DoctorDonna

[keep_counting]

So, I have a question about Donna's fate in S4



Does she remember her first encounter with the Doctor?

I was re-watching Runaway Bride today and that just got me thinking... assuming that each season is around a year long (and we're obviously not counting the deleted year of Martha's journeys at the end of S3), that's a whole year between their first meeting and Donna's joining up with the Doctor.

We know that Donna cannot have her memories of her time in the TARDIS back, and the Doctor heavily implies in End of Time that it could be dangerous for her just to see him (though he does say goodbye to her in Journey's End after the mindwipe, but she was distracted there and hardly even looked at him), so if she as much as remember the whole wedding-incident, is that enough to trigger the rest of her memory? Considering the time that passed between the first and second encounter, is that enough to keep the Doctor's mindwipe there or does she genuinly not remember one little bit of the Doctor?

Obviously I am thinking way too much about this, and I personally think the answer is that she doesn't remember the Doctor at all (because RTD is evil), but there's just a part of me that reallyreally wants it and I think I am desperately trying to make it fit.

(Also, fic!prompt for any who wants it: Donna and her amnesia. What does her mind fill the holes with? Does she sometimes say or do things that seem completely crazy/weird/extremely scientific? Does she have dreams about traveling to Ancient Rome and tiny, bald people with big guns? Does she ever see a black, young woman on the streets or an American in a long trench-coat and thinks she recognizes them? PLEASE F-LIST MAKE MY SUMMER!)

Comments

[kilodalton]

I don't think so, since we see Ten expunging all of her memories one by one, and the very last one is her in a wedding dress on the TARDIS at the beginning of TRB.

[keep-counting.livejournal.com]

Aw, yeah, I'd forgotten about that :/

[the-silverdoe.livejournal.com]

I agree with kilodalton about her TRB memories, I think Ten erased it all. Some things must linger in her subconscious though. I always thought of Shaun as a new Lance, as if she were trying to finally get the perfect wedding she couldn't have with Lance, even if she doesn't remember it.
Also: love this prompt. I have too many things to write already, but I'd love to read it if you or somebody else came up with something. :)

[keep-counting.livejournal.com]

Huh, that does make sense. Though I think Shaun looked and seemed much nicer than Lance turned out to be ;) hopefully he won't try to feed her to any giant spiders...

[sensiblecat.livejournal.com]

I once wrote a fic ("After the Storm") about the scenario you mention. The main plot point was that, unbeknownst to the Doctor, she remembered what had happened to her in the Time Beetle universe. The Doctor hadn't been aware of exactly what those memories were, so he hadn't cleared them properly.

Sadly, I don't think there's much doubt that it was intended by RTD to be a total mind-wipe.

[keep-counting.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds interesting! Link, please??

[ladykate63.livejournal.com]

Oh, ARGH - do NOT get me started on Donna's fate in S4!!!! *kicks stuff*

Did you ever check out our discussion on the board? You'll find a lot of pissed-offedness there.

[keep-counting.livejournal.com]

The other day I did wonder how far you'd gotten in the watch! (: I still haven't been able to make myself rewatch Journey's End :/

[redcirce]

I think it's allll gone. :(

Which sucks, because although we are supposed to think she sort of has a happily ever after, the fact that she's a ticking time bomb and doesn't remember several years of her life probably means that her family always has, in some way, to treat her like an invalid and "protect" her, which is terrible.

A lot of her arc was about becoming independent, and in the end she just ends up secretly dependent on other people for her life. YOU SUCK, RTD.

[keep-counting.livejournal.com]

Donna really had the saddest ending out of them all: imagine everything she's seen and lived through, and she doesn't remember one single bit of it. In terms of the Doctor, it works well with his character and his huge pile of guilt that is constantly getting bigger, but in terms of Donna as a character, it is GODDAMN AWFUL. I still hope some form of her is brought back, if we have an amnesia!Donna, a travelingwiththeDoctor!Donna in a time-blurp or something, or even a pre-Doctor!Donna. Of course, the potential for Moffat or someone else MESSING THIS GLORIOUSLY UP is pretty high as well.

[redcirce]

Although I don't want Moffat anywhere near Donna's character, I love the idea of a future Doctor coming back to fix the damage he's done, and hopefully travel with her for a while...