In the third part of our Doctor Who Season Three overview, we look at the development of Martha Jones throughout the series, focusing on her ascendance to world saviour and her romantic fortunes…

Starting off as a mere medical student, it took 13 episodes before Martha Jones was saving more than a pensioner from angina - she was rescuing the entire planet from extinction at the hands of The Master. Now that’s some serious transition.

Martha was different to previous companions who hailed from Earth, as her society was already aware of the existence of extra-terrestrials. The initial Sycorax visit was soon followed by the Daleks and Cybermen invading and squaring off at the Battle of Canary Wharf. The impact of monsters from afar had already had a profound impact on Martha before she met The Doctor, as her cousin Adeola was killed whilst working at Torchwood during the Cyber-invasion.

This may well have given her a gutsy resolve that enabled her to plunge into daring acts of braveness rather than simply cower and scream at the oncoming threat. Witness how she saved The Doctor’s life in ‘Smith and Jones’, soon being entrusted with the knowledge to return her new friend to a Time Lord in ‘Human Nature’.

The Doctor’s possession by the particles of the Sun in 42 also put Martha in a position of massive responsibility, but she correctly ordered the crew to ditch the fuel at the critical point and saved all their lives. Furthermore, her quick-thinking also lured the Lazarus monster to its demise, falling from the bell tower of Southwark Cathedal before it could wreak more havoc.

Romantically, things haven’t been too straightforward with Miss Jones. Quite adept at knocking back William Shakespeare himself, not helped by the Bard’s bad breath, it was quickly evident which particular gentleman she had taken a shine to. Her relations with the dashing Time Lord hit first base quicker than Babe Ruth as the pair swapped fluids in ‘Smith and Jones’, but alas - it was only for the purposes of a genetic transfer. Martha was no doubt kicking herself at the much necessary presence of scientific plot contrivances.

Soon they are sharing a bed together in ‘The Shakespeare Code’, but it's strictly platonic, especially as The Doctor is still governed by the memory of his beloved Rose Tyler. Martha’s frustrations boil over and she petulantly takes a set at the end of ‘Gridlock’ and demands some answers from her fellow Tardis dweller.

With no love action on the horizon, Martha contents herself by planting a smacker on the lips of crew member Riley in ‘42’ as she departs the S.S. Pentallion. Lucky lad, but was it just a ruse to make you know Who jealous? If so, then it didn’t quite work as her fancy man was soon cavorting with a young matron named Joan and seemingly destined for marriage! Of course, the events in the ‘Human Nature’ two-parter saw The Doctor being not quite himself, but Martha still had to witness this courtship.

Soon though, she’d had enough of being romantically ignored and opted to leave the Tardis and pray her oestrogen levels would return from the stratosphere too. Of note though, is her interaction with fellow doctor Thomas Milligan in ‘The Last of the Time Lords’. Despite his memory of future non-events being wiped, she still gives him a bell at the end of the episode that possibly hints at some future union. We’ll have to wait and see to find out more about the chirpy lady’s post-Doctor adventures by tuning into Torchwood early next year…

Next week, as our ‘Doctor Who’ Season Three overview hits Part Four, we dissect the new foes who emerged during the third season …

Click here for Part One of our Doctor Who Season Three Overview
Click here for Part Two of our Doctor Who Season Three Overview