Donna ~ " I'm not drifting, I'm waiting!"

From runaway bride to galactic traveller, Donna Noble is giving up the 9-5 routine and is ready to explore the Universe. Just don't assume that she and The Doctor are an item!

Donna Noble makes her first appearance, credited as The Bride, in the closing scenes of 2006 series finale Doomsday; she appears in a wedding dress, outraged to be inexplicably aboard the Doctor's TARDIS. The scene was kept a secret until broadcast, filmed with minimal crew, and was a humorous juxtaposition to the sad farewell the Doctor shared with companion Rose (Billie Piper) moments prior.

Donna's story is picked up in 2006 Christmas special The Runaway Bride. Donna is a temporary secretary at HC Clements in London, a security firm which, unknown to her, is a front organization for the alien-investigating Torchwood Institute. Her parents are Geoff (Howard Attfield) and Sylvia Noble (Jacqueline King). Donna discovers that she is a pawn in a scheme of the Empress (Sarah Parish) of the alien Racnoss, having been manipulated by her fiancé, Lance (Don Gilet). When the Doctor unleashes his fury upon the Racnoss, Donna snaps him out of it and together, they escape before the Torchwood facility floods. Donna is upset, having lost her job and her fiancé, and declines the Doctor's offer to become his companion, though she advises he find one. Donna does not appear in the 2007 series, but the character Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins) appears in 2007 Christmas special Voyage of the Damned; in the 2008 series, he is introduced properly as Donna's grandfather, following the death of actor Howard Attfield.

Donna begins as an outspoken Londoner in her mid-30s, a temp worker from Chiswick whose view of the universe is small in scope. Although she at first finds alien time traveller the Doctor terrifying, their initial encounter leaves her unsatisfied, and she decides to travel alongside him when the next opportunity arises. It is Donna who ultimately saves the universe in the fourth series' conclusion, although tragically at the cost of the memories of her travels with the Doctor. In a contrast to the Tenth Doctor's prior companions, who both harboured romantic feelings for him, Donna and the Doctor shared a strictly friendly relationship, and she does not feel the need to prove herself to travel with the Doctor; the Doctor refers to her as his "best mate".