It’s Christmas in July as ‘Doctor Who’ Opens Season 3
Premiere-Night Double Feature Showcases Current and Next Companions
The third season of the revamped Doctor Who, which just wrapped in its home country of the United Kingdom on June 30, arrives stateside tonight at 8pm EST, courtesy of the Sci Fi Channel. Formally billed as one of the traditional, annual Christmas Day specials—complete with yuletide themes—that spice up the holiday season overseas, the premiere installment, “The Runaway Bride,” features British comedienne Catherine Tate as a bride who somehow winds up onboard the good Doctor’s time-traveling vessel TARDIS just as she’s about to wed her fiancé. Apparently, Tate’s performance as Donna Noble was so well received, it inspired series executive producer and head writer Russell T. Davies to invite her to the cast full-time as the Doctor’s next companion in the fourth season.
To be blunt: I am not happy about this casting change at all. I adored former pop star Billie Piper, who played sales clerk Rose Tyler, the first companion in the re-imagination of Doctor Who that debuted in 2005 with Heroes player Christopher Eccleston in the title role. Although I was sad to learn Piper planned to leave at the end of the second season, my grief was quickly allayed by the news that Freema Agyeman would join new Doctor David Tennant as the next companion in the current third season.
Agyeman fared very well among fans of the sci-fi series during her lone season, especially considering that she followed in the footsteps of an extremely popular predecessor. Consequently, not even the promise that Agyeman will reprise her role of medical student Martha Jones in the forthcoming second season of the successful Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood is enough to appease me since I don’t see the justification for dismissing her from the classic series.
In any case, American Doctor Who fans will meet Martha Jones in the second episode to premiere tonight, “Smith and Jones,” which airs immediately after the ninety-minute “Runaway Bride” episode at 9:30pm EST. Enjoy Agyeman while she lasts.
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Doctor Who will air Fridays on the Sci Fi Channel at 8 or 9pm EST
Doctor Who photos courtesy of the BBC
