Donna Noble
I was going to be with you forever! In the Tardis! The DoctorDonna!
Donna Noble was a fiercely independent companion of the Tenth Doctor. Despite humble origins, Donna Noble is also noted by Rose as unknowingly being the most important woman in all of creation. After her mind was transformed into that of a Time Lords, she became unstable after saving the universe, the sheer amount of knowledge overwhelming her human brain. The Doctor, to save her life, had to suppress her memories of him and as such she does not remember anything about their travels.
Biography
Early life
Did I ever tell you, best temp in Chiswick, 100 words per minute?
Donna Noble is the daughter of Geoff and Sylvia Noble (née Mott) (DW: The Runaway Bride) and the granddaughter of Wilfred Mott. On her first day at school, she was sent home for biting. (DW:The Runaway Bride)
When she was six years old, her mother refused to take her on a holiday that year; Donna, undaunted, got on a bus and went on her own to Strathclyde. Her grandfather would later recount this story to her as a way to remind her of her determination. (DW: Partners in Crime)
Donna missed out on the Christmas Day Sycorax invasion of Earth due to a hangover, and missed the Cybermen invasion because she was on holiday in Spain going scuba diving. Consequently, she was unprepared for the possibility of the existence of alien life when she first encountered it herself.
Her career seems to have consisted mainly of temp jobs. She had worked in a library for a while; and, at some point before June 2007, had worked for two years at a double-glazing firm. (DW: The Doctor's Daughter, The Runaway Bride)
In June 2007, Donna had the choice of working as a full-time secretary for Jival Chowdry, or at as a temporary secretary at H.C. Clements, a security firm. She chose the latter and, on her first day there, fell in love with Lance Bennett, whom she pressured into marriage. While she planned the wedding, she was unaware that Lance was dosing her coffee with huon particles by order of the Empress of the Racnoss, whom he secretly served. (DW: The Runaway Bride)
Meeting the Doctor
You need someone to stop you!
On the day of her wedding (Christmas Eve 2007), while walking down the aisle with her father, huon particles interacted with her elevated mental state and caused Donna to be teleported into the Doctor's TARDIS, to surprise of them both (DW: Doomsday). The Doctor eventually returned her to her wedding reception, after the intervention of Robot Santas prevented his returning her in time for her actual wedding. When a Robotic Christmas Tree began firing explosives at the wedding guests, the Doctor decided to investigate H.C. Clements. The trail leads them to a secret base under the Thames, where Lance and the Empress of the Racnoss reveal their plans. Donna assisted the Doctor in defeating the Empress--and pulls him away from the Empress' death, an act that saved his life (DW:Turn Left), but she ultimately turned down his offer to travel with him. (DW: The Runaway Bride).
Joining the Doctor
Come with me!
But Donna could not resume her old complacent life. Her eyes had been opened to the universe by this event. She tried to live without the Doctor, going to Egypt for two weeks in an attempt to bring back some excitement in her life. When this failed, she set to work in trying to investigate unexplained happenings in hope of meeting him again, knowing the Doctor always ran into trouble. She managed to catch up with him while looking into mysteries connected with Adipose Industries. Donna witnessed the March of the Adipose and then went on to travel with the Doctor in the TARDIS after showing her grandad her departure. Just before she departed in the TARDIS, whilst attempting to find a suitable place to leave her car keys, approached a blonde woman standing at a police line. This woman was Rose Tyler. (DW: Partners in Crime).
Travels with the Doctor
I spent all that time looking for you, Doctor, because I thought it was so wonderful out here!
After traveling in the TARDIS with the Doctor, she returned with him to Earth after a call from Martha Jones to deal with a planned Sontaran invasion, Donna met the Doctor's former companion Martha Jones, who now worked by UNIT. She went home to see her family for a short while and was terrified when her granddad almost died. She knocked a Sontaran unconscious by hitting it on the Probic vent with a hammer. (DW: The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky)
She was shocked to learn the Doctor had previously been a father. (DW: The Doctor's Daughter)
She met Agatha Christie in 1926 and killed a Vespiform by throwing the Firestone into a lake in order to save Agatha Christie's life. During this adventure, she inadvertedly influenced the creation of Miss Marple and Murder on the Orient Express by mentioning them to Christie years before they were created (although Christie's memories of the incident were wiped, some unconscious memories were said to have remained). (DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp)
During a visit to a planet known as The Library, Donna befriended Miss Evangelista and was greatly disturbed by the fact she was able to briefly communicate with her consciousness after the girl had been killed by the Vashta Nerada. Soon after, Donna's consciousness was "saved" to the planet core-sized hard drive by CAL in order to save her from the Vashta Nerada. A replication of her face subsequently appeared as one of the Library's information Nodes, leading the Doctor to briefly believe that she had been killed. Unaware of what happened, Donna's consciousness experienced (in a disjointed fashion) several years of an idyllic existence where she married a man, took his name, now calling herself Donna McAvey and had two children; she retained these memories after being restored to her real self. (DW: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead).
Against the Daleks
I'm so sorry, but we had the best of times. The best.
Donna went to the planet Shan Shen were she went to see a fortune teller. A Time Beetle jumped on her back and changed her past.
- See Donna's World.
Rose Tyler told her that she was "the most important woman in the whole of creation and told the Doctor the message she had been given by Rose, "Bad Wolf". (DW: Turn Left) Donna was taken by the Doctor to Earth, only to discover it was gone and then to the Shadow Proclamation for help. (DW: The Stolen Earth).
Subsequently, Donna was separated from the Doctor when, for reasons unknown, the TARDIS refused to let her leave when the others surrendered to the Daleks. Soon after, she made a mental and physical connection to the Doctor's severed hand which held residual energy left over from the Doctor's aborted regeneration. This led to the creation of a new Doctor, who had the memories and appearance of the Doctor, but who was also half Human and had aspects of Donna's personality. Donna, herself, had also been given Time Lord intellect, rendering her the "DoctorDonna" of the Ood's prophecy. The powers did not manifest itself until she received an electrical charge while being stunned by Davros. She used her newfound intellect to deactivate the reality bomb and help defeat Davros and the Daleks. She helped the Doctor oversee the full compliment of TARDIS crew as the Earth was returned to its proper place (during which she engaged in some not-so-good-natured rivalry with Sarah Jane Smith over Jack). Afterwards, however, Donna's mind began to overload from all the information within it. In order to save her life, the Doctor was forced to wipe her memories of all her adventures with him. (DW: Journey's End)
Back to Earth
... And for one moment, one shining moment, she was the most important woman in the whole wide universe.
The Doctor returned her home, with strict instructions to her mother and grandfather never to tell her about the Doctor or the TARDIS. After one final meeting (in which he introduced himself as John Smith), the Doctor left Donna to her "normal" life once more. Wilf, her grandfather, promised to keep thinking of the Doctor on her behalf. (DW: Journey's End)
Alternate timeline
In an alternate timeline, Donna chose not to take the job at H.C. Clements, and instead chose to work for Jival Chowdry. This decision resulted in her eventually getting promoted to personal assistant to Chowdry, but her life and career collapsed due to a number of circumstances, beginning with Chowdry laying her off, and ultimately a number of national and worldwide cataclysms that followed the death of a man called The Doctor. During the next couple of years, Donna and her family go from living the life of luxury thanks to a raffle ticket, to living as homeless refugees as British society collapses. During this time, she has several encounters with a mysterious blonde woman who claims that Donna's life was never meant to turn out this way, that she was supposed to make the decision to work for Clements which in turn would result in his survival after the Webstar incident and later her traveling with the Doctor. Eventually convinced, Donna agreed to be sent back to June 2007 in a jerry-rigged time machine; her task was to prevent her younger self from "turning right" and taking the fateful job with Chowdry. Unable to get there in time, the alternate timeline Donna Noble threw herself in front of a lorry in order to cause a traffic jam that would physically prevent her younger self from making that decision. Just before her death, the blonde woman appeared to Donna and passed a message for her to give to the Doctor. When the timeline was restored, Donna Noble retained some memories of the alternate timeline, including the blonde woman and her message to the Doctor: "Bad Wolf". (DW: Turn Left)
Work
Donna has been working as a temping secretary on several places, including H.C. Clements and a double glazing firm. (DW: The Runaway Bride / The Sontaran Stratagem). She then went into working for health and safety for a week but kept the id card. (DW: Partners in Crime). She has also worked for six months at Hounslow Library, where she learned Dewey Decimal System in two days flat. (DW: The Doctor's Daughter)
Personality
I'm just a temp from Chiswick!
Donna's first encounter with the Doctor was bewildering for both sides: the Doctor was shocked into speechlessness by her sudden appearance in his TARDIS; Donna, meanwhile, was furious with the Doctor for "kidnapping" her. Though Donna's sharp tongue and hair-trigger temper kept the Doctor at arm's length for most of their first adventure, a few quieter moments showed a more level-headed and perceptive woman.
Though most companions are, to some degree, the Doctor's conscience, Donna adopted this role more openly and forcefully than her predecessors. It was she who pleaded with the Doctor to save the inhabitants of Pompeii--and, if not all of Pompeii, then a single family. Most importantly, Donna insisted that the Doctor acknowledge Jenny as his daughter, no matter how she was created or what job she was bred to do.
Donna's fiery temper hid a deep well of compassion, as she showed when she reached out to Agatha Christie, intending to share her own story of failed marriage.
When the Doctor's companion Martha Jones recalled the Doctor to Earth, she and Donna became fast friends; neither was jealous and both were willing to share experiences, a situation that the Doctor found disconcerting.(DW: The Sontaran Strategem). Her relationship with Rose Tyler was initially abrasive in the alternate timeline (DW: Turn Left) but friendly later (DW: Journey's End). She later enjoyed a brief attraction for Captain Jack Harkness, which at one point involved her pushing Sarah Jane Smith out of the way in order to get a hug from him (DW: Journey's End).
Unlike Rose and Martha, Donna seemed intent on maintaining a platonic relationship with the Doctor, reacting with disgust when she misinterprets his comment "I just want a mate" as "I want to mate" (DW: Partners in Crime); she kisses him at one point, but only in order to shock him (DW: The Unicorn and the Wasp). In fact, she was very supportive of the Doctor in his desire to reunite with Rose, forcing him to admit that, despite the potential collapse of universes, that Rose coming back was a good thing (DW: The Stolen Earth); she also supported the Doctor when the time came to leave the Meta-Crisis Doctor and Rose behind on Pete's World. Just before her memories were wiped, however, she tearfully echoed Rose's earlier desire to travel with the Doctor "forever". (DW: Journey's End)
In Journey's End, the Doctor finally understood Donna, and why she is so brash. He says that it is because she truly believes that she is unimportant and that she is "Shouting at the universe, because no one is listening." The Doctor attributes this to her mother never telling Donna directly of her importance to her.
Key Life Events
- Six-year-old Donna boards a bus to Strathclyde, solo an early example of her stubbornness and self-reliance.
- While employed at H.C. Clements, Donna Noble gets engaged to her co-worker, Lance Bennett. (DW: The Runaway Bride)
- Donna meets the Doctor and discovers the truth behind Lance's plan. (DW: The Runaway Bride)
- Donna meets the Doctor again and joins him on his travels. (DW: Partners in Crime)
- The Doctor takes her to Pompeii where she witnesses the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. (DW: The Fires of Pompeii)
- Travels to the Ood-Sphere and helps release the Ood from slavery. (DW: Planet of the Ood)
- Becomes a Node. (DW:Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead)
- Marries Lee McAvey in the Library Hardrive. (DW:Forest of the Dead)
- Alters her past and thus generates Donna's World where she never met or saved the Doctor, but meets Rose Tyler. (DW:Turn Left)
- Becomes half-Time Lord Doctor Donna, gaining the Doctor's knowledge and saves the entire universe, briefly becoming the most important woman in the entire universe.(DW:Journey's End)
- Has memories wiped in order to survive the after-effects of becoming the Doctor Donna. She is left behind at home with her family, unaware that any of her adventures transpired. (DW: Journey's End)
Behind the Scenes
- Donna left the show at the end of Series 4. Catherine Tate confirmed that while she enjoyed playing Donna, she will not return for the 2008 Christmas special or the 2009 bank holiday specials. However, she has not ruled out reprising the role somewhere down the line.
- Doctor Noble was also an alias of the third incarnation of the Doctor.
- Donna has appeared in the past three series of Doctor Who: At the end of Series Two, the beginning of Series Three, and for the entire run of Series 4.
- Donna is the focus of both of the main trailers released prior to the debut of Series 4. The first trailer - also shown in cinemas - incorporated dialogue scenes from Partners in Crime featuring Donna talking to her grandfather about the Doctor. The second trailer, however, used a specially shot scene of Donna sitting by a camp- or bonfire talking to either an unseen individual or the audience about the Doctor "coming back to save us" and "I'll be ready" interspersed with images of Sontarans, Ood and Daleks. There is no scene like this in any of the episodes; the meaning of "he'll come back to save us" is unknown as there is no circumstance within Series 4 in which Donna would be in such a position to make such a remark. Some fans pointed out how the trailer was similar in format to one for a 1990s movie called The Usual Suspects in which a main character is not what he seems; much of the speculation over the true nature of Donna's character -- including speculation that she might have been Davros or The Master in disguise -- stemmed from this trailer.
- Due to timing and her short tenure on the series, Donna appears in only two comic strip stories published in Doctor Who Magazine.
