The point, to me, is that they clearly had productive lives of their own, and plans that were important to them personally and worthy in general, that did not include madcap wanderings through time and space.
Not having read or heard any of the Eighth Doctor materials beyond the TV movie, I can't really draw any conclusions about Grace's long-term state of mind. However, for Martha, who was ostensibly training to be a doctor, what we saw wasn't that she held her plans or academic activities as any particular priority. She did throw away a lot of work to follow the Doctor.
I've noted elsewhere that one would think if Martha were a real student, she'd have been thrilled over the opportunity for essentially infinite study time, not to mention the prospect of either the TARDIS itself having a kickass library, or her being able to access them via her travels with the Doctor. Or how about asking to meet Hippocrates? Instead, her reaction to travelling back in time is 'hey, let's record a lost Shakespeare play so we can go make some serious dosh!' Martha's status as a doctor-to-be seemed to be a convenient shortcut for the writers to indicate how very different her background was from Rose's without having to elaborate. They didn't actually do a whole heck of a lot with it.
MdP most certainly had a full and interesting life sans Doctor, but then again you're talking about someone who only knew the Doctor in fits and spurts, and whom the Doctor knew for less than a day's time. Not really comparing apples to apples here.
Did travelling with the Doctor have more of a bootstrap effect on Rose that it did/could have for Martha? Yes. But that's largely attributable to Rose's desire for growth and self-expansion. Martha, for most of the series, didn't seem to view her trip as anything other than an interesting vacation with a hot guy that didn't cost her real-world time away from home.
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regna
(no subject)
Date: 2007-09-22 04:52 pm (UTC)Not having read or heard any of the Eighth Doctor materials beyond the TV movie, I can't really draw any conclusions about Grace's long-term state of mind. However, for Martha, who was ostensibly training to be a doctor, what we saw wasn't that she held her plans or academic activities as any particular priority. She did throw away a lot of work to follow the Doctor.
I've noted elsewhere that one would think if Martha were a real student, she'd have been thrilled over the opportunity for essentially infinite study time, not to mention the prospect of either the TARDIS itself having a kickass library, or her being able to access them via her travels with the Doctor. Or how about asking to meet Hippocrates? Instead, her reaction to travelling back in time is 'hey, let's record a lost Shakespeare play so we can go make some serious dosh!' Martha's status as a doctor-to-be seemed to be a convenient shortcut for the writers to indicate how very different her background was from Rose's without having to elaborate. They didn't actually do a whole heck of a lot with it.
MdP most certainly had a full and interesting life sans Doctor, but then again you're talking about someone who only knew the Doctor in fits and spurts, and whom the Doctor knew for less than a day's time. Not really comparing apples to apples here.
Did travelling with the Doctor have more of a bootstrap effect on Rose that it did/could have for Martha? Yes. But that's largely attributable to Rose's desire for growth and self-expansion. Martha, for most of the series, didn't seem to view her trip as anything other than an interesting vacation with a hot guy that didn't cost her real-world time away from home.