Smith and Jones (Doctor Who)

179 – "Smith and Jones"
Doctor Who episode
File:Smith and Jones.jpg Martha Jones looks on as the Doctor, posing as John Smith, is scanned and identified as non-human by the Judoon in the hospital upon the Moon.
Cast
Doctor David Tennant (Tenth Doctor)
Companion Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones)
Others Anne Reid – Florence Finnegan Roy Marsden – Mr Stoker Adjoa Andoh – Francine Jones Gugu Mbatha-Raw – Tish Jones Reggie Yates – Leo Jones Trevor Laird – Clive Jones Kimmi Richards – Annalise Ben Righton – Oliver Morgenstern Vineeta Rishi – Julia Swales Paul Kasey – Judoon Leader Nicholas Briggs – Judoon Voices
Production
Directed by	Charles Palmer
Written by	Russell T Davies
Script editor	Simon Winstone
Produced by	Phil Collinson
Executive producer(s)	Russell T Davies Julie Gardner
Production code	3.1
Series	Series 3
Running time	45 minutes
First broadcast	31 March 2007
Chronology
← Preceded by "The Runaway Bride" Followed by → "The Shakespeare Code"

"Smith and Jones" is the first episode of the third series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 31 March 2007. It sees the debut of Freema Agyeman as new companion Martha Jones. Agyeman had previously appeared as Adeola in "Army of Ghosts".

The episode sees the Doctor (David Tennant) meeting Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), a medical student at Royal Hope Hospital. The hospital is transported to the Moon, whereupon the Doctor and Martha must contend with a Plasmavore posing as Florence Finnegan (Anne Reid), as well as the Judoon (voiced by Nicholas Briggs), who are hunting for Finnegan.

The episode was the first to feature Martha's family, her mother Francine (played by Adjoa Andoh), father Clive (Trevor Laird), sister Tish (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), and brother Leo (Reggie Yates).

The episode was shot mainly in August 2006, with Singleton Hospital and the University of Glamorgan doubling as the fictional Royal Hope Hospital. The Judoon were prosthetics; for budget reasons only one Judoon is seen to take his helmet off.

According to the BARB figures this episode was seen by 8.7 million viewers and was the ninth most popular broadcast on British television in that week. It garnered an Appreciation Index of 88.

Plot

Synopsis

Martha Jones is a particularly astute medical student. On her way into work at a London hospital, she bumps into a strange man (the Doctor) who pauses in front of her and removes his tie, saying, "Like so, see?". When she arrives at work, she again meets the Doctor, who is lying in bed posing as a patient under the name John Smith. He is unaware of seeing Martha earlier in the morning.

A brutal mercenary police force, the rhinoceros-like Judoon, who have no jurisdiction on Earth, transport the hospital to the Moon using a "H₂O Scoop" in order to apprehend and execute Florence Finnegan, a shapeshifting, bloodsucking Plasmavore with the ability to appear as whatever species whose blood she consumes. As soon as the hospital is in position, the cylindrical Judoon ships land and the troopers march into the building (due to their bodily shape and heavy footwear, their motion is referred to throughout the script as "yomping"). The Judoon begin scanning everyone in the hospital, cataloguing the humans whilst attempting to find the non-human criminal. Finnegan attempts to evade capture by sucking the blood of humans. Her first victim is Mr Stoker, the head doctor, and consequently she registers as a human when scanned by Judoons. The Doctor is identified as "non-human" and thus is thought to be the fugitive by the Judoon, forcing him and Martha, with whom he teamed up shortly after arriving on the Moon, to flee.

The Doctor and Martha discover Stoker's body drained of blood which confirms the Doctor's suspicion that a Plasmavore is in the hospital, this in turn explaining the Doctor's presence there to the audience. The Doctor kisses Martha, performing a "genetic transfer" which provides her with traces of contact with a non-human. He leaves her behind to be fully scanned by Judoon, providing him with more time as he goes in pursuit of the Plasmavore. Thinking the Doctor is human, Finnegan sucks his blood causing him to collapse unconscious, presumed dead. Judoons arrive and confirm the non-human is deceased. Martha enters, realises that Finnegan has absorbed non-human blood, grabs a Judoon's scanner and identifies Finnegan as non-human. Confirming Finnegan is a Plasmavore, the Judoon execute her for the murder of the child princess of Padrivole Regency Nine.

Before expiring, Finnegan modified an MRI scanner to make it destroy all life on the Moon and on the half of Earth facing the Moon except herself, thus allowing her to use the Judoon ships to escape. Their job done, the Judoon evacuate. Martha uses CPR on the Doctor's two hearts and manages to revive him, and he turns off the scanner. Oxygen levels are low and the occupants of the hospital are near death but, as they depart, the Judoon return the hospital safely to Earth.

Martha attends her brother's birthday party, but it breaks down into a family row. She notices the Doctor outside and follows him. He goes to the TARDIS and invites Martha to go on a trip with him as a reward for her help. Martha hesitates until the Doctor says he can travel in time as well, and proves it by travelling back to the previous morning and taking off his tie in front of Martha (later explaining, "Crossing into established events is strictly forbidden--except for cheap tricks"). After this demonstration, Martha steps into the TARDIS (noting that it's bigger on the inside). The Doctor refers to Rose Tyler and emphasises that Martha is not replacing her but is only going to get one trip as he prefers to travel alone.

Cast notes

• Freema Agyeman previously played Adeola Oshodi in "Army of Ghosts" (2006).
• Adjoa Andoh previously appeared as Sister Jatt in the Tenth Doctor episode "New Earth" (2006).
• Anne Reid previously appeared as Nurse Crane in the Seventh Doctor story The Curse of Fenric (1989).
• Trevor Laird previously appeared as Frax in the Sixth Doctor story Mindwarp (1986).
• Roy Marsden previously appeared in the Eighth Doctor audio drama Human Resources.

Continuity

• Martha asks the Doctor if he has a brother and he replies, "Not any more". A brother to the Doctor was previously mentioned in the spin-off New Adventure novel Tears of the Oracle by Justin Richards, which was edited by Simon Winstone, script editor for this episode. The brother's name, or at least the name he used, was Irving Braxiatel.
• Though the Doctor recognises the Judoon, this is their first appearance in the Doctor Who universe.
• Morgenstern refers to a "Saxon" during his radio broadcast, claiming that the events of the episode prove Saxon's theories about alien life correct. A "Vote Saxon" poster, identical to one seen in the Torchwood episode "Captain Jack Harkness", and also in the trailer for the series, can be seen in the alleyway when the Doctor collects Martha. 'Mr Saxon' became the running theme for the third series, which came to its conclusion in the episodes "Utopia", The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords".
• The alias "John Smith" was given to the Doctor by Jamie McCrimmon in the serial The Wheel in Space and has been used as an alias by the Doctor on multiple occasions since, most notably during his third incarnation. Prior to this episode, his most recent use of the alias was in "School Reunion".
• At one point, the Doctor wears the same dressing gown he wore in "The Christmas Invasion", which originally belonged to Jackie Tyler's friend, Howard.
• Martha refers to the spaceship crashing into Big Ben in "Aliens of London", the events of "The Christmas Invasion" or "The Runaway Bride", and the Battle of Canary Wharf against the Cybermen from "Army of Ghosts". She also recalls the loss of her cousin Adeola who "worked at Canary Wharf" and disappeared (a reference to the "Army of Ghosts" character played by the same actress).
• The Doctor voices his approval of the hospital shop, a reference to "New Earth".
• The Doctor grabs Martha's hand and says, "Run!" when the Slabs burst through the door. This echoes a similar moment between the Ninth Doctor and Rose in "Rose".
• The Doctor facetiously asks for a banana milk shake. He previously mentioned the fruit in "The Doctor Dances" and "The Girl in the Fireplace".
• The Doctor's resistance to radiation seems to have improved since Planet Of The Spiders: the Third Doctor was weakened by the radiation emitted by the Metebelis crystals, forcing his third regeneration, whereas in this episode, he is able to focus Runken radiation into his left shoe.
• The events of this episode are revisited in the 2008 episode "Turn Left" where Martha, Sarah Jane Smith, Luke Smith, Maria Jackson and Clyde Langer are killed stopping the Plasmavore in a parallel timeline. In that timeline, Oliver Morgenstern is the only survivor.
• Julia Swales is mentioned as working at the CERN research facility in the Torchwood spin-off audio play "Lost Souls".

Production

This is the first episode not to have a pre-credits sequence since the Ninth Doctor episode "Rose" (another series opener, also introducing a new companion). The next series opener, "Partners in Crime", would also have no pre-credits sequence.

Filming

Filming took place mainly in August 2006, with additional work done in September, October and November of that year. The hospital was filmed in several places over August - the School of Sciences at the University of Glamorgan was used, as well as parts of Singleton Hospital in Swansea, and Usk Valley Business Park. The verandah and the staff kitchen were shot in the Doctor Who production team's studios at Upper Boat, Trefforest.

The alley at the end where the TARDIS was parked was filmed in Pontypridd in September 2006. The scenes featuring Martha's family were recorded in October 2006, also mainly in Pontypridd. The street scenes with Tish at the start of the episode were filmed on Queen's Street in Cardiff in October.

The overall shape of the hospital was also modified to resemble the more square shape of St Thomas' Hospital. Early in the episode, a shot of the front of Singleton Hospital is seen where part of the building has been removed and an image of the London Eye added to make it appear that the hospital is in the location of St. Thomas'.

Music

The first use of Martha's theme in the music for the episode is sung by Melanie Pappenheim according to the Doctor Who Confidential episode "Meet Martha Jones". She previously featured in "The Doctor's Theme", "Bad Wolf Theme" and "Doomsday".

The music at the start of the episode, when Martha is talking on the phone to her family, is "Sunshine" by Arrested Development.

Outside references

• Martha refers to Zovirax, a cold sore treatment. In the television advertisements for Zovirax a woman goes about her daily routine hiding her cold sores by wearing a motorbike helmet similar to those worn by the Slabs.
• The Doctor says that he once had a laser spanner which was stolen by Emily Pankhurst, who he refers to as 'a cheeky woman'. Emmeline Pankhurst was one of the founders of the early 20th century British Suffragette movement.
• The Doctor implies that he assisted Benjamin Franklin during his famous 1752 electricity experiment involving lightning, a kite and a key.
• 'Mrs. Finnigan', the Plasmavore, is found drinking Mr. Stoker's blood. Mr. Stoker was intended by Russell T Davies to be a reference to the character Mr Stoker in his 1989 series Children's Ward. However, the design department saw this as a reference to Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, so the sign 'B. Stoker' was placed on the office door during production.

Broadcast and reception

Publicity and broadcast

It was originally planned that the episode would air on 17 March 2007, however, the date was shifted back a week to 24 March, when it was realised that it would have gone up against the final of ITV1 series Dancing on Ice. The episode was then shifted back another week, to 31 March, because of England's European Championship qualifier against Israel on 24 March.

Two specially created trailers for the third series were shown on the BBC in the two weeks before broadcast. These trailers featured clips from the series, predominantly with clips of "Smith and Jones".

"Smith and Jones" and "The Shakespeare Code" were previewed to the press on 21 March. This created much hype in the press for the new series in the days leading up to broadcast.

Overseas broadcast

The first North American broadcast of the episode occurred on 18 June 2007, when the CBC aired it in Canada. "Smith and Jones" takes place after the 2006 Christmas special "The Runaway Bride", but the CBC aired them in reverse order, showing "Smith and Jones" immediately prior to "Bride".

The episode made its US broadcast debut on 6 July 2007, on the Sci Fi Channel, directly following "The Runaway Bride".

External links

• Smith and Jones on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
• "Smith and Jones" at the BBC Doctor Who homepage
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Reviews

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