Doctor Who: Partners in Crime

Oh, oh, oh. I liked it. I liked it a lot. Mainly because of the sheer bliss of having a companion who can act. (I sort of feel guilty about mentioning this; I have read and seen a fair few interviews with Freema Agyeman aka Martha now, and she comes across as an extremely nice person, and it makes me will Martha to be a better character, but she isn't. Because I like Freema so much, I'm going to try to believe that this is because the Martha writing is below par, but what I really suspect is that Freema was hired and kept on because everyone in question wants to work with her, but that doesn't stop her from being on the mediocre side. Anyway.) I LOVE Donna. I love the Donna dynamic. I love that Donna is excited by the prospects that the Doctor's Time Lordiness has and yet is not overawed by the Doctor himself. I love that Donna is no ingenue. I love that Donna is funny. I love that having a funny, mature companion gives the writers twice as many people to write smart, sassy dialogue for, which makes each episode twice as smart and sassy. Also, I loved the cute little creatures made of fat, though I reckon I will be in a minority regarding this. They are adorable! I want one as a pet! Plus I think I would enjoy having one better than I enjoy having my muffin top at the moment. And at the very least they gave Donna a classic line: "I'm waving to fat". And I love that any prospect of a Donna-Doctor love dynamic has been quashed from the very start. ("I want a mate." "YOU WANT TO MATE????") That was definitely the weakest part of the previous season and if we're going with writing-at-fault it certainly did Martha the least amount of favours.

Nice touches: all the in-jokes. "You're a journalist? Make it up, then." RTD speaking from the heart. And responding to all the blogger complaints re Donna's screechiness in The Runaway Bride by having her first encounter with the Doctor be conducted entirely in mime. And Rose's reappearance at the end, in manner of Chris Tarrant of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: holding out the cheque that has just been won (Donna) but then snatching it back: "But we don't want to give you that!" And then dangling the larger cheque that is just out of reach (Rose.) For the record, I'm in two minds about the return of Rose. I like it, because I like Rose, and I like the fact that the return of Rose creates a nice long story arc from the very start (one of my major Who complaints is that the story arcs aren't long enough. A few mentions of disappearing bees aren't quite enough.) On the other hand I thought the departing Rose storyline was perfect, and this reappearance could have a whiff of Bobby Ewing coming out of the shower. I will wait and see.

Not so nice touches: the villain wasn't terribly villainous, which added a soupcon of 'so what' to proceedings. RTD's hair in Confidential. Probably too busy to trim.

Ultimately, lots of enthusiasm from here regarding the forthcoming series, and since I've read previews that categorise this as the lousy episode and next week's as the good one, my general feeling is: happy days!

Oh, and Tennant was hot. Rowr. Wore the glasses too. I suppose it has all been filmed by now, but after an entire series without it, PLEASE, Russell, could you have the man lick something this time around? Please??

All in all, I didn't think it was a classic episode, more a pleasingly enjoyable one, but I am excited at the way that it sets up a new Doctor-Companion dynamic that I think I am going to really enjoy over the coming weeks. Huzzah!