Holistic Review: One of those "only in Doctor Who" stories... not a standout, but a solid and entertaining plot with surprisingly interesting villains, and of course a new companion to adore!

When information began leaking out about Smith and Jones, my first impression was that it sounded fairly... average. The idea of a hospital being transported to the moon was fun, but nothing to write home about, and the Judoon (described in advance press as being like stormtroopers) sounded like little more than a Sontaran rehash. Fortunately, as an irresistible hook, it boasted the introduction of Martha Jones, which alone was enough to make me highly anticipate this episode. In the end, I feel like my initial impression was more or less correct - the hospital-on-the-moon is a cool setting and well used, but not especially thrilling - but, happily, Smith and Jones did exceed my expectations in several ways.

First and foremost, the Judoon. Instead of being nothing but Sontarans with rhinocerous horns glued on, their reveal as intergalactic policemen / mercenaries makes them quite interesting indeed. Instead of being simply token monsters, they have real honest-to-goodness motivations, and a plot function that is not only useful, but which also has long-term potential. I honestly wouldn't mind seeing them make return appearances, if only because their role in the series is one which could prove to be quite useful. After all, they might even be allied with the Doctor in the future... he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, from what we hear of their language ("Bo sto fo to no kro blo ko so ro!"), it needs more vowels at the very least.

Then we have the Plasmavore. An uninspiring name, calling to mind the Plasmatons of Time-Flight... buuuut, bloodsucking monsters have always been my favorite, so I figured it stood a good chance of being successful. And then it went and got played by Anne Reid, and all thoughts of failure went straight out the window. I have to say, I enjoyed her in The Curse of Fenric, but she was just a revelation here. Were the two leads not in this story, she would make it completely watchable all by herself. I adore the fact that the Plasmavore may be an evil bloodsucking fiend, but it looks like a sweet, slightly dotty older lady with a clutch handbag... and no fangs or razor-sharp claws here, nope! It uses a drinking straw! Priceless, and a great new twist on vampirism. Now that drinking straws are scary, perhaps I should go back and re-evaluate the Ood. I love most every line she delivers once her evil self is revealed - particularly the way she smacks her lips after "Who better than a consultant with blood full of salty fats and vintage wines and all those Michelin star sauces?", the nutty wickedness of "Look! I've even brought a straw." and "Call it my little gift." And I have to say - given the Anne Reid connection, check out the scene in which the smugly evil Plasmavore orders her two flanking Slab servants to restrain Stoker so that she can drink his blood. Isn't it cool how closely that mirrors the scene in which the smugly evil Fenric gets revenge on Nurse Crane by sending his flanking haemovores to drain her blood? Right down to the scream! I must wonder if it was on purpose. And if Anne was glad to be on the other side of the desk this time.

Now that I've oh-so-gradually segued into talking about the actors, how cool is David Tennant? He is unquestionably up there in the watchability ranks with Patrick Troughton and Tom Baker, and I begin to think that he has more range than either of them. I know, it sounds like heresy! But, gosh. That man has never met an intonation contour he didn't like. He gives such a hilarious performance as the hapless, bewildered human who innocently stumbles upon the Plasmavore's plan, only to rave about space rhinos and his wife back home. His false incredulity when he "discovers" he's meeting an alien is fantastic. Love the way the Doctor starts assessing Martha the moment he realizes that she's actually coping with the situation and trying to help others, rather than panicking like everyone else. Nice touch of continuity that he appreciates the hospital's "little shop". And you know something I've been loving for a while now? The way his teeth clack when he chomps his jaws shut. Why does that tickle me so?

Which of course brings us to our newest TARDIS tenant: the delightful Martha Jones, who already has two character advantages over our dearly departed Rose. One: She is "not remotely interested" in the Doctor romantically (although her glee at the kiss, and her slightly-crestfallen expression when the Doctor approves of her lack of interest, do make me wonder if she's completely telling the truth). After 11 years of Grace, Sam, Charley and Rose lusting after the Doctor, this - to put it mildly - thrills me to bits. Two: When a very rude bloke bumps into her in front of the hospital and practically pushes her off the sidewalk, her response is "Oi! Watch it, mate!"... and she says it with a smile! She's easygoing and forgiving! I love her!!! I'm not even sure that my dear Willow Rosenberg, Goddess of Easygoing and Forgiving, would have reacted that way. And, continuing in the grand tradition of companions, Martha is bright, quick, asks intelligent questions, and can run down corridors beautifully. She also, thank goodness, seems to be of an optimistic disposition that might even rival Mel - stranded on the moon, with no apparent means of having gotten there, Martha is nevertheless confident that they will find a way back, even before she realizes that the man standing next to her is an extraterrestrial genius. Martha doesn't seem to have a deep longing to travel the world, but if her reaction to the moon is anything to go by, she's certainly not going to pass up the opportunity if she's presented with it. We may just find that she likes it even more than she thinks. It's super that she realizes what's happened and gets to unmask the Plasmavore at the end. I love that she realizes that the Doctor was willing to give his life so that the Plasmavore could be captured, and having had this epiphany, is willing to give her last breath to save him (and, by extension, half the human race). An interesting point to consider is that if Martha hadn't been there, the Doctor would unquestionably have regenerated - if not from having his blood drained, then from the Plasmavore's giant magnetic weapon. In fact, given that he was stranded so far from the TARDIS with complete vacuum in between, he might have died for good. So, way to go, Martha! Freema's quite a good actress, giving some great reaction shots throughout - my favorite by far is the look on her face as the TARDIS rematerializes, ranging from shock and confusion to shock and fascination. And doesn't she just seem like a total sweetheart? I love her total enthusiasm for this role.

Roy Marsden is quite charming as Stoker, who seems like a really great instructor. Even when his students are constantly messing up, he seems able to correct them with a sense of humor rather than a condescending attitude. Like him a lot. I was also very fond of Morgenstern, who came across as a nice lad who was genuinely concerned for his patients - although, given his decision to spout revisionist history to the news reporters at the end, I'm not sure I was supposed to feel that way about him. It's a little too early to tell what I think of Martha's family, although my first impressions are positive across the board. Special mentions go to Kimmi Richards (Annalise is like Jackie-Lite! ...but worse!) and Trevor Laird (for already being leagues better than he was in Mindwarp... let me tell you, that was not my favorite piece of casting news ever). And oh, don't I feel stupid. I kept thinking, gosh, Martha's mother sure reminds me of someone... and, duh, she's Adjoa Andoh, ex-cat-nun Sister Jatt. Put a few whiskers on her and I'd have recognized her immediately.

Aside from the interesting Fenric connections I mentioned above (and here's another - the thunderclap as the hospital is snatched sounds just like it could have come from that story! Did they re-use the effect...?!), check out how many similarities this story has to The Stones of Blood. We have an intergalactic criminal on the lam hiding on Earth by disguising herself as an ordinary human woman. She's being pursued by singleminded enforcers of justice, who are initially taken in by her false identity, until one of the characters is knocked unconscious and the criminal is scanned as a result. Meanwhile, the Doctor's companion is transferred off the Earth using an energy beam, a bloodsucking alien attacks a dark-haired girl named Martha who likes long white outerwear, and a slightly batty old lady repeatedly spends time enjoying her favorite beverage. They're practically the same story!

Murray Gold turns in another average score - it's not going to knock your socks off, but more importantly, it's no assult to the ears either. And, yippee, Martha's theme is fantastic! Melanie Pappenheim has a lovely voice. Some very nice effects here. Aurally, I love the sound that accompanies the zipper moving back and forth after the Doctor X-rays a Slab to death and it topples onto the floor, and the effect of the oxygen running out. Visually, the Judoon spaceships have an excellent design, and their masks are just great! I can't tell you how glad I am that most of the monsters are still being done with practical effects rather than CGI. After all that nonsense with Nestenes and Jagrafesses and werewolves and Krillitanes, monsters like the Empress of Racnoss and the Judoon are so refreshing. Speaking of CGI, on first viewing, the shot of the Doctor thowing a rock into the forcefield looked odd, as if the motion had been slowed down, but maybe it was a fault with the recording, because it seemed fine on subsequent viewings. And a very subtle effect: check out the reflection of the arcing electricity in the Plasmavore's eyes as she stares at the MRI machine. Super cool, and so well done! One effect I wish they'd done, though, is to have blood dripping out of the Plasmavore's straw when she plucks it from the Doctor mid-sip. I suppose it would have been icky, and possibly hard to realize, but it would have been much more believable than no spillage whatsoever. Incidentally, I also wonder why they didn't make the all-black-with-big-helmets Slab costumes more distinct from the all-black-with-big-helmets Judoon costumes. Some color difference would have been nice - perhaps a dark blue for the Judoon, seeing as how they're intergalactic policemen and all? Or something red? I bet rhinos like red.

Not a story that makes you go "wow, who directed this?" but Charles Palmer includes some very nice shots: notably, the shot of the Doctor carrying Martha down the hall, the shot of Martha reminiscing as she listens to Morgenstern's interview on the radio (nice acting by Freema there), and the great shot of the moon reflected in a puddle.

Minor points:

• What are the chances that Martha's entire family chooses the same five-minute window in which to call her? Perhaps they all know that the only time to catch her is when she's walking from the bus stop to the hospital.

• First time through, none of us quite heard the Doctor's "Like so. See?" properly. What we mostly heard was "Lasso. Tea?" which made no sense whatsoever! No wonder poor Martha was bewildered.

• Why is it, exactly, that only Martha seems to give the all-black Evel-Knievel-lookalike Slabs a curious glance, while the rest of the hospital staff and patients act as if nothing at all is odd about them?

• A slightly alarming quote! Please don't tell me we're bringing back that hoary old "the Master was the Doctor's brother!" idea:

  Martha: "Well, that's weird, 'cause it looked like you. Have you got a brother?"
  Doctor: "No, not any more. Just me."

• If I were a medical instructor, showing my students the proper way to diagnose patients and asking them to demonstrate their health-care knowledge, I don't think any of my questions would be along the lines of "who discovered electricity?" Is that really important?

• Given that we have an unnatural CGI cloud swirling over the (presumably) CGI hospital, I adore that Tish tells Martha that it looks like the kind of crazy raincloud you see in cartoons! But, I do wonder: how is it that Tish can tell, at quite a distance from this relatively small cloud, that the rain is going up? I can't see any rain at all from her perspective.

• Does the hospital not suffer any structural damage at all during this transfer to the moon? It certainly seems to shake things up, and the cabinets look like they've seen better days.

• I like the realism in the fact that most of the patients and staff go a bit mad on finding themselves suddenly transported to the moon. Of course we like to think we'd take it in stride, but - the moon! Nowhere near home, and distinctly lacking in oxygen! With no way back! Aaaaaaah! So that was a nice touch.

• Speaking of "lacking in oxygen", we'd been wondering why the air hadn't immediately whooshed out of the hospital, too, so it was nice to see that Martha got the same idea and went to check. Of course, I don't think I would have gone so far as to call Martha's idea "brilliant", given that our whole roomful of people thought of it several seconds before Martha apparently did. Then again, she did have other things on her mind, so we can cut her some slack.

• I kind of like this idea that the companions of 2007 have an easier time believing in the existence of extraterrestrials. It should make for an intriguing new dynamic. Of course, it does make you wonder, if UNIT and the government were able to so successfully cover up every single spaceship landing and alien invasion in the past (even when London was completely evacuated for both Yeti and dinosaurs), have they all just fallen asleep at the post now, or do they figure it's just not worth trying any more? Or did they just say "Okay Torchwood, you take care of it from now on" and Torchwood was all "What's that you say? Sorry, we're kind of busy trying to figure out a cutesy rhyming name for this mysterious alien powder that increases sexual desire."

• Glad that Adeola gets a mention! I'd been betting on a twin sister, but cousin works just as well. I note with interest that while the Doctor admits he was at the Battle of Canary Wharf, he does not mention that he was the one who yanked Adeola's brain out. Probably just as well.

• Great lines!

  Martha: "What, people call you 'the Doctor'?"
  Doctor: "Yeah."
  Martha: "Well, I'm not. Far as I'm concerned, you've got to earn that title."
  Doctor: "Well, better make a start then."

• The Judoon's language-translation system initially seemed to be one of those impossibly-sophisticated ones that can translate an entire language based on a sentence's worth of speech (I'm looking at you, Sycorax!). But it looks like they actually have an Earth English translation matrix on file, they just needed a sample of the speech to identify it. Although, hello - you snatch a hospital from England, on Earth, what did you expect them to speak? Skonnosian? (Love the implication that, just like there are other world Englishes, there are apparently also other universal Englishes... although that idea would make a lot more sense in the future after the Great Breakout than it does here, unless we assume that somehow Englishmen have already started colonizing other planets and developing interstellar dialects by 2007.)

• The Doctor's "No, but I like that. Good thinking!" is very reminiscent of the similar scene between himself and Rose in Rose, as they discuss whether the Autons could have been a student prank.

• I was a bit shocked at first that the Doctor proudly admitted to having killed a Slab - but then it turned out it wasn't apparently alive in any real sense anyway, so that made it all okay.

• I love these little things that make the Doctor seem so much more than human (and, for that matter, hard to kill) - like his admission to Martha that "We used to play with roentgen bricks in the nursery."

• More fantastic acting from Tennant - he really gives it 120%, doesn't he?!

  Doctor: "All I need to do is... expel it. If I concentrate... shift the radiation... out my body and into one... spot. It's in my left shoe. Here we go. Here we go. Easy does it. Out! Out! Out out out! Out out out, ah - ha! ha! ha! Itches, itches, itches, itches! Oh, mmm, grunt, hold on - done!"
  (Having removed his shoe, he throws it into the nearest garbage bin.)
  Martha: "You're completely mad."
  Doctor: "You're right. I look daft in one shoe."

• The sonic screwdriver is destroyed! This would have been much more of a surprise if Doctor Who: The Inside Story hadn't given it away by printing a sketch of the destroyed screwdriver with the caption "One victim of the Judoon's plans during the first episode of the third series appears to be the Doctor's trusty sonic screwdriver, going by this concept picture by Peter McKinstry." Thanks for that. I was surprised that they did it, given that (a) the powers-that-be in the JNT era decided that it was too powerful a "get out of jail" card, but (b) RTD views it as an indispensable narrative shortcut. What made him change his mind? But then, of course, by the end of the episode, a brand new sonic screwdriver was unveiled. Which makes me wonder, what was the reasoning behind burning it up? They apparently didn't change it out for a new style of prop. Was it just to give the kiddies a bit of a fright? It would have been interesting to see the Doctor have to cope for a few stories without a sonic screwdriver, but instead we just got one lock having to be turned by hand, and one unplugging, whch was probably faster than using the sonic screwdriver anyhow.

• I wonder how exactly Finnegan manages to assimilate Stoker's blood so that it makes her appear completely human on the Judoon scans even though her entire physiology (one assumes) is alien. After all, if the Judoon can detect mere traces of alien DNA on Martha's lips, surely their scans must be pretty detailed?

• Interestingly, Martha seems to forget about the two-hearts thing pretty quickly (fortunately, she does remember about it at just the right time in the end), but I do love that this leads to the moment in which Martha expresses doubt about the Doctor's extraterrestrial nature, and immediately a squadron of Judoon show up to prove her wrong.

• The Judoon's "thick" tendency to assume that floors, once searched, no longer need to be searched again reminds me of something. But I can't decide what. The nearest I can think of is the Cleaners' search-and-destroy mission in Paradise Towers, but the implication there was that the lower floors became unfit for human occupancy, so of course nobody tried to duck around them. Maybe it's not even something from Doctor Who that I'm thinking of. The Robots of Death, perhaps, with the Vocs searching the ore hoppers? That must be it.

• I'm a little confused as to what exactly the Doctor thinks a Plasmavore will do with an MRI. Is he saying "if I were ever evil, and being pursued by the police in a hospital, I too would create a powerful electromagnetic weapon"?

• If the Doctor's so worried that Martha is going to misinterpret his kiss... then why does he kiss her? Surely licking her cheek would have had the same effect (and been more in character for this particular Doctor); then again, I don't suppose that would have been much less confusing. He could have spit on her, there's a way to convey "I'm not interested in dating you" like nothing else.

• When the Plasmavore expresses a need to appear more human, why does the Doctor suggest taking her home to meet the wife and have cake? I'm not quite sure I understand the connection. You can take a rhododendron home to meet your wife and have cake, but it doesn't make it look human. (It probably won't have much cake, either, so there's more for you! Hurrah!)

• Ooh! Martha gets compensation from the Judoon - for what, being unnecessarily subjected to a more intense scan? (Perhaps this is where the oft-mentioned deleted underwear scene was meant to take place... now that's a good reason for compensation!) I hope she gets to redeem it at some point in the future. Watch it be the key to the events of the finale.

• How do the Judoon figure out so swiftly that the alien is a Plasmavore? If she shows up as any kind of non-human, surely it ought to be a Time Lord? Maybe they can set their equipment to perform a deeper scan, and they just didn't assume it would be necessary... but given that it doesn't seem to be that much slower than a regular scan, you'd think they would have done that to begin with. (Perhaps it's a setting 3 scan.)

• Ooookay, so we have one real clunker of dialogue here:

  Finnegan: "She was begging for the bite of a Plasmavore!"

  Aside from the eye-rolling nature of it, since when do Plasmavores bite? Shouldn't that line be "She was begging for the unwanted jugular insertion of a straw of a Plasmavore"?

• I tell you what, this must surely rank among the Easiest Megalomaniacal Plans to Foil that the Doctor has ever encountered. Stopping the Plasmavore's reign of terror amounts to... unplugging a machine. Shame she didn't learn anything from the Doctor's encounter with the Krillitanes, or that might have been avoided.

• Why does the Doctor expect the Judoon to reverse the H2O beam and send the hospital back to Earth? They think a giant electromagnetic bomb is about to go off and fry everyone inside - so why bother? Unless they can detect that the buildup has stopped? (Or, alternatively, they saw it stop with their own eyes, given that it was producing all that blue electrical crackling on the hospital exterior.)

• When Martha watches the Doctor step into the TARDIS, it dematerializes awfully fast - it seems to vanish in the blink of an eye!

• Ahhh, a mention of Saxon on the radio, followed by a couple of posters. Having learned a couple of weeks ago pretty much exactly what this means (mere hours after Roni offhandedly mentioned "I already know the buzzword for season 3", to which I replied, "You do?! I don't!"), I shall be interested to watch it develop.

• Great delivery by Adjoa Andoh, re: Annalise... and if she really did only get Leo a 75p bar of soap for his birthday, then she truly deserved it:

  Francine: "Since when did you watch the news? You can't handle Quizmania!"

• Cackle!

  Doctor: "I'm a Time Lord."
  Martha: "Right! Not pompous at all, then."

• I have to say: I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way that the Doctor proved his ability to travel in time! That was brilliant! At first, when the Doctor denied having just met Martha in the street, I assumed he must be lying... some kind of little trick. But this was so much better, what a great thing to appreciate with hindsight. Well written, Russell T!

• And then of course there's Martha's great reaction to the above, and the Doctor's hilarious reply:

  Martha: "No, but - that was this morning! But - did you - oh my God, you can travel in time! But, hold on, if you could see me this morning, why didn't you tell me not to go in to work?"
  Doctor: "Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden. Except for cheap tricks."

• We see where all the best quotes are clustered, don't we?

  Doctor: "It's called the TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space."
  Martha: "Your spaceship's made of wood."

• Martha's "All on your own?" sounds like it could've come straight out of Rose's mouth.

• I like that the Doctor only has one trip planned with Martha. Mwahahahahaha. We'll see how long that lasts. (Probably only the next episode!)

• I think the Doctor should use this excuse all the time. And Martha's reply is a hoot:

  Martha: "Well, you're the one that kissed me."
  Doctor: (glaring) "That was a genetic transfer."
  Martha: "Well, if you will wear a tight suit..."

• Yay, the helmic regulator from The Ark in Space and the gravitic anomalizer from RTD-favorite The Horns of Nimon get a look-in! Lovely!

• Martha's rocky-TARDIS welcome aboard is very reminiscent of Peri's, although at least poor Peri only had to suffer one lurch. I'd say this bodes well for the future, but I'm already envisioning a bright and happy future anyway.

So, it may not have been a "wow!" story, but it was fun and well-paced, and between the performances (Tennant, Agyeman and Reid) and the cool new monsters, Smith and Jones definitely comes out as exciting entertainment and a lively start to the season.