martha jones is my hero
Seriously, y'all. I just finished Doctor Who season 3 (please don't spoil me for 4 or 5!), and I've decided I ADORE Martha Jones.
Don't get me wrong, I loved Rose. I loved her so much I was surprised to discover I could love Martha, too. Where Rose was coming into her own, figuring herself out, Martha knew who she was (as much as any woman in her early 20s can); she just wasn't prepared to be blindsided by this opportunity. Traveling with the Doctor fulfilled something for Rose, taught her things about herself she might never have known otherwise, but it seemed to be simply a grand, irresistible adventure for Martha and her insatiable mind.
Not that I think Martha's the true adventurer of the two, personality-wise. Rose was the one so openly along for the ride, ready to see and do whatever cool new things came her way -- to the point that she can the Tenth Doctor seemed to stop really thinking about the consequences to their actions. She was more than a companion; she was like a Time-Lord in training, if that were possible. She thought she'd found her place in the grand scheme of things.
Martha, on the other hand, wanted to learn and understand (and gaze longingly at David Tennant's adorable face), but I always got the sense she knew her place was on Earth, saving the day in whatever awesome way she could. [Of course, part of her seeming so impermanent to me was that the Doctor had been burned, and he spent a good half the season treating every trip like a one-off; he clearly didn't want a permanent thing.) Anyway, she was competent and clever and loyal, and she rarely let the Doctor get away with any shit. She won my heart at the end of "Gridlock" when she grabbed a chair, plunked herself down in it, and refused to get back in the TARDIS until he explained some things. I love Rose for flying by the seat of her pants, but I love Martha just as much for needing to know the whys.
Don't get me wrong, I loved Rose. I loved her so much I was surprised to discover I could love Martha, too. Where Rose was coming into her own, figuring herself out, Martha knew who she was (as much as any woman in her early 20s can); she just wasn't prepared to be blindsided by this opportunity. Traveling with the Doctor fulfilled something for Rose, taught her things about herself she might never have known otherwise, but it seemed to be simply a grand, irresistible adventure for Martha and her insatiable mind.
Not that I think Martha's the true adventurer of the two, personality-wise. Rose was the one so openly along for the ride, ready to see and do whatever cool new things came her way -- to the point that she can the Tenth Doctor seemed to stop really thinking about the consequences to their actions. She was more than a companion; she was like a Time-Lord in training, if that were possible. She thought she'd found her place in the grand scheme of things.
Martha, on the other hand, wanted to learn and understand (and gaze longingly at David Tennant's adorable face), but I always got the sense she knew her place was on Earth, saving the day in whatever awesome way she could. [Of course, part of her seeming so impermanent to me was that the Doctor had been burned, and he spent a good half the season treating every trip like a one-off; he clearly didn't want a permanent thing.) Anyway, she was competent and clever and loyal, and she rarely let the Doctor get away with any shit. She won my heart at the end of "Gridlock" when she grabbed a chair, plunked herself down in it, and refused to get back in the TARDIS until he explained some things. I love Rose for flying by the seat of her pants, but I love Martha just as much for needing to know the whys.