New companion alert!!! It is time to talk about Marthas first story Smith and Jones!
Rate and review below:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
0
voters
A great start to a great season! I love the Judoon, and I think that this is a great story that both introduces Martha well and is fun!
10 Likes
One of the most underrated episodes of the show in my opinion.
Snappy, quick-witted, fast-paced, electric style, iconic imagery, this is peak RTD in full force.
Martha gets an excellent introduction and Agyeman and Tennant have instantly brilliant chemistry.
The Judoon are of course a great design but Ms Finnegan is a genuinely fantastic performance with a distinctly sinister air to it.
Probably my favourite season opener, at least of this era, if I’m being totally honest.
9/10
12 Likes
Great episode. Love Martha. Wish we didn’t have the whole “10’s in love with Rose and rebounding with Martha” thing going.
10 Likes
Oh hooray finally Doctor Who time again!!
I don’t have a particularly strong opinion about this one for good or for bad. I think it’s one I enjoy more than I think I do if I put it on, but it’s not one that I’d think to rewatch unless I was watching everything in order. That said, the Judoon are great, so I’m glad we got them out of this
8 Likes
This is episode is really fun. The setting on the moon is fun and we get to sets of antagonists in the Plasmavore and the Judoon who are both also (you guessed it) fun. But both the Plasmavore and the Judoon are distinctly different in their personality and function, so they both get to be fun in different ways.
This is also a great introduction for Martha. I personally think this might be the best companion introduction out of the 3 main RTD1 companions. I think she’s setup so well to be the companion for this season of DW. I always feel disappointed in where the show goes with Martha, because she starts out at such a high, then immediately (I mean the next episode) the show starts to do the character real dirty.
Martha’s becomes one of the most forgettable and underserved companions in NuWho, which is a shame because based on this introduction she probably should’ve been more.
9 Likes
Probably one of the stories I’ve rewatched the most, just by virtue of Series 3 boxset being the only one I had (I ventured into a shop with christmas money for Series 4 but it was too expensive lol). Only series i missed entirely since I started because I was banned from watching between Girl in the Fireplace and Voyage of the Damned because clockwork droids scared me, I never stopped being a fan in that time though lol
Anyway onto the episode, one of the better season openers, Judoon are a neat simple premise, a hospital makes a nice setting for a “base” and Martha is a fantastic character out of the gate, who deserved better from the Doctor though I suppose that is sort of the point.
Oh and I guess taking a great setting and just also tossing it onto the moon is also good, quite fun, and I like how it ties in with the aliens being more obvious in the revival to this point and the public slowly realising aliens do exist and keep causing issues (though I wish we started having more chill aliens appearing in the background or something, starts to sound a bit “foreigners bad” when its only villains)
9 Likes
One of the episodes of the modern series I’ve probably watched more than any other because when my eldest was about 5 years old they were obsessed with it and watched it continually. Luckily it is a great episode and is lots of fun.
11 Likes
Completely agreed. I believe Moffat once referred to it as the benchmark for season openers too – it nails just about everything it needs to, has a great tone, good characters, and a solid plot.
9 Likes
Smith and Jones kicks off Series 3 of Doctor Who with a zippy, high-concept lunar adventure that introduces Freema Agyeman’s Martha Jones as a confident, capable new companion who instantly distinguishes herself from her predecessors. While the plot—featuring rhino-headed space police, a hospital relocated to the Moon, and a blood-drinking alien disguised as a kindly old lady—is more style than substance, the episode excels in character work, showcasing the Doctor’s post-Rose grief and Martha’s cool-headed brilliance under pressure.
The Judoon make a memorable, if slightly bumbling, debut, and Anne Reid’s villain adds some macabre fun.
Despite a few tonal wobbles (including a clunky kiss and a radiation-expelling jig), this is a slick, energetic soft reboot that prioritises charm and chaos over plot depth—and mostly gets away with it.
Here’s my non-spoilery review for those of you who fancy a read. Thank you!
7 Likes
It’s been a little while since I’ve watched this one. A hospital being transported to the moon by space rhino police because there’s a vampire with a straw that disguises themselves as other species is such a bonkers concept, but the episode works due to Ten’s grief being explored well and the introduction of my beloved Martha Jones.
9 Likes
Best rtd opener
6 Likes
Great fun, starts with a similar energy to Rose & really maintains the pace. Freema is instantly likeable & works well with Tennant, a great chemistry. Have not watched this in ages. Nice to rewatch it. I’d forgotten how good Anne Reid is in this.
Also, Judoon are a great new alien. Love their spaceships.
10 Likes
I love the casual use of time travel, crossing into established events at the start. Such a clever way to introduce the concept.
11 Likes
A platoon of judoon on the moon is so pleasing to say, and this episode is so solid, I’m slightly disappointed more episodes aren’t created solely around pleasant-sounding phrases.
“We might die” “We might not” is just such a beautifully succinct exchange exemplifying the attitude a potential companion needs to have
10 Likes
Such a great introduction for Martha. She’s instantly magnetic, feeling fully formed within minutes of the episodes start. Her dynamic with Ten is different and in ways refreshing (though there’s still the whole gradual crush aspect). The Judoon are fun tertiary antagonists and the Plasmivore is solid villain for an episode that is more about the forming dynamic between the Doctor and Martha than anything.
8 Likes
Probably my favorite RTD Opener.
While there are Aspects in plenty of the others, I quite respect or like (Reintroducing the Show in Rose, some good Slapstick in Partners in Crime), this one is easily the one I find myself wanting to revisit the most out of these.
While it doesn’t necessarily change much about the way RTD goes about it, I find this one knows exactly where it wants to go and has a pretty good balance of its tone.
The Setting is quite a unique one and gives this one a quite distinctive Identity. Martha gets introduced in such a good Manner, Agyeman and Tennant have here probably their best Chemistry. And then you have of course the Judoons, which are not only a new lovely Addition to the Canon of Who Monsters, but very many Monsters that can return quite well, not to mention they just have an excellent Design.
Now there are a few Things that don’t quite work for me, but most of those are more worth to discuss as we go further with that Series
7 Likes