I'm trying with all my might to enjoy this episode as it was designed to be. But jesus the amount of racial fuckery makes it almost impossible to enjoy Human Nature on its own terms. Like whose idea was it that Martha was going to spend this whole episode subject to the racism of not just all the bigots of 1913 but the Doctor too. As much as I complain about Martha being written as endlessly pining and in the shadow of Rose in every other episode of series 3, all that is a thousand times better than the bulllshit here. Degrading is too gentle a word to describe how ugly this storyline feels. It just demonstrates an absolute lack of care and consideration to writing black characters. And to add insult to injury Martha is still framed as second filled to a white woman here. Yes, even with the Doctor's memories wiped the show goes out of its way to tell us he wouldn't pick her.
The worst part is, when I painstakingly excise just how much I hate the position Martha is forced into in this episode the plot itself is good. The slow burn mystery, the brilliant way the Doctor is taken out of commission and the wider setting,all of it is very rendered. I like Thomas Brodie-Sangster's Latimer. It feels like a better take on the human with preternatural vision trope The Unquiet Dead attempted in series 1. I like the elite boarding school setting I like martha's friend Jenny. But the way it treats Martha is just too rotten to put aside.
Review by TshepisoBlockedParent2023-10-19T04:59:52Z
I'm trying with all my might to enjoy this episode as it was designed to be. But jesus the amount of racial fuckery makes it almost impossible to enjoy Human Nature on its own terms. Like whose idea was it that Martha was going to spend this whole episode subject to the racism of not just all the bigots of 1913 but the Doctor too. As much as I complain about Martha being written as endlessly pining and in the shadow of Rose in every other episode of series 3, all that is a thousand times better than the bulllshit here. Degrading is too gentle a word to describe how ugly this storyline feels. It just demonstrates an absolute lack of care and consideration to writing black characters. And to add insult to injury Martha is still framed as second filled to a white woman here. Yes, even with the Doctor's memories wiped the show goes out of its way to tell us he wouldn't pick her.
The worst part is, when I painstakingly excise just how much I hate the position Martha is forced into in this episode the plot itself is good. The slow burn mystery, the brilliant way the Doctor is taken out of commission and the wider setting,all of it is very rendered. I like Thomas Brodie-Sangster's Latimer. It feels like a better take on the human with preternatural vision trope The Unquiet Dead attempted in series 1. I like the elite boarding school setting I like martha's friend Jenny. But the way it treats Martha is just too rotten to put aside.