Doctor Who: 10 Best Martha Jones Episodes According To IMDb

Martha Jones was the primary companion throughout season 3 of Doctor Who and was also present in several episodes of season 4, showing viewers what happens when a competent medical student teams up with the Doctor. While many fans critique Martha for her crush on the Doctor or dislike her due to comparisons with her predecessor, many of the best stories in Doctor Who happen during her tenure on the show.

Despite struggling in comparison to Rose, something about Martha which didn’t make sense, fans looking back now will find a lot to love about Martha Jones, one of the Doctor’s smartest companions. Many of Martha’s episodes are seen as nearly perfect, and that is in large part because she is such a fantastic companion, making the Doctor his best self.

10 Season 3, Episode 1: “Smith And Jones” — 8.0

“Smith and Jones” introduces audiences to Martha for the first time, where they see her as a capable and curious medical student. Martha, the Doctor, and the entire population of a hospital are mysteriously transported to the moon, where they must figure out why they have been taken there and return the hospital to Earth before the oxygen runs out.

Martha and the Doctor work together to execute a plan to get back safely, but the plan and the lack of oxygen make the Doctor collapse, which gives Martha her moment to shine, performing CPR and bringing the Doctor back with her literal last breath. Altogether, this is one of the best Doctor Who companion debut episodes.

9 Season 3, Episode 3: “Gridlock” — 8.0

In “Gridlock,” Martha ends up being kidnapped by a couple who take her to the Motorway, a seemingly endless traffic jam. As the Doctor looks for her, they all run into a classic-era villain that is responsible for several disappearances from the Motorway.

Martha is a great bit of levity in this episode, handling her kidnapping with her typical sarcastic flair. She is the one to figure out how to stop the monster from eating her group, a strategy that saves her kidnappers’ lives and keeps everyone safe long enough for the Doctor to unseal the Motorway. While she is set up to be a damsel, Martha is never one to let a situation happen to her, taking control of it instead.

8 Season 3, Episode 13: “Last Of The Time Lords” — 8.3

After the Master released the Toclafane and took over the world, Martha Jones is the only one who can save them. While the Master humiliates the Doctor and Martha’s family, she travels the world spreading a message of hope that just might be able to stop the Master and take back the Earth.

While this may not be the best episode of the season, it is certainly the best one for Martha, as one of many instances that proves that Martha was the best Doctor Who companion. Martha is clever, avoiding capture for a year as she travels the world, spreads her message, and looks for a weapon powerful enough to stop the Master. Additionally, she summons the courage to leave the Doctor, something no other New Who companion had the strength to do.

7 Season 3, Episode 11: “Utopia” — 8.7

In this episode, the Doctor and Martha run into Captain Jack Harkness, who grabs hold of the TARDIS as it transports them to the end of the universe. The trio set out to explore, finding the last remnants of humanity, who hope to escape to a planet called Utopia on a voyage being coordinated by a scientist named Yana.

Martha is a critical part of this episode, noticing a fob watch worn by Yana and alerting the Doctor to it, a moment that shows just how much she’s learning through every adventure.

6 Season 3, Episode 12: “The Sound Of Drums” — 8.7

Martha, Jack, and the Doctor must work together to stop the Master, who they are horrified to find has become the Prime Minister. The Master labels the trio fugitives and begins his plans to control or destroy the world using an alien race called the Toclafane.

Martha and her family become targets of the Master, who has set a bomb up in her apartment and arrested her family. This episode shows how much Martha cares for her family, despite their strained relationship. Despite her worries about her family, and eventually her friends, Martha takes Jack’s vortex manipulator and flees the Master’s ship to set out on a quest to save the Earth.

5 Season 3, Episode 8: “Human Nature” — 9.0

In 1913, a man named John Smith has dreams of a life as the Doctor; his school then comes under threat by an alien from his nightmares. In order to save them all, John must choose between his world at the school and the world of his dreams.

While Martha is not central to the plot of this episode, that doesn’t make her presence unimportant. She is the only one who knows who and what the Doctor is, and she is responsible for keeping him safe. Though she puts on the costume and role of a maid, it doesn’t stop her from consistently taking charge of situations where she can be of use.

4 Season 4, Episode 12: “The Stolen Earth” — 9.1

Earth has been teleported out of its normal place, leaving all of the Doctor’s friends trapped in a world rapidly being taken over by Daleks. While the Doctor and Donna try to figure out what has happened, Harriett Jones sets up a call with Martha, Jack, and Sarah Jane. The Doctor finally makes his way to Earth, just in time to get shot by a Dalek.

Since her time as a companion in season 3, Martha worked with both UNIT and Torchwood and has come into her own power. She comes across as confident and self-assured in this episode, which is a good look on her. Audiences see Martha both with her mother and with UNIT, which allows them to get glimpses of her development since the previous season.

3 Season 3, Episode 9: “The Family Of Blood” — 9.2

After being kidnapped by the Family, Martha must save Joan, the Doctor, and the other inhabitants of the school. John Smith must decide whether or not to become the Doctor and leave his life behind, a decision he desperately doesn’t want to make. As they face off against an army of scarecrows, the fate of the school and perhaps the world hinges on a single watch.

This story, along with its predecessor, is one of the best stories from the Russell T. Davies era. Martha shows off her resilience in this episode, threatening to kill one of the villains, even if they kill her at the same time, and not letting anyone look down on her despite her gender and race.

2 Season 4, Episode 13: “Journey’s End” — 9.2

The TARDIS gets transported to the Daleks’ ship, separating the group into two: those on the ship with the Doctor, and those working on Earth to stop the Daleks’ plan. Martha threatens to destroy the Earth to stop them, at which point she gets teleported onto the ship to keep her from doing so. Eventually, the Doctor, Donna, and all the other companions work together to stop the Daleks and Davros and return back home.

In this episode, Martha is presented as the ruthless one, the one capable of doing what needs to be done to solve a problem with surgical precision. Though the episode is meant to make Donna shine, Martha does get a fitting end to her off-screen development.

1 Season 3, Episode 10: “Blink” — 9.8

“Blink” stars Sally, one of the best Doctor Who characters to appear in only one episode, as she attempts to stop statue-like creatures called the Weeping Angels. She receives a little assistance from the Doctor and Martha and eventually finds a way to make the Angels trap themselves.

While Martha, like the Doctor, is in very little of this episode, she takes every moment to shine. In her commentary on the tapes, she lets the audience know that the Doctor isn’t doing very much in 1969, leaving her to work in a shop to support them both. Her comments provide the audience with the impression that the Doctor takes advantage of Martha, a conclusion she comes to herself in just a few episodes.