I’m rewatching reboot Doctor Who and one thing I appreciate that I didn’t notice the first time around is the contrast of race and class between Rose and Martha. Rose is white but poor and comes from a very humble working class background. Martha is black but comes from a well off family where everyone is college educated and successful. It’s the opposite of what stereotypes would suggest, which is not only refreshing to see, but creates some interesting dynamics in how they interact with the world.
When they go abroad, Rose is mocked for her way of speaking and her appearance. People underestimate her intelligence and call her a chav. Martha is subject to period typical racism when they travel through time. One thing that’s interesting about that is the fact that Martha only faces racism in the past, but Rose faces classism in the past and future. The show is apparently predicting that racism will eventually become obsolete, but classism will never go away.
It also adds quite a few layers to Martha’s feelings about Rose. She never met her so she has no way of knowing that Rose was poor and “trashy,” but she does eventually see a drawing of her so at some point she had to have learned that Rose was white. How would that feel, not just to a black woman, but to a black woman who came from an affluent black family? A family that no doubt got where they were by going above and beyond to prove that they were equal to their white colleagues, only to then get passed over for another unqualified white person over and over? How would it feel for Martha to realize that despite being quite objectively a genius, despite saving the doctors life multiple times, he’ll never prioritize her over the white girl he lost and can’t get over? No wonder she left after only one season.
The difference in their social positions also explains why they felt so differently about leaving the doctor. Martha has a whole life and career ahead of her, a career where she can not only make excellent money but also help lots of people and put her genius to use doing good in the world. Rose has nothing to look forward to, in her opinion. Just a life of working at a shop. It’s clear to see why Martha was ready to leave the doctor while Rose wanted to stay with him forever.
