Rate And Discuss 3.1: Smith And Jones

[SiHart]

This is the thread for all your thoughts about Smith and Jones, episode 1 of series 3.

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

Right, normal service has been resumed, I've fixed the cock up, so feel free to rate away!

Oh, and I thought it was a very good episode. They've got a shop!

[Larry]

also forgot to say I loved The Doctor's dismay at his Sonic Screwdriver going up in smoke before casualy tossing it over his shoulder.

[Milky Tears]

Oh, and I thought it was a very good episode. They've got a shop!

That was the best bit... along with the Quizmania/Planet Zovirax lines.

[Andrew Curnow]

We all liked the early bits where he kept on popping up - first on the street with his tie, and then unexpectedly in the hospital. And after last year's continual uncertainty, I've now fully stabilised and am really enjoying Tennant's Doctor.

Just wait, now I've said that he'll be announcing tomorrow that he's leaving!!

I didn't make much of the having a brother line (although I see now it's got its own thread). After all, he's explicity mentioned his family (in "Father's Day") and his son/daughter ("Fear Her") so the sense of his having been part of a 'normal' family in the past is hardly something new.

[Dirk Gently]

I gave it 6/10 for the reason given on the poll, fun but flawed.

Why was there normal gravity? Why no reflections on some of the windows? And the first scene on the moon with Martha & the other student Doctor the reflection was there but didn't move when Martha did?
What happened to the other Judoon? There were about 120 of them marching to th hospital but only about 10 make it.

Plus points, Nice little touches. Martha's conversation about her cousin in Canary Wharf, B. Stoker, The Slab's (solid leather ), the look of the moon, the kids will like the radiation dance & they'll start marking each other with pen, Plasmavore, Martha closing the eyes of Stoker.

Over all I thought it was a solid start even if it wasn't spectacular.

[Jonno]

Why no reflections on some of the windows?

Because it was a vampire story, silly!

[Stuart Wallis]

Not a bad start, certainly a better start than last year anyway. I'm starting to warm to Martha already, though whether her family are any good remains to be seen. I can see them being just as "soapy" as Rose's lot if they're not careful.

The Judoon were good, it would be nice to see them back if possible (and I'm sure that Nick Briggs would too!). I was very impressed with their spaceship; The Mill did a good job there.

The main problem I had was when the Judoon entered the forcefield - why didn't the air get out when they got in? At least the lack of air was addressed towards the end though.

[Carol Baynes]

I've been having a think about this, and I do now think that the new series might be missing something that the old series had. I've been watching a lot of season 18 and 19 recently so I can have a say in the PS poll, and there aren't many stories in the new series that I would re-watch with the enthusiasm I'd give to these, and I don't think that's all down to nostalgia. What I'd really like is for the new series to give us a few historical "Black Orchid" type stories or put a bit of the atmospheeric horror element back in there and slow things down just a little bit. Maybe even a really strange story with a lot of big ideas like "Warriors gate" once in a while; get the series to stretch itself once in a while. I know this is modern telly, but I also don't really want every story to go past at break neck speed. I also don't want to see or hear anything of the companions' family. They're on board the TARDIS and they shouldn't see their families again until their final epsiode in my opinion. Companions' families aren't my favourite inclusion, even if I didn't mind Rose's.

Apart from that I'm really enjoying the series, but those are my minor grievances.

[SiHart]

Very good. A nice opener to the season. I think Freema was great.

Si xx

[WhiteCrow]

Am I the only one who when the dark cloud surrounded the Hospital heard the tune Darkplace, Darkplace, Darkplace ...

[Rob McCow]

I gave this story 10 as there is now a Doctor Who character called 'Tish'.

Next week, I'm looking for one called 'Pish'.

[Logo Polish]

It was OK, it rattled through well enough. Set up feels a bit like Stones of Blood in a way. A villain on the run with a couple of henchmen/monsters in tow and bloodsucking involved (they were even called Slabs...not that different to large stones), being pursued by some extra-planetary justices with a habit of executing people who break the seals...I mean, attack them. There's even a bit where Martha tries to get them to scan Anne Reid to discover her true species/identity as with the Megara and the Cessair in the earlier story.

Anyway it was enjoyable, if lightweight.

[SiHart]

If only there'd been a reference to Plymouth...

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

Can your Plasmavore ride a bicycle?

I gave it 8 bloodsucking alien fugitives out of 10. Really enjoyable, and surprisingly hole-free plot for RTD. A promising, if unspectacular start for Freema and I REALLY took to the Judoon. I'm proud to welcome them to the ranks of classic Who monsters!

Si.

[Si Hunt]

Of course, that was Roy Marsden! I oddly recognised him as the neighbour in "Ever Decreasing Circles" but not as Danny Driscoll in "Only Fools". He was a bit too sinister, it made me suspect he was behind it all.

The sequence shaking the radiation out the shoes was surplus to requirements, I thought.

Si.

[Darren]

What I liked was that the Doctor actually looked a bit haggard when he regained conciousness and the fate of all the people in the hospital rested on the Judoon. Hopefully there will be less arrogance and self- assurance from the characters in this series to make the episodes more exciting.

[Perry Vale]

And DT didn't, iirc, say "I'm soooo sorry" to anybody.

I thought that was a nice touch, how it was Martha who thought to close Stoker's eyes when he was dead, a pointer towards how it was Rose who had made him 'more human' than he is.

[Ralph]

Just in case a lack of response is considered discourteous on a DW dedicated forum to the start of a new series I should explain I only caught the tail end of the episode on BBC3. To be honest I don't feel disadvantaged by such a turn of events though I will endeavour to catch the rest of the series. Therefore in the meantime I'll have to pick the default option of being a "don't know" and cannot vote.

[Perry Vale]

Just in case a lack of response is considered discourteous on a DW dedicated forum to the start of a new series I should explain I only caught the tail end of the episode on BBC3.

That was a good dinner date!

[Wayne]

Just in case a lack of response is considered discourteous on a DW dedicated forum to the start of a new series I should explain I only caught the tail end of the episode on BBC3. To be honest I don't feel disadvantaged by such a turn of events though I will endeavour to catch the rest of the series. Therefore in the meantime I'll have to pick the default option of being a "don't know" and cannot vote.

Like Perry says, that dinner date must've worked out well.
However, the episode is on again on BBC3 on Friday, Ralph.

[Milky Tears]

I'd like to point out that it wasn't me who voted 10/10...

or 9/10.

It wasn't that cool and awesome.

[Si Hunt]

what do we make of the Doctor mentioning having had a brother?

It's about time! Obviously the series is ABOUT a lone wanderer, so we don't want that to change, but it's ridiculous that fans baulk at the Doctor having relatives when it was a staple of the first series that he had a granddaughter! He's got, or had, a child. There's no fact more established in the entire series.

So the fact that he has a brother shouldn't be a revelation. And if it's who I think it's going to be, well then that just makes sense of a whole lot of things that otherwise don't.

Si.

[Larry]

It's about time! Obviously the series is ABOUT a lone wanderer, so we don't want that to change, but it's ridiculous that fans baulk at the Doctor having relatives when it was a staple of the first series that he had a granddaughter! He's got, or had, a child. There's no fact more established in the entire series.

So the fact that he has a brother shouldn't be a revelation. And if it's who I think it's going to be, well then that just makes sense of a whole lot of things that otherwise don't.

Si.

ah but that's always been a bit of a contentious point amongst fans as some will argue that it was never proved that he was Susan's biological grandfather but I think that's an argument for a different thread

[Jim]

Freema was the best thing about it - well pleased she is up to scratch - I don't think she is really like Rose at all which is going to be a nice change of direction.

Everything else was pretty great - I liked the pace of it - seemed like the fastest episode ever, really exciting. Not something you would want every week - but it felt like RTD got it right and aimed to hook a wide audience in.

The corridor running was welcome, as was the sinister old bag and there was something magical about the final scenes when Martha's bickering family were sidelined and Tennant peered out from behind the wall to take her to a better place!

I really liked New Earth and Rose - there aren't many eps I don't be honest so this ranks as another good season opener!