I’ll also partially take back what I said last week about attempts to squeeze in a touching romance in too short a space of time, and the last scenes together were surprisingly moving, although it was undermined somewhat by the ridiculous flash-forward in life. Jessica Not Stevenson’s cold fury at the Doctor for bringing death to her life, though, was raw enough to leave it on an effective dramatic note. It certainly helps to break up the increasingly oppressive ‘themes’ that seem to blot out everything the Doctor and Martha currently do. How much longer they can flog the ‘he’s all-powerful but consequently all-responsible and also kind of lonely’ horse is an unknown, although he does seem to be getting happier to mete out more ironic punishments to all those who won’t fall on their swords by the week. The one major problem with the episode was with the World War One overtures – I really can’t decide if it was an effective way to locate the conflict for younger viewers, or an overconfident TV production demeaning something too big for them to tackle (which wouldn’t be the first time they’ve managed that this series). Showing John Smith – who, after all, is explicitly not the Doctor – choosing not to use a gun whilst children wept and used theirs definitely hit a bum note, although the more oblique references, such as Tommy’s portents of the future, felt more darkly suitable.