We were too busy crying over Rose to give Martha any credit!
The Doctor has had no shortage of friends over the past sixty years. With Doctor Who’s continually evolving cast list there have been many stand-out faces, and many we’d love to forget, but there’s one companion in particular, who back in 2007, received far more hate than she deserved. When the cult BBC sci-fi show returned for its third season, it had the hard task of replacing fan-favorite companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), whose romantic feelings for David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor had fans sobbing come her sudden departure in Season 2’s finale, “Doomsday.” After a brief Christmas adventure that introduced the equally iconic Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), the Doctor suddenly found himself trapped in a hospital on the moon being hunted by space-police Rhinos, the Judoon – just another day in the office for Tennant’s Doctor, right? Caught in the middle of it all, is a young doctor by the name of Martha Jones, played confidently by Freema Agyeman. But as the episode came to its close, fan reactions to the new character were mixed.
A review in Digital Spy stated that the show’s magic had gone, partly due to Martha and her complicated “family baggage,” a sentiment that a review in The Stage shared, stating they were “little more than a caricature.” Obvious parallels were being pulled to companion Rose Tyler and her family, but perhaps a decade and a half later, we can reflect that Martha Jones never deserved the hate, and might actually be one of The Doctor’s best companions.
Rose’s Departure Overshadowed Martha’s Introduction
When Doctor Who returned to our screens in 2005’s “Rose,” it had been new-and-improved, modernized for a 2000s audience, a lot of which came down to Billie Piper’s youthful performance as Rose Tyler. An instant hit with fans (despite some early skepticism due to her background as a teenage pop sensation), Billie Piper went on to surpass Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor, helping fans adjust to a new face when David Tennant took on the role. The two became arguably Who’s most iconic duo, developing a romantic relationship which, while detracting from a couple of episodes, became an important part of both characters’ development. Their romance was playground talk for UK kids, whose hearts were inevitably broken when Rose became trapped in a parallel universe after a deadly battle between the Doctor’s biggest foes, the Daleks and the Cybermen!
So, when the show returned, Martha Jones had big shoes to fill. Just as when a new Doctor takes over the role, audiences are constantly comparing them with who came before, and with audiences being so attached to Ten and Rose, Martha was never going to be an instant hit – and it didn’t help that the Doctor himself made sure to bring up Rose whenever he could. He didn’t see Martha for who she was, even refusing to accept her as a full-time companion for the season’s first few episodes, but that’s part of what made her character arc so great.
Martha’s Time in the TARDIS Was Short but Sweet
After ten adventures over thirteen episodes, Martha Jones made the decision to leave the TARDIS. Probably the biggest flaw in Martha as a character was her constant pining over the Doctor, who was ignorant of the girl who had been clearly swept off her feet by him during their Rhino-filled encounter on the moon. However, after a bombastic and highly emotional finale, Martha found her self-worth and stepped away from her adventures in time and space. She knew when it was time to leave, rounding out a short, character-focused run of episodes, a sharp contrast to some companions who have stepped aboard the TARDIS since.
This is yet another reason why Martha is a slightly overlooked Doctor Who companion. Sandwiched between the dramatic events of “Doomsday” and Catherine Tate’s tear-jerker of a farewell in the titanically epic Doctor Who episode of “Journey’s End,” Martha’s departure seems small in comparison. But it’s this that makes her character so refreshing. The modern era of Doctor Who tends to say good bye to its characters in the most emotionally traumatic way, often closing the door, making it difficult for characters to return, something that could harm the show in the long run. How are we supposed to find the new Sarah Jane Smith (Elizabeth Sladen) or Ace (Sophie Aldred) (classic companions with a new series return) if each character is doomed comes atthe end of their run on the show? It’s that possibility of a return that makes Martha such an interesting character, something that showrunner Russel T Davies was very aware of as he expanded Who into a mini-universe of shows in the late 2000s.
Martha’s Returns Proved There Is More To Explore
Martha Jones walked so that Samuel L. Jackson’s, Nick Fury could fly. Just as Fury was the glue that held the Avengers together across multiple different movies, Martha jumped between the Who-niverse, returning for five episodes and a cameo across the rest of Tennant’s run as the time-traveling Time Lord. Not only that, but she also appeared in a trilogy of episodes in Who’s adult spin-off Torchwood and, as revealed by showrunner Russell T. Davies in his book, The Writer’s Tale, was set to return for more Torchwood and appear in the children’s spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures, had filming commitments not got in the way.
Martha is a character who offered so much during her short time in the TARDIS, but her character’s multiple appearances following her departure, and Agyeman’s willingness to return, gives us hope that we may just see the character again. Finishing the show as a UNIT officer definitely sets her up for more adventures with the Doctor, and the recent rumor of a spin-off following the organization definitely opens the door for her return. We can only hope!
Ultimately, Martha Jones is one of Doctor Who’s most overlooked companions. A strong woman who breathed fresh air into the show never deserved the hate that she received, and in fact, is part of what made Doctor Who Series 3 a hidden gem. After a season of stand-out stories and the introduction of some instantly iconic foes (looking at you Weeping Angels – no seriously, I’m not blinking!) Martha left audiences wanting more and hopefully, someday soon, we may get exactly that.
