DW 03-01: Smith & Jones

A Guide to Classic Who references (and other references) in new Who and spin-off episodes.

Doctor Who Series 3 episode 1 (Story 23).  Martha Jones meets the Doctor.

Warning: May contain Spoilers for

"Smith & Jones"

• Children in Need - "Born Again" or Christmas Special 2005 - "The Christmas Invasion" (Suggested viewing - reintroduction of character.)

References

[OLD] - Things that first appeared in the classic series (or the film.)  Episode List.

For context, the following are also covered:
[1ST] -  The first appearance of things in Doctor Who series.
[NEW] - Things that first appeared previously in the new series.
[OTH] - Things that appear in Doctor Who novels, comics, audioplays, etc.
[REAL] - Things that are real (most will be skipped).

Ongoing References...

The following references were also made in previous episodes of Doctor Who and so are listed again here.  To get to the new references, skip ahead.

• [OLD]  The Doctor - The main character.  Real name: unknown; actual age: unclear.  Status as a Medical Doctor:  Undetermined.  He is a Time Lord from the Planet Gallifrey.
• [OLD]  John Smith - An alias commonly used by the Doctor.  It was first used by The Second Doctor's companion, Jamie McCrimmon, as a name for the concussed Second Doctor in "The Wheel in Space" (Season 5).  The Second Doctor was the first to use it in his last story "The War Games" (Season 6).  The Third Doctor used it extensively during his time on exiled on Earth.  Much like Jamie's usage, not knowing the Doctor's name, Chang Lee used "John Smith" on medical records.  The name also appeared in "The Empty Child" as a reference to the Doctor.
• [OLD]  Two hearts - The fact that the Doctor had two hearts was first noted in "Spearhead in Space" (Season 7) the Third Doctor's first story.  Previously it seemed that the First and Second Doctor only had one heart.  Since then it is usually implied that Time Lords always have two hearts (with early references being retroactively regarded as goofs) although some non-televised sources claim that Time Lords have only a single heart in their first body (or the number changes).  Other non-televised sources state that the First Doctor and his granddaughter Susan actually had two hearts.   In the new Who episode "Dalek" Henry Van Statten discovered that the Ninth Doctor had two hearts.
• [OLD]  Sonic Screwdriver - The Doctor's favourite tool.  First appeared in "Fury of the Deep" (Season 5) and has been used off and on by various Doctor including the Ninth.
• [OLD]  The TARDIS - The Doctor's time and space travel vechicle.  TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space.  Like a lot of Time Lord technology it is "bigger on the inside."  The Doctor stole his Tardis when fleeing Gallifrey.  It is an older model ("Type 40") and unreliable, often ending up in the wrong location and the chamleon circuit - designed to make the Tardis appear inconspicuous in any surroundings it appears has failed so it always appears as a police telephone box from 1960s England. 

 This episode...

• [OTH]  Brother - Although there are no onscreen references to a brother and it is possibly a throw away line rather than a reference, it should be noted that the novels and other material include one brother, Irving Braxiatel.  The "No, not anymore.  Just me." probably refers to the death of all Gallifreyans except the Doctor during the Time War.

• [NEW]  These days... - Obviously references to events of previous episodes.  The space ship flying into Big Ben: "Aliens of London"; Christmas either "The Christmas Invasion" or "The Runaway Bride"; those cyberman things: "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday."

• [NEW]  Cousin - Martha Jones reveals that she and Adeola Oshodi are cousins.  Identical cousins, it turns out.  Adeola was a member of Torchwood One at Canary Wharf and an early convert to cyber-control.  She died when the Doctor overloaded her implants.

• [1ST]  The Judoon - First appearance of these rhino-oid rhinocerosoid anthropromorphic rhinocerotid space police for hire.

• [NEW]  Little shop - The Doctor noted in "New Earth" that he liked when hospitals had a little shop.

• [1ST]  H20 Scoop/Plasma Coil - First appearance of these... things.

• [1ST]  Laser spanner - first reference to this device, if it even exists and the Doctor isn't just being flippant.

• [REAL]  Röntgen radiation - A term for X-Rays named after it's discover Wilhelm Röntgen.

• [1ST]  Slab - A slab is a basic unit of currency in Australia - one slab is a cartoon of 24 cans of beer and is standard payment for favours.  First appearance of these automatons.

• [1ST]  Plasmavore - First appearance of this alien species.

• [OLD]  Resistance to suffocation - The Doctor (and presumably all Gallifreyans) has been shown to need less air than humans.  In "The Ark In Space" the Fourth Doctor worked, seemingly affected more slowly, on getting an oxygen supply back into the room while Harry Sullivan passed out.  Later in "Terror of the Zygons" the Fourth Doctor hypnotised Sarah-Jane Smith into a trance-like state so she wouldn't breath and then ended one himself.  The Fourth and Fifth Doctor would display this ability again in "Nightmare of Eden" and "Four To Doomsday' respectively.

• [NEW]  Mr Saxon - Saxon is a British politician frequently referenced in the series, including a newspaper front page in "Love & Monsters" and the origin of the order to shoot down the Racnoss ship in "The Runaway Bride."

• [1ST]  Vote Saxon - First appearance of Mr Saxon's campaign posters.

• [OLD]  Helmic Regulator - Part of the Tardis's controls that controls navigation, the helm.  On his first journey in the Tardis Harry Sullivan messed around with the Helmic Regulator causing a trip to the Moon to end up on Nerva Beacon near Jupiter many thousands of years in the future.  He gave it quite a twist.

~ DUG.

My reaction to people who say they don't like Doctor Who.

The Time Crash blog was created to help New Who fans understand Classic Who references - and to know if something isn't a reference but a new idea.  If there's a reference I missed or a subject that you feel needs more explaining, please comment.