What happened?
Martha Jones, a trainee doctor, arrives at hospital for work on the day the entire building is transported to the moon by a race of police-like aliens called the Judoon. The hospital is enclosed in an airtight bubble, so whilst the Judoon begin hunting for their quarry (a shapeshifting Plasmavore) the oxygen for the stranded people in the hospital is running out. Luckily The Doctor is in the hospital, too, and alongside Martha Jones they find the alien Plasmavore and turn it over to the Judoon, who destroy it.
With the hospital returned to Earth in the nick of time, The Doctor catches up with Martha and shows her the TARDIS. As a thank you for saving him, after proving to her that he can travel through time, he offers her one trip with him through time and space.
Thoughts
My interest in Doctor Who used to be just a passing one. It is shown on Saturdays, early evenings, and if I happened to be in front of a television when it was on I’d watch it. However, I decided I’d return to the early days of the show and watch the lot since, in recent times, it’s become more sophisticated and improved as a drama series.
After the loss of Rose in the second series’ finale, this 3rd series has the burden of introducing a new companion for The Doctor. (I appreciate the recent Xmas special, The Runaway Bride, introduced us to someone that will eventually become a companion, which in retrospect makes the fumble of bringing Martha Jones into the mix even more bizarre.)
Martha Jones does make a good first impression here, though. She’s smart and has a very open mind. She’s the first to question how they can still breathe once on the moon considering the hospital building isn’t airtight, and yet doesn’t flinch when joining The Doctor to open the doors and step outside. Furthermore she has compassion, lingering to close the dead eyes of her doctor mentor, and a sense of humour as well as being very capable; she’s thrown right in at the deep end and has to save The Doctor’s life with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
In all honesty I didn’t like that The Doctor’s scheme basically involved him dying to save the day. When he was interrogating the Plasmavore with disguised naïve human ignorance it suggested he was merely loading up a surprise to spring. Instead he just basically allowed the Plasmavore to take his blood so the Judoon would know she was an alien. Fine in exposing her, but at the cost of his own life? It amounted to a sacrificial act and he’d only known Martha for five minutes – not enough time to establish she’d be able to save his life.
OK, the episode showed us she knew he had two hearts and had steely determination, so he could have predicted that outcome – but considering she could have easily succumbed to collapsing through lack of oxygen like pretty much the rest of the hospital’s inhabitants (her continued capacity to act was put down to sheer adrenaline which, to be honest, I didn’t really buy either) then it was a major gamble for The Doctor to take.
Those were my only nits to pick in the episode, which was otherwise a strong, confident opening full of the verve and energy that makes the show rattle along and seem to pack in so much character reveal and plot exposition that don’t seem possible in the running time. A bit like the TARDIS, Doctor Who episodes are bigger on the inside than they are on the outside – and it was fun to see that oft-repeated phrase used here when Martha first encountered the iconic police box time machine.
What was the best part?
I really liked the nifty opening, actually. Zipping across phone calls between Martha’s family, interrupted with The Doctor showing up undoing his tie (an event that would later be revealed as his proof that he could travel in time) it was a terrific way of introducing us to a major new character with an effortlessly light flair.
What do I think will happen next?
As this is Doctor Who the episodes are often standalone affairs. There is little indication about what the over-riding plot arc of this 3rd series will be (if there even is one). Ostensibly this episode paired up The Doctor with his new companion, Martha, and set them off on adventures together. The next episode preview showed me they’re going to see Shakespeare; I can’t say I am looking forward to it, really!
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