Gridlock

"But know this, Time Lord. You are not alone."

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 14th April 2007

Series: 3.03

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Martha

Synopsis 

The Doctor takes Martha to New New York, in the year 5,000,000,053 only to find the entire city has become a trap and Macra are stalking the depths of the motorways. Martha becomes captured and the Doctor learns of the terrible fate the city endured, can he save the motorway and Martha before the Macra feast?

Verdict 

Gridlock is a fantastic episode and has continued the very high and consistent standard already set in this third series of revived Doctor Who. After her brilliance in Smith and Jones and The Shakespeare Code, it's clear the Doctor is taking a liking to Martha, but only as a friend. After the trauma the Doctor went through with Rose in Doomsday, it seems she's the only possible companion he ever thought of persuing a relationship with. However, she was ripped away from him but now he'd found this superb girl, a "rebound" as it was mentioned, but he couldn't see her as anything more than a friend while it was crystal clear in this episode that Martha would like something more, or at least an acknowledgement of it being possible. It's been a good start to life as a companion for Martha and I like her feistiness which upon original broadcast I'm not entirely sure I noticed. She dislikes that Rose came before her and she wasn't impressed with the Doctor bringing her to the same place he'd brought Rose. The obvious references to New Earth were all very good and I liked the returns of the Face of Boe and Novice Hame. The ageing of Hame was shown very well and the moment where she caught up with the Doctor was hilarious with the Doctor temporarily forgetting her evilness of the past. The return to the sillily named New New York was done very well I thought. A super virus had wiped out the world in 7 minutes flat but there was the under city, trapped in safety at the time of the outbreak. I liked how the disease had destroyed of natural causes but its effects clearly lasted with no power left to open up the motorway and free those poor passengers travelling endlessly. Brannigan was a good little character although I thought the kittens were questionably comical! I won't even talk about the possible way they were born. Now there's a thought isn't it? The capture of Martha for fast lane access was a good focal point for the story and it gave the Doctor more than enough motivation to free the city whilst saving her. Now, there's a reason why I've held off for a while to do this story. And that's because of the return of the Macra. I love how the Classic Series isn't forgotten about and it's not just the historical favourites returning for series finales, we've now got the Macra returning after a substantial forty years! And their return was so much better than their debut in my opinion! In The Macra Terror the Macra didn't come out as the mighty beasts they were intended to be. But using the foundations of that story, here they really were ferocious! Stalking the depths of a motorway and feeding off an endless supply of gas is right up their alleyway! Their appearance was what I think the team of Terror would intended or wish for but just couldn't pull it off with the resources in the late '60s. Now computerised, the lighting of the eyes and the deathly claws were shown magnificently. The plot was basically your search and find which was effective and the way the Doctor, aided by the Face of the Boe, freed the passengers of the motorway was beautiful. Boe gave his last to free the people he saved but now he truly was dying. After billions of years. Martha was safe and returned and then Boe gave a crunching quote. "You are not alone". The look on the Doctor's face after the legend came true was sensational by Tennant. It seems the Tenth Doctor isn't the only Time Lord left after all. When all was set, I really liked that Martha did something many companions before her wished they'd done! When the Doctor was ignoring or changing the subject, or just not answering questions he'd find a way to move the conversation on. But not with Martha. She stopped and refused to move until the Doctor spoke properly, and I admired that. The descriptions of Gallifrey and the Time War were very emotional and intriguing! Overall, a fantastic plot with just one flaw. The Macra were just left roaming, I'd have at least liked the Doctor to have said that they'd die out without the gas supply. Of course, that's the presumption I've taken but I would've liked confirmation. 

Rating: 9/10