re: #178 The War TARDIS

I will give you Donna.

However, Karen asked to written out in a way she could not be brought back full time.

I really don’t mind the relationship, so long as it isn’t stupid. The character has to be competent, intelligent, or at least willing to learn.

“Stupid” would be Peri, Mel, and Rose.

Unfortunately, with Davies writing, Rose overshadowed much, much better companions in Martha and Donna. And what happened to Donna was a travesty, though Jamie and Zoe from the 2nd Doctor era had the same fate.

I understand why Karen wanting to be written out would lead to something like that, but it really does feel like they just wrote her off mid-series so as to shoehorn in Clara in time for the whole Impossible Girl thread to play out. There were good episodes in the second half of the series, but overall it feels sort of rushed. Time of the Doctor is probably the best example of how it seemed like Moffat was trying to tie up all the loose ends of the Smith era in as quickly a manner as possible.