RTD clearly envisioned a strong, stalwart woman who didn't live by emotions (the opposite of Rose actually)
But...how could Martha not live by her emotions when in 3x02, they show her crushing on the Doctor? Maybe she didn't live by them, but she didn't make much of an effort to hide them.
I could buy it was FA's fault if the scripts seem to have Martha attempting to hide her crush or sublimate it or deny it. But they didn't. They had her waxing on about it in public -- practically to the Doctor himself. And there was no way, even if you had Catherine Tate herself playing Martha, that Martha wasn't going to come across as pathetic and sad -- especially given that we knew how the Doctor felt about Rose.
I just think the crush itself was a mistake to begin with. Could a better actress have given it more layers? Maybe. But the material doomed it to failure, IMHO. I still don't know what point it served, other than to either create sympathy or irritation (or both) towards Martha.
TWP's Jacob recently wrote "Martha fell in love with the god Doctor, not the man." I didn't see that at all. To me, they made no effort to distinguish Martha's feelings for the Doctor from Rose's feelings except whether or not they were reciprocated.
She did things I couldn't see either Rose or Donna doing.
And to me, they were COMPLETELY random and made no sense. Martha had spent the last 12 episodes (after 3x01) pining over the Doctor and being his sidekick, and suddenly now, she's got a brain of her own? I didn't get it. That was sloppy writing, IMHO. Martha came perilously close to Mary Sue territory in those eps. :/
Clearly, we have to agree to disagree on Martha. :) But I do think RTD realized the mistake he'd made with her character, and when he began writing her with no romantic feelings at all is when she became better (in S4). He should've stuck with that instinct in S3.
To me, Martha's failure was ultimately the writers' responsibility (and RTD's, since as the showrunner, he presumably looked over other writers' scripts).
Re: I've mention I ramble, yes? Sigh, part 2 ...
But...how could Martha not live by her emotions when in 3x02, they show her crushing on the Doctor? Maybe she didn't live by them, but she didn't make much of an effort to hide them.
I could buy it was FA's fault if the scripts seem to have Martha attempting to hide her crush or sublimate it or deny it. But they didn't. They had her waxing on about it in public -- practically to the Doctor himself. And there was no way, even if you had Catherine Tate herself playing Martha, that Martha wasn't going to come across as pathetic and sad -- especially given that we knew how the Doctor felt about Rose.
I just think the crush itself was a mistake to begin with. Could a better actress have given it more layers? Maybe. But the material doomed it to failure, IMHO. I still don't know what point it served, other than to either create sympathy or irritation (or both) towards Martha.
TWP's Jacob recently wrote "Martha fell in love with the god Doctor, not the man." I didn't see that at all. To me, they made no effort to distinguish Martha's feelings for the Doctor from Rose's feelings except whether or not they were reciprocated.
She did things I couldn't see either Rose or Donna doing.
And to me, they were COMPLETELY random and made no sense. Martha had spent the last 12 episodes (after 3x01) pining over the Doctor and being his sidekick, and suddenly now, she's got a brain of her own? I didn't get it. That was sloppy writing, IMHO. Martha came perilously close to Mary Sue territory in those eps. :/
Clearly, we have to agree to disagree on Martha. :) But I do think RTD realized the mistake he'd made with her character, and when he began writing her with no romantic feelings at all is when she became better (in S4). He should've stuck with that instinct in S3.
To me, Martha's failure was ultimately the writers' responsibility (and RTD's, since as the showrunner, he presumably looked over other writers' scripts).