re: #34 ProTARDISLiberal

This is where I differ. I don’t mind if the Doctor has romantic entanglements, but they a) have to make sense/have a progression of relationship shown, and b) be shown as be some sort of intellectual competition for the Doctor and be able to put him in his place.

Unfortunately, in the new series, everyone has fallen into one or the other categories, but not both. Until the most recent one.

Besides, Romance and Love is a very human condition. Handwaving it away/ ignoring it leads to very dry sci-fi, that is more about the sci-fi than the humanity. And we have enough of those already. Romance in Doctor Who, be free!

The relationships with companions tend to be fatherly or avuncular, where the Doctor is always an authority figure. I think him getting romantically involved would border on creepy, in addition to messing with the Canon. But there’s often some degree of tension, which IIRC Amy Pond brought out in the open, hence the Doctors sudden mad dash to pick up Rory.

OTOH, one of the 4th Doctors companions was another Time Lord (Time Lady?), so there was less of the fatherly/avuncular/not-the-same-species issue.