In Defence of Ten
Oh my God! Three lj posts and two of them are metas. Sometimes I think my husband is right about me.
I’m writing this because of a meta I read a few days ago, although I admit I can’t remember where, and the basic premise was that Ten didn’t fall for Martha Jones, the way that he fell for Rose, because of the colour of her skin, and I’m afraid this made me quite cross. I didn’t comment on the post because it was about three years old. I wasn’t even going to write this rant meta, but the whole thing got under my skin and has been bugging me for days.
So instead of saying that it was all down to Martha being black I would like to turn it around and say it’s all about Ten being heartbroken.
When Ten first meets Martha it is some time after he lost Rose. His grief is less intense and he is beginning to heal from her departure. The first time he comes into contact with her she is being amazing. She is keeping calm and thinking when everyone around her is giving into their inner headless chicken. Then, within moments she shows her bravery by stepping out onto an open balcony to prove they have air. She’s brilliant, compassionate, curious, brave and noble, everything that is best about the humans and what draws The Doctor to them. The UST is immediate, and both are smitten by the end of the episode. I can’t blame either one of them.
Now, this is all to do with timing. If it had been Martha who appeared on the Tardis out of the blue just as his conversation with Rose ends I don’t think it would have happened the same way. Ten’s grief was too raw then to have connected with anyone on that level. As it was, however long down the line it was - a few months at a guess, I can’t be bothered to look up the timeline, sorry - he’d healed enough to feel that attraction, but not to risk acting on it. He brings Martha on as a passenger rather than his companion, because to leave himself open to the kind of pain that he felt when Rose was torn from him is too much of a risk. Martha, of course, calls him on it, and becomes his companion, because he sees how awesome she is, but he still doesn’t allow himself to feel for her the same depth he felt for Rose. Is this because of the colour of Martha’s skin? NO, it’s because of the overwhelming pain Ten felt on Rose’s loss.
The author of the other meta points out that Ten met Donna first, and he invited her to become a companion almost immediately. She uses this as proof that he was ready for a new companion. She points out the difference in the two women’s skin tone and uses this as proof that Ten’s heartbreak is not a reason for him not inviting Martha as a companion. I’d like to point out another difference between them, one I think explains this doesn’t refer to race. Donna is many things but, most importantly for this point, she is safe.
Yes, Ten likes her, and she him, but it is as good friends, and not in a romantic sense. Ten doesn’t fancy Donna in the slightest, and she doesn’t want to jump his bones. None of this makes her less awesome (it fact I think it adds to her awesomeness because how many of us women could truthfully turn to The Doctor and say, “I don’t think so Mate.” not sure I could, Hubby or no.) Ten doesn’t have to face the same vulnerabilities travelling with her as he does with Martha. It has nothing to do with skin colour, or hair colour for that matter.
It is, I believe, because Martha is so worthy of Ten that she was pushed away by him.