a bit annoying as time wears on.

Honestly, my choice for a new companion would be an alien and not one who looks like a human like Jenny does. If that doesn\'t happen, then at least let it not be a twenty something girl or a girl who looks twenty something. I am getting so sick of that and seeing all these young women mooning over the Doctor, except for Donna, of course. It was cute once, but now it\'s just overdone and annoying. I would have no issues with another Donna type companion who really and truly was just the Doctor\'s friend and not like Clara who constantly said she and the Doctor were just friends when it was so obvious she did fancy him. So while I wouldn\'t totally mind another woman, again if she\'s more like Donna, I really do want to see a new kind of companion. A male companion would also be a very welcome change as the men who have been along have only been there because of their girlfriends.

We honestly just need someone fresh! The last fresh companion we\'ve had was Amy. Clara was appeared before she became companion and so did Jenny! Can we just start afresh please?

we might see another gallifreyan hopefully maybe Romana

I think any child of the Doctor\'s would work well in the Tardis. I\'m still not convinced that the Doctor and River didn\'t have children though it would appear he hasn\'t a clue if they did.. Rule number one River lies also I\'m pretty sure she wouldn\'t leave a child to the danger of the Tardis considering her own personal circumstances... (Also an unknown adult child circumvents cutesy "Timebaby" fanfic... Yack)

But Jenny would be just as good imho though I agree she\'d need a new face... Hopefully she grew into her ability to regenerate.

If you\'re going to do that, why not bring back Susan? She\'s still out there.

This actually does sound really good.

I\'m not sure if I\'d like to see her as a companion or not. suppose it would be ok. But I definately would like to see her back for at least one more episode. If only to see the look on Peter C\'s face.....

I\'d absolutely love Jenny back! She would be perfect for 12, although she would have to be regenerated, seeing as the now Ms Tennant has kids now, and the filming schedule on Doctor Who is a monster. I\'m not sure who would play a second incarnation of Jenny, however.

Not being a fan of the Jenny character, The Doctor\'s daughter, I don\'t see her as a viable companion. While opposites may attract, the over the top bubbly attitude of this character may be a bit odd for this pairing. Maybe a future Doctor, but then again I am not a fan of Susan either and she was a bit over the top as well and it ended up working well towards the end of Hartnell\'s run.

I\'d like to see Jenny return eventually as a companion for one main reason: he doesn\'t know she\'s still alive!

If we\'re looking for characters to being back from past episodes as potential new Companions, then S8 has plenty of its own. Journey Blue, Psi and Saibra, Orson Pink (if he still exists), Rigsy, Perkins, Adrian the Matt lookalike teacher, Courtney and of course... Robin Hood :-)

@supermoff  Agreed with your choices of companions- Canton and Perkins were Fantastic! (with a Northern accent)

@darrynlee1 Well, last time they were reunited he ended up loosing Lucie Miller and his great-grandson Alex to the Daleks, so I don\'t think he\'d like to return because of... you know, the feels.

I\' not sure that all Gallifreyans weren\'t recalled to Gallifrey in the Timewar... Might explain why he hasn\'t gone looking for her.

@darrynlee1 Probably not. The Doctor has said there are no Time Lords left, so unless she\'s using something like what the Master used...

@Only as old Whovian as you feel - Hello Rusty I\'d love to see Jenny back, but I\'m not sure Georgia Moffett would be up for a permanent return. She seems to be happy enough, from what we know, being a Mum - I think she\'s doing audios (and probably TV coms) occasionally, but they\'re done in a day or two (and could be recorded in London) - not weeks or months at a time in a different city, as it would be if she returned for a few episodes or even a full series. I know they can afford nannies and everything, but with David being away so much, I can more than understand her choice. So what they could do, even might have to do, is to establish if she can regenerate - and, if so, they could give her one episode with her Dad and then have her regenerate.

@Only as old Whovian as you feel - Hello Rusty My thoughts exactly.

@Ian Chatterton I hope they bring Osgood back. She has as much a chance as Adric does.... Oh, wait... Heheheheheheheh. Cry. CRY.

@Ian ChattertonOsgood\'s gutted she never got to travel with the Doctor, poor girl\'s in pieces...

@ElyotWren Well, when Clara was impersonating the Doctor she mentioned having a non-Gallifreyan daughter in present tense and didn\'t mention her death, unlike with spouses and other children...

I\'d take Journey, Psi, Saibra, Courtney or Rigsy. Journey and Courtney could have some serious development over time. Didn\'t care for Adrian, felt he was too cliché, just made for the episode lol. Perkins would have been good too, but he said no when the Doctor asked. Robin would be okay in small doses, but I doubt it\'s doable with the actor being so busy. And Orson would remind me too much of Danny, and I didn\'t like Danny... But yeah I agree, there were plenty who were companion material in series 8!

@Planet of the Deaf I actually really liked Rigsy although I doubt he\'ll come back :(

@Planet of the Deaf  I vote all of them! I can imagine them all in the TARDIS now. Probably be quite hectic.

@Planet of the Deaf Psi and Orson were my favorite! Psi could work as a companion, I think.

@Planet of the Deaf Robin or Rigsy, please! Journey... not so much.

@Planet of the Deaf I agree with everyone except Journey.

@AnthonyMercer @darrynlee1 He thought she was dead, like he thought all the others were dead, before the events of the 50th. So now that they\'re still alive, even if lost in another universe, why can\'t she be, too. 

@Kathrin Lily Franke @Only as old Whovian as you feel - Hello Rusty As much as I\'d prefer Georgia in the role, I think that could work nicely. We get her Jenny back for an episode, and a brand new face and personality to learn with Twelve as a companion.

@ilyootha @ElyotWren That\'s because he really doesn\'t know whether she\'s alive or not. You never heard him saying she died.

@YaelMoise @Planet of the Deaf  Frank Skinner was my favourite guest star of that series.

@Planet of the Deaf I say Psi it looked liked he and Clara had an interesting thing going on.

Robin Hood would be amazing but Tom Rileys schedule is dominated by Da Vinci\'s Demons, no complaints, that show is amazing aswell.

@ElyotWren @Planet of the Deaf Even if it\'s only for a few episodes it would be so cool!

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