I didn’t instantly love “Smith and Jones” as much as I do now. These days, I’m much more ready and open to accept inevitable change on Doctor Who, but I think most Whovians would agree that first changes are hard. By the time I got to series 3, I’d already went through my first regeneration, which was admittedly much harder (I had to get several episodes into series 2 before I was prepared to warm up to Ten.) But this was my first major companion change, and even if “Army of Ghosts” / “Doomsday” isn’t a slam-dunk story for me, I still loved Rose and was sad to see her go. As such, I was a little wary of my first taste of Martha. That’s said, it’s still a solid episode and a fine introduction to our new companion, and over the years/rewatches, I’ve really come to love it.
Med student Martha Jones is just going about her day when she’s swept up – pretty literally – into the world of the Tenth Doctor. The Doctor has checked himself into her hospital right before it’s transported to the moon, where the Judoon (some very single-minded alien rhinos) are on the hunt for an alien criminal. As the Doctor tries to find a peaceful resolution to the situation and avoid getting flagged by the Judoon himself, Martha proves instrumental in the adventure.
Any discussion of this episode naturally needs to begin with Martha. Thinking back on my first impressions of her, I remember liking that we’re quickly introduced to the ways that she’s both like and not like Rose. She’s well-educated and career-driven, and she has a big, bickering family that’s definitely in a higher class than the Tylers. She has the benefit of having lived in London over the events of the past couple of seasons, so she’s prepared to believe in aliens even before she meets her first space rhino up close and personal. But much like Rose, she’s also curious, determined, brave, and resourceful. It’s easy to see why, of all the people in the hospital, she’s the one the Doctor latches onto – when she refuses to pass up a chance of stepping out onto the veranda to gaze at the surface of the moon, knowing the opportunity is worth the risk, you know this is a woman who’s destined for the TARDIS.
The episode on the whole is fun, a good romp with fun details and nice scares. This story is our introduction to the Judoon, who I enjoy because they’re ostensibly “good guys” but also brutal in their methods and very at odds with the Doctor and his ways. So, even though they’re just trying to catch a dangerous criminal, they don’t think at all about the potential collateral damage of the human lives that have gotten caught up in all this, and the Doctor isn’t so much trying to stop them as he is trying to do their job for them quickly so he can get rid of them. I like the Plasmavore as well, good mix of the mundane and the creepy (Moffat may be the reigning champ of that kind of menace, but RTD could pull out some pretty good stuff too.)
Even though this story kicks off the ongoing trend of the Doctor not appreciating all of Martha’s awesomeness, it isn’t too bad here. He’s definitely keeping her at arms length, but he doesn’t go out of his way to make her feel like a rebound yet. It’s interesting to me how quickly he depends on her, trusting her skills and knowhow to get them out of various jams. Martha rises to the challenge every time, but I wonder if the Doctor realizes how much he’s asking of her so soon after meeting her. It’s not like he’s actively testing her or asking her to “prove” herself in any way (that’s more the sort of thing that Moffat’s Doctors would do,) but he does throw both himself and Martha into harm at various points with an air of, It’ll be all right, Martha can handle this.
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