Harry -
Funny what happens when you take Rose out of the show. RTD is able to produce fantastic adventures that capture what we love most about Doctor Who. Following "The Runaway Bride", "Smith and Jones" takes us on another thrill ride at breakneck speed.
Sarah -
I quite enjoyed the breezy adventure of "Smith and Jones". I’d forgotten the first thing we learn about Martha is that she has a very messy family situation. Her morning walk to work involves wrangling phone conversations with her mother, sister, brother and father as they coordinate her brother’s 21st birthday party that evening. The RTD era is the height of domesticity in Doctor Who, for better or worse. With the Jones family, it seems to be for worse.
Harry -
RTD loves a messy family.
Sarah -
Dear old dad, Clive, has left mum, Francine, for a much younger, whiter, blonder, and stupider woman -- and he wants to bring her to the party. What a foolish man. Honestly, being kidnapped to the moon could be easier than dealing with this lot.
Harry -
For the time being, Martha reports to her post as a med student at a London hospital. She and her group are doing some observational rounds with the hospital administrator, a nice set up to meet two characters who are about to figure prominently in Martha's day. First, they look in on a female patient whom the administrator diagnoses with a salt deficiency. Next comes a familiar face.
Earlier, a hyper cutie of a man had bounced in front of Martha on the street. He whipped off his necktie, then bounced away. She thought nothing of it until finding him in one of the hospital beds. She's confused to find him there, and he's equally confused that she recognizes him from before.
Sarah -
It’s timey-wimey before that was even a thing. Dr. Stoker instructs Martha to check the Doctor’s heart rate, which turns out to be much more than she expected. The Doctor gives her a wink and Martha smiles before everyone is distracted by the static electricity that seems to be plaguing the hospital. The Doctor, of course, goes on a rant about knowing Benjamin Franklin and Stoker suggests a psychiatric evaluation. A quick search led me to discover that the Ben Franklin meeting has been covered by Big Finish, of course.
Harry -
Big Finish, they love stories.
Sarah -
For which I am thankful every day!
A bit later, Martha is on the phone with her sister and mentions that it’s raining. Her sister is just a few blocks away, where it’s bright and sunny. She turns the corner to see the hotel engulfed in a storm of upward-bound rain. Moments later, the hospital is on the moon.
Martha stays calm while everyone around her panics. She wants to open a window, reasoning that it must be safe because oxygen would be leaking out already. The Doctor pops into the room and has a diagnostic conversation with Martha that leads to them stepping out onto a balcony. The Doctor is clearly impressed by Martha and her reaction to her situation, “we could die any minute, but all the same, it's beautiful.”
Martha is convinced that whatever is happening to them has to be extraterrestrial. Unlike Donna, she remembers every alien invasion -- the spaceship flying into Big Ben, killer Father Christmas, Cybermen -- and mentions the death of her cousin, Adeola, at Canary Wharf. Still assuming the Doctor is a patient, she assures him they’re going to get back safely. Having clearly found someone who lives up to his expectations, the Doctor introduces himself and their investigation begins. They determine that the hospital is encased in a forcefield, which means the oxygen supply is limited to what they’ve got.
Right on cue, three spaceships land and we meet the Judoon. I remember being quite impressed by the Judoon the first time around. They’re proper new aliens and definitely hold up for me.
Harry -
I loved the Judoon so much I bought a pair of boots like theirs, for stomping around trying to look like a baddie.
Sarah -
How did I not know this before now? You should get sexy space armour to go with the boots.
As we will soon learn, the Judoon are not the baddies of the story -- they’re just looking for the baddies. They’re sort of a updated version of the Megara!
Harry -
I love their hilariously lo-tech method of marking each human they analyzed and catalogued with a magic marker "X" on the back of the hand.
The Doctor is worried because the Judoon are seeking an alien, and the look on his face implies that he could be found guilty of all manner of crimes in the view of interplanetary police thugs. Time to make oneself scarce.
Sarah -
It seems a little simplistic to only have two categories -- “human” and “alien.” In any case, our baddie has revealed herself! Florence Finnegan, the elderly lady with a salt deficiency, turns up in Dr. Stoker’s office, asking for help. While I found Stoker pompous and annoying in his earlier scenes, Stoker becomes quite human in this scene, as he worries that he will never see his daughter again. Alas, he never will, as Miss Finnegan turns out to be a plasmavore who is there to drink his blood. She produces the most terrifying plastic straw in the universe, pops it in Stoker’s neck, and sucks him dry while her leather-clad henchmen hold him down. Poor Stoker.
Miss Finnegan is delightfully portrayed by Anne Reid, who previously appeared as Nurse Crane in "The Curse of Fenric", where she was killed by Haemovores.
Harry -
I've always wondered if this Plasmavore was a descendant or an evolution of Nurse Crane, but there does not seem to be any connection, just a coincidence.
Sarah -
I decree it’s now official Sofa of Rassilon Head Canon that she’s an evolution of Nurse Crane! Big Finish, get on it!
Harry -
When Martha discovers Miss Finnegan's secret, it triggers an awesome corridor run as she and the Doctor flee from the leather men. The Doctor figures out that by drinking blood she is not just feeding but assimilating -- and thus making herself invisible to the Judoon scanners. This comes to him as they turn a corner, right into a Judoon. "And again!" and off they go down another corridor.
Sarah -
A new companion should always be subjected to a lot of running up and down corridors to make sure they’re up to the job.
Harry -
Dekeing into an MRI room, the Doctor finds Finnegan prepping the device to fry everyone's brains so that she can forge an escape. Pretending to be a frightened patient, the Doctor gets her to spill her plan, but she now wants to spill some blood, and out comes her straw as the leather men hold down the Doctor.
Martha to the rescue! She brings in the Judoon, who analyze Finnegan and discover that she now has (the Doctor's) alien blood. Instant conviction and execution. Not sure I like the Judoon brand of justice, but it was effective here.
Sarah -
They don’t mess around!
The hospital is returned and all is well, until Martha’s brother’s birthday party, where things have gone as badly as expected. Everyone is upset and shouting at each other as Dad’s new girlfriend Annalise mocks Martha for claiming she was on the moon. The rest of the family storm off as Martha spots the Doctor, who invites her on a trip to thank her for her help. She declines, citing her commitment to medical school and doesn’t believe the Doctor’s claim that the TARDIS is also a time machine until he pops off in the TARDIS and returns looking the same as he did when she ran into him that morning -- tie in hand. “Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden...except for cheap tricks.”
Martha decides to take him up on his offer and has the inevitable “it’s bigger on the inside” reaction, which is nicely played by Agyeman and Tennant.
Harry -
They both played that moment really well. It's been done so many times it's like watching a new interpretation of Shakespeare. Did I say that in a foreshadowing tone of voice? Anyway, back to Martha's welcome.
Sarah -
She asks about a crew and the Doctor explains he’s alone, but, of course, has to tell her about Rose. This brings up the touchy subject of the kiss the Doctor planted on Martha to try to confuse the Judoon. Martha plays it off, but she’s clearly interested in the Doctor, and so begins the season of the rebound companion.
Harry -
The good news is that I've completely restocked the drinks cabinet.
Sarah -
This is why we're BFFs -- you know exactly what I need!
Smith and Jones also introduces the beginning of the Series 3 story arc, with the mention of Mr. Saxon. I remember hearing that line and seeing the Vote Saxon poster in the alley on my first viewing and realizing immediately that this was our first key to the arc. After “Bad Wolf” and “Torchwood” it seemed obvious.
Harry -
The Saxon arc was intriguing at first, but I'll always remember it as the most spoilered thing I've ever experienced. I'll mope about that when we get to the critical moment. For now, well done, Doctor and Martha, our new TARDIS team. Allons-y!
Sarah -
Best Line: The Doctor, when Martha says the TARDIS is bigger on the inside -- “Is it? I hadn't noticed.”
Favorite Moment: Martha being calm and analytical when the hospital crisis strikes -- along with every other time Martha is awesome!
Lasting Image: The Judoon
7/10
Harry -
Best Line: "We're on the bloody moon!"
Favourite Moment: the Doctor's mad patient scene in the hospital bed.
Lasting Image: the Plasmavore
8/10
Our marathon continues with Story #180: The Shakespeare Code...
