Smith and Jones

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.

Now that Doctor Who is a popular mainstay of Saturday night television again, all that was required from the series 3 opener was a cracking adventure, which introduced us to the new companion. And she is good. We like you, Martha Jones. Educated enough to not be completely baffled by the Doctor, Martha is level-headed, yet feisty. Her training means that she can look at the events unfolding around her with a detachment that helps her to help the Doctor get the job done. Then, when disaster is averted, she finds the time to wonder.

As for action and drama, RTD delivers in spades. The opening shots of Martha travelling to work, with a cameo from the Doctor to whet our appetites, are well-paced. Roy Marsden delivers a superbly superior consultant. I'll come to the Jones family later, but the set up of Anne Reid as the disguised Plasmavore, the effects of the hospital being displaced, and the arrival of the Judoon happen so quickly that you cannot help but be swept up by it all.

The Judoon are well realised, with their own language (although, we have to ask why we have to wait for them to assimilate human speech ? surely the Doctor at least would be translating via the TARDIS). Although, it has to be said, that Nick Briggs is starting to become a little too familiar behind that vocoder. It seems that every being in the galaxy speaks like an electronically altered Briggs. Prior to this series, there were rumours about old monsters returning, including the Sontarans. It has to be said that apart from the rhino heads and leather skirts, the Judoon bear more than a passing resemblance to the stocky warmongers. Even the helmets are not dissimilar.

A note on the Doctor ? its nice to see that Tennant has toned down his portrayal, with the Roentgen expulsion the only slapstick moment in this one. Sometimes in series 2, he just went a little too OTT.

And now the downsides. Firstly, Martha's family. While I'm all for giving modern companions some depth, and a grounding in the here and now, do they all have to live their pre-Doctor life in a sort of Eastendersesque mini-soap?

Secondly, the Doctor, having apparently been asexual for the last 900years, suddenly fields the need to snog every female he meets ? he's more rampant than Captain Kirk. Again, I was not one of the HANG THE PRODUCERS brigade for the Mcgann movie, but since RTD brought the Doctor back, he's been positively promiscuous!

To be fair though, this was by far the strongest of the 3 season openers yet. Lets hope season 3 lives up to this kind of quality.