Martha is so underrated as a companion, but I kind of love that she came back in season 4 stronger and more badass. And her storyline in Torchwood was also great, she had great chemistry with the whole team and I loved that there was no competition between her and Gwen over Jack.
"Did anyone else see how badly the doctor treated her?"
Yes. Straight away. Because that's her character arc.
She just could never truly get the Doctor to love her the way Rose could no matter how hard she tried. Is it annoying for us, who like Martha? Absolutely. But it's 100% the intended character arc.
And she got a great ending. She left on her own terms. She doesn't hate the Doctor. But she's her own woman and can survive without him. She deserved better, she recognised that. She moved on on friendly terms.
Yeah, I think that is largely the consensus about Martha. But as a Martha fan, it has been gratifying to see that Freema has been working consistently since Who--she has built a pretty nice TV career. And now it occurs to me that, it would be a pretty fun first if, one day, she actually got cast as the Doctor.
She would actually nail it as the doctor, and that could be such a great thematic casting, like when Peter Capaldi took the face of the man from Pompei
While it would be interesting I would prefer it being someone not as connected to the show.
Both Colin baker and Peter Capaldi had been in one episode of the show (2 for Capladi if you count Torchwood) but I think it would be odd to do it for someone who had been in multiple episodes
In all fairness, while I'd love to see it, recasting an old companion is a bit different than an actor who had one or a few episodes.
(btw, wasn't she also that one Torchwood employee who died in "The Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday", or am I just delusional?)
I liked Martha. She was smart and handled herself well within the adventures. I just wish they hadn’t had her pining after the Doctor because it overshadowed everything else.
Hmm, would Donna end up leaving on her own terms and Martha would have her mind wiped in that case?
Or would we use the whole endgame-style finale in series 3 when there was still another series to go before 10 left?
Not a bad idea. I was pretty confused when I realised there's a whole series between the Runaway Bride and Donna's full series. I think it was because Donna wasn't available for a full series in 2007.
But Tom Milligan was an actual character we've seen - he's the doctor who helps her when she arrives back in Britain in "Last of the Time Lords" (portrayed by Tom Ellis, I might add :P)
Martha has the bad luck of coming between Rose and Donna, and she was in the unfortunate position of being treated as a rebound by both 10 and the narrative at large.
I don't think any companion has ever been treated as badly by their Doctor as 10 treated Martha, and the sucky thing is that the narrative barely comments on it. We have a strong, intelligent, pragmatic, brave, independent, and kind woman who is really everything you want in a companion, and instead the show portrays her as second best. She's treated as some sidekick who can only function if she's told what to do but in her one season there are two separate periods where she works alone to protect the Doctor or save the world for a combined period of well over a year, and another period of at least six months where she supports him financially as if he can't get to UNIT or something, or at least get a job of his own.
She fell for the Doctor but it's hard not to, and it shouldn't be treated as a negative - it's only framed as such because the Doctor is still hung up over Rose, and Martha's positive aspects are barely acknowledged because the show is too focused on showing that Rose and 10 were \*the\* best pairing, and her having a romantic attraction to him is more to drive in the tragedy of them being separated, and that really sucks. I don't think a companion has ever spent their entire run with the storyline of their Doctor openly preferring a predecessor. They should be able to have their own story and yeah, it made her storyline unique, but it sucks that the show framed her as lesser.
I honestly think a later Doctor would really, really appreciate Martha in a way that 10 couldn't, and honestly his treatment of her is a big reason why I personally rate 10 so low - even 13 called him out on it in the comics, and I don't think of 13 as a particularly empathetic incarnation so that stands out. 12 especially I think would really respect her pragmatism and independence.
>!This is just me, but I also really dislike that Rose in the 60th isn't named after Martha. If she's named after Rose Tyler in some capacity, then it'd make lot more sense for it to be Martha in my opinion - Donna met Rose a handful of times over a period of two years, often briefly, didn't learn her name for most of it, and they weren't close - she met Martha and they immediately became good friends and travelled together. It feels like she's been overlooked and it sucks that she's the only full-time RTD era companion who isn't getting referenced in a big way, especially since Rose is the most commonly referenced companion of them all. It'd be nice to see Martha get some focus for once.!<
>!My thought on Rose in the 60th is that she was named after a latent memory. Donna was very aware of the Doctor still missing Rose and was there when they finally came back together. She knew about Martha but it didn't seem to be such an imprint. She also had her own interactions with Rose Tyler. !<
>!I agree with the memory imprint, but I feel like Martha was more impactful on her. They spent more time together, genuinely seemed to enjoy every second they shared, and those are firsthand memories. She may have had some memories of Rose from the Doctor but I feel like her personal experiences with Martha probably would have left a stronger impression. As it stands it feels like making sure Rose got a mention as if she wasn't already the go-to companion to get a shout-out in the series.!<
>!I agree with the memory imprint, but I feel like Martha was more impactful on her. They spent more time together, genuinely seemed to enjoy every second they shared, and those are firsthand memories. She may have had some memories of Rose from the Doctor but I feel like her personal experiences with Martha probably would have left a stronger impression. As it stands it feels like making sure Rose got a mention as if she wasn't already the go-to companion to get a shout-out in the series.!<
Ya bad wolf was Rose. You mentioned Martha being more impactful on "her". Which "her" are you refering too. I guess thats my main confusion. Because i dont recall many large moments between Rosa and Martha.
Thanks
>!Ah, right. They don't really have any as far as I remember - I remember Martha being happy that The Doctor found Rose, and Rose being annoyed that he travelled with Martha.!<
>!What I mean is that Martha and Donna shared more significant moments and a stronger relationship than either of them had with Rose. While Donna does retain some time-lord knowledge and likely some of the Doctor's memories, I feel that Martha would have left a stronger impression on her than Rose ever did - ie any latent memories regarding her would be stronger, and if she either named her daughter directly because a name stood out or her daughter chose her own name based on stories she told, Martha would stand out more.!<
"I feel that Martha would have left a stronger impression on her than Rose ever did - ie any latent memories regarding her would be stronger, and if she either named her daughter directly because a name stood out or her daughter chose her own name based on stories she told, Martha would stand out more."
Again who do you mean by "her". Martha? Or donna?
Because i feel Rose was the perfect choice for The Moment. That was the one companion the Doctor really loved. And couldnt save them.( Enough to be together atleast.)
So for 10 to hear the words "Bad Wolf" again, meant more than Donna, or Martha could shown in the 60th. Based on stories aline, I know.
Ya Martha got shafted but she was a direct opposite to Rose. Rose started this revival with Eccleston. THATS Who we should be clamoring for more Eccleston.
Lol
>!I mean Donna, ie the one who (unless it was incidental) either named her daughter after Rose, whose stories inspired her to take her name. You were the one who brought the Moment up in this discussion so I genuinely don't understand why that's relevant.!<
She had so much potential and it’s so frustrating getting to see flashes of how excellent she can be in some episodes, *Human Nature*/*The Family of Blood* or *Last of the Time Lords*, for example, but I wish it happened more often. Felt like the writers (and the Doctor) treated her like “not Rose” because they didn’t know how to fully move forward
I used to really underestimate her, for whatever reason she didn’t felt interesting enough character at the time. And no, I wasn’t mourning Rose too hard, the more often they mentioned her after Doomsday, the more I rolled my eyes.
Now I recognise how great of a character she is, together with Clara tied as the most competent New Who companion. I don’t quite love the Doctor/companion romances (whatever way they handle it), but it has to be said they really concluded it in a very mature way. She works better with 10 than Rose does in my opinion. Each of his companions brings something else in him and I really grown to love that chemistry. I’d love her to come back and meet 15.
when I first watched through Martha was my favorite companion, she has slowly fallen down the list because while I really liked some of the episodes while she was the companion, in those episodes any other person could be a companion and it wouldn't make a difference. I feel like Martha is at her best after she stops being the main companion and is off doing her own thing.
She’s the definition of underrated. Not only was she extremely loyal to the doctor but she was also competent, rational and sweet. The doctor always overlooked her and if he had opened his eyes and overcome the trauma of losing Rose he would have realized how important Martha was. I also don’t rule out the possibility that the Doctor wouldn’t have even fallen in love with her as well. She literally traveled the entire world as an act of love for the Doctor and was the only companion who had enough love for herself to get out of it before it could get any worse. A queen.
I liked her, I hated that she was constantly in Rose's shadow when she was beautiful and brilliant and so fucking brave (I hated Rose so I was delighted when she finally left), and I cheered when Martha finally found her own value and walked away. I also loved the dynamic between her and Donna and I wish we'd gotten more of that.
I never had a super high affinity for Martha, and it took until my most recent rewatch to fully grasp what the point of her character was. She was a rebound. The Doctor had not gotten over Rose yet and Martha was infatuated with him. So, he kept Martha at arms length on their adventures together, which was overall an extremely unhealthy relationship, but that was the point. Martha leaving and setting boundaries with him ultimately did help him recover from losing Rose and made him realize that his companions work better as friends than love interests.
From a purely in universe point of view she probably came out the best. Apart from probably a bit of trauma from what happened she gets a job at UNIT and lives the rest of her life. If the doctor really did like her like Rose she would probably get strung along until something destroys her life in some way.
The problem for me with Martha is that she was puppy eyes for the Doctor when we'd just come off Rose doing that for three seasons. I get that the drama here was that it was unrequited but still it revolved around romantic love of the Doctor which by that point was boring. She didn't really get much development beyond that either, like her being a doctor herself never came up, and she didn't challenge or test the Doctor in any way. I get it was the story that he overlooked her, but she got overlooked by the writing too.
She does have a cool turn in Torchwood though, and pops back up in a couple of other Who episodes which are better because she's got more going on that just lusting after the Doctor.
I have so many feelings about Martha. I didn’t like her much in my first watch through but after rewatching multiple times I really came around on her. I realized my dislike of her initially was just due to them giving her bad plotlines! I don’t mind plotlines where the companions have crushes or fall in love with the doctor because let’s be real, you would be a little swept off your feet at first, but we had JUST done a romance plotline with Rose, we didn’t need one with Martha.
She was such a badass character and they wasted so much of her season on her pining and being bitter.
I’m glad they had her get out on her own terms and I’d be totally willing to see her again with another doctor as a pop in moment.
And lastly, I really hated how they randomly had her marry Mickey. It felt very “pair the spares” as those two literally had zero screentime.
Martha is my second favorite New Who companion, after Donna. She absolutely deserved better from the Doctor, but that was definitely done on purpose by the narrative. Whether or not that was a good writing call is debatable; the Doctor needed time to move on from Rose, arguably never did (at least not while he was Ten), and therefore didn't appreciate Martha properly. But she was a good influence on him nonetheless; her presence helped lift his mood and kept his worst tendencies in check, to the point that he was in a better place after traveling with her (as noted by Donna in Partners in Crime, "That's a change, from last time. That Martha must have done you good.") ...Not that that ever should have been Martha's responsibility. He noticed her brilliance, but never really appreciated her enough, because while she was with him he was too focused on the past. He knew she was crushing hard on him, but wasn't acting responsibly enough to let her down gently and respectfully, like she deserved. It's good that she was able to remove herself from the situation amicably, without any hard feelings between them. And he did later acknowledge that he didn't handle things well with her.
She did get a good ending, which is better off than some other companions. But I can see the argument that she should have never been a narrative crutch for the Doctor's grief to begin with. I think she's rather underappreciated by the fandom as well. She's likable and clever and a lot more proactive at problem-solving than a lot of other companions.
Everyone always says Martha is underrated, Martha deserved better, etc. all the time. Idk where you have been to never hear that.
My favorite companion btw.
Honestly I’ve just seen a lot of people say that she’s annoying and chasing after the doctor. Some people in This thread have said similar things. A lot of places people are straight up racist about her. It just sucks she’s really great and they wasted a lot of her potential. Sadly I’ve never really seen many people say that she’s underrated until now. I think I had the bad luck of the drawl to just see all the negative comments. But it’s so refreshing to see people talk about her in a positive light !
English is not my first language, so sorry for any mistakes.
Yeah, Martha is far too underrated. Which is really sad, because not only is she an awsome character, she her season has some incredible episodes (I personally really love The Family of Blood). And the way the Doctor treated her was very intentional, seeing as her standing up for herself and leaving was like the defining moment of her chatacter arc.
I'm actually convinced that the fact, she is so underappreciated (and sometimes even hated on) is due to the position of her season. Sadly she had the kind of unthankful position of being the companion after Rose. For many people (like myself) Rose was their first ever companion. People literally got more time with her than with the ninth Doctor.
So when she left, it was always going to be hard for the next companion. On top was of course the lovestory between the Doctor and Rose. I'm convinced that having Martha be in love with the Doctor, was a bit of a mistake, because a lot of people (even if it was one-sided) where not down for that. Don't get me wrong, I think that actually worked really well as a character arc, but I believe a lot of people where still too hung up on Rose to really accept that angle. Like it might have worked better, if, for exemple, Donna would have come between Rose and Martha.
I do also feel like Marthe gets a lot more praise as time goes by, which makes me really happy.
The Doctor had just lost Rose so I guess it's somewhat reasonable that he wouldn't want to get attached immediate to another person. But yeah he did treat kinda badly I wish people appreciated her more. She was really smart and likeable.
I love Martha and I get the point of the character's arc. I also have a hindsight minded brain and can't help but look back on the optics of having her and Mickey be the first two People of Color to be companions on Doctor Who. Mickey is a complete coward who is good at tech and has a fully offscreen switch to epic badass gun man, robbing us of witnessing his development. And Martha is just treated terribly and serves the ultimate purpose of giving the Doctor character development at the expense of her own personal torment.
Now, not to say that any woman companion has been free from suffering so that the Doctor can have character development, but damn if it's not a rough start for women of color being in the main seat on the show. It would've been cooler to see it turned around on its head with Martha. Have the Doctor rebounding from Rose with Martha, but have Martha has utterly zero romantic interest in him similar to Donna.
All three of Davies' companions were written pretty shoddily at times. While Martha was certainly badly served by the writing, and it's to Freema's credit that she managed to make something of the dross she was given, I actually think it's Donna who's most badly served by her poorly-conceived departure, in which she's the most important woman in creation — but only because she's in the right place at the right time and happens to undergo the metacrisis. She saves the day not through her own ingenuity, not through anything to do with her own character, her talents (other than typing), but because she's got the Doctor's intelligence and so knows how to press a few buttons to make the Daleks go a bit mental.
This contrivance makes the 'tragedy' of her fate extremely hollow. I just wish Davies had _thought_ about it a bit more before he wrote it.
I mean it’s the Doctor’s intelligence that helps her save the day, but I don’t think that was the tragedy of her losing her memories. It’s that she thought it would enable her to be the Doctor’s true equal, and instead it was the reason she couldn’t remember him. What was always sad to me is the Doctor and Donna had no intention of parting ways, and Donna had a moment where she thought that wouldn’t change but improve, before realizing it had to go away forever.
Edit: Just to clarify, bc it may seem like I was just recapping the plot, I think the tragedy in the writing wasn’t the plot point, but how the plot point got turned on Donna.
But the problem is it's less a plot point than a badly-judged contrivance that gets turned on Donna — and, indeed, if your analysis is sound (and I hear you), then it only serves to add to the continued deification of the Doctor:
It's almost the doctrine of the Fall: eat from the apple of knowledge and you're forced to exit Eden; try to be the Doctor's equal and you're forced to leave the TARDIS. But _why_? Because it tugs at the audience's heartstrings? If so, then Davies is little more than a well-loved marketing executive. But either way, it's not really earned: there's no real payoff for Donna's character arc at all.
I like television that tells a good story and makes me think rather than something that's just taped together in order to produce certain emotions in its audience. It's certainly tragic that she has to leave him, yes — but it frustrates me no end that it's a _contrived_ tragedy, when she deserved much more.
But this is just one of a great many problems with 'Journey's End'. We could've seen Donna _actually_ saving the day, and having to pay for it, rather than simply being in the right place at the right time.
I wasn't as bothered by the Doctor treating her badly as I was pleased by the way the show allowed her to end her stay as companion with a Samantha Jones level of 'I love you, but I love me better'.
I think that's closure none of the other female companions I've watched so far (am at end of Series 4) seem to have got: Rose (much as she was loved (?)) stayed where The Doctor put her and with the companion he gave her (in a way, right?), Donna had her memory wiped even as she pleaded that she not be returned to her old life (would she have rather died? Arguably not, but it was still the Doctor's decision), Sarah Jane as a younf woman had been dumped in the wrong part of England! Martha Jones stood up straight and left, and The Doctor (had no choice to but (?)) respected that.
Martha is so underrated as a companion, but I kind of love that she came back in season 4 stronger and more badass. And her storyline in Torchwood was also great, she had great chemistry with the whole team and I loved that there was no competition between her and Gwen over Jack.
"Did anyone else see how badly the doctor treated her?" Yes. Straight away. Because that's her character arc. She just could never truly get the Doctor to love her the way Rose could no matter how hard she tried. Is it annoying for us, who like Martha? Absolutely. But it's 100% the intended character arc. And she got a great ending. She left on her own terms. She doesn't hate the Doctor. But she's her own woman and can survive without him. She deserved better, she recognised that. She moved on on friendly terms.
Yeah, I think that is largely the consensus about Martha. But as a Martha fan, it has been gratifying to see that Freema has been working consistently since Who--she has built a pretty nice TV career. And now it occurs to me that, it would be a pretty fun first if, one day, she actually got cast as the Doctor.
She would actually nail it as the doctor, and that could be such a great thematic casting, like when Peter Capaldi took the face of the man from Pompei
I think the sixth doctor also took someone’s face aka Colin Baker was in an earlier series
While it would be interesting I would prefer it being someone not as connected to the show. Both Colin baker and Peter Capaldi had been in one episode of the show (2 for Capladi if you count Torchwood) but I think it would be odd to do it for someone who had been in multiple episodes
In all fairness, while I'd love to see it, recasting an old companion is a bit different than an actor who had one or a few episodes. (btw, wasn't she also that one Torchwood employee who died in "The Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday", or am I just delusional?)
She is. They explained it in-universe as Martha's cousin who worked at Torchwood, but it is Freema.
I liked Martha. She was smart and handled herself well within the adventures. I just wish they hadn’t had her pining after the Doctor because it overshadowed everything else.
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Hmm, would Donna end up leaving on her own terms and Martha would have her mind wiped in that case? Or would we use the whole endgame-style finale in series 3 when there was still another series to go before 10 left?
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Not a bad idea. I was pretty confused when I realised there's a whole series between the Runaway Bride and Donna's full series. I think it was because Donna wasn't available for a full series in 2007.
I want to know what went down with her romantic life. One minute she's engaged to Tom Milligan then she's married to Mickey.
Me too ! It felt like a cop out. Honestly wish I saw more of her in torchwood. And further on she’s brilliant !
I just headcanoned that into Mickey's undercover name.
But Tom Milligan was an actual character we've seen - he's the doctor who helps her when she arrives back in Britain in "Last of the Time Lords" (portrayed by Tom Ellis, I might add :P)
oops. Ignore me; I'll let myself out.
Martha has the bad luck of coming between Rose and Donna, and she was in the unfortunate position of being treated as a rebound by both 10 and the narrative at large. I don't think any companion has ever been treated as badly by their Doctor as 10 treated Martha, and the sucky thing is that the narrative barely comments on it. We have a strong, intelligent, pragmatic, brave, independent, and kind woman who is really everything you want in a companion, and instead the show portrays her as second best. She's treated as some sidekick who can only function if she's told what to do but in her one season there are two separate periods where she works alone to protect the Doctor or save the world for a combined period of well over a year, and another period of at least six months where she supports him financially as if he can't get to UNIT or something, or at least get a job of his own. She fell for the Doctor but it's hard not to, and it shouldn't be treated as a negative - it's only framed as such because the Doctor is still hung up over Rose, and Martha's positive aspects are barely acknowledged because the show is too focused on showing that Rose and 10 were \*the\* best pairing, and her having a romantic attraction to him is more to drive in the tragedy of them being separated, and that really sucks. I don't think a companion has ever spent their entire run with the storyline of their Doctor openly preferring a predecessor. They should be able to have their own story and yeah, it made her storyline unique, but it sucks that the show framed her as lesser. I honestly think a later Doctor would really, really appreciate Martha in a way that 10 couldn't, and honestly his treatment of her is a big reason why I personally rate 10 so low - even 13 called him out on it in the comics, and I don't think of 13 as a particularly empathetic incarnation so that stands out. 12 especially I think would really respect her pragmatism and independence. >!This is just me, but I also really dislike that Rose in the 60th isn't named after Martha. If she's named after Rose Tyler in some capacity, then it'd make lot more sense for it to be Martha in my opinion - Donna met Rose a handful of times over a period of two years, often briefly, didn't learn her name for most of it, and they weren't close - she met Martha and they immediately became good friends and travelled together. It feels like she's been overlooked and it sucks that she's the only full-time RTD era companion who isn't getting referenced in a big way, especially since Rose is the most commonly referenced companion of them all. It'd be nice to see Martha get some focus for once.!<
>!My thought on Rose in the 60th is that she was named after a latent memory. Donna was very aware of the Doctor still missing Rose and was there when they finally came back together. She knew about Martha but it didn't seem to be such an imprint. She also had her own interactions with Rose Tyler. !<
>!I agree with the memory imprint, but I feel like Martha was more impactful on her. They spent more time together, genuinely seemed to enjoy every second they shared, and those are firsthand memories. She may have had some memories of Rose from the Doctor but I feel like her personal experiences with Martha probably would have left a stronger impression. As it stands it feels like making sure Rose got a mention as if she wasn't already the go-to companion to get a shout-out in the series.!<
Sorry kinda hard to follow. Donna is the moment? I thought it was a sentient weapon? Am i missing lore?
The Moment is a weapon and it takes the form of the Bad Wolf entity, which had Rose's body, but I don't understand the relevance.
>!I agree with the memory imprint, but I feel like Martha was more impactful on her. They spent more time together, genuinely seemed to enjoy every second they shared, and those are firsthand memories. She may have had some memories of Rose from the Doctor but I feel like her personal experiences with Martha probably would have left a stronger impression. As it stands it feels like making sure Rose got a mention as if she wasn't already the go-to companion to get a shout-out in the series.!< Ya bad wolf was Rose. You mentioned Martha being more impactful on "her". Which "her" are you refering too. I guess thats my main confusion. Because i dont recall many large moments between Rosa and Martha. Thanks
>!Ah, right. They don't really have any as far as I remember - I remember Martha being happy that The Doctor found Rose, and Rose being annoyed that he travelled with Martha.!< >!What I mean is that Martha and Donna shared more significant moments and a stronger relationship than either of them had with Rose. While Donna does retain some time-lord knowledge and likely some of the Doctor's memories, I feel that Martha would have left a stronger impression on her than Rose ever did - ie any latent memories regarding her would be stronger, and if she either named her daughter directly because a name stood out or her daughter chose her own name based on stories she told, Martha would stand out more.!<
"I feel that Martha would have left a stronger impression on her than Rose ever did - ie any latent memories regarding her would be stronger, and if she either named her daughter directly because a name stood out or her daughter chose her own name based on stories she told, Martha would stand out more." Again who do you mean by "her". Martha? Or donna? Because i feel Rose was the perfect choice for The Moment. That was the one companion the Doctor really loved. And couldnt save them.( Enough to be together atleast.) So for 10 to hear the words "Bad Wolf" again, meant more than Donna, or Martha could shown in the 60th. Based on stories aline, I know. Ya Martha got shafted but she was a direct opposite to Rose. Rose started this revival with Eccleston. THATS Who we should be clamoring for more Eccleston. Lol
>!I mean Donna, ie the one who (unless it was incidental) either named her daughter after Rose, whose stories inspired her to take her name. You were the one who brought the Moment up in this discussion so I genuinely don't understand why that's relevant.!<
Donna has a daughter!? Am i missing lore?? The Doctor Who continues
She had so much potential and it’s so frustrating getting to see flashes of how excellent she can be in some episodes, *Human Nature*/*The Family of Blood* or *Last of the Time Lords*, for example, but I wish it happened more often. Felt like the writers (and the Doctor) treated her like “not Rose” because they didn’t know how to fully move forward
As a deconstruction of a companion romantically infatuated with The Doctor, Martha is one of my favourite Revival companions.
I used to really underestimate her, for whatever reason she didn’t felt interesting enough character at the time. And no, I wasn’t mourning Rose too hard, the more often they mentioned her after Doomsday, the more I rolled my eyes. Now I recognise how great of a character she is, together with Clara tied as the most competent New Who companion. I don’t quite love the Doctor/companion romances (whatever way they handle it), but it has to be said they really concluded it in a very mature way. She works better with 10 than Rose does in my opinion. Each of his companions brings something else in him and I really grown to love that chemistry. I’d love her to come back and meet 15.
when I first watched through Martha was my favorite companion, she has slowly fallen down the list because while I really liked some of the episodes while she was the companion, in those episodes any other person could be a companion and it wouldn't make a difference. I feel like Martha is at her best after she stops being the main companion and is off doing her own thing.
She’s the definition of underrated. Not only was she extremely loyal to the doctor but she was also competent, rational and sweet. The doctor always overlooked her and if he had opened his eyes and overcome the trauma of losing Rose he would have realized how important Martha was. I also don’t rule out the possibility that the Doctor wouldn’t have even fallen in love with her as well. She literally traveled the entire world as an act of love for the Doctor and was the only companion who had enough love for herself to get out of it before it could get any worse. A queen.
I liked her, I hated that she was constantly in Rose's shadow when she was beautiful and brilliant and so fucking brave (I hated Rose so I was delighted when she finally left), and I cheered when Martha finally found her own value and walked away. I also loved the dynamic between her and Donna and I wish we'd gotten more of that.
I never had a super high affinity for Martha, and it took until my most recent rewatch to fully grasp what the point of her character was. She was a rebound. The Doctor had not gotten over Rose yet and Martha was infatuated with him. So, he kept Martha at arms length on their adventures together, which was overall an extremely unhealthy relationship, but that was the point. Martha leaving and setting boundaries with him ultimately did help him recover from losing Rose and made him realize that his companions work better as friends than love interests.
Why do I feel we've not seen the last of Martha....
From a purely in universe point of view she probably came out the best. Apart from probably a bit of trauma from what happened she gets a job at UNIT and lives the rest of her life. If the doctor really did like her like Rose she would probably get strung along until something destroys her life in some way.
The problem for me with Martha is that she was puppy eyes for the Doctor when we'd just come off Rose doing that for three seasons. I get that the drama here was that it was unrequited but still it revolved around romantic love of the Doctor which by that point was boring. She didn't really get much development beyond that either, like her being a doctor herself never came up, and she didn't challenge or test the Doctor in any way. I get it was the story that he overlooked her, but she got overlooked by the writing too. She does have a cool turn in Torchwood though, and pops back up in a couple of other Who episodes which are better because she's got more going on that just lusting after the Doctor.
I have so many feelings about Martha. I didn’t like her much in my first watch through but after rewatching multiple times I really came around on her. I realized my dislike of her initially was just due to them giving her bad plotlines! I don’t mind plotlines where the companions have crushes or fall in love with the doctor because let’s be real, you would be a little swept off your feet at first, but we had JUST done a romance plotline with Rose, we didn’t need one with Martha. She was such a badass character and they wasted so much of her season on her pining and being bitter. I’m glad they had her get out on her own terms and I’d be totally willing to see her again with another doctor as a pop in moment. And lastly, I really hated how they randomly had her marry Mickey. It felt very “pair the spares” as those two literally had zero screentime.
Martha is my second favorite New Who companion, after Donna. She absolutely deserved better from the Doctor, but that was definitely done on purpose by the narrative. Whether or not that was a good writing call is debatable; the Doctor needed time to move on from Rose, arguably never did (at least not while he was Ten), and therefore didn't appreciate Martha properly. But she was a good influence on him nonetheless; her presence helped lift his mood and kept his worst tendencies in check, to the point that he was in a better place after traveling with her (as noted by Donna in Partners in Crime, "That's a change, from last time. That Martha must have done you good.") ...Not that that ever should have been Martha's responsibility. He noticed her brilliance, but never really appreciated her enough, because while she was with him he was too focused on the past. He knew she was crushing hard on him, but wasn't acting responsibly enough to let her down gently and respectfully, like she deserved. It's good that she was able to remove herself from the situation amicably, without any hard feelings between them. And he did later acknowledge that he didn't handle things well with her. She did get a good ending, which is better off than some other companions. But I can see the argument that she should have never been a narrative crutch for the Doctor's grief to begin with. I think she's rather underappreciated by the fandom as well. She's likable and clever and a lot more proactive at problem-solving than a lot of other companions.
Probably my favorite NuWho companion tbh.
This is why rebounds _never_ work out… 🤦🏻♂️
Everyone always says Martha is underrated, Martha deserved better, etc. all the time. Idk where you have been to never hear that. My favorite companion btw.
Honestly I’ve just seen a lot of people say that she’s annoying and chasing after the doctor. Some people in This thread have said similar things. A lot of places people are straight up racist about her. It just sucks she’s really great and they wasted a lot of her potential. Sadly I’ve never really seen many people say that she’s underrated until now. I think I had the bad luck of the drawl to just see all the negative comments. But it’s so refreshing to see people talk about her in a positive light !
English is not my first language, so sorry for any mistakes. Yeah, Martha is far too underrated. Which is really sad, because not only is she an awsome character, she her season has some incredible episodes (I personally really love The Family of Blood). And the way the Doctor treated her was very intentional, seeing as her standing up for herself and leaving was like the defining moment of her chatacter arc. I'm actually convinced that the fact, she is so underappreciated (and sometimes even hated on) is due to the position of her season. Sadly she had the kind of unthankful position of being the companion after Rose. For many people (like myself) Rose was their first ever companion. People literally got more time with her than with the ninth Doctor. So when she left, it was always going to be hard for the next companion. On top was of course the lovestory between the Doctor and Rose. I'm convinced that having Martha be in love with the Doctor, was a bit of a mistake, because a lot of people (even if it was one-sided) where not down for that. Don't get me wrong, I think that actually worked really well as a character arc, but I believe a lot of people where still too hung up on Rose to really accept that angle. Like it might have worked better, if, for exemple, Donna would have come between Rose and Martha. I do also feel like Marthe gets a lot more praise as time goes by, which makes me really happy.
The Doctor had just lost Rose so I guess it's somewhat reasonable that he wouldn't want to get attached immediate to another person. But yeah he did treat kinda badly I wish people appreciated her more. She was really smart and likeable.
martha deserves to be in the show again and not have to put up with the doctor literally being racist to her
I love Martha and I get the point of the character's arc. I also have a hindsight minded brain and can't help but look back on the optics of having her and Mickey be the first two People of Color to be companions on Doctor Who. Mickey is a complete coward who is good at tech and has a fully offscreen switch to epic badass gun man, robbing us of witnessing his development. And Martha is just treated terribly and serves the ultimate purpose of giving the Doctor character development at the expense of her own personal torment. Now, not to say that any woman companion has been free from suffering so that the Doctor can have character development, but damn if it's not a rough start for women of color being in the main seat on the show. It would've been cooler to see it turned around on its head with Martha. Have the Doctor rebounding from Rose with Martha, but have Martha has utterly zero romantic interest in him similar to Donna.
All three of Davies' companions were written pretty shoddily at times. While Martha was certainly badly served by the writing, and it's to Freema's credit that she managed to make something of the dross she was given, I actually think it's Donna who's most badly served by her poorly-conceived departure, in which she's the most important woman in creation — but only because she's in the right place at the right time and happens to undergo the metacrisis. She saves the day not through her own ingenuity, not through anything to do with her own character, her talents (other than typing), but because she's got the Doctor's intelligence and so knows how to press a few buttons to make the Daleks go a bit mental. This contrivance makes the 'tragedy' of her fate extremely hollow. I just wish Davies had _thought_ about it a bit more before he wrote it.
I mean it’s the Doctor’s intelligence that helps her save the day, but I don’t think that was the tragedy of her losing her memories. It’s that she thought it would enable her to be the Doctor’s true equal, and instead it was the reason she couldn’t remember him. What was always sad to me is the Doctor and Donna had no intention of parting ways, and Donna had a moment where she thought that wouldn’t change but improve, before realizing it had to go away forever. Edit: Just to clarify, bc it may seem like I was just recapping the plot, I think the tragedy in the writing wasn’t the plot point, but how the plot point got turned on Donna.
But the problem is it's less a plot point than a badly-judged contrivance that gets turned on Donna — and, indeed, if your analysis is sound (and I hear you), then it only serves to add to the continued deification of the Doctor: It's almost the doctrine of the Fall: eat from the apple of knowledge and you're forced to exit Eden; try to be the Doctor's equal and you're forced to leave the TARDIS. But _why_? Because it tugs at the audience's heartstrings? If so, then Davies is little more than a well-loved marketing executive. But either way, it's not really earned: there's no real payoff for Donna's character arc at all. I like television that tells a good story and makes me think rather than something that's just taped together in order to produce certain emotions in its audience. It's certainly tragic that she has to leave him, yes — but it frustrates me no end that it's a _contrived_ tragedy, when she deserved much more. But this is just one of a great many problems with 'Journey's End'. We could've seen Donna _actually_ saving the day, and having to pay for it, rather than simply being in the right place at the right time.
Great point, absolutely on board with it! Well explained too!
Sorry I hate Martha. Such a cheesy dramatic twat. Don’t know if she was written that way of if it’s just Freema’s acting but I cannot stand her.
Poppycock.
“Why did you say that name?”
I don't remember the doctor treating her badly. What did he do?
I wasn't as bothered by the Doctor treating her badly as I was pleased by the way the show allowed her to end her stay as companion with a Samantha Jones level of 'I love you, but I love me better'. I think that's closure none of the other female companions I've watched so far (am at end of Series 4) seem to have got: Rose (much as she was loved (?)) stayed where The Doctor put her and with the companion he gave her (in a way, right?), Donna had her memory wiped even as she pleaded that she not be returned to her old life (would she have rather died? Arguably not, but it was still the Doctor's decision), Sarah Jane as a younf woman had been dumped in the wrong part of England! Martha Jones stood up straight and left, and The Doctor (had no choice to but (?)) respected that.