Who is the Tenth Doctor’s best companion? Excluding those troublesome boys Mickey & Captain Jack1 then you are left with Rose, Martha & Donna. Rose gets all the (deserved) plaudits for bringing the companion role bang up to date for the 21st Century, while Donna gets celebrated for the companion who is not in the thrall of The Doctor and not afraid to stand up to him. But it’s Martha that wins for me, slap bang in the middle and giving us the best of both worlds. She’s the woman who walked the Earth, looked after the Doctor when he was human, fell in love with him and then left him on her own terms. She’s the only one of RTD’s companions that gets to do this, with Rose been torn away (although she gets her happy ending) and Donna forgetting how to be a nice person without a man in her life. Martha’s agency is what sets her above her peers. Well, that and the fact that she’s just bloody marvellous!!!
Martha shows her mettle right from her very first episode. Which she has to do, doesn’t she? There’s a trend and a theme in both Moffat & RTD times that companions have to earn their spurs, that they have to interview for their place in the TARDIS. No more taking in waifs & or anyone who strays into the TARDIS, you have to be worthy2. So Martha’s audition involves being trapped in a hospital that is transported to the Moon and invaded by Space Rhinos and vampire grannies and having to survive. But to be a companion, she has to do more than survive, she has to thrive – she has to not only come out on top but enjoy the adventure. Saving The Doctor’s life with her dying breath isn’t enough: she needs the scene on the balcony to show him that this is a life she can deal with. Martha arguably goes through more than any other companion, from being kidnapped in the future, to nearly thrown into a burning sun, to being subjected to racist abuse as she watches the man she loves fall for another. On top of that she has to watch her family be tortured by The Master for a year, but still find the strength to spend a year avoiding capture & spreading the word. Hell yeah she’s the best…!!!
The story has a lot to do, so it’s understandable that the plot itself isn’t massively taxing. It could be seen as a base-under-siege but there’s precious little siege, and there’s no unhinged commander – no one’s really in control bar Martha & The Doctor. But it never feels lightweight, with the introduction of The Judoon adding that little extra – no wonder these would come back more than once. Special shout out has to go to Anne Reid, who comes back after Fenric with a delightfully camp performance to lift Florence Finnegan from something that could have been one note to something special.
But, this is Martha’s story. It could be called “Martha” just as much as “Smith & Jones” as it shares a lot of DNA with “Rose”: it’s an introduction to The Doctor through the eyes of the companion, as he invades their workplace, bringing terror with him. Martha’s first meeting with The Doctor – the tie gag – is a deft little touch; Rusty doesn’t do timey-wimey much, so it’s always nice when he does. We also have the RTD info dump in the first few minutes as we find out all about Martha’s family through one phone call. And we can’t celebrate Martha without praising Freema Agyeman: it’s no wonder she’s went on to carve a career for her self in America, she nails Martha from the very beginning. And we can’t let Murray Gold go without a mention too: his theme for Martha is gorgeous. Finally: The Doctor gets a new suit, which will be handy for next year.
Smith & Jones is very much a comfort blanket sort of story for me: I can watch it anytime, no matter how I’m feeling, and enjoy it. It’s a fancy free, uncomplicated slice of Doctor Who, and RTD’s best season opener in my book – and that’s why it lands so high on this list 😊
COMING TOMORROW: “Have you ever thought what it’s like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension…?”
Skies Full of Diamonds 