Top 12 Best Written Russell T Davies Characters
Guest contributor Harpal Khambay counts down 12 of Russell T Davies’ finest.
12. Wilf
I love Wilf and found him to be a great choice for the 10th Doctor’s last story. As he began to understand the Doctor more, we saw how protective he was of him, and this bond at times brings a tear to my eye. We see his morals, and learn that he never killed a man, telling us Wilf feels this is wrong. However, he cares about the Doctor enough to tell him to go to such extreme measures to save himself, emphasising Wilf’s love for him.
11. Elton
I actually enjoy ‘Love and Monsters,’ particularly Marc Warren’s performance as the likeable Elton Pope. I feel he carried the story, and that he was another character who reached stability once he understood the Doctor’s visit all those years ago. His development was very subtle, as he became more confident, assured and happy throughout the episode, which served the story and character well.
10. Jackson Lake
I’m no fan of ‘The Next Doctor,’ but it was interesting to see Lake’s bouncy personality fall away to show his emotional side. This made him seem more rounded and develop a lot more. With this emotion came his lost memories, and this brought him solace in knowing what had happened that night with the Cybermen. This gave a bittersweet ending to the character, as it let him ‘find his feet again’ in the world with his son, whilst letting the audience know he changed from someone quite confused and damaged, to a man who understood the past and was prepared to enter fatherhood, as well as a new life.
9. Jackie Tyler
Jackie changed massively over her time in the show, and her moments from ‘Love and Monsters’ prove this. Here she states that although she dislikes the idea of her daughter travelling the universe, she will protect her and the Doctor forever, showing she accepts Rose’s decision more so than in the previous series and develops enough to understand her daughters reasoning whilst becoming more open-minded. She’s loveable, bubbly and eventually accepting of her daughter’s chosen lifestyle and the Doctor too, indicating that she developed largely throughout her time on screen.
8. Donna
I love Donna, and upon hearing she was to return during the fourth series, I thought that she would develop during those thirteen episodes. However her changes came off screen before the series, as she revealed she had become more open minded about the idea of travelling and more believing of UFO’s. She had several big moments proving she was not just there for comedy. For example, when she tells the Doctor he’s wrong in ‘The Doctor’s Daughter.’ This shows that she greatly cares about the Doctor, and can easily hold her own. We see her guilt over leaving Wilf in ‘The Poison Sky,’ telling us family means a great deal to her. We explore her emotions thoroughly in ‘Turn Left,’ and I think this may be the strongest episode for Donna, as we see how she would have developed before series four, as she becomes more understanding of the world around her, more mature, selfless and less loud. Now Donna is all of these things during the series, but I feel it would’ve been good to see more of her transition from ‘The Runaway Bride’ to the 10th Doctor’s partner in crime.
7. Mickey
Mickey’s journey is similar to Rory’s but what I love about Mickey is that he realises he doesn’t need to cling onto Rose. He realises he deserves better, and moves on. Mickey did deserve better, and whilst developing into a more confident and heroic individual he realises that there is more to life than normality and chooses to embark on the adventure of stopping the Cybermen in the parallel universe, as well as many others.
