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I was not, I have to admit, looking forward to the start of a new series as much as I should have been. Previous RTD start of season scripts had been...how to phrase this politely? Lame. Amidst good jokes and ideas the episodes sort of hobbled along trying to get the science fiction out of the way as much as possible in case anyone fell asleep, before plunging with all the enthusiasm of an Pro-plussed toddler into the shallow end of the 'How to resolve all your plot threads' pool, before being asked to leave for splashing too much. This time, RTD has got sci-fi ideas that are fun, rather than the rather dull but worthy Human farms of New Earth and generic invasion of Rose so that while we get to know the character of Martha better we can also have a rollocking good time. Oh yes. So we get talking rhinos as policemen and have an alien race who are presented in a more interesting way that merely generic bad guys, which is always a good thing. Then we have Anne Reid playing a creepy old lady with a straw. This is a delightfully squeamish idea for adults, and an excuse for younger brothers who like annoying people (Yo) to run around trying to suck their elder sister's blood out of their neck with a bendy straw. Whoever said Doctor Who had to scare the crap out of children week in week out? Giving them some respite for a week, THEN scaring the bejeezus out of them works just as well. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The one thing that screamed at me from the screen during Smith and Jones was CONFIDENCE. Doctor Who is walking tall and proud, and from the very outset of this Series Three opener, it was evident that the show has got into its own stride with coat tails flapping behind in the wind. It's as if the production team from the three producers downwards have sent round a memo saying, "OK, we know what we're doing now, let's just do it." And they have, and it shows. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I must say right off that I thought it might be possible that this new Doctor Who episode may not be as good as the previous two seasons. I love David Tennant in the role and I think he is every bit as good as all the previous doctors (I have a tough time saying "the best" or even "one of the best" because I believe all 10 have had excellent episodes). That being said, I did grow a bit tired of 99% of the episodes of both the previous series being on Earth. Still, that is pretty much my only gripe with RTD's reboot of the series. Well, that and "Love and Monsters" from last season. "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday" were brilliant but maybe it's possible that the series might be getting a little dry, especially with the appearance of a new companion right off the bat. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Previous season openers and The Runaway Bride had individual opening scenes before the famous theme tune starts, but such a prelude was conspicious by its absence as we were immediately plunged into the time vortex and the tune which Captain Jack sung to such great effect during The Weakest Link the night before this episode was broadcast. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I thought it started really well and that it was going to better Army Of Ghosts (4/5), which I loved and rate as RTD's finest work to date. But alas Smith And Jones just went further and further downhill as it progressed. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Well... that was a better season opener then previous series. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yes, kids, we've finally made it. After months of rumor, speculation, spin-offs of varying degrees of success, and HYPE HYPE HYPE, we're at SEASON 3 and thus, by default, the return of the ONLY REVIEW THAT MATTERS. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Doesn't time fly when you're having fun? Remarkably, Smith and Jones was the 29th episode of the regenerated Doctor Who. So, how was this important opening episode of the third series? Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Like so...' Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series 3 had so much to prove. The astonishing departure of Rose, played so emotionally and brilliantly by David Tennant and Billie Piper, and an OK Christmas special meant that the stakes were really high for Series 3: especially with the arrival of a new companion. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Well that was a long wait over! I've been looking forward to David Tennant's second series with the eager anticipation of my inner (earthly) child. This time the wife and I hooked up with one of my oldest friends to watch Smith & Jones, and had a stimulating conversation beforehand about how we believe Tennant to be the best Doctor since Tom Baker...and how we dislike Michael Grade etc... Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After the hit and mostly miss of season two, I surprisingly found myself excited about the approach of season three. Perhaps with Torchwood and Primeval in the background, suddenly there seemed to be more fantasy TV on the box than for a long time. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Doctor's back, just in time to combat 'a platoon of Judoon on the moon.' Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
There's an old saying that what is past is prologue. That goes not only for the twenty-six years Doctor Who was a television staple, but also for the past two years, when spirits were high and Rose Tyler kicked Dalek butt across the cosmos and back. Indeed, Rose is now such a distant memory, it seems, that the one time her name comes up in "Smith and Jones" it feels like one of those fanwanky nods to the past that people complain about ten years on and everyone's moved away from the table toward other, more current pastures. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A fantastic opener, fantastic in the sense that it kick starts the show in exactly the right direction and deals a double blow to critics who have lost faith in the show. Taking the three opening episodes of series one, two and three this is easily the best of the lot, extremely confident with its identity and showing the audience that the series still has so much to offer. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
There was one moment where Smith and Jones had me worried. It came when the Doctor was discharging the radiation from his body after having killed the Slab with the x-ray machine. I had a horrible, horrible feeling from the way he was standing and talking that he was going to discharge the radiation by way of passing wind. I was cringing ready for it, but mercifully my fears proved groundless, and we ended up with the rather jolly bit about looking silly in one shoe. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No doubt there was a time when a whimsical pun would have been relegated to the closet of odd working titles prior to a more suitable title for a Who story being thought up. Instead, we get the working title for the title, while the far better one, Baptism of Fire, is filed away. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Whilst "Doomsday" may have bled straight into "The Runaway Bride," the first episode of Series Three feels much more like a clean sheet. Firstly, "The Runaway Bride" is given a stand-alone DVD release, separating it from the third series. Secondly, "Smith and Jones" begins without a pre-title sequence ? the first episode to do so since "Rose". And it makes sense. The Doctor makes jokes about having spent "fifteen years as a postman", and although I would only take that with a pinch of salt, there is no doubting that "Smith and Jones" is set long after the events of "The Runaway Bride". Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Taken on its own terms, this was probably the strongest of the three season openers so far. The idea of the huge hospital building suddenly appearing on the moon made for an arresting image (even if the ensuing hysterics didn't really ring true), and the big rhino fellahs looked great and had a real purpose, rather than just being ?baddies' killing for the sake of it. Anne Reid was deliciously evil too - the Doctor sacrificing himself to pollute her essence was an interesting plot point. (The reference to Planet Zovirax will be meaningless to anyone unfamiliar with a very specific British commercial about a cold-sore cream). This was definitely a better episode than the reheated-feeling Runaway Bride, with Martha Jones probably the most tolerable of the three female new series companions so far. The Doctor latching onto the resourceful and imaginative Martha, while rejecting her friend clearly not up to his standards, was nicely done and gave us a good window into his workings. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
'Smith and Jones', a highly encouraging start to Series 3, reflects an ongoing trend in 'Doctor Who' new series writing. The question I am left with after viewing is, when did Russell T Davis become a good writer? I suspect the answer is that he was all along, barring an infatuation with childish humour; it just never came out in his scripts with any consistency. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I ended up in a quite a foul mood after enduring the witless dross that was 'The Runaway Bride', so I approached the new series of Doctor Who with caution, especially since the opening episodes of the two previous seasons haven't been terribly good and were also written by Russell T. Davies. This being the case, 'Smith and Jones' was a very pleasant surprise, an enormously fun, solidly written romp, with which to introduce the new companion. ? Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series 3 kicks off with a bang, rather than the whimper which introduced us to Rose. Not that "Rose" was a bad episode ? it just had a big task; re-introducing The Doctor, The Tardis, introducing Rose, whilst still trying to squeeze in a Nestene invasion. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It is now fairly safe to say, that in a crowded room, perhaps in the middle of a bombastic party , conversation can be halted quite readily and changed dramatically by the simple utterance of the name of Russell T. Davies.? Uncle Russell moved into the household three years ago, bringing to the table? the? idea of resurrecting the tired DOCTOR WHO format, with? a sense of Fan Boy passion . Davies managed to do this, while retaining the critical respect he garnered? for previous escapades on British Television that had already left him on the lips of? the talk of the industrial crowd, like a lingering wine of very fine vintage.? He even managed to survive the Slitheen ! Davies is a unique mixologist taking elements of classic Doctor Who and tendering it against the lines of stark unapproachable, envelope ripping outrageousness that makes it thoroughly modern and mindlessly enjoyable to watch DOCTOR WHO. It has made DOCTOR WHO accessible to the masses and the success it is. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
So, series 3 of Doctor Who has finally began, and this is pretty much exactly as I expected the first episode to be.? Light-hearted, fun and chock-full of witty humour and comic aliens, as well as making the new assistant, Martha Jones, extremely likeable.? I was not surprised at the result of Smith and Jones, though I was perhaps slightly disappointed. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Good, overall. A nice little season opener. Filters: Television Series 3/29 Tenth Doctor |