Martha Jones Deserved Better (And Other Correct Doctor Who Takes)

[@Princess_Weekes]

Hey y’all two notes 1) this will be my last attempt at using background music in a whole video. Y’all don’t like and I’m not that great at it lol. I feel like audio is just something I struggle with because sometimes folks are hearing stuff I don’t so boo 2) due to some tech issues this came out two days after I intended but I am playing at MCVegas today and tomorrow if anyone wants to play and is in the area xx P

[@koboldcatgirl]

For what it's worth (fully support this change) it's never bothered me one bit that I can remember! I think the sound editing has been fine, and it's nice to have a backdrop. But everyone's got their preferred level of stimulation.

[@Jay-xb2sx]

I mean it's such a long video. I think the addition of background music is good but some variation would be cool. Hearing the same track on repeat is a bit fatiguing

[@tcrump212IsLmbrJck_t]

I like the music Ijs

[@jackdoyle7453]

Eccleston was a great doctor, also capaldi was great

[@jimkoss3318]

@@Jay-xb2sxAgree. And annoying.

[@michaelr3578]

Disregarding the romantic aspirations and the racial undertones of the entire series, it must be noted that Martha is probably the most heroic of all the companions the Doctor has had. Martha literally had to walk the Earth to convince billions of people, most of them antagonistic at first, to contact the Doctor at the right moment. This year was replete with being chased, hunted, betrayed by temporary alliances, imprisoned, and with her wits only, single-handedly got everyone on the planet to help save the Doctor, who was a millenniarium (speed-aged hundreds of years). Of course, there was no episode about this; it was implied it happened between the two-parter episode, but there was a book writted about it called "The Story of Martha." I highly recommend it. It makes her actions make all other companions' actions pale just in the sheer length of time that she had to be heroic every second, over a period of a year.

[@joelkanamuli227]

Yeah Martha is by far the most naturally capable full time companion we've seen, and only Clara really comes anywhere close tbh

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

@@joelkanamuli227 This is probably precisely why Martha and Clara are my all-time favorite companions, personally. 🙂

[@chloemcginnis2]

There is also an admittedly mixed-bag audio series called The Year of Martha Jones which is a Big Finish production, and is mostly the earlier parts of her journey. It's good at showing the dynamic of Martha and the Resistance, and the final part has two characters who work for the approval of the Master which leads to a really interesting story.

[@michaelr3578]

@@chloemcginnis2 Lot of differences between that and the book. If I'm not mistaken, "The Story of Martha" was considered canon as well, as the release of that book was done in conjunction with the end of Season 3.

[@karlitatv]

Yeah she didn't need the heart of the TARDIS or a metacrisis to save the day

[@IHARumor]

The thing I hate most about Martha’s time on the show is that they stuck her with Mickey at the end. When we last saw her before that episode, she was a doctor and engaged to Tom Ellis’s character (who seemed to adore and respect her). It made ZERO sense that she was now an alien hunter with Mickey.

[@alim.9801]

I STILL hate that. Like she never even met Mickey previously!! I don't wanna be cynical but it kinda felt like they just stuck the two prominent POC characters at that time together tbh..

[@Cyber_Smoke]

​@@alim.9801Journey's end had them meet and Mickey actually left the Tardis on earth 1 with Martha and ran to catch up to her so it was obvious It made sense because both wanted to be with someone who was more interested in someone else.

[@GskitzIndustries]

Hopefully, if they ever bring her back (likely!), they ret-con that angle of her character, especially after all the horrible stuff about Noel Clarke came into public knowledge. He's basically gonna be gladly struck from any future possibilities of re-appearing and I imagine they'll want to distance her character from anything to do with him.

[@Samson16436]

​@@GskitzIndustriesoh no what happened... 😑😒

[@Regmuslima]

​@@Samson16436I'm wondering the same thing 😮‍💨

[@constantreader1422]

can you imagine nine getting to run around with martha? he wouldn't have taken her for granted. he really had heart(s).

[@lewa3910]

Would actually watch a whole season of that!

[@constantreader1422]

very soon after the commented she said "nine would get it" and i'm like 🤯

[@HuntingViolets]

I would love that. I am also stanning for Agyeman to come back as an incarnation of the Doctor (with some female and Black and other POC writers).

[@shwenty1734]

Ten didn't take her for granted lol

[@hrishiv27]

I remember how 9 treated Mickey, so…

[@Sara_TheFatCultureCritic]

As someone who has had a few unrequited loves I really love aspects of Martha's journey. What I wish most is that 10 had been taken to task for his treatment of her. He is callous with her feelings and her safety, which sort of makes sense given the darker aspects of the character, but the narrative doesn't always acknowledge that darkness. Throwing her and Mickey together is unforgivable

[@AirQuotes]

I agree with you 100%

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

I wanted the doctor to regenerate into Martha. At least she can act really well.

[@Rossy167]

Tbf I think throwing her and Micky together was not about them both being black. I think it was because they both essentially received the same treatment by the Doctor and both chose to go their own way instead. They are fairly similar characters in their own unique ways.

[@LordVader1094]

@@Rossy167 This is also exactly how I saw it. I didn't even remotely consider that they were both black lol. I always appreciated that two characters screwed over by the Doctor found happiness with each other.

[@neilgodwin6531]

Didn't they walk off together after leaving the Tardis for the last time? I envisage Martha passing Wetherspoons (other drinking establishments are available) and saying " I could really do with a drink" and they spend a couple of hours exchanging tales of the Tardis. Yes, she is a Doctor (almost) and he is a mechanic, but perhaps he had plans to set up his own business, or take an Open University course, but couldn't afford it, point is, we knew little about Mickey, except he was plagued with guilt about his grandmother's death. He certainly wasn't an "idiot". Perhaps Martha and Mickey's road to Torchwood or UNIT could have made a story in itself. Big Finish?

[@lindslindslinds]

Literally so much would have been solved with the simple switch of not making Martha in love with the doctor 😭 those showrunners smh

[@joyfulgirl40018]

While the racial undercurrent of the Martha storyline should absolutely be talked about, I also really do think that so much of the Martha problem (and so many other problems on this show and others) is caused by writers LITERALLY FORGETTING that compelling stories can exist that aren't about thin, hot, young people f*cking.

[@simont390]

I doubt it was an intended connection but given Martha's lack of romantic fulfilment from the Doctor, it's interesting to note that in the Handmaid's Tale, a Martha is an unmarried female domestic servant to a powerful high ranking man, and Marthas are implied to often be women of colour.

[@ennayanne]

@@joyfulgirl40018 it was the 2000s kek that's what all stories were

[@allykaman9340]

It would’ve been so easy too. Like she is a medical student, she could’ve wanted to go with him just for the scientific fascination.

[@MariaVosa]

@@allykaman9340 Right! She's the only one of the nuWho companions with a real scientific background. How do you not make use of that? Makes it clear it was just "window dressing" and Moffatt really just saw her as the "hot exotic one" whose role was to highlight how amazing the Doctor is. While RTD grew up imagining himself as a Companion, Moffatt imagined himself as the Doctor. With the blessed exception of Donna (probbaly due to backlash to the Martha story), Martha, Amy and Clara have been extremely pretty and hyper focused on the Doctor. Even River Song changed from a no-nonsense archaeologist to a Femme Fatale.

[@MysticPuma1]

What REALLY didn't help with Martha was the Doctor constantly comparing her to Rose in that really melancholic way. I was a teenager when her series aired, I hadn't seen any old-who... and I was a MASSIVE Rose fan. So my dumb teenage brain was angry with MARTHA for trying to force the Doctor to move on when he wasn't ready to; when honestly I think now I'm more upset with the Doctor for taking out his emotions on this poor woman who didn't do a thing wrong. They really set her up to fail especially hard for anyone who was invested in Rose x Ten. It's so frustrating, because by the end of the season I had begun to see how awesome Martha was as her own person, but it had been hidden from me thanks to them drawing attention to the fact that my favourite companion was gone, and this was meant to be her replacement. MARTHA DESERVED BETTER!

[@hypercube8735]

I started watching the show right in the middle of that section, and all it managed to accomplish was making me loathe whoever this "Rose" person was supposed to be, who wasn't on the show (while Martha *was* on the show), and yet the Doctor absolutely would not shut up about her, and would not stop complaining about Martha not being Rose. This wasn't fair to Rose (who I eventually did like, once I got around to watching the Ninth Doctor's tenure), *or* to Martha. The ironic thing is I assume it was supposed to endear the viewer to Rose (look how much the Doctor cares about her and misses her!) but it had the absolute opposite effect on me, at least as a new viewer. I just wanted the show to let the Companion who was actually in the episodes be cool and appreciated! That whole angle just sucked. Donna showed up later and was great, partially because they didn't write her as in love with the Doctor, and partially because the Doctor had gotten over his obsession with Rose by then and was willing to engage with her as her own person. Martha deserved that. And then RTD poisoned the well all over again at the end of the Tenth Doctor's run, with the whole "I don't want to go" thing. I know a lot of other viewers who hated Eleven right off the bat for replacing "their" Doctor, especially when he explicitly wanted to keep being that Doctor and had described Eleven as "another man walking around in my clothes", or however he worded it.

[@MysticPuma1]

@@hypercube8735 It does seem to be one of RTD's weaknesses - he just can't quite get the idea of letting things breathe on their own. He's great at endearing you to certain characters, but TERRIBLE at letting new stuff breathe because it's always labouring under the weight of what came before. I struggled with eleven for his first season for precisely that reason, but looking back on it he was really great (despite the fact that I dislike the series arcs that Moffat wrote in). I'm really hoping that the way he wrote the three 60th anniversary specials means he might have learned a bit from it, because I'm actually really excited for Ncuti Gatwa as 15, but then again maybe I've just matured since my teen years and am able to let beloved characters go myself now XD

[@benjamintillema3572]

@hypercube8735 Wow, you summarized my feelings pretty much perfectly, except I still don't really care for Rose. The one good thing the show did was have Martha leave on her own terms, with her dignity in tact. The same cannot be said for Rose, or Donna, or even the Tenth Doctor (as you pointed out)​. I did eventually warm up to Matt Smith, BUT I did and still do hate how they made the Eleventh Doctor "quirky" in the Sheldon Cooper, BBC Sherlock kind of way.

[@HuntingViolets]

@@hypercube8735 Nine took regenerating much better than Ten. Saying they are the same person (when I say this, someone comes in to tell me they aren't), Ten was in a brattier stage of life, I guess. Martha is my favorite, and I started with Rose and Nine. It grinds my teeth every time the Doctor compares her unfavorably and unfairly to Rose ("Rose would know what to do" -- I'm really doubting she would, dude). I loved Martha from her first episode, and I wanted the Doctor to do that too.

[@sugarnads]

Hated rose.

[@elizabethfahrlander6224]

The only problem I ever had with Martha was that I found it PHYSICALLY PAINFUL to watch this incredibly beautiful, smart, strong woman written to act like a pathetic fool over this man who so clearly did not appreciate her and it reminded me of a friend (who was also studying to be a doctor at the time). Otherwise her episodes are actually some of my favorites.

[@LordVader1094]

Literally when? She's in love with a man who doesn't appreciate her, but she's never a pathetic fool.

[@homosoftommorow]

Omg same I was always like ten I love you but get your shit together

[@homosoftommorow]

Martha deserved so much better

[@homosoftommorow]

People always use the fact that she got a happy ending as a reason that she did in fact get the better deal of a lot of companions but that was after multiple seasons of nonsense. Also compared to the fates of companions in later seasons I think Davies was always pretty tame. Like rose was in another dimension but she had a life. Donna couldn't remember the doctor but she got married and was ok. Martha ended up also married and apart of the resistance on earth. Jack ended up with Torchwood. Like Davies never killed a companion in his run. That was later. Martha absolutely did deserve better.

[@c.s3369]

You think the average women isn't gonna be smitten over a god 😂

[@mandipandi303]

Martha is criminally underrated. I hate that they had her end up with Mickey out of thin air. She deserved so much better.

[@nekusakura6748]

She should have become a Reoccurring guest on The Sarah Jane Adventures. She was actually supposed to appear in 'Enemy of The Bane' but Freema Agyeman had to decline due to scheduling conflicts, leading to the Brigadier taking her role.

[@mandipandi303]

@@nekusakura6748 I totally agree. She should have been a lead in another DW project at the very least. I didn't know that Freema was even offered another part. I hope she does more DW projects, even if it's just the audio stuff. She deserves to because Martha is great.

[@karlitatv]

Tbh she had more in common with Mickey than she had things in common with that doctor she was engaged to, might be an unpopular opinion but I am glad she ended up with Mickey.

[@mandipandi303]

@@karlitatv To each their own. But to suggest that Martha, a literal doctor, doesn't have much in common with the fellow doctor she's engaged to in the show is simply incorrect.

[@nekusakura6748]

@@mandipandi303 That and Tom Ellis..... How could anyone attracted to men resist that handsome devil....?

[@katie8881]

"Most guys only have a podcast, he got a whole time machine." Laughed at the line! I like the point that you're making at that part of the episode. In God Complex, the 11th doctor acknowledges this power dynamic and his overwhelming allure by describing what he does as "offering a child a suitcase full of candy." He is opening up to one of the episode characters and says it like a confession... then immediately invites that character to join team tardis. It shows that he knows what he's doing, yet he can't seem to help himself. The Martha case is a really potent example of this.

[@teresab3169]

Oh my god YES that’s one of my favorite episodes! “They'd say it was their choice, but offer a child a suitcase full of sweets and they'll take it. Offer someone all of time and space and they'll take that, too. Which is why you shouldn't. Which is why grown-ups were invented.” 
“All of time and space, eh?” 
“Oh, yeah. And when we get out of this, I'll show you too.” 
“I don't know what you're talking about, but whatever it was, I have a feeling you just did it again.”

[@WhovianOrWhatever]

He made that offer at the beginning of the episode though? He figured out what he'd done by the end. I feel like that matters.

[@Reprodestruxion]

Hey , Sam Seder is more than that, ok?

[@ceciliaslepmet4840]

I know lots of Martha's haters used the fact she was in love with the Doctor (one-sided) as a reason to despise her. But I personally think it makes her relatable. Ngl I also had (have?) a crush on Ten(nant) so how could I blame Martha for falling for him? A handsome mysterious stranger, who KISSED her, and invite her to travel where she never thought she could... how could she NOT fall for him? She's not different from Rose. Rose was just "lucky" to have her feelings being returned. And the fact that Martha knew deep down that the doctor will never love her the way she loves him, makes her very brave and selfless imo. She never complains about it, but she's always here for him. Until she realised she deserved and can have better than someone who'll never love her the way she deserves and walk away like the QUEEN she is.

[@CrowMaiden]

I love that anyone who uses this fact clearly ignored Jack in the second to last episode when he saw Martha looking wistfully at the Doctor and went 'you too, huh?' which... either they didn't pay attention to that episode, or the racism is stronger than the homophobia.

[@Gabriellaella23]

Thank you! I never understood why people use the excuse that she was in love with the doctor to hate her when you can say the same about rose. Like what??

[@julietfischer5056]

There were plenty of Martha haters who wanted Rose (and still do). No, people: actors will _not_ put their careers on hold indefinitely so that you can watch increasingly-recycled plots starring your favorite characters. I rather wished she wasn't crushing on the Doctor, but that's me. We all know the Doctor's had plenty of experience with snogging. Be thankful, Martha, that wasn't a romantic kiss.

[@Dancestar1981]

@@CrowMaidenI realised exactly what the reference was the dr unintentionally broke hearts wherever he went.

[@rosabellaalvarez-calderon4586]

@@CrowMaiden Jack was also in love with the Doctor, and the Doctor knew it, so he eventually introduced him to Alonso. Can you imagine a series where Jack was a companion, 15 years ago?

[@d48731]

As someone who used to run a Martha Jones stan tumblr with the sole purpose of reblogging Martha Jones haters to tell them they were racists, THANK you for this.

[@turnonmyaxel]

You are my hero

[@milkymoonbeam]

does it still exist?

[@milkymoonbeam]

does it still exist?

[@demonic_myst4503]

Oh god a tumblr sjw let me guess u a twitter usser now or did u have panic attack and leave when hears elon taking it over

[@beadymore]

Doing the Lord's work 🙏

[@ShrapnelStars]

There was this weird phenomenon where a lot of people wanted 10 to run off with that white nurse woman from the 1900's two-parter, and so many people defended her back then and fully excused her of being racist because "oh she's just a product of her time, so it's OK" that it was just unreal. There was also this salt-in-the-wound moment in another season where the Doctor scrolls through these holograms of his previous companions and brags about how Martha had a crush on him, and I was like "If you knew, then why did you treat her like shit?!"

[@Princess_Weekes]

Yuppppp. The people who wanted him to the with the nurse … confuse me. Also like her being racist and classist is a red flag guys. Literally more racist than any Jane Austen character outside of Mansfield Park

[@LisaBeta-42]

As 9th told Rose - HE does not do families, because that is way to complicated for him. If the companions go all puppy eyed on the doctor he lets that slip - because, well HE is a Time Lord and they are (nothing more than) the pet [as Missy told Clara] or a different species to him, that just happens to look Time Lord [11th and the big fish-lady from Venice: just a NO, she is not in his league]. He collects friends that normally do not have families and mostly won't ever get kids (except Jo Grant) so no time-line will get disrupted by loosing such a friend somewhere along the convoluted adventures. 11th only married River to make her shoot "him" in front of all the witnesses. The Elizabeth 10th got married to, was probably a Zygon (the boss-lady and the horse that revealed itself to be a Zygon was her bodyguard, to keep the doctor distracted). And don't trust middle aged white men to write convincing women with complicated issues [the more female way for Donna's mother in the new trailer would have been a forceful shove against his chest, to stop the doctor for getting near her daughter - the puch at the chin is far to masculine and does not really stop him... skinny man - he is not here!]

[@nekusakura6748]

@@LisaBeta-42 Sarah Jane Smith got to have an Adopted Son in her Spin Off

[@aitoriri1]

At the time I felt like a wierdo because i actually didn´t like the nurse character. She is an asshole to martha and treats her like shit. Didn´t care she is from 1913, doctor has gone to the past many times and still had characters that were not shitty

[@andromeda138]

​@@Princess_WeekesOh boy, I would love to hear your thoughts on Mansfield Park if you have the energy. I couldn't get through that one.

[@spencerraney4979]

The problem with the Family of Blood episodes is that it’s based on a novel that originally had a white companion. In the book, the companion, Bernice Summerfield, is able to live her own life while the Doctor lived as a human (which in the book is done so he can better understand what it’s like to feel human emotion). By choosing to adapt this specific story, they sort of intentionally chose to put Martha into a situation where she would be belittled and hurt.

[@samuelpearce9914]

i came here to comment exactly that oop.

[@scag4773]

more to show how much struggle martha would go through to help the doctor as a testament to her love for him, show shes a determined character that wants so badly for the doctor to come back

[@asifrahman60]

That's really interesting, I've never read it

[@Gailed_it]

it probably would have been better with donna or rose purely because then the racial stuff wouldnt have happened

[@StrifeSoul990]

I actually have always felt like this episode on its own is a great example of how the Doctor can at times be selfish and hurtful. He could at any point have killed the family. He wasn't being kind, he wasn't afraid, he saw an out. A wah to run away from himself and he impulsively took it. Never looking back and never even apologizing for how much it hurt Martha. And the worst part to me? John Smith deserved to live. He deserved his life. And the Doctor took away that choice. His selfish actions destroyed an innocent man.

[@sanewitch8036]

I never see Martha as just a "black girl" or "Rose replacement". She is a girl who unlike many other companions actually has a life she doesn't want to throw away any time the Doctor is bored.

[@julietfischer5056]

Up until this version of the show, the companions were stuck on a wonky TARDIS that (99% of the time) never went where the Doctor wanted. They were audience surrogates who could ask the questions and help him out. Their lives were interrupted, they left him at some point, and he moved on. Sarah Jane Smith was the one companion who wasn't foisted on him or stuck with him (at least at first): she met him while in pursuit of a story, then didn't run far and fast after meeting a Sontaran and finding dinosaurs in London. Now he can go pretty much where and when he wants, and the companions have changed accordingly.

[@etiquetteinelevators]

The way race is handled in the Capaldi years was a huge improvement, it was a bit of a relief after how they treated Martha

[@ArturGlass.C]

Bill deserved more seasons. I hate she's never brought up as an emblematic companion. She's my favourite and I loved the mentor/mentee type of relationship she had with Capaldi.

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

@@ArturGlass.C For me... I struggled to like Bill more, specifically because she felt a bit like she was stepping on the toes of all that Martha should have had but didn't[, rather than feeling to me like her whole own companion all in her own rights the way a companion should]. But maybe that was just me and my own bitter bias leading. I didn't totally dislike Bill either though, it just took me a bit more to acquire the taste, which unfortunately made Bill shine just a little less brightly in my eye than she might have done otherwise...like possibly if I'd started with those seasons instead of with earlier ones, or such .. and that just makes me a little bit sad , somehow.

[@etiquetteinelevators]

@@jaginaiaelectrizs6341 it definitely felt like they were using Bill to rectify their mistakes with Martha, I agree with you there. As far as if that was the best move or not, I really don’t know, but I definitely see both sides

[@nekusakura6748]

@@ArturGlass.C Big Finish should give her and Capaldi some audio dramas for them to have more adventures.

[@rcbridii]

I agree, but I feel like the writers did wrong on Bill too. She got such a terrible ending.

[@beadymore]

Martha was the best and frankly, if any companion could carry their own spinoff like John Barrowman got to, it would be Freema. I would absolutely watch Special Agent Martha Jones, MD, saving the Earth from pathogens and monsters, though I also wouldn't blame her if she was wholly uninterested in ever returning to the Whoniverse after the way the fandom treated her.

[@doctordavidchan1044]

Holy crap, I'd watch Special Agent Martha Jones!

[@beadymore]

@@doctordavidchan1044 the taste we got of that in her cameos on Torchwood and the Sontaran episodes with Donna made me crave it. Honestly idk how they're going to deal with Donna remembering her adventures in the upcoming special, but I could see Martha and Donna teaming up every now and then and that would be pretty sick too.

[@Emma-yn9op]

I’ve always wanted a Martha unit spin-off

[@HuntingViolets]

She said at a con that she would play Martha again if Martha were a full character (it was said very diplomatically), so there is some hope.

[@rosabellaalvarez-calderon4586]

@@doctordavidchan1044 With Captain Jack as her companion, taking a break from Torchwood

[@iamcactus6778]

I'm so glad to see other people actually liked Martha and thought she deserved better. She was always one of my favorit characters but I found the unrequited love thing really degrading. I think whole all companions must desire the doctor thing is bad in general and needs to stop. Now and then is fine but having it be constant is weird.

[@beadymore]

It's also such a boring dynamic to keep repeating, especially with the Doctor almost always being a man, and the companions almost always being (younger) women it's like, almost always just this weird ingenue/"hot for teacher" kind of dynamic which frankly I personally find incredibly non-compelling.

[@TorchwoodPandP]

She was my favourite companion! Still is!

[@chikzdigmohawkz]

That was what was so refreshing about Donna, and watching it in real-time just made me wish they'd gone a similar route with Martha. Like, have her admire him, sure, but for two characters who are Doctors, the writers really missed the mark in not treating Martha like she was more of a colleague than an intern.

[@hotdog1214]

Its been a while since I've seen the earlier NuWho series and while I actually liked Martha as a character (and her portrayal by Freema) the lasting, niggling memory was that awful unrequited love story. I'm in the boat of not wanting any romantic goings on between Doctor and companion "no hanky panky in the Tardis" as Capaldi said. 😁😁 One of the finer aspects of Classic Who was they were BFFs, fiercely protective friends who would go above and beyond but it was never romantic and it was, and is, such an interesting dynamic far more so than the romance/attraction trope. So even the Rose storyline was not really for me; didn't hate it but didn't love it either, I could accept it as a one off. A shame the writers couldn't do the same. As others have said, its what made Donna such a breath of fresh air, that she was just his 'mate' 😂😂 and they enjoyed each others company throughout space and time. If Martha hadn't been saddled with the love sick puppy angle I think she would be considered higher up in the companion rankings because she was pretty strong in other aspects. I live in eternal hope that the writers do step off the Doctor/companion in love bus soon.

[@mischarowe]

I loved the Doctor/Rose dynamic but yes, repeating it with others was just wrong. And, IMO, it kind of cheapens it when it's right - the Doctor/Rose one I mean.

[@fafolguy]

Love for Martha! Initially I didn't mind the unrequited bit, thinking after a few adventures' time she'd realize not only was it not going to happen, but she's actually the one saving the Doctor and he's going to be SOL when she decides to move on. But then every time, all season long, she'd get giggly flirty with him whenever he was charming only for it to be crushed immediately. Martha is smarter than that and after a short while, wouldn't have it. That said, I do think she was a great companion - one whose arc wasn't tied to "I'm Nobody!" She was damn brilliant, figured a lot of stuff out on her own, and had people on Earth who *actually* loved her for her - and she knew all of this about herself. The season finale was her time to shine - she made shit happen, not space magic, or the Doctor. And she got to live to tell the tale, walking away when she wanted, not because trauma forced her, as it did every other companion in NuWho. It very much feels like RTD never really got past not getting Donna to replace Rose due to scheduling. So much of her character feels like a sulk over her not being Donna Noble and it's gross.

[@deliritori]

I am certain that it's probably already been said down in the comments, but Martha left the doctor fully intact so to speak. She's a She left on her own terms with her mind intact, she's the only one that was actually educated with a profession, she also solved the main story arc problem on her own completely not powered up by The Doctor or some other outside power (She "Walked the earth", ). Telling the story of the Doctor. And, the ONLY Companion to not just straight up ABANDON her family and life for the Doctor! Martha always had her family on her mind, and though she had a "crush" on the doctor, she would always check up on them.✊🏽✊🏽

[@Lucifer_Crowe]

I do wish Martha had had some of the power up in S3 After walking the earth as A DOCTOR treating people. They should have thought of her before some dude she selflessly told them about.

[@deliritori]

@@Lucifer_Crowe EXACTLY! You Would think she herself would be the legend. I mean they've seen her, they had no visual on "the Doctor". i completely forgot that she was treating people. Good point! 😊👍

[@Lucifer_Crowe]

@@deliritori like, she stands there waiting for the Doctor to get better, and nothing happens. Then boom. Tbf I don't dislike that she doesn't get a power boost because Rose, her, and Donna might be too much But when the Doctor becomes Jesus after she does all the hard work? Ooft

[@KokabZD]

Totally agree with everything you said. As a half West African half Iranian (Freema is half Iranian Kurdish, not Arab. Iranians aren’t Arabic, just a small correction) fan of Doctor Who, I was really excited about Martha, but hated how they treated her. And then I found out about the hate she got in the fandom and it made me really sad and upset, but I’m glad there’s someone pointing these things out lol Thanks for this video!

[@doctordavidchan1044]

As a fellow mixed race (white and Chinese) fan, I completely agree. Even though Martha was a completely different ethnicity to me, I always liked seeing an ethnic minority companion on my favourite show.

[@smolperidot]

"why couldn't have martha been [...] a lesbian who's not interested in little white twinks. some of us are free, and by 'us' i don't mean me." GOD THIS IS SO REAL. i ghostwrote this fucking line.

[@magical-soap5359]

Bahaha it's good writing 😹

[@michaelr3578]

Well, they did have Bill...

[@doctordavidchan1044]

I'd watch that.

[@Summer_Snows]

@@doctordavidchan1044 Watch Bill's season then because that's literally what you get!

[@scag4773]

its a crucial part of tens development, to show that the doctor hadnt moved on from rose and the impact it would continue to make on him even when actively being chased after, pretty simple reason why

[@myxomatoad2]

Amy and Rory’s final episode is easily one of the most frustrating in the whole series. Previously, in that very same season, they seemed to be clearly set up to grow-out of traveling with the Doctor. It would have been 200% more satisfying to have them choose to leave and the Doctor having to acknowledge that things end with some grace. It would have also allowed the two of them to really complete an arc, Amy in particular. To have them meet their fate with the Angel’s the way they did felt cheap and contrived.

[@ohdarah]

yeah!!! I mean it is still a bit of a tear jerker for me (esp if watched out of sequence) but having that episode come literally 2 episodes after they established rory and amy outgrowing him is too much emotional whiplash. same with clara and how she was "killed" and then the show went jk she's actually out travelling now lol

[@99brickstudios]

It’s weird with Moffat. I hated a lot of it while it was coming out. But I regularly cried anyway. The emotions were heavy and effective but the stories were frustrating, inconsistent and a bit more than bullshit sometimes.

[@БОНОБО]

To be honest, it's not completely Moffat's fault. Karen Gillan and Arthur Darwill wanted to be completely written out of show, but they didn't want to be killed off, so Moffat came up with this contrived ending. Originally, the episode of their departure should have featured Daleks as the main antagonists, not the Angels. Overall, Doctor Who's production is a whole mess of its own.

[@myxomatoad2]

@@99brickstudios that despite some clear blunders

[@myxomatoad2]

@@ohdarah same. Her “goodbye” was originally beautiful and poignant and the best example of Moffat giving a character an arc. Then… well it is t the worst, but it’s not great.

[@MJBiddy1]

Martha was my favourite companion and I loved that she wasn’t beholden to the Doctor. Wish she’d had more seasons.

[@Druklet]

I loved Donna but, agreed! I also loved the dynamic between Martha and Donna. The Doctor was all ready for them to fight over him, a la Rose and Sarah Jane, but nope! Support, respect and friendship!

[@ohdarah]

she really did deserve more!

[@mischarowe]

The way they wrote her, I think she *needed* to leave after a single season. For her own self worth. BUT. I wish they hadn't written her that way.

[@cheshiredeimos1874]

The biggest issue I have with Martha's last cameo on the show, (bigger than her engagement/marriage to Mickey which wasn't explained on Dr Who) is what she was doing in that cameo. After Martha left the Doctor she joined UNIT (a militaristic organization that defends the Earth from alien threats) the Doctor hates UNIT, sees all military personnel as a group of gun toting apes who shoot first and ask questions later. During a Dr Who/Unit cross-over the Doctor expresses his disappointment with Martha for joining UNIT, to which she defends herself saying "Look at me, am I carrying a gun." She goes on to say that she has a chance to change UNIT from the inside, and be a voice of reason. And the next and final time the Doctor sees Martha, she and Mickey are in a gun fight.

[@garrethb6261]

I don't think it's fair to say that the doctor hates UNIT per say, his relationship with them is complex to say the least. The 3rd incarnation of the doctor worked for them as their scientific advisor.

[@julietfischer5056]

@@garrethb6261- The Doctor doesn't like the existence of militaries, but understands the need for them. What he hates is militarism and the brutality accompanying it. He'd rather try peaceful means first, but he's merciless when he must be.

[@scag4773]

have you actually watched doctor who? or have you read the wiki? i cant believe you think the doctor "hates" unit have you watched any of aniversary specials?

[@ripleyjlawman.3162]

Mickey and Martha ending up together was literally a joke about their last names, as in Smith and Jones, as in once again making it about the Doctor who often goes by the name J Smith.

[@HuntingViolets]

@@ripleyjlawman.3162 I know about the joke and that Moffat wanted Martha to be Martha Smith-Jones (not Jones-Smith, for some reason), but I don't see Martha as going by J Smith ever (especially as it's the opposite order of how RTD did the married name).

[@MelAnon80082]

Just want to say: It's SO worth revisiting the Peter Capaldi era in depth. It's really fantastic, with a few episodes that arguably the best of the entire modern series. I think a lot of us who were mostly fans of Eccleston/Tennant/Smith may have checked out a bit when Capaldi started. The tone of the show got a little more morose, and I think it's worth remembering that 2014 - 2016 was a big period of political nightmares for both England and America. It's possible a lot of us fans were preoccupied...

[@josephbernados1649]

just wanted to add that yeah, the Capaldi era was also very much about deconstructing the very idea of who the Doctor is and what their relationship amounts to with their companions. It quickly became my favorite era of the series.

[@TheGerkuman]

Season 8-9 are weird though. 8 has the weird mystery box plot going through it with Missy and Danny Pink, and Season 9 Starts and ends badly. On the other hand, Capaldi is always giving his A game.

[@dutchman8887]

@@TheGerkumanthey are the two best series of the show. Missy is a background mystery like every series of the show has and Danny wasn’t a mystery at all. series 9 starts and ends brilliantly. maybe the best opener of Doctor who and definitely the best final. not recognising hell bent as great is only for losers.

[@ArturGlass.C]

Agreed. I stopped at season 8 because I just couldn't stand Clara (still can't) but I got back into it and the episode in the prison is possibly my favourite of the entire show. It has some amazing episodes and I loved Capaldi's doctor. Bill is also my favourite companion ever and I can't believe so many people missed out on her. Still pissed off they didn't do a 3 seasons arcs because all of the Bill episodes are amazing. I don't mind Jodie as a doctor but I'm struggling keeping up with the newer seasons of the show so damn much because of writing issues. It's like they stopped trying to be satirical or campy. It's just a weird direction choice imo. Don't blame any of the cast or characters.

[@arelis4553]

It took me a while to get into Capaldi era but I agree. It gets better- especially when Clara goes away (I dislike her dynamic with the doctor so much!!!). The Master on that era is my favorite so far and I really liked Billy as a companion. :)

[@natalieshah4998]

“Rose would know” girl no she wouldn’t. I love Rose so much but she would not know

[@steelplatedheart]

I was definitely big into the Rose/Ten dynamic (well, really, Rose/Nine, but Ten felt like satisfying enough payoff if you were a Rose fan) so I remember when it first aired I didn't like Martha. It didn't take long though to realize that Martha is not the problem. The writers definitely wanted to have their cake and eat it too. They wrote this smart, independent, educated, hard-working, empathetic, and drop-dead gorgeous young woman - she's practically perfect in terms of companion material. She should have been a clear fan favorite. But she *had* to play second fiddle to Rose, so she was also written to be so infatuated and cloying as to bounce people off. Heck yeah it's racist. In a better show Martha would have been just a friend, or a messy rebound, and people would hate it but in a fun way.

[@HuntingViolets]

Or the Doctor would have been so bowled over by her, he'd be like, "Rose who?" ;)

[@ginster458]

It's always been so frustrating because I always felt that Rose (in general, maybe not if she'd learned of Martha right after S2 ended, but later when she returned and had grown into her own) would have LOVED Martha. She's so resourcefull and clever and she was a good friend to the Doctor who called him out on his shit when he needed to be called out. It's so stupid that it all got reduced to shipping wars. And I guess you can see that the writers realiksed they made a mistake because then with Donna, they overcompensated by having both her and the Doctor be thoroughly turned off by the thought of ANYTHING romantic between them (which is what makes Donna special, she's the only one that never fell for the Doctor and his mythos) I want the AU timeline where Rose Martha and Donna team up, nothing would stop these three.

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

@@ginster458 Except that Donna's character being written that way, and also being not the thinnest female companion, kind of also just plays right into other harmful stereotypes just from a slightly different angle as well. (..Although, for some reason, I actually don't remember her not being just as in love with The Doctor as every other companion by the end of it; but it has, admittedly, been quite a while since I last rewatched it.😅🤔🙃🫣👀😅)

[@aphreyy]

​@@jaginaiaelectrizs6341Donna has never been in love with the Doctor, she ends up marrying a guy we don't know

[@jaginaiaelectrizs6341]

@@aphreyy Eventually marrying someone else-does not always automatically guarantee she wasn't at any point in love with the doctor. It is entirely possible to have feelings for someone, realize you won't be together, and move on with someone else; OR to simply have feelings for multiple different persons all at the same time. Lol But, like I said, it's been a long time-like 10+ years, roughly(I'm too lazy to do the math exactly r/n). I said I didn't remember her not falling for the doctor, I never said that meant she actually had at any point fallen for the doctor, it just means I'm currently a bit fuzzy in many of the more specific/finer details personally.

[@BadNaturalist]

"most guys only have a podcast and he got a time machine!" i am six feet under, decomposing, deceased. subscribed honey.

[@gota7738]

The complicated feelings of Martha because she so deserved better but that also meant that I found her basically dumping the Doctor after what he put her through to be cathartic, especially in light of how so many NewWho companions are forcibly parted. That wasn't the storyline they should have given her but I'm glad she knew her own worth and left on her own terms. I have softened on Rose over the years but I may have jeered a bit when Rose thinks she's going to be mentioned in the uniting scene in Stolen Earth and then it's revealed to be Martha, whose been doing all this work setting it up in the first place. I probably don't want Companions to keep returning all the time, but seeing how this christmas special is addressing Donna's complicated memory wipe, I wouldn't mind seeing Martha come back and got a proper apology from the Doctor.

[@HuntingViolets]

I don't know how they address that mess with Donna, but I hope she will be able to have her memories back and a brain that can hold them without being a Time Lord.

[@allykaman9340]

Omg I love that moment in stolen earth! It’s a big wake up call like “yeah the doctor may have loved Rose, but does that really matter when Martha is the one who is literally deciding the fate of the earth right now??” we have no choice but to stan

[@HuntingViolets]

@@allykaman9340 And when Rose says: "And I was here first!" while looking at a group of companions that includes Sarah Jane. Get real, girl.

[@propogandalf]

​@@HuntingVioletsI cackled way too much. You're just a drop in the bucket Rose!

[@Naznart]

As an innocent 11 year old watching Dr Who, I was so confused why Martha got so much hate. I loved the fact that she was smart and had an aspiring career. As a kid I always thought Rose was a bit dumb (especially since she qualified as "other girl" when being an nlog was all the rage), so when they replaced Rose with intelligent and independent Martha, I got really excited. But then they treated her so unfairly and replaced her with Donnna too soon. Donna might have been a cool character, but I never liked her, because she replaced Martha.

[@doctordavidchan1044]

I unfortunately knew why Martha was treated badly when I was 8, possibly because I'm mixed race and was already aware that some people were racist (not to me personally at that time). I always admired how intelligent Martha was, along with caring and considerate.

[@f_in_sknees6677]

I totally agree with your view on Martha, but let's not bring down rose in the process lol

[@xxxmaysilssss690]

@@f_in_sknees6677why? Some people don’t like Rose. She isn’t a god like the fandom wants to say. She is objectively worse than Martha and acts like a second doctor when they get separated, refusing to tell people her name and acting like she’s above other people (similar to Tennant’s doctor). I never liked her. And that’s without adding Martha into it.

[@julietfischer5056]

@@doctordavidchan1044- Martha wasn't Rose, and that was enough for far too many people. Add in her skin color, and even more started whining.

[@julietfischer5056]

9/Rose was the first TARDIS team. The original show went off the air somewhere around 1987 or so, which means their parents probably hadn't yet met. No idea of the long history of passengers accompanying the Doctor. Then, like way too many fans of other shows, they couldn't let it go. Can't have anything else. Tennant and Piper should have given up their careers to play 10 and Rose until the heat death of the universe.

[@quantafreeze]

Martha deserved so much better. So did Bill. I really liked Bill and Peter Capaldi's relationship. It was sad to lose her.

[@HuntingViolets]

Me, who hasn't finished the Capaldi era, filling with dread.

[@tyghe_bright]

Bill was so desperately underused.

[@yarraidalg]

at least bill got herself a cosmic gf

[@tyghe_bright]

@@yarraidalg Bill got cut short, but overall still was leagues better than the way Martha was treated.

[@andreamiller3578]

That's the season that I felt really clicked in the Capaldi era. I struggled with the first two, mostly because I didn't like the story lines and how Clara was so elevated. But with Bill, it just really all clicked from the beginning for me. I was so sad to see it end.

[@oldusernamewasbadlol]

It always strikes me that some of Martha's episodes were originally written with Rose in mind and I think it shows. Sometimes it feels like they did nothing much beyond "find and replace" on those scripts. There was a delay in getting to know who Martha was, because she's been poured into a Rose-shaped hole, only with the Doctor not having the same regard for her as he had for Rose. It honestly just felt to me as if the writers did not understand that they were writing a black woman and that they needed to engage with this.

[@chrystianaw8256]

So true

[@karlitatv]

I think that was a problem they had with Clara and the doctor when Matt Smith left early and they had to replace everything and find Clara a new "bf" since it was implied she and The Doctor had a thing

[@ALonelyNightingale]

I'm so happy to hear your appreciation for the 9th Doctor! I really love Eccleston and feel like he's super underrated (though understandably so, considering he only did one season). When it comes to Martha... I get a little frustrated whenever I think about her. She's great but man do I hope she wasn't made into a unrequited love interest for the Doctor and constantly have it rubbed in her face how she's not Rose. She deserved better. An excellent video as always, Princess, loved to hear your takes on DW!

[@HuntingViolets]

Eccleston is my first Doctor (I knew about Tom Baker as a kid but my family didn't watch the show), and I love him so much. Would love to see him and Martha together. (Also would love Freema Agyeman as the Doctor in the future, though.)

[@EileenGallia]

Absolutely. Never skip 9. 9 is fantastic. Introduced me to Doctor Who and Eccleston

[@nataliep856]

The 9th doctor is my favorite by a mile, love that Princess gets him

[@taylor3950]

Agreed! Personally I’m on the same page with Princess about his capacity for darkness. When 10 and 11 “got serious” I never believed the way I did with 9.

[@MissBloopTartVT]

What I hate the most is how people paint her as jealous and petty and not worth the time as Rose was. Martha was brilliant, skillful, and brave, and could meet the Doctor in almost every aspect beyond age and ability to regenerate. Meanwhile Rose gets all the praise literally just for existing. Any of the Rose stans would feel the exact same way if the Doctor whisked them off into space just to constantly talk down on how superior Rose was in every single way. RTD *wanted* us to love her and it was shown all throughout his writing. I mean, watching back on it, what kind of "X" factor did Rose ever have that triumphed over any and all companions? She gets name-dropped more than Sarah Jane...or Susan...and Susan was his own damn GRANDAUGHTER

[@Caiuxa190]

In a single season she went through absolute hell multiple times for The Doctor, far more than most companions ever did, and in the end she was still forever in Rose's shadow. Her goodbye speech of telling a friend to leave a one sided relationship encapsulated her character perfectly, she truly gives herself physically and mentally to see somone she likes better to the point where she almost forgets about herself.

[@grandempressvicky6387]

I would've liked it if Martha started losing interest in travelling with the Doctor either post-Blink or Family of Blood. One situation i imagined in my head was at the end of Blink, Martha asked the Doctor if he had ever made one of his previous companions get a job to support them both. Or maybe her being traumatised/put off by his behaviour as John Smith. If they had Martha tell him off in the middle of the season, it would've stopped the whole "Rose's rebound."

[@mr.bulldops7692]

​@@grandempressvicky6387 that would make sense from her character. She continued in the world of extraterrestrial contact with U.N.I.T. They could have leaned on her being about the science, not the companionship.

[@YellowGiraffeGal]

Martha is amazing! I remember not liking her crush on the Doctor, and wishing she was more about herself. Cause whenever she was flashing her medical degree in old times, or saving the literal universe countless times, she was so-so fierce. RTD did her dirty with that pining nonsense.

[@raecoffey]

I’m reading the book “the Only Good Indians” by Stephen Graham Jones and the main character works at a post office and mentions that essentially his coworkers are shipping him with another coworker just because they’re indigenous despite him already being married. That and this video have got me thinking how deep this “like with like” mentality runs. It’s in our everyday lives, it’s in our media, and it’s even in our own heads too. I know my grandfather has always emphasized not dating anyone other than another indigenous person. It’s sad to think some of my favorite ships have been ruined just because the writer of the show couldn’t see how they could be happy together even if the characters themselves could.

[@Warriorette12]

While the pining was a tad annoying, I actually like how the writers used it to strengthen her character in the end - she was given the opportunity to walk away from the Doctor and became the first (and one of very few) NuWho companion to leave the Doctor’s side 100% willingly. Having the strength and self respect to walk away from something she wanted because she realised it would do her no good to keep chasing it is a big part of what makes her my favourite companion!

[@Jayk-kz7sh]

The fact that Martha is the only companion who as far as I know had her entire family held hostage and essentially turned into the Master’s slaves is so wild to me. Like yeah it’s not like companion parents don’t get into danger or get killed off. But really! They really had to subject the first black companion’s family to that! P.S also Princess if you do ever give Capaldi a try again I’d do it strictly for Michelle Gomez as Missy. She’s probably one of the most iconic anti-hero characters I’ve seen in a long time. She straight up bullies Clara for an entire episode if that’s enough draw for you lol

[@Toast960]

Seconded on watching Capaldi's era for Missy! Also, Capaldi's acting is top notch. The Zygon two-parter and the Season 9 finale are some of the best of his run.

[@alexarias5717]

I love Michelle Gomez

[@MarieMaia445]

BIG AGREE. As someone who also has Clara Aversion syndrome. I skipped sooooooo many of her earlier episodes after watching those initial three. The funny thing is that I liked Clara. I just didn't like Clara and the Doctor sharing screentime. It was weird.

[@maxcarterrambling]

@@MarieMaia445i understand exactly what you mean!! it's like the writers were trying to push something that even though was "working" it wasn't particularly good

[@SplatterInker]

Yeah I'm not up for watching Moffat write girl on girl takedowns given how hot he seems to find it. No matter how grating Clara is. The guy's idea of feminism is that to be a man's equal she essentially has to be a version of him with boobs. Preferably flirty and with boobs. Missy is just Irene Adler 2.0 and her mystery box set up for the start of Capaldi's run was just tiresome. Sorry Moffat I don't need to listen to episodes worth of you tooting your own horn about how great this payoff will be, for you to finally reveal it and for it to make no sense - again!!

[@Mal-t4x]

You’ve perfectly described why I have a love-hate relationship with Martha’s series. I loved how much she managed to face and yet knew she had hit her limit in the end and deserved better, but hated how she was treated. Her series had some of my favourite episodes like ‘Don’t Blink’, but as a whole I can’t watch her series because I hate to see how she’s treated. It would’ve been great if she was able to be the friend the 10th Doctor needed like Donna, without the pining and one sided feelings. It’s so easy to do that. They did for Donna.

[@ceciliaslepmet4840]

I cannot express enough how much I love Martha. She's smart, funny, generous, beautiful. She's just amazing

[@susannahs8533]

So interesting - i noticed that Mickey was a completely different character from the NewWho pilot to when he came back a couple episodes later (chronologically after Rose left). It was as if RTD realized how messed up it was to portray the character like that, and decided to correct it. Then Mickey ended up (temporarily) leaving everyone in order to care for his elderly grandmother so she could have a natural end of life 🥲 so, I liked Mickey after the pilot BUT it’s still a total ass pull that he ended up with Martha with no context as to why

[@rickylukecage4215]

Caused they hated both characters. They refused to say name.

[@obiwankenobi687]

It wasn’t a pilot, just episode 1. Mickeys like that because he gets massive character growth, starts off as a wimp and ends up a hero. I don’t see what’s messed up about that? Mickey was also supposed to be with Martha in children of earth that came out before end of time, but both actors weren’t available so it’s more a continuation of a plot that never got to happen. Not really an ass pull at all, especially as in journeys end we see Martha and Mickey go off together with jack, not really hard to think they could have started dating

[@susannahs8533]

@@obiwankenobi687 I think the problem with the character was that he was a wimp in a selfish way. Yes he got character development and came back a hero, like Donna did between the Christmas special and series 4. But it was more abrupt and felt like a total 180, instead of a character who was always decent showing more layers, like Rose’s mum in the same series. Really, post character development Mickey feels like a retcon

[@CeceSaysHi_950]

Martha and Micky always got to me because I genuinely hated that ending for them and in my head cannon that just didn’t happen. It was so lazy having two black rejected characters thrown together to give them both some sort of happy ending after the way they had both been cast aside by the doctor. Also I love Micky so much out of all the reoccurring characters he is definitely my favourite

[@blippity.]

Now this is what I call good food! Your Martha takes are great and as young Who fan from a Ghanaian background who was expected to be a doctor my parents ate her up as representation. She meant so much to me and she deserves an apology as does Freema Agyeman. I'm nervous for RTD writing a black doctor and what all the Doctor's moralising will look like when it's ultimately a white writer with a black mouthpiece. I hope strong black writers will be in the room and be listened to. Clara episodes are exhausting but the episode Heaven Sent is a Clara free episode and it's brilliant, a tight short story that got friends to watch the earlier seasons. What happened to Bill broke my heart, it's not worth the heartache.

[@cronchyskull]

Clara is so freaking divisive in the fandom and I want everyone's hate takes.

[@propogandalf]

​@@cronchyskullGreat actress, terrible character. But the character's mostly awful because of the storyline they gave her.

[@KawaiiKoalaBear]

I agree that Clara's run is a bit of a slog, but I really would recommend what's after it. Bill is fantastic, she's smart, curious, headstrong, very gay, and I love the fun familial relationship she has with the Doctor. On top of that, that's the season with all the Missy content which is very very good.

[@HuntingViolets]

It's kind of a shame Martha, or at least Freema Agyeman, couldn't have been the first companion of New Who, instead of the second. I was so disappointed in the John Smith episodes for her (and his dumb human romance). And, I'm sorry, Rose or no, how could he not fall for Martha? She's gorgeous and amazing. Not saying every companion-Doctor relationship needs to be romantic but they started out this whole thing with kisses and I don't care what the excuse was. Then too, a big deal is always made about how the Doctor is an alien and has alien attitudes and feelings, so there is no need for him not to move on from Rose and keep carrying the torch; as a viewer, Rose's shadow over Martha's era was just annoying. Mickey's not good enough for Rose but okay for Martha, apparently. (Not that I even disliked their little cameo together, but that is a problem.) Okay, before I do a whole essay, so I better stop.

[@etiquetteinelevators]

That’s interesting, I LOVED Martha and Mickey bc I felt they were both treated badly but deserved better, and then they found it in each other. But I totally see how it can be interpreted the way you did.

[@ennayanne]

That's literally the whole point, rose took mickey for granted and didn't see his true value until he was gone

[@Jayk-kz7sh]

I should say that prior to Martha and Mickey getting together she was engaged to someone who wasn’t remotely related to the Doctor. While yes it happened off camera, it was nice to see she was finally moving on from the Doctor and out of Rose’s shadow. So to completely undo what would have been a good resolution just so she can get with Rose’s ex grinds my gears a good bit

[@HuntingViolets]

@@etiquetteinelevators Yeah, I thought they were cute together and I don't actually mind the trope of two people who lost their loves to two other people finding each other; really, I would have liked a lot more of them than what was shown, but in terms of what is discussed in the video, the narrative overall mistreats both of them.

[@etiquetteinelevators]

@@HuntingViolets totally, I’ll admit I didn’t see that perspective (specifically about them ending up together) until watching this video all the way through. She’s interpreting through a specific (racial) lens that often gets ignored, so I appreciate hearing how others see it

[@NOVA_299]

52:08 “chronic aversion to Clara syndrome” fair if you never watched Capaldi’s run, they improved the way she was written significantly by the time season 9 came out. Counter Argument: Heaven Sent. Any pain you might suffer dealing with janky episodes and poor writing is worth it for this one episode. Absolute masterpiece.

[@mystic-malevolence]

Clara was a far better companion to 12 than to 11. But maybe I am just tired of romance in Doctor Who.

[@alim.9801]

​@@mystic-malevolence nah I'm with you. Even discarding the romance aspect, Clara had zero chemistry with 11 imo and their weird romance angle felt SUPER forced. Even discounting the lack of romance, her arc with 12 was way better and they actually felt like they had a connection and she wasn't just a hot mystery box for 11 to solve (which is what her character felt reduced to sometimes in series 7b)

[@Scriven42]

"Everybody Lives!" I just sob uncontrollably during this episode, it's so good...

[@Scriven42]

God Dammit, cried again LOL.

[@gemh89]

Just this once!

[@MsMelyjean]

Martha is and has always been my favorite companion. She was smart, competent, and resourceful. She was the one that everyone (her family, The Doctor, etc.) relied on and showed how she learned to navigate that space. Also, having walked away from a toxic relationship at the time, I related to her decision to leave.

[@katie8881]

If you watch any Bill episodes, I recommend "Thin Ice." I'd be interested to know your take. (Spoilers ahead) They have two important moments in that episode when it comes to Bill being a woman of color. The first is basically a mirror of the moment in the Shakespeare Code but the doctor has a better answer. Bill voices her concern about it being extra dangerous for her as a POC (she even says "hello! melanin!" while pointing at her face lol). The Doctor is basically like, yea, it's always dangerous and that's a danger here. He doesn't try to pretend it's not there or even promise to protect her from it more than his usual "duty of care" because how could he realistically do that? You couldn't even promise that in 2023. The second instance is later, they kind of know they are going to talk to this mega-racist and the doctor is basically like "we need to show diplomacy in order to get the information out of him so keep it cool" - his exact wording that stuck in my head was "remember Bill, passion fights but reason wins." You can FEEL the injustice of that moment through Bill's face- Pearl Mackie is a great actor, her face is so wonderfully expressive. You can see the practicality of what the doctor is saying but it just feels patently unfair that Bill is being told to stay quiet even if she faces mistreatment. Bill is like whatever and follows through. But when the racist gets verbally aggressive, the Doctor straight up clocks the dude. Aside from the humor of getting to see a racist punched in the face and also the fact that they use this as evidence that he's human, not alien (Bill says "that racism was way too convincing to be alien" lol), it's a huge moment of hypocrisy for the Doctor. Bill is asked to stay quiet but he gets to show his anger. They don't shine too bright a spotlight on it but I don't think it's unintentional or not self-aware. The Bill relationship with the doctor is great because it's a student/professor style relationship, similar to 7 and Ace. The power dynamic is more realistic - the show doesn't try to make them seem like equals because they aren't, really. Same as every other companion ever. Of course they love each other but in a normal, platonic way, even fatherly/daughterly. In one episode, after he talks to her, he looks at a picture of Susan on his desk which kind of hints at his emotions towards Bill. It's also great that they're so casual about her being a lesbian. It's just something about her rather than a defining trait. They make some choices with her journey that I don't fully agree with (I will NEVER forgive the show for her ending) but they are choices that aren't really related to her blackness. At least from what I can see, I'm open to the idea that I'm missing something. As for 13's era, it's a mixed bag. They have the episode "Rosa" where they go back and meet Rosa Parks (not intentionally) and it is an absolutely BRUTAL realistic portrayal of the south in that era. It's not perfect but it's a great episode imo. More generally, Ryan sucks. He's just poorly written and I'm sorry to say, poorly acted. Not much more to say about that. The development with Graham is compelling though. Yaz is steadily better as time goes on. I do hate that she becomes another love-struck companion because that's just so uninteresting to me. The difference is that the dynamic is more Rose/10 than Martha/10. Just like 10 loves Rose but not all the way romantically because she's human, 13 loves Yaz but not all the way romantically because she's human. Yaz is an incredible companion though. On an unrelated not, I met the actor who plays her in person and she's super cool!

[@alwaysajane]

I keep on jumping in these comments, but I would say that the racial implications of Bill's end were...really bad, at least by my reckoning. In being careful for spoilers, having her in the position where the Doctor is telling her that she's no longer allowed to show anger because of the fear her body will inspire to anyone who sees her is...let me just say that I could not really get over that aspect of her final episodes. It felt like they did better lipservice for the majority of the run, and at the end just physically destroyed Bill in a way that felt pretty disgusting to me as a black woman. I haven't been able to rewatch it since, so I'm open to it not hitting as horrifically as it did in 2018/2019, but this is my nit to pick! Also, to have one of the first people die in the next season be a woman of color who was pretty much defined as her role to men...it was too close on the heels to stuff with Bill and I had to stop there.

[@katie8881]

@@alwaysajane That definitely makes sense. Like I said, I'll never forgive what they did to Bill. To me, it went too far for the show to treat a companion so brutally. I mean, yea, they are in dangerous situations all the time so realistically, any number of terrible things could happen to any companion. But this was too far. To have her body violated so grotesquely and then put through the psychological torture of existing in that form while also not being allowed to have her own feelings about her ongoing trauma... there was no reverence coming through the writing on that one. Since Bill is my second favorite companion, I was upset to put it mildly. And you won't catch me trying to convince you to watch the Chibnall era. Hopefully the Ncuti Gatwa run is good, though. Fingers crossed!

[@christa.mp4]

you're really missing out with capaldis era, it's my favorite of the whole show. 12 and clara's dynamic is much different than hers and 11s, they get so fucked up and codependent it's so interesting to watch, and her ending leads to heaven sent which is the best doctor who episode ever. series 10 with bill is one of my favorites, i think that finale is one of the best in the show. and missy is fantastic im obsessed with her, and sacha dhawan as the master from 13's era too.

[@AnarchistEagle]

Martha is my favorite companion with Donna in a close second. I liked that she had personal ambitions that didn't get overridden with "time travel with the doctor forever." And she goes on to save the entire world! She is exemplary in many ways, even though her time on the show also comes with several failures from the writers room. She definitely deserved better.

[@AnonUnlimited]

I was actually someone who really disliked the 10/rose dynamic too. That also had a spill over of finding the 10/Martha dynamic extra annoying. So much of her character got overshadowed by her being in the shadow of Rose and being the one the doctor didn't pick. In hindsight I can appreciate the idea of showing actual emotional ramifications over multiple episodes, but it didn't need to be so frustrating. I think there even could have been a similar story line without Martha being in love with him. It could have been just him keeping an emotional distance bc he's scared of losing another companion and Martha leaving because of it. In that way Martha could have shown him the consequences of being closed off and taught him an important lesson that leads into his friendship with Donna. I'm sure it still wouldn't have been perfect, but it would've been far less frustrating and there would have been lasting consequences to her time in the TARDIS at least. Sometimes I feel like writers use het romance as a cheat code to automatically create a dynamic without putting much thought into why or what it adds to the characters. I think DW especially doesn't really need it, but it keeps being pushed into so many parts of new who. I hope they will be more frugal in the future, or at least consider the storylines/dynamics first before considering romance.

[@donovan5656]

She didnt die or get memory wiped and went to have a full career and life. So, there's that

[@HuntingViolets]

Yes. She was even on _Torchwood._ I think she was supposed to be on there more, but she was busy with other things or it got canceled or something.

[@alim.9801]

​@@HuntingViolets I loved her episodes of Torchwood because they actually fully showed what she was capable of without being kneecapped by the unrequited love stuff. It wasn't like the series 3 finale where most of her work was offscreen, in Torchwood we got to SEE Martha being a badass!! And I loved her chemistry with the rest of the Torchwood gang as well. Wish she did get to have a few more episodes there

[@HuntingViolets]

@@alim.9801 I know they had planned to have her appearing more on some of the spinoffs, but then either she got too busy or they all went kind of kaput. I wouldn't mind her having a spinoff now either, although I also really want Freema Agyeman to be an incarnation of the Doctor for a while.

[@displacerkatsidhe]

I hated that all the female companions always seemed to have to be in love with him. Probably why I clung to Donna so much. I really loved Martha as a character though and always hated how she was written off and drag out her having this one sided crush on him.

[@Faction.Paradox]

Absolutely! She was fantastic and unfortunately "Rose rebound" became her primary function in series 3.

[@MichaelJohnson-kq7qg]

Well, yes and no. The point was to create a character that the Doctor wasn't in love with - a return to the companions from the classic show. It's the opposite of a rebound.

[@jokerz7936]

In Aliens of London it was hand waved away that Mickey was the prime suspect for a year when Rose went "missing". Yeah a Black Man is the Prime Suspect in the case of missing blonde 19 year old white girl in 2005/2006 sure I imagine that was fun.

[@gota7738]

I know wanting old characters to return is unhealthy, but with RTD here I am hoping to see the SJA gang appear as adult companions for a story, especially Daniel Anthony. Clyde grew to be other star of that show next to Sarah, and I'm so suprised Anthony's career didn't breakout given how strong an actor he was.

[@Key_kiwi]

yessss, I have a strong feeling they’re gonna come back. I’ll cry when that happens. My childhood man.

[@miranda4073]

I don't think wanting old characters to return is in itself unhealthy - rather, I think that when someone fixates on how things were to the point that they are incapable of enjoying new things, that can be a sign of unhealthy attachment/rigidity/etc. But there's nothing wrong with missing characters and actors you loved and wanting them to come back! As long as you aren't unhealthily fixated, missing people who are now gone is normal human stuff.

[@jaydenyugi9034]

On a brighter note, Clyde and Rani recently came back in Big Finish with the Beyond Bannerman Road audio adventures. It’s great to hear them again as they play their characters as adults and I’m excited to hear more from them later in the year.

[@eiqhties1140]

i haven't even watched yet but the title, and the fact it's you covering this - is so exciting to me. i spent my formative years telling everyone i didn't like rose tyler just because i was so so sick of how both the show and fans acted like martha was some kind of step down when she was literally one of the most formative and important female characters of my childhood. aged thirteen, i literally recorded a youtube video (since scrubbed from the internet, thank god) that was a twenty minute incoherent ramble of how much i loved martha and how much she deserved better. ten years later, i am finally getting vindication in the form of a far more coherent video from a far more coherent person. thank you so much for doing this video.

[@luckyblank]

As an old school Doctor Who fan (Pertwee-Baker) I prefer the way companions were handled back then. The companions trusted the Doctor, they didn't love him. But I guess that's not modern enough for the 21st Century showrunners. Frema Agyeman played one of the best companions, was compelling in the role, and it was disappointing to see the Doctor written as not just aloof but insensitive. I agree with you 100%, the character deserved better, but moreover the actor deserved not to be troped into a corner.

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

I'm also an old school Who fan. And I put Dr. Martha Jones as my favorite companion. I hate seeing the writers try to get the doctor in bed with someone.

[@armbones8519]

THANK YOU for giving Martha her flowers. She was, honestly, my favourite companion growing up. It's so annoying having to explain myself every time I say she's my favourite.

[@DJtheBlack-RibbonedRose]

Martha may not be my top favorite companion, but I agree that she deserved better. She should've been allowed to be *her,* her own character, without also needing to be in love with the Doctor then constantly rejected for it (whether outright in the show or by fans), and all because of a) her race and b) she wasn't Rose. As a TenRose shipper, Series 2 remains a personal enjoyment for me despite its messiness, largely due how much it's carried by David and Billie's chemistry. But Series 3 is responsible for some genuinely superb episodes, like Blink and Human Nature/Family Blood, the latter of which is greatly reliant on Martha's role. She constantly proves herself as a valuable companion in her own right, so it's sad to see how much she's been ignored or disregarded, both by the Doctor himself and by "certain" fans. (On that note: Thank you for teaching me about the "disposable black love interest" trope, and how it relates to both Martha *and* Mickey). 😔🙄 And also, yes: Donna fan for life, and I'm so excited to see her again for the 60th Anniversary special! I always remember how (understandably) apprehensive my mom was about her becoming a regular after The Runaway Bride, but in the end, Donna went on to become one of her favorite NuWho companions (alongside Rose and Amy). 💙

[@kboy181]

Maturing is realising that Martha was way better than Rose

[@crossmerc]

Can we get a shoutout to Danny Pink? Did everything right and still ended up dying and being forgotten in order to raise Cl*ra and the Doctor’s stock.

[@gota7738]

I was peeved at how Danny was handled. Some of it was the awareness of these politics by this time but I also felt the feedback discourse on how Martha and Mickey were treated should have made the staff aware enough to write a different path, yet it happened anyway! And honestly worse since Danny doesn't even get an independent happy ending. I never understood why Danny got so much hate when it was so clear that the writing was screwing him over.

[@grandempressvicky6387]

​@@gota7738"Why Danny got hate when it was the writing was the problem." Um, what? Do you mean the actor because Danny is a fictional character. His quality as a character is dependent on the writing so saying something like that sounds so dumb. He could have great *potential* but that doesn’t mean people should see that potential through the bad writing. Potential is not a measure of success or quality.

[@gota7738]

@@grandempressvicky6387 That's a little harsh but I understand, I worded it poorly which is hypocritical given my intentions. I suppose what I meant is that a lot of the criticism I saw towards Danny was directed to him as if he were a person, and as if removing the character made the writing worse rather than the other way round. I found the nature of that criticism frustrating because we'd seen it done poorly before in Mickey, and done better with Rory (at least in regards to being the love interest of the companion). That this poor handling had returned with a black man, but worse, felt like it should be the topic of conversation rather than the character bashing I was seeing. Especially when it was directed at his actor.

[@SebastianSeanCrow]

10:38 something I’ll always remember from 9 run is just the glee and sheer joy of “just this once everybody lives”

[@BlueHydrangeaRedPeonie]

As someone who was a huge BBC Sherlock girl back in the day, and has recently started getting into Elementary, I can tell you that Elementary is the superior show!! I’ve only been watching for a couple of months but it already holds such a dear spot in my heart

[@IshtarNike]

I got bored of Sherlock after the first 2 episodes. I can't believe they needed feature length episodes for something so...thin. Elementary, on the other hand, was a cracking good show and probably could have actually pulled off feature length if they'd wanted. But almost by design no serious show of that sort really needs such length. If you can't wrap up an episode in less than hour then you're probably not a good showrunner...which Moffat has repeatedly proven. I think there's a reason Who fell off after he took over.

[@Druklet]

100% For me it's the Watson/Sherlock dynamic that makes it so good!

[@jhumurroy6130]

Elementary 💯

[@125loopy]

​@@DrukletI remember people were upset about Lucy Liu but she killed it!

[@moondog548]

Most underrated companion by far. To her credit she's the only one of the era that got to just go home because she wanted to instead of being 'tragically' torn away from the Doctor.

[@Deadhousep1ants]

I love Martha sm. She’s always been one of my favorite characters from DW

[@confuzzledandbefused]

Series 3 aired when I was 9 and social media didn’t exist and I wasn’t on message boards and I was so taken aback years later when I found out people didn’t like Martha. Of the first 3 companions, the relationship between Donna and Ten is definitely my favourite, but I can’t choose a favourite character. They’re all my childhood and I’m so glad I was able to enjoy and love Martha completely away from discourse. Love this video, thank you so much ❤

[@jasmineruby6385]

its wild to me that people can watch sound of drums/last of the time lords and still not like martha or dismiss her as the anti-love interest. girlie saved the world and the doctor like three times over

[@GuineaPigEveryday]

28:34 idk though if i agree but Martha being the only one the doctor rejects and doesnt flirt with, i mean Amy TRIES to kiss the doctor and flirt but the Doctor ain't having ANY of it, not for a second, and also with Clara the doctor has feelings but Clara doesn't, also no kissing. Martha is not the only one the doctor rejects, its amy also, but i get what u mean

[@_edenfalls]

he rejects amy mostly because shes supposed to be getting married the next day LOL she threw herself at him not out of true feelings but fear of the future and awe of the doctor, rather than martha's completely understandable long time crush that she never acts on and doesn't get in the way of him or any of her own relationships. at the very least eleven is thrown off by amy being so instantly provocative out of the blue while ten is so very aware of martha's feelings and exploits them for the sake of the plan

[@cheaptadpole]

my thing with steven moffat is that he is really good at doing one off episodes but a whole season(s) is where it begins to fall apart :/ (also he's very good at individual scenes, my depressed teen self genuinely was clinging to eleven saying "900 years of space and time and i've never met anyone who wasn't important" so hard, it still makes me tear up). since RTD is coming back for the new series i hope they've added more poc writers and sensitivity readers (or the tv equivalent of it bc idk) for ncuti!!

[@morganlinesart9625]

THANK YOU. I havent watched the video yet, but I felt SO BAD for Martha, all of her adventures were horrifyingly dangerous or just straight up horrible destinations. Like the Doctor just met this woman and hes like 'lets go to the endless traffic car exhaust planet, that'll be fun.' Like what the fucking hell. It felt like the whimsy was all gone, and it was such a waste since Martha was an amazing character. Freema Agyeman deserved better.

[@lilhonor5425]

As someone who fell off of Doctor Who around the same time this video felt very cathartic. Great too hear some Martha love as well as someone who remembers some of the Martha hate on Tumblr…

[@The-Busy-Beeeee]

Ugh that’s not surprising I don’t remember it since I didn’t have access to tumblr back then but yes that checks out

[@Key_kiwi]

Do you plan on coming back to the fandom ?

[@peterkorman77]

For Amy and Rory's departure, I think the important thing is that they already were pretty much ready to leave the Doctor (the episode before ATM, The Power of Three, was all about how they were reaching the end of their time with Eleven), and so while the canonical reason is a bit silly, it still feels pretty satisfying for their story, imo.

[@eauxkei702]

This refueled my anger over how Ten treated Martha. 😂

[@aikikaname6508]

What was so frustrating was that she was a MEDICAL DOCTOR and there’s so many things they could have done with that! Like tried to treat someone in the past without the equipment and having to improvise - or using her medical knowledge to figure out how an alien worked, or had to try and figure out how to treat an alien with different biology. But they did none of that outside the first episode. It was such a let down. Donna just had common sense and some office knowledge and they managed to work that in!

[@Akuma07]

Martha Jones/Freema is actually who got me into Doctor Who so i’m glad you (and other people) recognize her contributions to the show. 💜

[@Laeiryn]

23:00 you said "the TERF books" and I fully had to pause and laugh until I wheezed

[@allykaman9340]

My worst doctor who ship opinion is that on rewatch, I thought it was actually cute Martha and Mickey got together. In their initial runs their arcs were based on having unrequited love for someone and the situation around that bringing out the less admirable qualities. But after Journey's end we see Mickey having found his identity and inner strength, and also separately see Martha at her most unhindered and truly heroic (imo), and then they joke at the end like "oh hi who are you?" when they're leaving the tardis. Then the next time we see them it turns out that who they've become is better than they would've been if they'd gotten the relationship they'd initially wanted. Like they were always "good enough," it's just the doctor made them feel like they werent. Does it make up for how much of a careless afterthought them getting together is? No, but it sure makes me feel a lot better about the fanfiction I wrote in eighth grade.

[@bzzzzzzzzzz2075]

I wish they gave them some interactions together or anything. Narratively, they make sense as a couple. But in practice, it was sooo tacked on

[@WithADashOfPazazz]

They were supposed to be developed in Children of Earth but both actors were not available. Because of that they should have dropped the romance.

[@alim.9801]

​@@bzzzzzzzzzz2075 I'm with you since they never even met once in the show before they were suddenly together. I can buy it but ya gotta give me more than the maybe 2 minute last second cameo!!

[@music_YT2023]

Other tokenized black side characters: Roz, Prudence and Ambrose in the recent run of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (also the unnecessary pairing of the latter two for voodoo investigations in Season 3) and Bonnie in the Vampire Diaries (the author refused to allow a relationship with Damon despite the actors insane chemistry, instead she was paired with the worst people in existence and/or they were promptly killed after an emotional bond was formed).

[@thenameiswater2921]

Thank you for showing thoroughly how wonderful Christopher Eccleston's iteration of the Doctor is. He's always so overlooked, but he's been my favorite for a long time. David Tennant sometimes ties for first. I enjoyed Rose's dynamic with the Doctor period, but I also understand why people don't like the love story aspect of it. It was a much better love dynamic than anything I had seen before (but I was also young and my shows and movies before then were chosen by others). I loved how the Doctor respected Rose and cheered her on in her ordinary life. The fact that he does not give Martha respect even as a friend really upset me in the past. I am white, so I'm sure I will never understand the full scope, but I do know I was very uncomfortable with how she was treated throughout it all, and most especialy in the two-part-er you discuss a lot. I know there were different writers involved, but the difference between how Rory is treated (Amy still very much pursues the Doctor and is dismissive of him the same way Rose was of Mickey), and then how Mickey is treated... I remember really feeling upset that Rory got this massive epic arc in the end when it just felt so unnecessary... I basically just felt he was so favored but still treated as horribly/dismissively, and why did he get this amazing outcome and legacy and Mickey was always "just Mickey". Mickey grew and deserved better. And also hidden emails could be something to do with p*rn and people deserve a healthy amount of gratification in the privacy of their home. I remember feeling bad for Mickey during my whole watch time... I definitely never picked up on Mickey being a "bad" boyfriend though. Again, I was really young at the time. But still, he doesn't ever stand in Rose's way, and he did search for her and everything. Still felt he and Rose should separate, but I liked him just fine too. I was happy he eventually became empowered, but it was very late. And it was also just not... it never made sense that Mickey and Martha ended up together. I eventually rationalized it as people who've interacted enough with the doctor would gravitate to each other because of the shared experiences. Didn't change how it as entirely unsatisfying. Also, avoiding Clara is a solid plan. I was extremely frustrated with Moffat's writing by that time, and it didn't get better. I know I'm basically just long form saying I'm agreeing with your points. But I really appreciate this all put into one very solid video.

[@nailati]

Eccle-stans rise up!

[@itsjacobj]

I love Ten and his dynamics with the people in his series, but he really did Martha so dirty, intentionally and otherwise-and not just in the romantic sense. It’s the main beef I have with Ten in his run. So thank you for this!

[@Luigigirl17]

Pretty sure RTD said if he could change anything about his run it was Martha story arc and he wouldn’t write it like that now

[@ryanphoenix2460]

The Danny Phantom example definitely opened an old wound

[@julesk3816]

watching this is such vindication, you have no idea. as someone who never really cared for rose, and who adored both martha and donna, i was remain forever pissed at how unsatisfying both their endings were. donna had a great character arc and personal growth (particularly due to not being held back by a shittily handled romance arc), but her ending just... undid all that growth. SO disappointing. and martha had such great potential that kept getting hindered by the unrequited feelings she had towards the doctor. all martha fans know the frustration of having this fantastic character being repeatedly held up (by both the show and its fans) as an inferior replacement for rose. thank you for saying out loud what i've felt for the past 10+ years.

[@ilz_y]

Lately I’ve been rewatching all of NuWho with my husband who’s never seen a single episode, nor is familiar with Who as a cultural phenomenon. Even he as a first time viewer could see that Martha was brilliant and deserved better on all fronts.

[@ItsAstridEh]

I love that depending on how you count, you can pretty much argue any number between 13 to 41 when talking about actors who have played the doctor (13 numbered ones + Fifteenth + War Doctor + Fugitive Doctor + the two replacements for the First Doctor + The Morbius Eight + The Valeyard + The Watcher + The Seven Timeless Children + Master Doctor + The Red Nose Doctors); it makes it so easy to explain the show to people.

[@HuntingViolets]

This just gave me a headache, but I also may copy this comment (and your name, of course) and paste it somewhere for future reference.

[@Stubagful]

100% agree with that take. I always thought Martha was a great change of pace from Rose. She was different. An actual grown up. Had a life, career, goals, ran into a man who captivated her for a while before she realised she had more important things to do in her life. Good for her.

[@alim.9801]

Omg it's Stuart!! A king of DW takes

[@grimfaery]

thank you so much for making this video!! it makes me so mad that martha was the only companion who was shamed by the fandom for falling in love with the doctor😭 the only difference is she’s black so it makes it pretty obvious why the fans didn’t like her😒 also she deserves so much better i hate how the writers screwed her over

[@sassylittleprophet]

That's so awful! I didn't like Martha being in love with the Doctor because it didn't feel right to me as far as her character was concerned, like it felt oddly out of character for her. And yeah, she deserved WAY better than what she got.

[@grimfaery]

@@sassylittleprophet she definitely deserved better writing! making her in love with the doctor was cruel especially when there were other options. it would have made more sense if she was a donna character and wasn’t given the weird rebound arc

[@sassylittleprophet]

​ @grimfaery1248 exactly! It even makes more sense narratively for the Doctor to be trying to get over Rose by having this other companion who's just like "you're a sometimes nice, sometimes uppity bloke, but you're just a bloke" around him. Like that would've been SO refreshing for the Doctor to have someone *not* fawn over him for once...and I *love* Ten. Ten is my favorite Doctor, but like, man. Martha was so especially screwed over by the writers, she didn't deserve to be Ten's rebound

[@thevirgologychannel6215]

Fantastic Video essay and I think you hit lots of issues I had myself watching Martha’s arc at the time. The disposable love interest of color trope is something that has been hugely used for a really long time. I’m a little older and can add to your list, eg; Alley McBeal, Hancock, Firefly Lane, Scott Pilgrim even friends. These are discussions I don’t really see many people having. Your take on Micky is exactly what I felt at the time but maybe that’s because I’m black and loved Doctor Who since the 70’s. (Yes, I’m ancient ) But recognized how huge it was to have a regular cast members who looked like me but treated dismissively. And yes! They married them off together, after little or no interaction 😂. Wow, RTD, You have the first black regular Doctor, I’m nervous and interested. Martha was always my favorite but I do know that Freema did have a hard time not only from fans because of the initial reaction to her (I know people who worked on the show) But I get the impression that the production didn’t expect such a strong reaction to her character and was a bit discombobulated and didn’t really know how to respond to the fandom and the actor. I would say to visit the Journey with Bill Potts because again it also caused ripples in the fandom. Also they approach race and time travel slightly differently and possibly a little further with the Rosa episode with Jody. I always feel that when a black character is written by a white writer it’s a bit like asking an AI to create what is deemed as correct, inoffensive and positive POC. But it misses those elements that do in fact make us different, how we view the world and how the world views us.

[@Joselitty]

I’m glad you covered this because Martha did… SOOOO MUCH FOR THE DOCTOR… like wow in retrospect the amount of shit she endured and then eventually her family got involved.. it was a whole mess. I’m just happy her character is alive. If Moffat wrote her character, she would’ve died in some scifi bittersweet ending as opposed to peacefully leaving on her own terms.

[@laurena9563]

Honestly, growing up, Martha was the first companion I started watching from, and having missed the Rose episodes, I never could understand why he was so dismissive of her as just a generally competent human. The best thing to serve her arc I think was at least for her to ultimately realize, "she was good," but Lord knows looking back now that poor woman deserved better than to be a constant Rose foil.

[@dabading2860]

Yes, me too. Marthas arc was the one that introduced me to DW . I loved her immediatly and I didnt get why the narrative seemed soo resentful of her. Revisiting this story again is honestly depressing.

[@laurena9563]

@@dabading2860 Exactly! Because she was cool, beautiful, competent- and the narrative constantly was like, "ANOTHER SUGGESTION FROM MARTHA UGH." I eventually rationalized as a kid that it was just some sort of inside joke about her being so hyper-competent that the Doctor would dismiss what she said outright, in that sort of, "The sidekick is far more competent than the lead but the lead doesn't realize it" sort of trope, but looking back, the fact that it was just all about setting this one woman against Rose, was just bleh.

[@Moe-xx5if]

This video articulated all my issues I had with Martha's seasons. I adored her growing up. She was my first companion and Ten was and still is my favorite doctor, but their seasons together were BRUTAL to watch as a little black girl because I hated how their dynamic was written and how Martha's presence was dismissed and constructed just for the Doctor to reject. You always do the damn thing with your vids and so perfectly sum up my problems with yt fandoms

[@alyssashulman7239]

SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!!!!!! Martha is my favorite companion, when I first watched the show, I loved how she didn't call The Doctor by Doctor until he proved to her that he deserved it.

[@StarryEyed0590]

Smith and Jones was my first Doctor Who episode and watching Martha's entire run before sometime later going back and watching the Rose era definitely affected my perspective. It is SO easy to see how poorly Martha is treated by both the Doctor and the narrative when you're not starting with the presumption that OF COURSE everyone loves Rose and the Doctor should be with her.

[@jaysonraphaelmurdock8812]

I don't love Rose and the doctor being an alien that's hundreds of years old makes me believe that he's not trying to get his 🐓 wet. But I'm also not trying to "ship" him. In fact I kinda hate them trying to put him into romantic/sexual relationships.

[@roselover411]

Donna was the best companion because she was played by the best actress and she was so fun and yet her arc was so emotional and I loved her so much. I'm glad she's making a return in the specials coming up soon

[@travelingnome87]

19:18 you are not wrong. I remember watching family of blood, that he could have picked any time or place but chose one where Martha would suffer the most. She was an interesting character, but they relegated her as a swooning love sick puppy. I never rewatch anything with Rose in it, she absolutely overstayed her welcome. But the story with the master that season was terrifying.

[@Nipponsuki]

Thank You! She deserved sooo much better Martha was the most amazing companion in my opinion. Understand the lense say that louder for those in the back! I do hope they bring back Martha and do her right.

[@HuntingViolets]

Absolutely the best.

[@KarolKaru]

This is an EXCELLENT video thank you kindly! I dont at all remember what i thought of martha when i watched nuwho for the first time as a teen (most likely she wasn't super stand out to me specifically compared to most other companions), but rewatching it this past year made me adore her. Like many in the comments say i love how much she accomplishes individually and how she makes the decision to walk away, realizing what kind of relationship they have and that it has hurt her. On the other side of that though i do dislike how much emotional and physical labour she does for him, while he's basically so deep in grief he's being careless and self destructive pretty much constantly, without considering that he's who martha depends on to get back to her own time, who is supposed to keep her from harm(does he even ever emphatically say "i will keep you safe." or such to her, as the doctor does to so many companions and one off characters... i cant remember). There's definitely a lot of bad shit here even though i love her as a character. Out of love for her (and sliiightly of out of spite lmao, for everyone who has treated her badly in fandom) i def want to create more content of her and their time together, currently conceptualizing a little game. Hopefully i can get her right without falling into any of the Bad Implications tropes unknowingly, and managing to change around the ones she's stuck in without much ooc'ness ig.