Doctor Who: a small contrast (spoilers for Smith and Jones)

[butterfly]

Rose: "Really though, Doctor. Tell me - who are you?"

Doctor: "Do you know like we were saying? About the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour. And I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go... That's who I am." [Rose]

Martha: "You never even told me who you are."

Doctor: "The Doctor." [Smith and Jones]

With Rose, the Doctor falls into poetry. He tells her to forget him after giving her a speech that pretty much makes certain that she never will. With Martha, he just tells her who he is, what he is (Time Lord) flat-out. With both companions, there's a bit of ego-deflating banter ("Is that supposed to sound impressive?" "Not pompous at all, are you?"), there's the 'run' and hand-hold, there's "it's bigger on the inside" (standard for all companions), but the Doctor isn't beautiful with Martha. He's direct, clear and informative, yes, but not poetic. And it certainly isn't because the tenth Doctor can't do poetic (see: Satan's Pit and Fear Her and that's just off the top of my head). With Martha, the Doctor simply tells her who and what he is. With Rose, he describes it, paints a picture so that she can understand who he is. It takes Rose longer to get the basic facts, but she gets the feeling right away.

Mind you, part of that is Rose's persistence. The Doctor gives her the simple answer a couple of times and she won't accept it.

Also, speaking of that scene, Martha's music is beautiful. Not as hauntingly lovely as Rose's theme, but that one would be hard to top. I expect it will become more complex over time, as Rose's did.

There are quite a few (intentional) parallels and callbacks in this episode. In both cases, the Doctor isn't really looking to take on a new companion. With Rose, she has to prove her bravery and determination several times over before the Doctor is willing to take her on, but once he does, he accepts the idea of her completely and gives her an open invitation. Martha gets a straight shot at trying to impress him, but gets a temporary 'one-trip-only' visa. Also, this episode felt like it was Martha's End of the World as well -- her big test as to whether or not she could handle this sort of situation (which adds up to next week being the historical episode, S3's The Unquiet Dead/Tooth and Claw).

Also, here, I should fully admit to the biases that I will be carrying throughout S3:

1) I adore Rose. I fell for Rose before I fell for the Doctor. Rose's journey is what I was most invested in during seasons 1/2. It'll be hard for me to switch from identifying with Rose to identifying with the Doctor.

And, apart from the loveliness of Billie Piper, Rose's character type is simply one that appeals more to me than Martha's. College drop-out that I am, I can just identify more with 'wanting to matter' Rose. Her character issues are my own.

2) I am a Rose/Doctor 'shipper, and shaded more towards the Ten/Rose part of the 'ship than Nine/Rose. Which means that the Doctor saying, "we were together," made me grin in absolute delight and the Doctor shutting down Martha's attempts to flirt made me want to cuddle him. This certainly doesn't mean that I want the Doctor to be a miserable wreck without Rose (I'd be so disappointed in him if he were), but it means that I'm going to be gleeful when she's mentioned and those mentions will feel romantic to me.

I doubt that my Rose and Rose/Doctor love will fade. After all, I still think that Cordelia's best match-up was Doyle and I continue to mourn the loss of that character at that point in time, despite now loving Wesley just as deeply (Angel).

Comments

[mrv3000.livejournal.com]

With Rose, he describes it, paints a picture so that she can understand who he is. It takes Rose longer to get the basic facts, but she gets the feeling right away.

Love the way you put that. That there was this element of understanding, not just knowing. And that completely goes with TEotW, where the Doctor shows Rose the only thing that will help her understand his pain - the destruction of Earth.

And, apart from the loveliness of Billie Piper, Rose's character type is simply one that appeals more to me than Martha's.

Me too. And I probably have more similarities with Martha than Rose. Go figure on that one.

Which means that the Doctor saying, "we were together," made me grin in absolute delight

I know! :)

and the Doctor shutting down Martha's attempts to flirt made me want to cuddle him.

Totally. It wasn't just a no with a wink or something, it was an adamant no.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Love the way you put that. That there was this element of understanding, not just knowing. And that completely goes with TEotW, where the Doctor shows Rose the only thing that will help her understand his pain - the destruction of Earth.

Exactly! He's showing her who he is, not just telling her. Because at first, what he does in TEotW seems so cruel, showing her the destruction of Earth, but then when he reveals that his people are gone, it all just clicks. And Rose gets it.

Also, here would be where Rose would get the idea that she was the Doctor's first human traveling companion -- "I'm left traveling on my own because there's no one left." The Doctor makes it sound as though he used to hang out with the Time Lords all the time and that he's been alone since they died.

Totally. It wasn't just a no with a wink or something, it was an adamant no.

And he gets more and more worked up as she goes on flirting with him. He has to tell her to quit three times before she does. And then she tries to play off not being interested, because it's so intensely clear that he isn't.

[katesutton.livejournal.com]

It'll be hard for me to switch from identifying with Rose to identifying with the Doctor.

Yes. I like Martha well enough so far, but I loved Rose almost from the very first. I didn't really identify with her so much, but I love her, probably even a bit more than the Doctor(blasphemy!), so it's hard to shift focus. That said, I can still enjoy the show without feeling that level of attachment.

Which means that the Doctor saying, "we were together," made me grin in absolute delight

Wasn't that great? I think the writers know their audience(yes, not everyone likes the ship, but I think the mass of offline viewers liked it pretty well).

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Yes. I like Martha well enough so far, but I loved Rose almost from the very first. I didn't really identify with her so much, but I love her, probably even a bit more than the Doctor(blasphemy!), so it's hard to shift focus. That said, I can still enjoy the show without feeling that level of attachment.

I really do think that Rose's introduction was spectacular. She just jumped off the screen as a vibrant, capable, intelligent young woman. Once I'd met her, I just wanted to know more about her. I like Martha, but I'm not exactly hungering for her backstory.

[nic]

Like you, I adore Ten/Rose. I never intended to become a 'shipper for these, after all, I tend to fall on the 'slash side' of things, but sometimes, a beautiful, understated relationship just calls out to me and I can't possibly ignore it.

It's one of the few that does have the capacity to make me cry. And while I won't reject new Companions, I'll always somehow compare them to 'what was'.

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Like you, I adore Ten/Rose. I never intended to become a 'shipper for these, after all, I tend to fall on the 'slash side' of things, but sometimes, a beautiful, understated relationship just calls out to me and I can't possibly ignore it.

I tend to fall in love with the same kind of pairing ('partners in crime') no matter what the genders of the respective characters. But there used to be so many more slash pairings of that type and, nowadays, the women are getting the chance to be as equal and kickass and fun as the guys.

It's one of the few that does have the capacity to make me cry. And while I won't reject new Companions, I'll always somehow compare them to 'what was'.

Even listening to the music from Doomsday chokes me up. And, yeah, I like Martha, but Rose was special. Rose got right into my emotions from the start.

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

This is such a good point about the differences in the introductions. The Doctor is a lot more matter-of-fact with Martha than with Rose.

And I'm with you on the Rose/Doctor. There is no way in hell I'm giving that up, and I loved the Doctor shutting Martha down on that point, very firmly. People will, obviously, ignore that, but I will ignore them, so it's OK! :-D

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

This is such a good point about the differences in the introductions. The Doctor is a lot more matter-of-fact with Martha than with Rose.

And while being a lovely character difference, it also makes sense plot-wise. No need to explain in-depth things already covered in the previous series. It's a twofer.

And I'm with you on the Rose/Doctor. There is no way in hell I'm giving that up, and I loved the Doctor shutting Martha down on that point, very firmly. People will, obviously, ignore that, but I will ignore them, so it's OK! :-D

The Doctor was so wonderful and quietly heartbreaking in that scene.

[comedychick.livejournal.com]

I held off reading this until I saw the episode, which was today. I don't really have anything to add to the Doctor Who stuff, but I just wanted to say I absolutely, wholeheartedly agree with the Cordy/Doyle stuff. Doyle was my favourite character in Angel (so much so that I named my son after him) and once he left, I wasn't anywhere near as happy. I hated Wesley joining the show because I felt like he was just there to replace Doyle, and I'm not one to take kindly to simple replacements.

Which I guess is good that so far it seems like Martha isn't a simple replacement for Rose. She will never compare to Rose, and the Doctor isn't interested in her in the way he was Rose. Or maybe it's partly also because I knew Rose was leaving the show. When Doyle left Angel I was devastated because I had no idea it was coming.