There is a generous amount of a satire in this episode that will be readily apparent to anyone who has ever had to commute. Martha is kidnapped so that her kidnappers can use what is essentially a "fast" lane, only to find out that the commute everyone thinks they are making on the freeways beneath the city takes years, not hours. The sight of flying cars stacked on top of one another in endless traffic lanes in the sunless underground is a sign that Doctor Who is keeping up its tradition of marrying impressive visual effects with brain tickling ideas.
Martha is separated from the Doctor for a time so we get to see her in action on her own in what is her first big excursion to another world. She acquits herself nicely, as The Doctor's companions usually do. He tends to recruit well. It would be interesting to see The Doctor take on a companion completely unsuited to the task (Mickey sort of fits that bill, and I'm sure there were others in the long history of the program that I'm forgetting at the moment…).
The show delivers a whammy when The Doctor talks to The Face of Bo for the final time. Bo tells The Doctor a secret he had held since their previous meeting, which is that the Doctor "is not alone." This leads him to have to explain to Martha who he is, where he's from and what that all means. Tennant gives a wonderful performance in these final moments of the episode as The Doctor, for the first time in this new series, opens up to someone about what Galifrey was. It has been clear since The Doctor's return to television that the character has suffered so great a loss that he could not even talk about it to anyone. It's all been unspoken between him and those who knew. While Martha might be only a rebound girl, she's exactly what The Doctor needs.
Rating: 8.5/10
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