First Doctor - An Unearthly Child, The Aztecs Second Doctor - The Ice Warriors, Tomb Of The Cybermen, The Seeds Of Death Third Doctor - Inferno, The Daemons Fourth Doctor - Terror Of The Zygons, Brain Of Morbius Fifth Doctor - Black Orchid, Enlightenment Sixth Doctor - The Twin Dilemma, Revelation Of The Darleks Seventh Doctor - Time And The Rani, Delta And The Bannermen, Sirens Of Time Ninth Doctor - Rose, End Of The World, Unquiet Dead Ninth Doctor - Aliens Of London Tenth Doctor - The Christmas Invasion, New Earth, Tooth And Claw First Doctor - An Unearthly Child ( 1963 ) 7/10

The debut Doctor Who story ended up being repeated a week later before episode two was broadcast, due to a major powercut in the UK. In truth, this four part story is only interesting for the first episode of the four. The introductory story is absolutely amazing, really gets you into the sense that something is not quite right about Susan and her Grandfather. Ian and Barbara, two of Susan's teachers, assume all the worst things, that's she's living rough, that's she's doing this and that. Cannot comprehend either why she shows flashes of intellectual brilliance, whilst at other times, doesn't seem to know the most basic thing about English and earth history. All is explained by the end of the first episode as The Doctor, superbly portrayed by William Hartnell, bundles Ian and Barbara into the Tardis for fear of them spoiling the rather nice peace the Time Lord and his Granddaughter had been experiencing on 1960s earth, whilst exiled from their own world.

They land on a barren landscape, with a primitive tribe who haven't yet discovered fire but seem to be strangely advanced ( for cavepeople ) in every other respect. Following the splendour of the first episode, the remaining three are extremely dull in, well, the extreme. Still, the first 30 minutes of so of Doctor Who is magnificent, and come the arrival of the Daleks, Doctor Who was assured a good long run on BBC, such was their popularity at the time.

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The early Doctor Who historicals were something to be marvelled at, which makes it all the more strange they were soon phased out. I remember The Aztecs first of all from the Target novelisation. I got it around the same time I got the novel for Marco Polo, an adventure sadly unavailable on video or DVD. Still, we have to Aztecs and it lives upto the wonder of the novel, I read all these novels first you see when I was a young child. A young child absolutely captivated by the magic of Doctor Who. I learnt to read from those Target novels! Still, The Aztecs as captured on screen is absolutely flawless, whether you are familiar with the first Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara, or not. Susan doesn't make much of an appearence, on holiday for much of the filming. This is the story of Barbara, mistaken for an Aztec goddess. The William Hartnell Doctor gets a love interest! True, and it's quite charming, even though you know he's merely using her, you do get the impression he grew fond of the garden lady, dispite himself. Ian gets a few neat fighting scenes, always the fists and the muscle of this early era of Doctor Who. The Doctor goes on at Barbara for her attempted interference and attempts at changing history. Ultimately, the key thing for watching 'The Aztecs' as a 31 year old who quite clearly is too young to remember much before Peter Davidson, is how much of all subsequent Doctors characters, came from William Hartnells initial interpretation of The Doctor. The Aztecs is better than nearly all Doctor Who that came after as far as i'm concerned, a masterpiece of Doctor Who for all its history.

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Two episodes of this six parter are lost forever. It's such a shame much of Pat Troughtons finest moments as The Doctors, stories as timeless as 'The Abominable Snowman', are missing from the archive. It's meant the reputation for his portrayal of The Doctor is somewhat neglected amongst many fans. I adore his Doctor and his characteristics. We must also remember Patrick Troughton, if it hadn't worked him playing The Doctor following on from the immensely popular William Hartnell, that the show would have ceased to be back in 1967. It was crucial that he did work out, happily so. Anyroad, early letdown for this story is the god-awful voice they give the computer. It's so bloody annoying. This story of course isn't helped by the fact episodes two and three are missing and that episode one is fairly slow and uninteresting. The Ice Warrior comes alive during the 2nd episode, only we don't see this due to missing footage. Ah, the incidental music is wonderfully spooky thoughout this story. The Ice Warriors themselves look distinctly impressive and tower above the main actors. Patrick Troughton's Doctor takes charge of the situation, as only he can. Being a 1967 Doctor Who story, eg, 'The Moon', 'Mars' and aliens are all mentioned in such a way as to be impressive in a way they now aren't, of course. 'The Ice Warriors' as a story has dated in a way the better 1st and 2nd Doctor stories haven't done. This is very much a run of the mill Doctor Who story interesting only for Patrick Troughton, always very watchable and The Ice Warriors themselves. We'd all be far better off if we had 3 out of 4 episodes of 'The Abominable Snowman' rather than 4 out of 6 episodes of this, but that's life. The story? Under siege mentality, a base. Jamie is good, but overall this is very much ho-hum.

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An early death, some terrible accents, a new companion and then the TARDIS lands. Beautiful beginning. And the opening scenes of the outside of the tomb, perfect. One quibble i've always had with The Cybermen is that they are meant to be 'Silver Giants'. Why they are often portrayed as merely men in silver suits is something of a mystery, but they had enough about them to become the 2nd most popular Doctor Who monsters behind the Daleks. Partly helped in these early stories. They appear bigger, more frightening and more inhuman than during the 70s or 80s, for example. And then, the Cybermen awoke. Nothing is perfect, the first part is designed purely to reveal a Cyberman at the end. Still, the characterisations are good enough. The 2nd and 3rd parts build the story well with Patrick Troughton effortlessly taking centre stage, in addition to good supporting work.

A sub-plot and Cybermen appearing superhuman, indefeatable, scary. I'm a child of Doctor Who circa 70s, 80s. I've never seen the Cybermen as they are here, and I must say, they appear far scarier here than they ever did during the 80s. 'You will be like us' becomes a terrifying prospect! The story taking place in a confined space helps, there's no escape. The Cybermen aren't here to take over the earth, they are here to 'convert' humans to become Cybermen. The 4th part denegerates somewhat, with the human baddie suddenly turning into something out of Austin Powers, but no mind. The story as a whole, somehow, still remains very enjoyable to the end.

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A standard alien race take over a base on the moon and want to invade the earth 2nd Doctor plot-line. However, the return of The Ice Warriors makes this story the near-classic that it is. I much prefer this adventure to The Ice Warriors debut story, somewhat controversially I believe within Doctor Who circles. Basically, we get to see a lot more of them, they are very central to the overall story. They lumber about with their great costumes, scary eyes and absolutely fantastic, wheezing sinister voices. Patrick Troughton has some great scenes, although was on holiday for the fourth episode and doesn't appear in it, bar in unconcious form on a table. It doesn't detract at all, that episode builds the other characters. Good supporting characters, too. Basic outline? Earth has abandoned transport for a T-Mat system which transports people instantly from one place to another, even the moon and back. They use it for cargo and food transport, also. The Ice Warriors plan to poison the earths atmosphere by sending their 'Seeds Of Death' into the earths atmosphere, killing the human race allowing their conquest. Sounds daft, it probably is daft, but top quality direction and acting and a good pace ensure the six episodes fly past very enjoyably.

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The first season featuring Jon Pertwee as The Doctor stands to this day as one of the very finest the show ever had to offer. There's a seriousness to the proceedings, balanced by the just the right small amount of humour. 'Inferno' is an amazing story from beginning to end. Scientists are drilling into the earth's crust to utilize an unlimited source of energy. The Doctor is the only one who realises the dangers. Then, in an experiement to end his exile on earth, The Tardis console is shipped sideways, to another dimension. So, The Doctor witnesses the end of the world on one dimension, gets back to 'his' earth and saves the day. All of which sounds fairly simple, yet the story is great, the situation nicely serious and all of the supporting cast superb. I'm not normally a fan of the extended Doctor Who stories ( this one lasts seven episodes ) but 'Inferno' works for every single minute. A classic Doctor Who tale, no question.

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Wishy washy bloody nonesense, but strangely captivating. I imagine, within a season, this worked wonderfully well. However, viewed years later, the doctor doesn't appear to do very much at all. I read the novel before watching the video. The novel is brilliant and really leaves a lot to the imagination. The TV version slightly ruins things. There is much not said and the special effects aren't enough to live upto the imagination provided by the novel or the original scripts. Still, Doctor Who had already survived longer than anyone dared imagine, and the Master is great in this serial. Still, the Brigadier doesn't do too well. "Chap with the wings there, five rounds". Yeah, right.

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Tom Bakers 2nd series gets off to an ok start. This is one of Units last regular appearences on Doctor Who, and they do add to the story. There's a touch of the worst of the Pertwee era about this adventure, though. The giant monster is woefully bad special effects and terribly unconvincing. The Zygons themselves hardly rank as classic Doctor Who enemies and the story is fairly slow. Well, when compared to later Doctor Who, at least. This is the last adventure to feature Harry as a companion, an ultimately forgettable companion in my eyes, although he sparred well with Sarah at times. This is a suspense/investigation story, rather than one packed with excitement. A much more missed character than Harry actually, now I come to think of it, is Sgt Benton. I like Sgt Benton. Ah, what to say about this story? It's ok, there's a couple of good Brigadier moments yet overall? This is a solid 4th Doctor story, but that's all. It's Doctor Who, which makes it good, but it's not classic Doctor Who. The presence of Tom Baker doesn't automatically make Doctor Who great, as some fans would have us believe.

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With Tom Baker now settled into the role as Doctor, 'The Brain Of Morbius' stands as an early highlight of his era. The story is written by Terrence Dicks under a pseudenom, and good old Mr Dicks knew his Doctor Who, having written a shed-load of the Target novelisations. The scene is set early and very well in the first episode, Dr Solon and his experiments, his search for a head and his reaction to seeing The Doctor for the first time. The Sisterhood also work very well within their first few minutes, wanting to protect the elixir from the Timelords, or so they believe. This precious elixir that prevents them from ageing having begun to dry up. Dr Solon is rather unsubtle though in his admiration of The Doctor's head which of course, he wants to use to house the Brain Of Morbius, once a very powerful timelord. Dr Solon is a great villain, an impossibly mad genius in the best sense. The story progresses through the first two episodes at just the right pace, building the suspense of the story. Sarah sees the monster which is to house the head and the brain, Sarah goes temporarily blind and The Doctor is saved from the flames of The Sisterhood.

Solon sends The Doctor into a trap, telling him he needs the elixir to save Sarah from blindness. A blind Sarah overhears Solons plan and stumbles across the landscape in a bid to warn him. Ultimately, Morbius fearing the Timelords have come to kill him, orders Solon to fit him into an artifically created head, which ultimately doesn't work out too well. The Doctor and Morbius lock in a brain-battle, Morbius winning until his unsuitable artificial head basically shorts out, as Solon had warned. It's a well put together and gripping story. That often overused phrase, 'proper' Doctor Who!

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A charming period-piece of the kind the BBC do very well. Peter Davidson finally gets to play some cricket, which is enjoyable. Tegan, Nyssa and Adric get to have some fun at a party, dancing to the charleston. The Doctor gets falsely accused of murder. It's a story of double take, there's a fancy dress party. Someone steals The Doctors costume, performs a murder. The Doctor, after getting lost amongst the myriad corridors of an old grand house, gets back to his room and puts on his fancy dress costume, the same one the murderer had taken from The Doctors room and worn whilst performing the murder. So, The Doctors gets accused! All the while, Nyssa has a facial double, which is worked out very well. 'Black Orchid' was a two parter, two twenty five minute episodes. It's nothing hugely substantial but it does work very well indeed as an entertaining diversion and Peter Davidson works very well in his portrayal of The Doctor, markedly different from Pertwee, Baker, et all. Hesitant, charming, fierce intellect. Ah, all those things. 'Black Orchid' is a short mystery story and works very well as a piece of drama, the actual 'Doctor Who' element is not too important for the story to succeed. It suceeds anyway.

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We delve right into the middle of Peter Davidsons reign as the Doctor with this story, a story that originally featured as part of a trilogy, 'the black guardian' trilogy, companion Turlough acting as a treachorous traitor within the Tardis, working with the black guardian causing potential harm to The Doctor, for his own gains. Right, that out of the way. What's the story like? The Fifth Doctor era is often criticized as style over substance. The special effects were better than ever before but often at the expense of a decent storyline. This particular story has long been a favourite of mine from watching it as a child. I'd not seen it since, until today. How does it fare now some thirteen years later? Well, I still remember it visually, which is some testament to it. The start is fairly daft, with the white guardian appearing and disappearing, draining power from the Tardis to communicate potential dangers to The Doctor. The initial scenes aboard the ship are nicely mysterious and it's eventually revealed as a ship in space, not the seafaring kind, at all. These scenes are visually impressive as the ship literally 'sails' through space, billowing sea-sails, the stars visible from the deck, etc. A sea-faring ship in space as part of some kind of race towards the prize, 'enlightenment'. All the while, the main bulk of the crew seem completely oblivious to the fact they aren't, in fact, sailing on the sea.

Epsiode two features the 'eternal' second mate giving Tegan a stunning chat-up line. 'You're not like any emphemeral i've ever met before'. Daftness, personified. What else? Well, the black guardian wears something resembling a dead bird on his head. The officers ( the eternals ) can read human minds, need them for ideas. Episode two ends with Turlough, tormented by the black guardian, jumping overboard, eg, out into space. Two episodes, all scene setting and not much else. Still, as the third and forth episodes progress, it's hard to not get involved in the story and one thing Peter Davidson had going for him? Well, you always end up willing and begging him to win the day. Which, being The Doctor, he does of course. All in all then, an enjoyable solid story that despite some flaws, remains a good example of Doctor Who and its charms.

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Having grown up with Peter Davidson, it was with some nerves but also excitement that I greeted a new Doctor. By the end of his first adventure, the show shed a million viewers. His outfit was awful, terribly patwork and garish. His manner, although different to other Doctors, was slightly dislikable. One of the worst scenes ever in Doctor Who follows his regeneration, Colin Baker as The Doctor goes slightly mad and attempts to throttle his assistant Peri to death. The story concerns two genius twin teenage boys, superb at mathematics. Sounds great, huh? Well, no. Not really. The drop in quality from the last Peter Davison adventure 'Caves Of Andrizoni' was huge. Indeed, 'Twin Dilemma' easily ranks as the worst debut story any Doctor had to endure upto this stage. Which wasn't Colin Bakers fault, of course. I believe he could have made a great Doctor had the show not been at the mercy of a BBC that had grown tired of it. Still, the show was axed, coming back 18 months later only for the disastrous 'Trial Of A Time Lord', which I won't be reviewing anytime soon. The death of Doctor Who was 'Trial of A Time Lord', audiences didn't just drop, they halved. Given that, Sylvestor McCoy actually did a fine job bringing back up to the five million mark. Anyway, this is all by the by. For all the faults of the story and the character Colin Baker was burdened with, he does put in a confident performance, if nothing else. Oh, we have a plot. The evil genius this time is called Mestor, who kidnaps the twins planning to use their skills to create a supernova, thus scattering his slug eggs across the universe in some weak attempt at domination. Utter rubbish, of course. The twins are extremely irritating and had I not been so loyal to Doctor Who at the time, I may never have watched Doctor Who again after this story. The first two episodes are so dull, words fail me. The 2nd two are slightly better, but not all that much. That's 'The Twin Dilemma', my friends. Unfairly for Colin Baker, it put many fans off him for the entire time he portrayed the role of The Doctor.

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The first 45 minutes presents us with nothing that the 2005 model Doctor Who wouldn't have presented us with far more entertainingly in around 5 or six minutes and still managed to forward the plot rather more. None of this is the fault of the much maligned Colin Baker, who does his customary best in a show that had seemingly lost all will to change or innovate, instead regurgitating the shows 70s heyday. The Daleks seem less scary than they've ever been before, although i'm not sure exactly why. What i'm also not sure of is why William Gaunt is in the show. It was a trend of John Nathan Turner, then producer of the show. Use well know actors. It was a ploy that rarely worked. Much worse than William Gaunt though is Alexi Sayle as 'the DJ' who seems to have been included purely to appeal to the shows youngest of viewers whilst also alienating older viewers who might have wanted something better to get their teeth into. The BBC viewing a show then 22 years old as purely a childrens show was a major mistake and one Doctor Who would never recover from. 'Revelation of The Daleks'? It's missable. Watch one of the other Dalek stories instead.

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The regeneration scene is rather weak given Colin Baker's reluctance to return for a regeneration story. We simply see Colin Baker lying on the floor turning into Sylvester McCoy and have no idea WHY. The companion Mel, played by the odious Bonnie Langford, is the weakest part of the story, her one dimensional acting, whiny high pitched voice and screaming that encapsulates all the cliche's that anybody had ever criticized the worst aspects of Doctor Who for, are all present and incorrect. Still, having been utterly dismayed by Season Twenty Four of Doctor who upon first transmission and for the first time in my life, having actually temporarily gone off Doctor Who, this story with all its weak plot and daftness, is actually quite good viewing in places.

Sylvester McCoys portrayal of The Doctor, which at the time seemed clownish and pantomime, now seems very endearing and markedly different from his predecessors in a good way. True, some scenes are a little Scooby Doo, but The Doctor with his mis-quotes, with his playing the spoons, etc, etc - are very good. The Doctor he reminds me the most of is the 2nd Doctor played by Patrick Troughton. Sadly for Doctor Who and Sylvester McCoy, Doctor Who was incredibly unhip around the mid to late eighties and was under much pressure from the BBC. They scheduled it opposite extremly popular soap Coronation Street and watched its ratings fall, giving them and controller Michael Grade ample excuse to cancel the show a few years later! Still, for the time being ratings held steadily enough at around the 5-6 million mark and Sylvester McCoy would grow into the role of the Doctor, getting better as he went along. 'Time And The Rani' isn't a great story or script, the best thing about it remains Sylvester McCoy and The Rani's wicked impersonation of Mel.

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Mr McCoy has settled into his role by now, Mel played by Bonnie Langford is still awful. This was the third 7th Doctor serial and interestingly good, it is too. John Nathan Turner's reign as Doctor Who producer was rather hit and miss but this does stand as a good adventure. The idea of a nostalgia tour to 50s earth, a group of hired 'evils' to kill a Queen, who is the last of her species. Hit and miss, as I said. Still, the Doctor going around a holiday camp was a new idea, the eventual outcome is nicely led to, even with a plot-hole or two. Good supporting characters, the girlfriend does well, she could have been a companion, given a stretch. All is well. It's just a shame that so few people were actually watching Doctor Who, by now. I won't say too much about this story. It's a nice three part adventure that even a gratuitous appearence by the comedian Ken Dodd can't ruin, because the story is top-notch and brought to the screen with imagination and flair.

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Big Finish

Much excitement greeted the announcement that Doctor Who was to be re-born as a series of new original audio adventures. BBC and Virgin had been releasing original Doctor Who novels since the demise of the TV series. The 1996 movie never led to a TV or movie revival, so new audio adventures? With the original actors? Hell, yeah! Unfortunately, 'The Sirens Of Time' isn't one of the better Doctor Who stories. We'd had 'The Three Doctors' and 'The Five Doctors'. The former was hugely enjoyable, if slightly light. The latter was slightly confused! The Colin Baker serial 'The Two Doctors' was panned in most fan circles, although I highly enjoyed myself watching it. The problem with multiple time lines and the doctor crossing his own time line is the strain it places on the plot. I don't quite understand how that's explained for this serial, perhaps I missed it? Anyway, each Doctor gets one episode each, before they all join together for the fourth. Colin Baker is given the lead role in the fourth and comes across almost as the 'senior' Doctor of the three, surely some mistake as Sylvester McCoy's Doctor would be the one with the greater life experience? The reason given during the story is that each Doctor has a different balance of the various personality aspects of, what is, the same person. Albeit of course in different incarnations. Thus, Colin Bakers 6th Doctor has no problem 'pulling the trigger' whilst Peter Davidson and Sylvester McCoy watch on? It's playing on the early perception of Colin Baker's doctor as an unlikeable character. Colin does come across with an air of authority here, Sylvester is likeable and Peter Davidson's Doctor doesn't come across very well at all, he's the one that gets tied up and threatened! Ah well, better adventures were to come, and it was still good to have the good old Doctor back again.

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Change, my dear. And not a moment too soon. Well, somebody once said that. Thus, Doctor Who is brought bang upto date after 16 years away from our television screens, barring the 1996 tv-movie with that McGann fellow. And? Well, we drop three or four parters. 'Rose' is packed into a single, breathless 45 minutes. As this is the opening story not just of a new Doctor, but also of the series as whole after many years away, inevitably, the actual story is somewhat lost amongst the scenes establishing the characters. Bringing back The Autons allowed old-time Doctor Who fans to really not worry about the whys and wherefores, and just concentrate on the new Doctor. Christopher Eccleston is not at all like any previous Doctor, although still contains enough to make him the same person. That makes no sense, but we'll plough on. The scenes where The Doctor is in Rose's flat are excellent and very funny, the Auton arm strangling the Doctor whilst Rose just talks on, the scene where Rose's mum tries to chat up The Doctor, the Doctor reading a book in a split second, showing off with a pack of cards, then looking in the mirror at his new face. Ah, the story is over in quick-time, so much seems to be packed in, and it's this breathless quality that worked upon first showing after many years away. It works less well now the 1st season of the re-launched Doctor Who is over. There really isn't much plot or story and The Auton menance seems to be deafted all too easily. This is a promising beginning however and the new Doctor seems instantly likeable.

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After 'Rose' was set an impossible task, we get down to proper business with 'The End Of The World'. A tricky beginning particularly from Chris Ecclestone with his constant gurning when the aliens come in one by one, but things get better quickly. The aliens themselves are instantly memorable, each and every one sticks in the mind long after viewing ends. The story itself is fairly standard Doctor Who fare, although the two leads in particular make this story work. The part near the end where The Doctor is walking through the spinning blades, it's wonderful. Rose and her reactions to Cassandra and several other aliens ( 'he's blue' cracks me up! ) and the supporting characters too, good stuff. The special effects kick into gear for this story and after the breathless 'Rose', the pacing is better for this story, too. I was left after watching 'Rose' for the first time glad they'd pulled it off but worried about the quality of the story. 'The End Of The World' whilst not being classic Doctor Who, at least was 'proper' Doctor Who. Not only that, but an updated Doctor Who with genuinely good makeup, effects and an episode leaving a good impression. From now on, it was clear the Tardis was in safe hands.

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Here is where the 21st century Doctor Who really flies. A single episode, 45 minutes of sheer brilliance. I'll try not to go too overboard, although saying this is the single best example of Doctor Who since 'Caves Of Androzani' isn't going too overboard at all. 'The Unquiet Dead' restores Doctor Who to absolute peak-form. Who would have ever thought that in 2005 we'd see something like that happen, hmm? Anyway, right from the opening scenes, 'The Unquiet Dead' looks great, genuinely scares and sets a scene. That's just the pre-credits sequence! Sneed and Gwyneth are both good supporting characters although Charles Dickens neatly steals the show. It's good seeing a Doctor Who story set in the past and meeting genuine historical characters along the way. There are some great moments between Christopher Eccelstone's Doctor and Charles Dickens and the entire story is perfectly paced. Good period costumes, wonderful snowy scenes in Cardiff. The relationship between Rose and The Doctor develops nicely. The Gelf are interesting monsters who manage to out-wit The Doctor until the day is saved, actually by Charles Dickens, who comes right back to life by the stories end. Rose, upon hearing he never gets to write 'The Blue Element' due to his death a year or two after the story, "Ah, and he was such a nice man as well". Fantastic moments abound throughout. Great dialogue. I've not done this story justice anyway, have I? i'm rambling aren't I? Ah well. Just watch it with an open-mind and pay attention!

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The first two-parter of the new series, 'Aliens Of London/World War III' perhaps wasn't what long-term fans were expecting. A typical Russell T Davies invention, 'Aliens Of London' is aimed squarely at the shows new fanbase rather than the old. New aliens, the very impressive looking Slitheen, some daft moments, a few great character moments including Mickey finally getting something proper to actually do, 'Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North', etc, etc. All in all, with some great scenes of a spaceship crash-landing which later turn out to be fake, the Slitheen systematically disposing of key Government figures, some great effects when Downing Street gets bombed, etc - this two-parter for me is nothing short of a memorable triumph. It's not a masterpiece in terms of actual plot or story, but it works stylishly well anyway, from beginning to end.

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A feature of the new format of the revived Doctor Who, especially the episodes penned by Russell T Davis is what initially seems like plot holes are actually important facets of an entire season, to be appreciated and made sense of, much later. The ninth doctor story 'The Long Game' suffered most upon initial viewings whilst now, it's regarded as a strong story and almost the first episode of a trilogy including Bad Wolf / Parting Of The Ways. Anyway, yes. The flame-throwing santas and spinning Xmas trees are a bit crap and the first half of this 60 minute special slightly dull, essentially a re-tread of the earlier parts of 'Aliens In London/World War III'. When David Tennants doctor finally gets into action though, we've got the finest debut of any Doctor since Tom Baker, purely thinking in terms of acting performance. David Tennant is quite simply superb as The Doctor, both serious and laugh out loud funny, full of great one-liners. He's instantly believable as The Doctor whereas it took Christopher Eccelstone two or three stories to really settle into the role. The Christmas Invasion isn't a classic story but it's a notable one, obviously, for introducing the tenth incarnation of our favourite time-traveller. It looks superb, some of the best effects ever to grace Doctor Who are featured with non-fans drawing parallels to feature films. The interior of the sychorax ship is most impressive, looking truly epic and alien. All in all, 'The Christmas Invasion' is hugely enjoyable thanks to David Tennant. It does its job very well and works better than 'Rose' did in bringing in a new era of Doctor Who. It's a romp, enjoyable enough that we can overlook a few flaws in the story and just wallow in a spectacular visual feast with just enough story to keep us thoroughly entertained to the last.

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We forget as Who fans that we live in glorious times in the shows history. After David Tennant's impressive debut in The Christmas Invasion, what does 'New Earth' offer us, exactly, though? Well, a trip to an alien planet, some genuinely impressive special effects and set pieces. People still use lifts millions of years in the future, giving us the exhilaration of The Doctor / Rose+Cassandra spiralling down a life shaft at top speed. We get a rather icky beginning to the show with lots of Rose and Doctor grinning at each other. After which, the age old sci-fi body switch comes into operation. Doctor Who has long fought off a reputation as a show 'just for kids', its prime-time slot now should mean juvenile sequences are kept to a minimum. The Christopher Eccelstone era got the balance between serious and humour just right. So far, the Tennant era is perhaps overly humorous and 'New Earth' fails to move either lead character forwards. The worst of the new series so far? Possibly. Still, we have the glorious 'Face Of Boe' setting up a possible plot strand to run throughout the 2nd series, the cat nuns looked great... and 'New Earth' contains enough moments overall to not be considered a disaster or anything like that.

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Straight away, some fighting! Straight after that, some glorious scenes in the TARDIS and when the Doctor and Rose get to meet Queen Victoria. So? Well, 'Tooth And Claw' is immediately better than 'New Earth', although 'New Earth' did its job after the spectacular visuals of 'Xmas Invasion'. Wearwolf stories are as old as the hills, but Doctor Who can marry a Wearwolf story to fine David Tennant and Billie Piper acting, Pauline Collins superb as Queen Victoria and a very intelligent plotline linking the story together. The telescope that's not a telescope, it's a weapon. The ending suggestion the Royal family are a bunch of wearwolves! 'Torchwood' estate, Queen Victoria's warning to The Doctor and Rose. Perfect episode apart from a somewhat uneven pace. Yet a memorable episode that gets series two back on track, matching the high standard we now expect from 21st Century Doctor Who. too.

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