January Talking Meme: Mothers in Doctor Who
Talking meme here, please do contribute suggestions.
For this prompt, thanks to wendymr, I really wish I knew more Old Skool Who. I'd like to do some compare/contrast. Since I can't, though, I'll stick with the two major eras of New Skool Who.
The Davies Era: We had three major mother figures in Jackie Tyler, Francine Jones and Sylvia Noble. They had some significant similarities. All three managed to intimidate the Doctor. Two slapped him. All three had absent husbands, two being widowed and the other separated, if not divorced. All three had at least some tension with their daughters. All three ended up with improved relationships with their daughters. All three tried to dissuade their daughters from going with the Doctor. And all three, in their own ways, tried their hardest to protect them.
Jackie and Rose were the closest of the three, though there was definite tension. Rose aspired to life beyond the Powell Estates, which made Jackie accuse her of having "airs and graces" and thinking she was "too good" for the life her mother had always had. I was discussing it with someone just the other day that Jackie was often motivated by fear. She feared losing Rose, her only blood, the only thing she had left of Pete, and possibly the only thing in her life she could point to and say, "See? I've done something right in my life," about. Even so, it was Jackie who helped Rose get back to the Doctor in PotW, perhaps recognizing that Rose was more like her father than Jackie. As of S2, she was actively helping and protecting Rose and the Doctor, even seeming to adopt him as a sort of son-in-law. She still worried, though, about what would become of Rose, and what Rose would become. About whether she might lose Rose not to death, but to a universe so alien that it would strip her of everything human about her. And she might not have been wrong to worry about that. Ultimately, though, Jackie was willing to lose Rose; she was likely resigned to the idea that Rose would stay with the Doctor after "Journey's End". It was only due to the metacrisis that the two ended up in the same universe. What's happened since, we'll never know.
With Francine and Martha, the tension came twofold: One, from Francine's ambition for Martha, and two, from the fractious relationship between Francine and Clive. Martha's whole introduction was her playing peacemaker for the entire family. When we caught up to Francine again, she was on Martha's case about studying for her exams to become a doctor. She also slapped the Doctor and believed "Mr. Saxon's" so-called warning about him, though one can hardly blame her for falling for the lines of a master (no pun intended) manipulator. In the end, it was Francine's unfortunately mis-aimed determination to protect Martha that led to the capture of her entire family. She ended up beaten down, forced to serve the Master under horrifying circumstances, not knowing if Leo or Martha were alive and watching Tish and Clive suffering with her. Small wonder she nearly put a bullet in the Master's brain when she got the chance.
When we saw her next in "The Stolen Earth", it was small wonder she seemed quite changed. For one thing, her relationship with Martha was much better. Martha, given a device that could take her anywhere she wanted to go in a time of crisis, went straight to her mother. Whatever tension there'd been between them was gone. And when Martha had to leave again, Francine, though obviously worried, let her go without protest. I also note Francine was living alone. Seems she and Clive didn't work things out, but I like to think the lost year helped them to see each other in a better light and part without rancor.
Sylvia Noble and Donna had probably the most problematic relationship. They struck me as being a little too much alike. Both were very strong-headed and opinionated. In addition, Sylvia was recently widowed. It's possible Donna's father had served as a buffer between them before his death. As women often marry men like their fathers, it's not unreasonable to think Jeffrey Noble and Wilf were somewhat alike. Without him, mother and daughter clashed. Sylvia nagged at Donna to Do Something With Her Life, and Donna tuned her out when she didn't feel like fighting her. All the same, they did love each other. Sylvia wants what's best for Donna, even if she doesn't know what that is. She also, like Francine and Jackie, wants to protect her daughter. In "Turn Left", you can see a bit of their residual affection when they go on the holiday Donna won. In that episode, too, the differences between mother and daughter emerge. Sylvia succumbs to despair in post-apocalypse England, while Donna fights on and eventually lays down her life to make things right.
In the end, Sylvia seems to have come to terms with Donna. She's stung when the Doctor calls her out on her harshness toward her daughter. Perhaps it made an impression, because they do seem more relaxed around each other during "The End of Time". We don't see a great deal of them, unfortunately, but she's an active participant in trying to protect Donna from the things that could harm her, and she seems happy at Donna's wedding.
No matter what else you might say about them, Jackie, Francine and Sylvia were all vivid, rounded characters. Which makes Moffat's era a bit of a step back. We barely meet Amy's or Clara's mothers. We spend some time with Rory's dad, but not his mom. Though Amy becomes a mother in the course of her run, she barely has any time to mother her daughter. The most she gets to do is give Melody/River some motherly advice and admonition before disappearing forever from her life. It follows Moffat's pattern of being less involved with the families of the companions. In my mind, it's a bit of a pity. I felt like Rose, Martha and Donna were made a bit more real via their interactions with their famlies, especially their mothers.
tl;dr=Moms are good.
For this prompt, thanks to wendymr, I really wish I knew more Old Skool Who. I'd like to do some compare/contrast. Since I can't, though, I'll stick with the two major eras of New Skool Who.
The Davies Era: We had three major mother figures in Jackie Tyler, Francine Jones and Sylvia Noble. They had some significant similarities. All three managed to intimidate the Doctor. Two slapped him. All three had absent husbands, two being widowed and the other separated, if not divorced. All three had at least some tension with their daughters. All three ended up with improved relationships with their daughters. All three tried to dissuade their daughters from going with the Doctor. And all three, in their own ways, tried their hardest to protect them.
Jackie and Rose were the closest of the three, though there was definite tension. Rose aspired to life beyond the Powell Estates, which made Jackie accuse her of having "airs and graces" and thinking she was "too good" for the life her mother had always had. I was discussing it with someone just the other day that Jackie was often motivated by fear. She feared losing Rose, her only blood, the only thing she had left of Pete, and possibly the only thing in her life she could point to and say, "See? I've done something right in my life," about. Even so, it was Jackie who helped Rose get back to the Doctor in PotW, perhaps recognizing that Rose was more like her father than Jackie. As of S2, she was actively helping and protecting Rose and the Doctor, even seeming to adopt him as a sort of son-in-law. She still worried, though, about what would become of Rose, and what Rose would become. About whether she might lose Rose not to death, but to a universe so alien that it would strip her of everything human about her. And she might not have been wrong to worry about that. Ultimately, though, Jackie was willing to lose Rose; she was likely resigned to the idea that Rose would stay with the Doctor after "Journey's End". It was only due to the metacrisis that the two ended up in the same universe. What's happened since, we'll never know.
With Francine and Martha, the tension came twofold: One, from Francine's ambition for Martha, and two, from the fractious relationship between Francine and Clive. Martha's whole introduction was her playing peacemaker for the entire family. When we caught up to Francine again, she was on Martha's case about studying for her exams to become a doctor. She also slapped the Doctor and believed "Mr. Saxon's" so-called warning about him, though one can hardly blame her for falling for the lines of a master (no pun intended) manipulator. In the end, it was Francine's unfortunately mis-aimed determination to protect Martha that led to the capture of her entire family. She ended up beaten down, forced to serve the Master under horrifying circumstances, not knowing if Leo or Martha were alive and watching Tish and Clive suffering with her. Small wonder she nearly put a bullet in the Master's brain when she got the chance.
When we saw her next in "The Stolen Earth", it was small wonder she seemed quite changed. For one thing, her relationship with Martha was much better. Martha, given a device that could take her anywhere she wanted to go in a time of crisis, went straight to her mother. Whatever tension there'd been between them was gone. And when Martha had to leave again, Francine, though obviously worried, let her go without protest. I also note Francine was living alone. Seems she and Clive didn't work things out, but I like to think the lost year helped them to see each other in a better light and part without rancor.
Sylvia Noble and Donna had probably the most problematic relationship. They struck me as being a little too much alike. Both were very strong-headed and opinionated. In addition, Sylvia was recently widowed. It's possible Donna's father had served as a buffer between them before his death. As women often marry men like their fathers, it's not unreasonable to think Jeffrey Noble and Wilf were somewhat alike. Without him, mother and daughter clashed. Sylvia nagged at Donna to Do Something With Her Life, and Donna tuned her out when she didn't feel like fighting her. All the same, they did love each other. Sylvia wants what's best for Donna, even if she doesn't know what that is. She also, like Francine and Jackie, wants to protect her daughter. In "Turn Left", you can see a bit of their residual affection when they go on the holiday Donna won. In that episode, too, the differences between mother and daughter emerge. Sylvia succumbs to despair in post-apocalypse England, while Donna fights on and eventually lays down her life to make things right.
In the end, Sylvia seems to have come to terms with Donna. She's stung when the Doctor calls her out on her harshness toward her daughter. Perhaps it made an impression, because they do seem more relaxed around each other during "The End of Time". We don't see a great deal of them, unfortunately, but she's an active participant in trying to protect Donna from the things that could harm her, and she seems happy at Donna's wedding.
No matter what else you might say about them, Jackie, Francine and Sylvia were all vivid, rounded characters. Which makes Moffat's era a bit of a step back. We barely meet Amy's or Clara's mothers. We spend some time with Rory's dad, but not his mom. Though Amy becomes a mother in the course of her run, she barely has any time to mother her daughter. The most she gets to do is give Melody/River some motherly advice and admonition before disappearing forever from her life. It follows Moffat's pattern of being less involved with the families of the companions. In my mind, it's a bit of a pity. I felt like Rose, Martha and Donna were made a bit more real via their interactions with their famlies, especially their mothers.
tl;dr=Moms are good.