Howling:Why no mention of Martha?

In SJA Death of the Doctor, a whole bunch of ex-companions of the Doctor are mentioned, including Liz Shaw, Harry Sullivan, Tegan, Ace (possibly), etc, etc. Yet I find it a bit odd that all the way through the story, no one so much as mentions Martha Jones, a person who not only travelled with the Doctor, but was also affiliated with UNIT itself. Does this mean anything at all? 82.2.136.93 17:05, November 7, 2011 (UTC)

Sarah Jane was telling Clyde and Rani what she had just learned by Googling TARDIS, but she had already known that Martha was with UNIT from The Stolen Earth, and she and Mickey probably hadn't been going "freelance" for long enough to make an impression yet. Or, from a real world point of view, she was listing off the classic companions who we hadn't heard from in years, but didn't bother mentioning Martha because her most recent appearance was only a year ago and we all already know what her fate was.Icecreamdif talk to me 19:43, November 7, 2011 (UTC)

Sarah Jane might also have been reluctant to draw the youngsters' attention to two former companions (Martha and Mickey) who'd taken up a "gun toting" approach. She failed to mention Jack Harkness, too, possibly for the same reason. --2.101.57.89 22:25, November 7, 2011 (UTC)

UNIT themselves fail to mention Martha, which does seem odd. Then again, it's important to bear in mind that all this is after the Time Cracks started deleting history. Perhaps in the current timeline, Martha never travelled with the Doctor? 194.168.208.42 14:59, November 15, 2011 (UTC)

Well the answer is pretty simple. Sarah Jane had met Martha. When Sarah Jane was talking about the past companions, she was googling people that were inspired by the Doctor. She wouldn't google Martha or Jack, or mention them, because she knew of them already. Where as Ace, Tegan, Ian and Barbara etc were all people she never met, from all over, all inspired by the Doctor. As for UNIT not mentioning her, not only is she freelance now, so possibly hard to track down, but considering the plan to steal the TARDIS, would you rather invite someone who was part of UNIT themselves, have special training, and their husband, both young and strong, able to fight etc, or two older companions in their 50s/60s who won't be too fast, or strong, and easy to capture? So it was likely choice not to invite Martha. --The Thirteenth Doctor talk to me 15:15, November 15, 2011 (UTC)

As The Thirteenth Doctor points out, it wasn't really UNIT that omitted Martha, etc., it was a renegade colonel in cahoots with renegade Shansheeth. Tia Karim wouldn't have wanted to risk bringing in anyone who'd know enough about UNIT procedures to get suspicious of her story about security precautions. She'd also have wanted to keep the numbers down. More guests would mean a larger contingent to guard the place, requiring other commissioned officers -- and they'd be apt to get suspicious, too. She brought in what she (rightly) thought would be enough former companions to let them use their memories and what she (wrongly) thought would be a manageable group. --2.96.31.103 22:55, November 15, 2011 (UTC)