Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 3, Episode 1 - Smith & Jones
Ooh, that's different - Series 3 starts with no pre-credits sequence! And that is...of absolutely no consequence, really.
Anyway, here we go...
Ah, Martha. You're funny, friendly, beautiful...but you're going to get no joy from The Doctor here. Still, you've got 13 episodes to find that out, so for now we'll join you walking down the street as you try to sort out your family's lives (including Reggie Yates from Radio1! Reggie's awesome). To be honest, Martha, I wouldn't want Aniliese there either, but families, eh? Oh, it's The Doctor! Being all strange and taking his tie off just to confuse her. He's gone again now.
Martha's on her way to work at the hospital, being bumped into by a dodgy looking biker and attracting lightning from her locker amongst other things, and OH MY GOD THAT'S 'MARTHA'S THEME' PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND! I LOVE that bit of music! Best bit of music ever in Who besides the theme. Bloody love it. Whilst on her rounds, she discovers a sweet old lady who will in no way become relevant to the story, some more biker people, and 'John Smith', who looks suspiciously like The Doctor and feels 'bleugh'. Apparently he wasn't running around this morning, though it's the dual heartbeats that really confuzzle her.
Stranger still, it seems that it's only raining on the hospital, and it's raining 'up'. And then the building starts earthquaking massively and they've ended up on the Moon. Which is unusual for Martha, though I'm pretty sure The Doctor suspected something might happen. It all gets a bit chaotic in the hospital, with people running around like headless chickens. The Doctor then reveals himself to be more than just a patient, and they head outside to have a look, glad for the fact that they've got air from somewhere. She seems spectacularly unsurprised that they've ended up on the Moon, but now that humanity knows about aliens following the Cybermen and the Racnoss...and the role that she played in Series 2 which was her 'cousin', she's not surprised by anything.
Just as they realise that the air will run out eventually and suffocate 1,000 people, some spaceships land, revealing the Judoon space police (well, more like police-for-hire, or intergalactic space thugs). Inside, the old lady confronts the hospital chief doctor consultant man, revealing herself to be a nasty alien lady, in control of the biker people, who wants to suck out his innards with a straw. The Judoon also march into the hospital, scattering plenty of scared patients everywhere, and revealing themselves to be humanoid rhinos who want to 'catalogue' all the patients. That means they're after something non-human, which is bad news for The Doctor...One guy gets executed when he commits a crime by smacking a Judoon over head with a vase. Bit extreme, but we're on the Moon so everything goes I guess.
The Doctor shows Martha his sonic screwdriver, explaining how he was just checking out some plasma coils which turned out to be the Judoon in orbit. If they find the hospital guilty of harbouriing a fugitive, they'll blow it up, including the people. Martha runs off to find the head of the hospital, but finds the old lady sucking his brains out with a straw, so decides that running away is a better option, which I heartily agree with. Reuniting with The Doctor, they flee from the alien lady's henchmen, eventually losing him by zapping him with an extra-radiated x-ray. His sonic screwdriver is a bit buggered though. He also deduces that the old lady is assimilating the old chap's blood, so that she registers as human.
They round a corner and meet face to face with some Judoon, who confirm for Martha that The Doctor is non-human. They head for Mr Stoker's office, finding him completely drained of blood. Realising that she'll be heading to the MRI scanner, he kisses Martha because of course, and runs off to find alien lady. He gets himself sort of captured, pretends to be human, finds out some of her plans, and then she tries to suck his brains out through her straw. Though she goes through his neck, so maybe I was wrong about the brains bit.
The Judoon burst in at this point and declare The Doctor dead. Martha realises though that the old lady will now register as non-human, before the Judoon execute her as she tries to blow the hospital. The Judoon bugger off at this point, which is typical of rhinos as they always do this shit on other planets, and the hospital looks screwed. Martha does the decent thing and tries to bring The Doctor back to life, using the last of her oxygen to give him the kiss of life. It works, though she looks a big of a goner, and The Doctor successfully modifies the scanner and what not, saving the day. Well, there's still no oxygen, which is generally negative. Never fear though, the Judoon reverse the whole process just in time, and the hospital is sent back to Earth.
Still dazed by the incident, Martha looks on forlornly as The Doctor disappears in the TARDIS. Later, she listens to a colleague on the radio talking about the wonder of it all, smiling. Her father, mother and father's girlfiend argue outside a club, taking Martha's siblings with them, and eventually moving out of the way for Martha to notice The Doctor gazing at her from round a corner (seriously, it's not like he didn't slightly give her the hint that he was interested in her). She chases after him, having that oh-so-special 'it's bigger on the inside' moment, engages in a bit of mild flirting, and then off they go!
First things first, Martha is great, right from the off. She's different than Rose, that's all, though she's far better at sussing out alien things, and already I can feel the pangs of sadness that she'll only last a season. It really is difficult to pick a favourite companion, because they've all been fantastic in their own ways, but Martha always gets the least praise, completely unfairly. She's played brilliantly by Freema Agyeman, and if they don't take the character over to Torchwood when it finally starts up again then they're missing a great opportunity.
Martha also saves his life with a bit of CPR, which means that either The Doctor was relying on her doing this or he was genuinely willing to let himself die just to save everyone in the hospital; knowing The Doctor, it's probably more the latter. What a darn good fellow he is.
The Doctor shows the signs of his recent loss at the end where he tells Martha that she isn't replacing Rose and gets a bit grumpy, and it's this that will affect their relationship throughout. You can see the massive impact that Rose had on him, more perhaps than any other companion except Sarah Jane Smith, though the fact that you know Ten was actually in love with her goes a long way to explaining that.
It's perfect, PERFECT Tenth Doctor when Martha discovers his second heartbeat and he gives her a small wink. Followed by his discussion of being involved in Ben Franklin's discovery of lightning (having been electrocuted himself in the process apaprently).
Also a great in joke for those who remember the Zovirax cold sore adverts.
The whole sequence where The Doctor gets Mrs Finnigan's plan out of her (GCSE Magnets, Geography and fifteen years as a postman) is superb, perfect for the Tenth Doctor, and looking back on it now I really feel it should be a contender for 'Best Way He Got Someone's Plan Out Of Them' (because he's really rather good at it').
You can tell why Martha ends up with The Doctor; the first to establish that they're on the Moon, the one who realises that because they're breathing there must still be air surrounding them...As soon as he 'reveals' himself (I can't think how to write that without making it sound like he exposes himself...) to her, he's obviously taken to her:
Doctor: We might die.
Martha: We might not.
Doctor: Good(!)
One of David Tennant's more bizarre moments as she tries to get rid of the radiation in his body through his shoe, dancing like he's got bees in his trousers (Martha: You're completely mad. The Doctor: You're right, I look daft with one shoe). Anybody else really bugged that he opens a clinical waste bin with his hands and doesn't wash them?!
One of the Judoon trips up the stairs! It's only ever so slightly but it's there!
Mentions of Mr Saxon
Martha's colleague on the radio at the end mentions how Mr Saxon was right about what's out there, and there are 'Vote Saxon' posters behind Martha in the alley at the end. We don't know who he's going to be at this point, though he's obviously a politician, but come the end of the season...
Overall
It's a solid start, with a brilliant introduction for Martha who is great from the off. The Tenth Doctor doesn't suffer from not having Rose around, and though it doesn't have the greatest villain of all time, it's fun throughout.
8/10
