Martha first made her way onto our screens back in 2007. She was training to be a doctor before her hospital ended up being teleported to the moon, ed the Doctor on his adventures and met Shakespeare, the Daleks, and saw the return of the Master along the way. She may have left the show after one season, but that didn’t stop Martha from returning multiple times throughout season four.
We’ve listed ten reasons that, despite their long period in each other’s company, Martha and the Doctor were never real friends.
Martha Was Just Doing Her Job At First
When Rose met the Doctor, he saved her life. Same with Donna. As such, both were indebted to the Doctor and had an immediate bias towards him, turning him instantly into a friend.
When Martha and the Doctor met, she was just doing her job. As a medical student, her job was to keep people alive, which is exactly what she did for the Doctor, was before she realized there was anything strange about him.
She Kept Wandering Off
In fairness to Martha, this was a trait shared by pretty much every single one of the Doctor’s companions. They just can’t help themselves.
Martha’s good nature meant she spent half of her time disobeying the one thing the Doctor always specifically asked her not to do: wander off without him.
She Wanted Something More The Whole Time
One of the main reasons the Doctor and Martha could never truly become close, lasting friends is because she always wanted something more.
She pretty much fell in love with him straight away and spent the entire season in which she was the main companion making it very much known to us.
But The Doctor Wasn’t Interested
Despite how obvious Martha was being in her infatuation with the Doctor, he really didn’t care.
Not only did he prove that he wasn’t interested in Martha at all (probably because she could take care of herself- he likes to keep the power), but he didn’t even seem to be able to figure out that she liked him.
And Didn’t Stop Going On About Rose
As such, all he did was babble on about Rose. At the start of the season, it makes sense. The Doctor had just lost Rose, was unable to tell her how much he loved her and was under the assumption he’d never see her again.
However, he would bring her up in every other sentence for the rest of the reason; that’s really not what you should be saying to someone who’s in love with you...
Eventually, She Simply Left Him
In what has to be the most satisfying ending for any of the Doctor’s companions, Martha simply left. There was no heartbreak or confusion or tragedy, she just wasn’t happy to spend her life wandering around with someone who thought she was second best.
This shows that they can’t have been as good a friends as they seemed because surely Martha would have just found a way to revert their relationship to its friend phase, rather than leaving?
When She Returned, She Was Still Just Doing Her Job
It really didn’t take long for Martha to find her way back to the Doctor.
Gladly, she did sort of seem over him and regarded him as more of a colleague. She was working for UNIT and summoned the Doctor back to Earth so that he could help with the Sontaran threat.
And The Situation Was Basically The Same The Second Time She Returned
She returned again, this time alongside Rose, Captain Jack, Sarah Jane, and just about everyone else you can list, for the grand finale of season four.
Once more, she seemed to be all business. She wandered all the way to to discuss the use of the Auster-Hagen Key and was willing to sacrifice herself for the cause. She didn’t mention the Doctor once.
And The Doctor Still Didn’t Care That Much Either Time
Martha’s third reappearance in Doctor Who came at a complex, emotional time for the Doctor.
He had been under the impression that he’d never see Rose again for a long time, and all of a sudden she was back. Its harsh, but her presence basically completely overshadowed Martha.
Her Very Last Scene Was Less Emotional Than The Other Companions’
At the end of David Tennant’s run, he went to farewell each of his companions. The three most prominent: Rose, Donna and Martha were all given extended scenes. Of course, Donna had no memory of him by this point, making their farewell rather difficult to watch. And he had to go back to before he met Rose to say goodbye to her.
Martha, on the other hand, just received a quick nod as she fought off a Sontaran with the help of her new boyfriend, Mickey.