Doctor Who 3.01: Smith & Jones

WARNING: This post is likely to contain spoliers! I have turned the text the same colour as the background of the page so if you highlight this entire post, you'll see the text.

Russell T. Davies has crafted nother fine script. From the very opening moment, we see that Martha is a very capable person. She is very obviously the person 'in charge', expecially with her family. After an enigmatic encounter with the Doctor, we discover that something strange is happening at the hospital. Discovering the Doctor in a hospital bed was quite reminiscent of his being bed-ridden in The Christmas Invasion. The 'bikers' with the black helmets remind me of Shayde from the Doctor Who Magazine comic strips. Are the 'Slabs' the same kind of robots we've seen in The Christms Invasion and The Runaway Bride? The rain was incredible. Along with the transportation to the moon, it all looked 'right'. The shocker of the scene was seeing the TARDIS still on Earth. How is the Doctor going to get back to it? The panic in the hospital seems exaggerated but it is good to see Martha taking charge of the situation and ordering patients back into bed. It's a nice touch to hear Martha talking of previous events we've seen in Doctor Who (Aliens of London, The Christmas Invasion & Army of Ghosts/Doomsday). The arrival of the Judoon is heralded by some magnificent music. Murray Gold is making a marvellous job of making the big, grand scenes even bigger and even grander than they seem to be. The genious of the man is once again apparent as the Judoon march across the surface of the moon, invading the hospital, making their presence felt throughout their scenes. Assimilation of the language is very nicely done and the ludicrous use of a marker pen in the end of their scanner is brilliant - not at all expected. After Martha's discovery of Mr. Stoker being sucked dry by the Miss Finnegan, there is another nice touch, a reference right back to Rose. The Doctor says 'Run!' and grabs Martha's hand. The scene of the Doctor trying to expel the radiation from his body brings the Monty Python 'Ministry of Funny Walks' to mind. And the Doctor is suddenly bare foot. So the kiss means nothing? It obviously did to Martha. However, it would seem the Doctor has used her to slow down the Judoon, much in the same way that the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) would manipulate his companion (Ace) and those around him to own ends. Martha saves the day and defeats the bad guy for the week - but it's up to the Doctor to save the Hospital. But even when he does, he has no way of returning to the TARDIS. I'll be willing to bet money he'd have found a way if the Judoon hadn't sent the hospital back to Earth. Why is it that CPR saves the Doctor if he's had his blood drained? Did the Plasmavore drink all his blood or was there some left? How long has he been lying there? And there's yet another piece of the episode harking back to Rose. Just as Rose heard the TARDIS dematerialise and then look back to see that it's gone, so does Martha. Finally, we're treated to another view of Martha's argumentative family, allowing her to walk away from it all into an adventure with the Doctor. Finishing off the episode there is the explanation of the initial encounter from the beginning of the episode. We finish with another explanation of the TARDIS being bigger on the inside than the outside. So far, this one is my favourite. It was interesting to see the Doctor being teased by Martha as well. I suspect this might be a pairing of Doctor and companion more like the Third Doctor and Jo or the Sixth Doctor and Peri. Episode 1 Final score: Martha 1 - 0 The Doctor