Paging (Doctor-to-Be) Martha Jones: How the New Companion Rates on "Doctor Who"

Let me say from the start that I was a HUGE Rose Tyler fan.

Rose's entrance to the annals of Doctor Who may have been a little clunky (remember those acrobatics in "Rose"?) but she quickly grew on me over the past two seasons and became one of the main reasons why I fell in love with Doctor Who... and I'll admit that I did get rather misty-eyed when she was separated from the Doctor at the end of Season Two. (Yes, the Doctor did manage to reunite the entire Tyler family but, come on, how bittersweet was that ending?)

So I was more than a little curious to see how the Doctor's latest companion, Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) would hold up against our beloved Rose. Imagine my surprise Friday night whilst watching the third season premiere of Doctor Who ("Smith and Jones") to see that Martha is definitely a match for the Doctor (David Tennant) in more ways than one. In true Doctor Who fashion, the Doctor sort of stumbles onto his latest companion, who ends up being in the wrong place at the wrong time (say, a hospital that's transported to the moon) and is forced to work together with the Doctor to solve the problem at hand.

Is it kismet that brings the Doctor and Martha Jones together? Divine intervention? Or just good old fashioned chance? I'm not sure but I will say that medical student Martha (no, she's not quite a real Doctor either) and the Doctor do share some instant sparks... and a pretty passionate kiss. Or rather, a pretty fast genetic exchange, at any rate.

Martha's got a fair amount of spunk, courage, and pluck, all the right prerequisites for traveling with the Doctor. I'm definitely curious to see where this new relationship is going and how Russell T. Davies keeps their rapport separate and different from what the Doctor had with shopgirl Rose. But given Martha's medical knowledge, I think the change in background is a good thing, as is her connection to the "Doomsday" Battle of Canary Wharf, where Martha's cousin Adeola was killed. (Note: Astute viewers will remember that Freema Agyeman played look-a-like cousin Adeola in that episode.)

And it's a good thing that I like Martha as Agyeman will be sticking around for a while, having just signed on to appear in most of the episodes of Doctor Who's fourth season (she'll also appear in three episodes of the Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood), where she'll be paired not only with David Tennant's Doctor but also with Catherine Tate. Just how happy this little troika will be remains to be seen, but if "Smith and Jones" was any indication, I'm happy to say that Miss Martha Jones can hold her own.

On the next episode of Doctor Who ("The Shakespeare Code"), the Doctor and his new traveling companion, Martha Jones, are the victims of some witches' spell and end up face to face with the Bard himself.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: The New Adventures of Old Christine/The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS); Age of Love (NBC); Everybody Hates Chris/All of Us (CW); Wife Swap (ABC); On the Lot (FOX)

9 pm: Two and a Half Men/How I Met Your Mother (CBS); Age of Love (NBC); Girlfriends/The Game (CW); Extreme Makeover (ABC); Hell's Kitchen (FOX)

10 pm: CSI: Miami (CBS); Dateline (NBC); Supernanny (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

9 pm: Big Love on HBO.

HBO's polygamist family drama Big Love is back. On tonight's episode ("Vision Thing"), Bill may have just found a fourth wife in an attractive waitress, Nicki frets over Wayne's enrollment at a Catholic school after finding him playing with rosary beads, and Bill turns to his uncle for a loan when he can't raise enough cash immediately for the Weber Gaming deal.

9 pm: Hell's Kitchen.

No, I don't know why I am still watching this train wreck of a culinary competition. On tonight's episode, the guys get the culinary dead weight/tarted-up cavewoman that is Melissa and learn their latest challenge is to prepare three lobster dishes in under an hour. Those poor, poor lobsters. If only they were being cooked by the gang over on Top Chef.