We take a look back at some of our favorite Doctor Who companions and their greatest moments of happiness and heartbreak. And we continue our Doctor Who giveaways!

The Doctor Who 50th anniversary is quickly approaching and nostalgia is in the air. So we thought we would spend some time reminiscing over our favorite new Who companions and share the fond memories with all of you.

Rose Tyler

Happiness: ‘Nice to meet you Rose – Run for your life!‘ It’s hard to think of a more exciting introduction into the Doctor’s world isn’t it? Initially, Rose herself might not have called this a happy encounter – But now we all know what came from these few words. Rose Tyler had her entire world blown wide open. Every universe in space and time at her fingertips, as well as the remarkable alien that gave her this gift.

Heartbreak: Episode 2×13 – Doomsday. What a fitting title for Rose’s departure as a companion. Because that’s what it felt like when watching. Absolute doom. The score, the performances, the cinematography, the physical structure of the wall holding two universes as well as two people apart… It’s hard not to feel the utter devastation. A moment in television history that’ll stick with us for a lifetime.

Martha Jones

Happiness: It’s hard to pick a defining moment of joy for Martha Jones. She was put through a lot during her time as a companion. But you know what IS pretty fun? Having Shakespeare throw himself at you! Being stuck on an endless road trip with a cat man and his wife and kittens. Learning who you are and just how much you can offer the world. THAT is happiness.

Heartbreak: Now, you know what’s hard? Hard is seeing the Doctor you know and love, aged and withered and at the brink of death. Hard is getting up day-after-day traveling the world and spreading his name because you have no other options at your disposal. But Martha Jones didn’t let that stop her. She soldiered on and made the impossible happen. Guh. Pass the tissues *PLEASE*

Donna Noble

Happiness: Wasn’t just about every moment Donna had on screen pure happiness? No? Yeah, that’s probably just extremely biased opinion showing through. You know what was pretty great though? Whenever Donna laid the verbal smack down on the chattiest alien in town. How awesome was it when Donna pulled her rank as human?! Or when she would boss the Doctor around and treat him like an annoying little brother?! The answer is great. It was really, really great.

Heartbreak: Do we REALLY have to talk about it? If you’re a Doctor Who fan you know what the IT is and you understand why we’d want to avoid talking it. Because it still hurts too much. How… How do you put into words the sort of heartbreak involved with erasing your best friends memories? Not only did the Doctor have to remove himself from Donna’s life, he had to take away the experiences that made her. The experiences that changed her, the ones she’d been looking for all her life… Yeah no. The wound is still fresh. We can’t talk about it anymore.

Wilfred Mott

Happiness: Ok so we’re going to fudge this one a little bit. Because ‘technically’ at his happiest Wilfred wasn’t a companion yet – But that doesn’t really matter right? Because he does become a companion eventually. Anyways, if you want to see the face of pure unadulterated happiness watch Wilfred as he waves Donna off to have her adventures in the flying blue box. Screaming and dancing out of sheer joy for his little girl – There’s nothing quite like it.

Heartbreak: Remember that time Wilfred saluted the Doctor to his death, then blew him a kiss? Or maybe you blocked it out for self preservation. Because no. Nope. No thanks. No one needs to have their heart torn out with an ice pick. But that’s what this Doctor Who moment feels like. In the best way possible of course.

There’s more on the second page, as well as our Doctor Who giveaway!

Amy Pond

Happiness: The truth is the Doctor and Rory made Amy happy. Her Poncho Boys. So as she got to travel through all of space and time with her favorite chaps, Amy was quite in her element. Jumping into giant space wales mouths, running from monsters, exploring and getting into all kinds of trouble – Could there be anything that makes us happier?

Heartbreak: We might surprise you with our choice here, but hopefully you’ll agree with us after we make our case. Because there’s a special kind of heartbreak that comes from seeing a friend in pain and knowing there is nothing you can really do to fix it. We all know Vincent Van Gogh’s story; Amy included. But seeing the man behind the legend… The person struggling to see the beauty in life – and knowing it doesn’t end with a happily ever after. Well, that’s a very grownup and challenging sort of heartbreak to live with. It’s a heartbreak that Amy and the audience will remember for a long while.

Rory Williams

Happiness: Well this one is pretty obvious right? We cheered when Roman Soldier Rory stood guard by the woman he loved, we believed in him when he chose his wife over alternative universe Amy, and when he came to rescue Melody Pond there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. But even with all of those brilliant moments of happiness to show, the wedding of the Ponds is an easy choice. A happy Rory doesn’t exist without Amy. And their wedding was the first in a long line of memories they’d share.

Heartbreak: Rory died a lot. Like – even a lot in Doctor Who standards. So it’s hard to say WHICH of his deaths were the most heartbreaking. Because there were plenty. Thankfully, his final ‘death,’ the one that exiled him back in time, was relatively painless. He had Amy and he got to spend out the rest of his days with her. But one must wonder how heartbreaking it was for him to lose not only the Doctor in that moment, but his family as well. It’s pretty damn sad to think about Brian never seeing his son again.

River Song

Happiness: “Hello Sweetie.” Yeah, that’ll never get old. There’s plenty of mixed reviews on River Song and what she does or doesn’t bring to the show. But her flirty and fun attitude brings a very specific kind of happiness. Gun toting, TARDIS flying, older woman from the future. It’s hard not to love that or find it joyful. River lives her life as if she’s in one giant amusement park. And lucky for us, we get to tag along for the fun from time to time.

Heartbreak: In typical timey-wimey fashion, River Song’s introduction to the Doctor was also her goodbye. And what a goodbye it was. Even before we knew what would unfold between the two characters, it was understood that she knew the Doctor. She knew him in a way that we never would. And that mystery and gravitas – It was something to behold.

Clara Oswald

Happiness: The Impossible Girl. And quite an adorable little thing as well. We’re going to pull another little cheat here because… Well because this is one of the best moments in new Who history, and it doesn’t matter that it wasn’t technically from the show!! The prequel from ‘The Bells of Saint John’ is Doctor Who at it’s best. Just a young Clara Oswald meeting a strange man on a park swing. Of course neither character knows who the other is yet, but they still share the most heartwarming moment between two kind souls.

Heartbreak: It’s hard to know if we’ve even seen Clara’s most heartbreaking moment yet. And it’s worrying to think about what’s in store for her during “The Day of the Doctor.” So we’ll leave this open ended for now. But we suspect something is building. Something bad and something we can expect to be very heartbreaking indeed.

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