I wouldn't say "Gridlock" -- I think up to "42", there was a strong arc developing her character and her relationship to the Doctor, to the point where they had reached a stable Doctor-companion relationship. Which is promptly undermined by "Human Nature"/"Family of Blood" -- how can you say she had no character development there? -- and then after that, the narrative focus shifts firmly to the Doctor, up until "Last of the Time Lords".
Plus, with Martha, they took away the strength of the character we met in Smith and Jones, turned her into someone much more insecure than she'd originally come off as, and had her 'develop' so that she could end up in the same emotionally-strong place that we'd met her in at the beginning. Martha is my big disappointment from RTD (much like The Girl in the Fireplace was my big disappointment with Moffat), because I know he can do better.
I never had any faith in RTD, but I too was put off by the way Martha was diminished. It made the Doctor look like a jerk, which is interesting, but not really appropriate for the premise, and it's definitely not a good way to write a character who's been kicking around for 44 years.
But I don't think season 3 was about Rose -- she was the red herring -- the Doctor's real, lingering angst was about Gallifrey, and in the end, Martha (and Jack) took second place to that.
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Plus, with Martha, they took away the strength of the character we met in Smith and Jones, turned her into someone much more insecure than she'd originally come off as, and had her 'develop' so that she could end up in the same emotionally-strong place that we'd met her in at the beginning. Martha is my big disappointment from RTD (much like The Girl in the Fireplace was my big disappointment with Moffat), because I know he can do better.
I never had any faith in RTD, but I too was put off by the way Martha was diminished. It made the Doctor look like a jerk, which is interesting, but not really appropriate for the premise, and it's definitely not a good way to write a character who's been kicking around for 44 years.
But I don't think season 3 was about Rose -- she was the red herring -- the Doctor's real, lingering angst was about Gallifrey, and in the end, Martha (and Jack) took second place to that.