I've talked with a lot of Whovians and there is always the topic of favorite companions. If we stick to the 2005 reboot, without fail Rose Tyler seems to be the favorite closely followed by Amelia Pond. And without fail, everyone harps on Martha Jones. Why? The biggest reason is that far too many "fans" were upset that the Doctor and Rose never got a shot at a real relationship and that when Martha came on the scene she very clearly had a crush on the Doctor. Get over it! We all have crushes and most of you who were upset with this were only watching because David Tennant is incredibly attractive. If you really get down to it though, Martha was a much better companion than Rose. Let's take a look, shall we?
If we look at the episode "The End of The World", Rose gets herself into some deep trouble when she throws a temper tantrum after speaking with Cassandra. She almost dies because of it and the Doctor is forced to save her. Okay, to be fair, she is nineteen and still growing up but come on, the TARDIS was right there, she could have just hopped inside and avoided the whole nearly burning via sun thing.
Then there was "The Long Game". She had insisted on bringing Adam along when the Doctor clearly thought it was a bad idea. She saw an opportunity to show off to a cute boy and she took it. Had she not insisted on bringing him the Doctor's and Rose's info never would have been uploaded into the computer and used to basically neutralize the Doctor requiring outside help. On top of this, she is still technically dating Mickey, so flirting with another boy just brings her down another notch in my book.
"Father's Day" is one of the best examples. The Doctor allows her very reluctantly to see her father on the day that he died so that she could be with as he lay dying. Instead, she foolishly saves his life, creating a paradox and bringing the universe's "antibacterial" bat things to clean up after her. She gets many more people killed, including the Doctor because of her selfish desire to keep her father alive instead of following the rules the Doctor told her about.
She again puts herself in peril in "The Empty Child" when she follows a strange kid onto a roof and gets stuck on a rope hanging from a zeppelin. Had Jack not swooped in and saved her she would have become a Rose pancake on the ground below. She then proceeds to flirt with Jack, again disregarding her poor boyfriend. Many may say Jack doesn't count because he flirts with everyone but she could have said she was unavailable.
At the end of "School Reunion", she gets pouty because Sarah Jane suggests that Mickey travel with them and the Doctor agrees. The Doctor's all good looking now so having another man on board cuts into what alone time she could have with the Doctor. Mickey, who is still technically her boyfriend even though he knows she'll never pick him, even though she shows no interest anymore.
And perhaps that is my biggest annoyance with her: the way she treats Mickey Smith. He is clearly smitten with her, and in "Rose" we see that they are happy together. They've known each other for a long time as suggested by "Father's Day". He's been there for her and she treats him like dirt. And she doesn't even see his worth until he decides to stay behind in the parallel universe. She is very self-centered and it drives me crazy how much people like her.
Now Martha, Martha is not self-centered and yes, she was meant to replace Rose as a companion. Her first encounter with him was in a stressful situation, so when he saved everyone, of course she was going to feel a bit of attraction to him. Plus, this Doctor was very good-looking and he knew it. Don't forget though, Martha was training to be a Doctor, she was incredibly smart. She knew he wasn't interested in her but that didn't stop her from trying to make him interested.
She was the mediator in her torn family and it was taking it's toll on her. The Doctor was kind to her, something she hadn't been given in a while so she would have been very smitten with him. She didn't choose to travel with him because life lacked adventure or ambition like Rose, but it was rather more like a vacation for her. She needed time for herself.
On top of that, she never got herself into needlessly dangerous positions and she didn't always need the Doctor to swoop in and rescue her. In fact, she recused him more than he rescued her. In "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood" Martha was forced to watch the Doctor in human form with no memories of being the Doctor as he hid from the Family. They ended up in the early 1900's, a time where Martha would be considered very lowly because of the color of her skin, but she endured nearly a whole year with hardly any complaints. She made do and when the time came, she brought the Doctor back.
She supported him in 1969 in "Blink" when the Weeping Angel sent them back and on top of everything, she fought off the Master, a psychotic Time Lord whom even the Doctor could never beat without help. Only Sarah Jane had had the courage to face him before (As far as I know). Martha beat the Master at his own game with nothing more than a few instructions from the Doctor.
Martha then left to protect her family. Rose had attempted to stay with the Doctor rather than be with her family. Both girls had very different priorities and I think Martha had the upper hand. I don't think she gets the credit she is due. Martha even eventually married Mickey, and she was likely to treat him like a person rather than a dog. I think Martha is one of the best companions the Doctor ever had, and while I like Rose more after she's lived in the parallel universe, she still kind annoys me.
