I finally caught up with S4 of Doctor Who, which stirred up my Martha crush and brought up some thoughts about Doctor Who fandom and my interpretation of the Martha character.



I typically watch Doctor Who with my mom, but she kind of hasn't bothered lately. But knowing Martha was going to be in a few episodes this season, I had to catch up. That's when I realized I think I like Martha more than I like Doctor Who itself. Not to say I don't adore the cracked-out plots, all the companions, and both Nine and Ten, but...S3 has been my favorite thus far, and I think it's almost entirely because of Martha's presence (because the finale was kind of...dumb). Hell, I keep considering getting S3 and Torchwood S2 on DVD, and I'm pretty sure that's because of Martha. Damn, I have it bad for her!

So, anyway, riding a Martha-high, I decided to try yet again to get into Doctor Who fandom, this time through the Martha fanbase.

Haha.

Bad idea.

Okay, they're not as bad as, say, hardcore Jack/Ianto or House/Wilson shippers. Alright, and the Martha-fans in general aren't so bad, although I can't say I agree with many of them, but the Martha/Ten ones are going to keep me away from even discussion, and is making me reluctant about fanfic. I just feel like I have some weirdo view on the character, because I don't see what everyone else is apparently seeing.

First off, I only watch the new Doctor Who series, but I apparently have a similar view on the Doctor as older fans, in seeing him as asexual (more-or-less). He's kissed nearly all of his companions (Rose, Martha, Astrid, Jack, and Donna), and it never comes off as sexual to me. I mean, he is an alien...although I think the Rose/Doctor thing got annoying in S2, I could buy that he loved her, but I have a hard time automatically equating that with sexual desire. So I don't ship the Doctor with anyone. (Well, except Doctor/Jack, theoretically, for the screwed-up factor. But that's beside the point.)

Back to Martha:

For one, I never felt Martha's unrequited love for the Doctor was ever overdone. Hell, it was one of the reasons I was so impressed with the character! Unrequited love storylines are often overwrought and the character (usually female) suffers from it. But Martha's character was never crippled by her occasional pining - she had no problem standing up to the Doctor. I actually felt sorry for her; from the way the Doctor kept rambling about Rose every three seconds and being emo, Martha was obviously a rebound companion. He also really, truly, treated her badly throughout S3.

So Martha turned out to be similar to Jack (my other favorite companion!) in regards to their Doctor-love, and how they are both rebuffed by him. After the Doctor makes a real dickish comment that makes it clear he's aware Martha's pining after him, Jack turns to her, and just says, "You too?" Jack is also mistreated by the Doctor; in S3, it turns out the Doctor actually knew Jack lived, but ran like hell anyway because Jack was "wrong." Then when Jack returns, the Doctor constantly wears this look of utter contempt for him the entire time. I'd have to watch those episodes again, but I can't recall the Doctor being friendly towards Jack in the slightest.

This is part of the reason I don't ship the Doctor with Martha or with Jack outside of being intentionally screwed-up. It's actually all very warped, much like Ten is. This is actually what I like about Ten (although I love Nine and miss him so much still) - on the surface, he's very charismatic and goofy, and occasionally emo, but actually looking back at his behavior, he's actually very dark and a bit twisted. The end of "The Family of Blood" really hit me over the head with this, and even Martha's warning to Donna was a lot darker than I would have expected.

In other words: although I'd have loved for Martha to stick around as a regular for more than one season, it's good for her to have walked away from the Doctor. Her relationship with the Doctor was terrible - and I cheered when this season he acknowledges this ("things got complicated"). Honestly, their relationship was borderline abusive, and Martha was smart enough and strong enough to recognize she should leave. I was actually glad to see her walk away from the Doctor a second time.

Even though the Doctor appears to have realized the mistakes he made with Martha, he still has a long way to go before their relationship is healthy (if ever). He's known Donna for such a short amount of time, but is excessively affectionate to her, far more than he's ever been to Martha, even now. And Donna seems more attached to Martha than the Doctor is. (Which is a real WTF, considering Martha saved his life and the entire planet.) Then he has to nerve to start criticizing her for her involvement with UNIT, because he doesn't like how they run things - another WTF, considering he got her the job, and maybe he should have bothered to check up on UNIT first. And Martha (even though I think she's still swooning a bit) put him in his place, saying she has a chance to change UNIT from the inside. And, you know, protect Earth while the Doctor is off on his wacky adventures and not appreciating her.

I thought Martha's handling was great. Now, Jack...I'm really curious as to whether Jack's over the Doctor. I mean, the guy's been pining for, what, 200 years? I know he told his Torchwood people he came back for them and all, but I'm very interested in seeing him interact with the Doctor this season. He had it much worse for the Doctor than Martha did.

Also, portrayed on the show =/= show approval. Come on, now.

I read complaints that the show doesn't seem invested in Martha, but while I watch the show as a mostly-casual viewer, I've been reading the portrayal as Martha not needing the Doctor. She really doesn't need him. It's so obvious, from her saving the world, to her stint at Torchwood; from her bringing the Doctor to Earth, to seeing her work at UNIT...to her walking away from him twice. Martha may still want the Doctor, but she doesn't need him on any level, and that, I imagine, makes it difficult to fit her into the show - which is all about the Doctor and how he's ultra-fabulous. The possibility she could be a regular on Torchwood makes me giddy, because she'd fit there; she managed fit within three minutes of her guest appearance! She could still do her doctor-thing, protect-the-earth-thing, be independent of the Doctor, but still interact with him time-to-time and still gets lots of screentime.

Or she could appear once in a while as part of UNIT. But you don't get the delicious screentime (and Jack-Martha interactions) with that option.

And Tom: I smiled at the mention on Torchwood of her dating him. But I can definitely see how one can feel the whole engagement thing in S4 is going a bit far. But where others complain, I see fic possibilities! I'd love to read a well-written exploration of, say, Martha trying too hard to prove to herself she's over the Doctor by marrying Tom (and without instantly invalidating her feelings for Tom). That'd be some good shit.

...I'd write it myself if it weren't for the British English issue, lack of time (full-time summer job and my comic), and my strange inability to write for more than one fandom at once.

Alas.

Maybe I'll do some ficlets.