Reception
Dek Hogan of Digital Spy reacted negatively to Adam's introduction in "Dalek" stating he "didn’t really see the point of Todd Grimshaw out of Corrie popping up." He suggested it would have been more entertaining had the episode featured Langley's screen mother from Coronation Street instead. Ian Hyland of the Sunday Mirror also disliked Adam's introduction, describing "the introduction of a puppy-love sequence between Rose and a cute English boy" as "very, very irritating". SFX Magazine commented on the similarity between Adam's introduction to the future and that of Rose in "The End of the World" stating "it was clearly a deliberate parallel on Russell's part, as part of his scheme to contrast and compare the reactions of Rose and Adam". Their website reviewer observed that Adam's "comedy faint" marked him out as an unsuitable traveller. Marc Edward DiPaulo of the University of Oklahoma notes that Adam's role in "The Long Game" is to provide satire on the media and to function as "a condemnation of those who cannot stop immersing themselves in television, the Internet, iPods, and other nonstop broadcasters of what the Doctor calls "useless information."" Fraser McAlpine, reviewing Adam's appearances as companion for BBC America's Anglophenia blog describes him as a "craven meddler" and a "social climber". By virtue of his failures, Adam becomes "the companion that proves the worth of all of the other companions".
"Adam was always designed as a “Companion who couldn't”, and although he's not the most memorable character, the pay-off to his sheer ineptitude is more than worthy of mention."
—Den of Geek on the character of Adam.In their book Who is the Doctor, Graeme Burk and Robert Smith described Adam in "Dalek" as "somewhat annoying". Burk referred to him in "The Long Game" as "arrogant and narcissistic", which made Rose appear shallow for insisting he travel with them, but felt that Langley did "a superb job" conveying the character's flaws. He stated that it was "a shame" that the backstory of Adam's motivations were cut from the script, as it would have made his character more believable. The two found a logical flaw in the Doctor's decision to drop Adam off, as it was a possibility that someone could get their hands on the future technology. In 2010 Mark Harrison of Den of Geek listed the character's exit from the TARDIS as the tenth greatest companion farewell scene stating that it was "great to get a glimpse of the Doctor outright booting someone out." He felt that the character "struck out in spectacular fashion" by attempting to steal future technology and that his eventual fate was an example of poetic justice. Charlie Jane Anders also praised the concept of Adam's story arc positioning his departure as the seventh most depressing exit from a companion in Doctor Who's history. She felt that to have "a companion who flunks out" was one of Davies' "cleverest ideas" as executive producer of the series and that Adam's human flaws made him relatable. In 2010 readers of the Radio Times voted Adam the 45th most popular companion, out of forthy-eight viable options.
Read more about this topic: Adam Mitchell (Doctor Who)
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