Day 739: Partners in Crime

Partners in Crime is an interesting story to introduce a new companion in. As you will recall, Donna Noble, who returns in Partners in Crime, was already introduced in The Runaway Bride, where she made a clear and positive impact due to Catherine Tate's clear comedic timing and sensibilities, as well as her chemistry with David Tennant. Her return, then, in Partners in Crime has to serve not only as a reintroduction to the character for those that never saw her first appearance, it also has to remind the rest of the audience of why she was so good in the first place.

The way in which Russell T Davies achieves this is by first establishing that Donna has evolved as a character beyond her first appearance. She's kept much of what made her good in her first episode, and moments like "You're not mating with me sunshine!" and the mime scene bring forth memories of the lighter scenes in The Runaway Bride. But she's also grown from that experience, seeking new experiences, and notably starting the adventure completely independently of the Doctor, with the two of them being separated from each other for the first 25 minutes of the episode. By doing this, the audience can begin to see that she's clearly a strong companion, and it helps acclimatise them to her forthcoming time on the TARDIS (remember also that there were some doubts about her re-appearance on the series, with some people disliking The Runaway Bride intensely. These people, by the way, are all fools.).

The other main way through which Davies is able to help to introduce Donna is through keeping her with Tennant in the latter half of the episode. In the two prior introduction stories, there were scenes where the Doctor and companion were separated towards the end, to help show their respective strengths in various scenarios. For Partners in Crime, however, Davies recognises that the main reason why Tennant's Doctor worked so well with Donna was their chemistry, and so he keeps them together, working as a team as they stop Miss Foster from turning people into Adipose. It helps to show that the partnership is strong, and goes as further evidence to show that Donna not only could be on the TARDIS as a companion, it would be to the benefit of the series if she were to become a companion. And of course she did, and the rest, as they say, is history...