Smith and Jones
Story 179, Episodes 725, Series 3 Episode 1
Doctor: The Tenth Doctor
Companions: Martha Jones
In an absolute blast of an episode and maybe the best companion introduction ever, the Doctor and Martha go to the moon.
The Review
I am a sucker for these RTD-style fast-paced companion introduction episodes, but I think that they are the best example of what makes Doctor Who so special. Compared to other sci-fi features taking place in the future, Doctor Who takes place now. At any moment you could be living your life, the next the Doctor could be grabbing your hand and whisking you away. It’s magical. We get glimpses of Martha’s family life, currently featuring a very fractured relationship between her now divorced parents. (Her father has an embarrassing new girlfriend). Martha is a medical student at a hospital, and the Doctor is hanging out undercover as a patient. All of a sudden the hospital is on the moon and Judoon are stomping their way toward the building. The Judoon have reappeared because they are an inspired design, incredibly imposing space rhinos inhabiting lawful neutral to a tee. They are here to find a criminal on the hospital, and if anyone gets in their way, they kill them without compunction. The Judoon are some of the best aliens in show history.
The idea of having the real villain be an older woman who is a vampire in disguise is pretty genius, and a good subversion to not have the Judoon as the antagonists of the story. All the fun though comes from Martha and the Doctor, with David Tennant having never been more charming. He is on the top of his game, acting like a crazy man but with intoxicating charisma. With a handsome man like David Tennant swooping in and kissing you, what woman wouldn’t be swept away? The trick of having the Doctor take his tie off at the episode’s beginning then do it to prove he has a time machine to Martha at the end is a great narrative link. There are few Doctor Who episodes that are as purely fun as this one is, and shows us how fun the Tenth Doctor really is. As having seen Series 3 before, I know the problems that are going to crop up with Martha. For now, she is a lightning bolt of energy, and this whole episode crackles with it. It’s a less ambitious The Eleventh Hour, but it’s just as much fun.
Smith and Jones is a lightning bolt of energy. Bring on Series 3!
10/10 Yes, I really love the Judoon’s costuming this much
Reviewing Doctor Who from Start to Finish 