“Doctor Who” is a long running British sci-fi show about a time lord who travels through space and time in a blue police box and some chick in tow. When I say long running, I mean 20 plus seasons. Fans of this show make “Star Trek” fans look normal. Anyway, BBC decided to jazz it up a couple of years ago and sort of reinvent the series. They kept most of the mythology in place, but gave newbies a chance to jump on board. Of course, Seamus and I were two of the first to jump on board when Sci-Fi announced they would be showing the series in America. The first two seasons rocked. We got good story lines (sometimes a little cheesy) and good acting. Half way through the second season we got word that his companion (the chick in tow) was leaving the show. Not good news for those of us who liked Rose Tyler. So, after the season finale of Season 2, I was a little hesitant to jump back on board for Season 3. Then, the Christmas episode happened.
“Doctor Who” will have Christmas episodes (in England, America gets them whenever), which are usually one-off episodes a few months prior to the new season kicking off. This episode was following the departure of Rose, so his partner in crime in this episode was Donna Noble (played by Catherine Tate). Let’s just say that it was show on Sci-Fi in September, and I didn’t watch another episode until January. I was horrified by the episode, and not in a good way. I have a genuine distaste for Catherine Tate now. So, I had little hope for Season 3.
When I finally got around to watching the first real episode of “Doctor Who”, I knew that his new companion would be Martha Jones and that Seamus had loved the season. Within 15 minutes of the first episode, I forgot who Rose Tyler was. I immediately fell in love with Martha Jones and felt she was the perfect chick in tow for the Doctor. From about “Human Nature” (episode 8) until the finale “Last of the Timelords” (episode 13), it was a non stop thrill ride. Let’s go over the episodes briefly.
“Human Nature” and “The Family of Blood” was a two part episode that had the Doctor become human in order to hide from a murderous alien family. He transports himself to 1913 England and brings Martha with him as his “servant”. He does not remember anything of his alien past, only remembers that he is an English school teacher. While there, he falls in love with a human nurse who works at the school. The end is heart-wrenching, as we see the life they would have had together if he stayed human. We also see how cold he can be when dealing with the alien family that hunted him down. The whole episode is painful, as we see the indignity that Martha must endure as a black servant in 1913 and seeing the man she loves fall for another woman. This is followed by “Blink”, probably one of the best episodes of “Doctor Who” ever, with the irony that the Doctor and Martha probably only have 1 minute of screen-time. Trapped back in 1969, the Doctor and Martha must rely on Sally Sparrow (unknown to everyone until now) to work out a way to get the Doctor his TARDIS, while battling against weeping angel statues. One, it is horribly frightening. Two, the end was great, when we are finally able to piece together how the Doctor was able to send Sally all those clues from the past. If Sally became a more regular contributor, no one would complain.
Now, we come to the “Utopia”/”The Sound of Drums”/”Last of the Time Lords” three part finale. It starts with old friend Captain Jack Harkness (of “Torchwood” fame) bumming a ride on the TARDIS with the Doctor and Martha to the end of time. When there, they help an old professor build a rocket to send his people to Utopia. We slowly find out that he is a time lord, who was turned human like the Doctor was earlier in the year. He reassumes his time lord identity (as The Master) and steals the TARDIS, leaving our heroes at the end of time. Jack has a time jumping device on his wrist that the Doctor fixes to jump back to present day. When they arrive, Harold Saxon (the Master) has just been elected Prime Minister of England. He has used his massive telecommunications empire as a time control device. Basically, he is paving the way for the Toclafane to invade earth. Why? We have no idea. The Doctor, Martha, and Jack infiltrate the Master’s base of operations, but get caught. The Master turns the Doctor into an old man, bound to a wheelchair, incapable of fighting. The Doctor whispers something to Martha, and then
arranges for her to escape. One year passes, and Martha has transformed herself into a freedom fighter and symbol of a huge resistance movement, talking to folks and spreading the word. The picture to the right is Martha as the freedom fighter (thank me later Seamus). Anyway, her and two members of the resistance catch a Toclafane (little metal orbs) and open it up to see what’s inside. Basically, what is inside is the improved version of the human’s that took the rocket ship to Utopia. They can kill humans but not effect their future because the Master has turned the TARDIS into a paradox machine, basically nullifying the “butterfly effect”. She then is shown huge rockets, which we learn the Master will use to wipe out other species throughout the galaxy in order to control the universe. Martha is then caught and brought before the Master. She sees the Doctor, who has been turned into something that looks like Gollum from “Lord of the Rings” (the Master advanced his age once again). It turns out this is exactly what Martha wanted. Before she escaped, the Doctor told her that if everyone thought of the word “Doctor”, it would somehow override the mind control device of the Master’s and he would become himself again. As Martha walked the Earth like Jules from “Pulp Fiction”, this was the story she told. So, long story short (too late), the Doctor becomes himself again, defeats the Master (who dies), they disable the Paradox Machine, and time gets sent back to just before the Toclafane invasion, with everyone (minus the Doctor, Martha, Jack, and Martha’s family) forgetting what happened. When they get back to Earth, Martha tells the Doctor that she can’t travel with him for now. She wants to get her medical degree. Also, she can’t stay in this one-sided relationship, where she loves him and he doesn’t see her. She gives him her cellphone and says when she calls, he better come running. With that, we come to an end.I loved it because it was just great human drama and magnificently written. I hated it because at the end, Martha leaves and paves the way for Donna Noble to return in Season 4. The only silver lining here is that Martha will show up in “Torchwood” for a couple of episodes and then in the last half of Season 4 of “Doctor Who” (along with a few episodes that will feature Rose). Do I love this show? Definitely. Everything this show offers is the main reason I love British TV.
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