Doctor Who 9 - Christopher Eccleston

2005

SEASON TWENTY SEVEN

26 March 2005 - 18th June 2005 (45 mins)

Episode reviews by Armitage Shanks

Rose - 26 March 2005 (1.5 / 10) - Originally Posted Early March 2005

When Rose Tyler meets a mysterious stranger called the Doctor, life will never be the same again. Soon, she realises that her mum, her boyfriend, and the whole of Planet Earth are in danger.

The show starts with a terrible new title sequence and goes down hill from there. The the leads names are zoomed in your face in a very 70's American way. As with most new shows, the BBC logo is all over it, but if I were the chairman, I would not want to advertise here. Like the McGann movie, we are once again missing The Doctor's face on the title sequence and Murray Gold's theme is so close to the original 1963 version, it is just wrong. The whole point of updating a show is to keep the original aspects, while modernising all aspects for a new generation and a new audience. I saw an interview with Murray on the BBC website, he felt that he didn't want to go down the full orchestra route, or update the theme too much because the original was so good. The problem is it does not fit at all with all with the incidental music or the pace of the show. It is basically the 1963 theme with his own bit going on in the background. John Barry's first version of the Bond theme is fantastic, but it has not stopped true musical geniuses like Dave Arnold doing amazing updates in order to keep it contemporary. He also made a number of comments about the later 80's themes being "No good". Should we have kept the show Black and White too Murray?

The BBC Press office suggested that it does not look like Star Trek or anything they have produced before, "It has a look of its own." To an extent this is true, in fact the more I think of it, the best thing I could compare it to is an episode of Hollyoaks. One thing I will take back is my criticism of the casting of Billie Piper. She is actually the best thing in the show. The script for the episode is appalling, in fact I'm sure that I could eat a can of Alphabeti Spaghetti and shit a better script than that. But given the material she has to work with, she does a fine job and is head and shoulders over any companion McCoy had.

Eccleston's Doctor on the other hand is a different story. He is just playing himself, a 41 year old Northerner. Now this is fine if that is what the part asks for, but this is Doctor Who for God's sake. No mystery. No charisma, and as far as the British public is going to be concerned... No interest. When I first saw the publicity photos of him with a number 3 haircut and his black leather jacket, I assumed that these were taken before the make up and costume had even been designed. (Like McGann's early publicity shoot). Alas this was not the case. He looks more like a Hollyoaks character that is a bit mad rather then The Doctor we all know and love. He can read books in 2 seconds flat and makes comments like "He's gay, she's an alien" when browsing magazines. Rose questions his thick Northern accent at one stage, to which he replies "Loads of planets have a North!" Now admittedly, that is an amusing line, but one you would expect to see in a Doctor Who spoof sketch, and that is exactly what this feels like, just the joke goes on far too long. Worst still I understand later episodes contain 'fart jokes' which is exactly what Comic Relief used to parody the show a few years prior.

The TARDIS interior, although impressive looks more like something the Daleks would travel in. The Autons do not look scary at all. And the episode contains a montage that would make the S Club show ashamed. The only nice touch was the plastic sound as The Autons moved. As far as the supporting cast is concerned, no one performance was particularly bad, just wrong. This is not Hollyoaks, or rather it is, shot in the style of the Randal and Hopkirk remake with a loose Doctor Who theme. Many people have told me that the first version of this review did not contain enough plot details, but that is simply because the episode is plot-less. Doctor meets girl and Autons and wipes them out by accident. Not clever. The episode feels like you have missed the first half an hour of the show. Within 5 minuets Rose is running hand in hand with the Doctor, who is using his sonic screwdriver to get away from the dreaded Autons. Where is the build up? Where is the plot? Where is the characterization? I am not kidding, but I have seen far better made fan films;

As I have previous stated I have been a large critic of the McGann movie and the McCoy era, but in comparison they are out and out masterpieces. It really saddens me to see chat rooms on the internet filled with people recording all prime time BBC shows in the hope they might get to see the first full trailer, or counting the days until the new show starts. I know my reputation is one of being controversially critical, but this is the worst review I have given to anything ever, which gives you some idea of the passion of my distain.

Please remember these are just my views, and I do expect to get a very negative response from all the die hard fans out there. To be honest, most of the reviews I have seen so far have been very positive. But like all things Who, only time will tell. It is also very interesting to note that all the papers that are saying positive things about the new show are the same papers that said positive things about the McGann movie, but now refer to it as "A disastrous experiment with American money."

In conclusion, when talking about “Great” British Shows", and especially Doctor Who... It is bad enough to watch an old friend be killed and slowly die. But it is so unfortunate when somebody decides they want to dig up the grave and piss all over the corpse. May Doctor Who forever rest in peace if this is the shape of things to come. I do hope things can get better, but my gut feeling is Mr. Grade is needed again.

The Doctor takes Rose on her first voyage through time, to the year Five Billion. The Sun is about to swallow the Earth. But amongst the aliens gathering to watch, a murderer is at work.

Although an improvement on Rose, so many elements of the episode were wrong, I found the FX to be fair rather then good, the more I see of the interior of the TARDIS and how it is operated, the more I hate it. Again, very little plot or build up. The spiders were the best thing in the show, but have already been seen in Minority Report. If you consider the concept that 'The Real Doctor' (McGann if you like) on one of his adventures lands The TARDIS in Manchester. That city being what it is, some skin head in a leather jacket steals it. By the time we catch up with the story, The TARDIS has given the thief some very basic memories of The Doctor and the ability to pilot the ship and his hair has grown a little bit. If you watch the show with this bit of the story in mind, it makes a lot more sense then this blundering fool being The Real Doctor. Piper is once again very good, but Eccleston is shocking. Why is he playing the role as if he were Ian Beale from Eastenders? I can not understand how once again they have stretched a 5 minutes worth of plot into 45. I should watch it again to see if I missed anything, but I can not bring myself to do so.

The Doctor takes Rose back through time to 1869. But in Victorian Cardiff, the dead are walking, and Charles Dickens joins the battle with the ethereal Gelth.

OK, definitely the best so far, but once again Eccleston's Doctor just acts like a fool. Gattis's puts the previous RTD attempts to shame, but still has some inconsistent dialogue. The whole business about The Doctor being Dickens biggest fan is just rubbish. The Doctor we all know and love would have written half of Dickens plays for him. Why does this Doctor get so exited about everything, when all the others have all seen it all before? Yet again The Doctor has no brains and does nothing to help during the episode and leaves it to a servant girl to save the day. Eccleston aside, acting was very strong in this episode with Simon Callow putting in a wonderful performance as ever. What a shame he was not cast in the lead role. The FX worked very well and the whole look of the episode was very impressive. The pre title sequence was just fantastic, for a short time I thought I was watching the 2005 version of Doctor Who.

The Doctor takes Rose home. But when a spaceship crash-lands in the Thames, London is closed off, and the whole world goes on Red Alert. While the Doctor investigates the alien survivor, Rose discovers that her home is no longer a safe haven. Who are the Slitheen?

Wow. I had to go back and give Rose an extra .5 out of 10 because it goes to show that this thing can get worse. Where do I even begin? The Big Ben effect that looked so impressive on the trailer, looked like parts of it were done on a Sinclair Spectrum. Just before we see the space ship crash, we have a two minute scene between Rose and the Doctor with a cardboard back drop! This would make the special effects supervisor of Button Moon cringe. I am getting sick and tied of fans saying that anyone who hates the new show is threatened by the modern effects and want to go back to the time of the wobbly sets. In this respect Dr. Who has not changed at all! The current FX look like a joke now, let alone what reaction they will get in 20 years. It is very easy to see why the producers did not want to shoot in high def (Like any flagship show should be) it would just make this cheap rubbish even more of a laughing stock.

Unfortunately the FX are the least of the episode's problems. I have not got the time or the patience to go into it, but we are subjected to a flying pig, aliens that fart and some of the poorest acting this side of your local church hall by Rose's boyfriend and Mum. To make matters even worse, this is the first cliff-hanger in Doctor Who in 16 years and yet it is ruined by showing all characters that were in peril at the end of the episode to be safe and well in the preview of the following episodes. Just ridiculous. Ratings are now beginning to tumble and with the Dalek episode aside, I think they will continue to do so if this is the shape of things to come. I can not see anyone with more than half a brain suggest this was anything other then rubbish.

With the Doctor, Rose and Harriet Jones trapped inside Downing Street, the world edges towards mankind's first Interplanetary War.

It's just as bad. The build up and conclusion to the cliff-hanger was identical to that used in Rose. Acting by Mickey and Rose's Mum is worse then ever and I found myself hiding behind the sofa at how awful the script was. RTD said that "Fans that like the show will watch it 30 times, and those that don't will only watch it 20 times." I could hardly watch this rubbish once and have far to much respect for myself to go through it again. The non RTD scripted Dalek trailer looked like a big improvement. Fingers crossed, but is anyone else seeing a pattern here?

Beneath the Salt Plains of Utah, the billionaire collector Henry Van Statten holds the last relic of an alien race. It turns out to be one of the Doctor's oldest and most deadly enemies.

It has been an interesting week. Two sci-fi greats were returning to our screen after a very long absents. On TV we can watch the long awaited return of The Daleks and on our cinema screens we can see the highly anticipated Hitch Hikers guide to the galaxy. Given that the new Doctor Who has been one of the worst rivals ever from a scripting point of view, my priority went to the disappointingly average Hitch-Hikers Guide movie. Although it was not bad, so much of it just didn't work and one wonders why somebody like Peter Jackson can not do a faithful big screen version of the radio series. That said most of the effects were wonderful and go to prove what Doctor Who is capable of, if only the FX budget was better managed. Given the absolute dross that had taken place the week before, my hopes were a little raised for a non RTD script.

I must say for the most part I was not disappointed. This really is 100 times better than anything that has been seen in the show thus far. The script for the most part is strong and well written and performances all round were high. As I have stated on previous occasions Christopher Eccleston's casting as the Doctor was wrong from day one, but parts of Robert Shearman's script had me believing that this man was the Doctor albeit for a brief period. I was not impressed with the choice of fan boy Nick Briggs to voice the Dalek, but he seemed to pull off the job very well. The episode was not without it's faults, but few episodes of Doctor Who are. It would have been nice if this was the 2 parter as oppose to last weeks rubbish in order to build the story up a little more. One can only image this idea in the old 25 min format with the Dalek being revealed to a surprised audience as the cliff hanger of episode one.

I was not convinced by the Dalek line "Because you love her" to The Doctor as this is just not something a Dalek should say or the Doctor should feel given the 40 year history of both, no mater how much human DNA either has consumed. For once the effects were right on the button and go to show what modern technology can do for the new show. For me the story was only really spoiled by Eccleston's Doctor, but this was always going to be the case regardless of the script, because of RTD and Eccleston interpreting the character closer to Ian Beale then Doctor Who. That said, this was his best performance to date and closer to The Doctor then he has ever been to date. I hope by reading this review, some of my critics will understand that I do not wish the show to fail, I only want it to rise from the dregs that has been put on our screens over the last few weeks. I hope people see the difference in the quality of writing in this episode and understand why I feel that this is the only episode broadcast to date that would not have benefited from a laughter track.

In the far future, Adam discovers that life as a Time Lord's companion isn't as easy as it looks.

I am really almost lost for words at the moment. After a dodgy pre-title sequence with some horrific dialogue to Rose about Adam being her boyfriend, (Like you used to say when you were 6 years old) it is explained that this was because we were about to endure another RTD car crash of a script. It hurts me to say this, but as with last weeks episode, this was not to be the case. RTD finally pulls his finger out and delivers something of an interesting story. Although this chap is by no mean the Doctor we all know and love, the story would have sat well with any of his past incarnations era's. If you took away the guy that would get the crap kicked out of him on any civilized planet element of Eccleston's performance and RTD's script, the story is very well written and performed.

It may well be that the series has hit such lows that any glimmer of interesting writing seems so pleasantly surprising that I go over the top, but I don't think that this is the case for this episode. Although, again it is far from perfect Adam is not quite the Adric mark II that we all feared. Simon Pegg is wonderful as the villain, putting just enough humour into the role without sending it up. I must say that I found myself entertained throughout. On the down side, the monster and other FX were not too convincing and once again I might suggest that RTD is borrowing the odd idea from Minority Report. All in all, far from a classic but the most entertaining story from this overrated writer to date. The only problem I have now is that I have isolated all the Doctor Who fans for panning the series so much thus far and now the small band of my supporters that enjoy my weekly roasting are also being disappointed with my mild enjoyment. Is it just me who wants to fight for better standards in British TV? I hope not and given the past disasters of this show I feel that this is a step in the right direction.

Rose travels back in time to meet her long-dead Father, but the Tyler family finds itself battling the monstrous Reapers.

It has been another interesting week in the world of Sci Fi. The final episode of Star Trek airs in North America, the final instalment of the Star Wars franchise is due to open in cinemas everywhere and on Saturday night some might say the final nail is hammered into Doctor Who's coffin as long time fan writer Paul Connell makes his debut with the emotional episode 'Father's Day'.

Once again like the past few episodes, this is not bad television. In fact as a story it really is quite enjoyable. It reminded me a little of the surprisingly good generation X movie 'The Butterfly Effect'. The episode was well written, well directed and for the most part well acted. So where is the problem? I guess my greatest criticism of the episode (Like pretty much all of them before it) is the title of the show. As enjoyable as this episode was, it simply is not Doctor Who. It is as if somebody had accidentally swapped scripts with the possible upcoming remake of the show Crime Traveler.

In my mind the McCoy era was bad Doctor Who. This was mainly due to some shocking scripts (Especially in season one), some bad casting and JNT just getting out of control. In this new series however the first four scripts by RTD were just bad writing and atrocious television. The last three episodes have been by no means badly written nor are they bad television, they are just not Doctor Who, and this episode shows this more then most. If you changed the title of this show to 'The Time Traveling Adventures of Rose', I would not have a problem with it. Although enjoyable, the episode once again is about Rose and once again set on Earth. The Reapers were not totally convincing, but not terrible given what has been seen in the series already. Performances were good all round with the usual exception of Rose's Mum. Eccleston's Doctor seems to be getting worse as the season goes on, now referring to Rose as a stupid ape and just continuing to be an all round unlikable character. It really is amazing how week after week Eccleston's performance continues to disappoint me. I guess as the scripts get better you see the potential the show could have if a more suitable actor been chosen. Still, it could be worse as season two may well prove. It will be interesting to see how RTD will resurrect the Time Lords and the Daleks at the end of this season and if all this Bad Wolf stuff is clever or just pointless nonsense. Thanks again for to all of you who continue to support these reviews with your kind E Mails and demand better standards in British television.

London, 1941, at the height of the Blitz. A mysterious cylinder is being guarded by the army, while homeless children, living on the bombsites, are being terrorised by an unearthly child.

Although this is a non RTD script and the better standards of writing are once again apparent, only about half of this story actually works. Once again it is the bits with Eccleston’s Doctor that fall flat on its face. Someone is putting in lines like “red is camp”, which makes this series have more gay references in the last nine episodes, then the entire 40 year history of the show. Eccleston's performance is once again consistent in its awfulness, showing so many traits that are not the Doctor. Okay, Troughton and Baker have pretended to be stupid if it was to serve a purpose, but this “Doctor” is genuinely stupid. Asking people in war-torn London if anything had fallen from the sky recently and helping himself to seconds during rationing! Any “Stupid Human” over 30 would have known better then this, let alone a Timelord.

Naturally we are back on earth again as this whole show has been so far. I don't know what the master plan for this season is. One can only assume that the Timelords and the Daleks will be resurrected in the last couple of episodes and one can only hope that my earlier get out clause of Eccleston stealing the TARDIS from the real Doctor gets used, but don't hold your breath. I somehow doubt that RTD can make up for this character and story writing by a great final instalment in the same way that Lucas has made up for a lot of the failures in the first two Star Wars movies with his third and final instalment. That said, it is not really fair to mention the two franchises in the same breath given the lows Doctor Who has reached so far. Although this is far from one of them, once again you are left with the thought of how much better this show would be if you had a decent lead actor and head writer been in place.

The Child’s plague is spreading throughout wartime London, and its zombie army is on the march.

Scanning the chat rooms of Doctor Who I find it amazing how so many people rate every story in the new series to be the best episode ever. In my mind this goes to show the mentality of so many fans. It has not been easy writing the reviews for the past few weeks, as the content of recent episodes have been far from horrific. Alas the same problems with the lead man and lead writer continue to annoy, so I unfortunately I have spent a lot of time repeating myself.

In this latest installment Steven Moffatt continues his interesting premise of gas masked zombies in war torn London and this concluding episode for the most part works. However, the Doctor dancing for no good reason and yet another gay reference, (This time referring to Captain Jack) just undermines so many good elements within this story. In an interview, Moffatt confesses that he does not know a thing about his subject matter (Nanos), but thinks, what the hell, it's only Doctor Who. Is it any wonder the American networks have no interest in this show? I have been accused thinking that it is still 1974 and Tom Baker should still be the Doctor etc. etc. This could not be further from the truth. I believe that you really need to up your game if you want the worlds media to take you seriously. I have just finished watching the forth season of 24. This show is slick, well written, well acted and well paced. Here in the

Canada

there are so many show that I don't care to watch. Some I understand are good, some not, but they all maintain a certain level of quality which Doctor Who is lacking. No doubt this series will end up on BBC America, but only because the

networks can not put a show of this maturity on it's prime time schedules. So many forums ask me "How it feels to be wrong?" "After all, Doctor Who is a ratings winner!" I do think the series has drastically improved since my early reviews and this story is a good example of that, but it still has a long way to go. However, at best it is good family viewing which only shares a title and a few basic aspects of Doctor Who. At worst it is an insult to the licence paying public. Given the publicity and dire state of family entertainment in British Broadcasting at the moment, it would not be hard for the test card to hit similar highs.

Like the first part of this story, the overall look and feel is very good, guest actors are all excellent, but the pacing of the story, as with almost all in this series seems to be off. Once again we are a million miles away from the disastrous Rose or Slitheen nonsense, but it would seem we have more of that to come next week. I have been reading with great interest all your E Mails and forum messages and I am so glad that we all finally have a place to demand higher standards from this show without being censored by the likes of Outpost Gallifrey. I agree with so many of you about the unfortunate way that RTD expressing his sexuality on the show. He has already made Queer as Folk, would somebody point out to him that his current project is Doctor Who! JNT had his faults, but never lost sight of the fact the show is about The Doctor, hence the title. I am sure all those at OG will now have new reason to dismiss these reviews, as no doubt anyone who thinks Doctor Who is no place for a writers soap box is obviously a bigot who hates everybody. Anyway, as usual I digress.

Is it me, or are we seeing the same cliff-hangers and conclusions over and over again in this series? Look, we had a moment in Rose where the leads were in jeopardy from the enemy (Autons) walking towards them, while a secondary character (Rose's Mum) was in jeopardy from one of it's counterparts. Once the enemy was confronted ,they stopped attacking both parties. In the awful Slitheen two parter we had The Doctor and co. being attacked, while a secondary character (Rose's Mum) was in jeopardy from one of it's counterparts. Once the enemy was confronted ,they stopped attacking both parties. In this two parter we have The Doctor and Co being attacked while a secondary character (Nancy) was in jeopardy from one of it's counterparts. Once the enemy was confronted. Well you get the point.

In conclusion, by no means awful but much room for improvement. A real shame as this story worked so well in places and took Doctor Who back to it's behind the sofa roots. It does however lose half a point for the nonsense that inspired the title.

A plan to build a nuclear power station in Cardiff City disguises an alien plot to rip the world apart. And when the Doctor dines with monsters, he discovers traps within traps.

My hopes were never high for this episode, as RTD had two appalling foes returning. Firstly, the farting Slitheen and secondly the every annoying Mickey. There was a time when only popular foes returned to please the viewers, now it would seem anything goes if it gives the beloved head writer a chance to use his fart joke a few more times.

To start with the positive, I will say that I was entertained by this episode. I thought parts of it were well written and the moral dilemma elements posed some interesting food for thought. Although one of the Slitheen returns, the episode is no way as painful as the first encounter. Supporting the cast as always, was strong and the FX worked well. In fact it sort of made me think of an updated, soapy version of Tales of the unexpected. So, I was entertained. Does this mean the show is getting better? Not really. I think I have got to the stage where my expectations for Doctor Who are so low, that any interesting storyline is a pleasant surprise. I am occasionally entertained by mass appeal soaps operas like Eastenders and if you put the sci fi elements of this episode aside, it would have felt more at home with this label on it.

If this episode was the first I saw, I have no doubt that I would have given it twice the roasting I gave ‘Rose’. However I have been so shocked by the content of the show in the past few weeks that I have become immune. Even the dialogue with Mickey about getting a hotel room just made me smile and shake my head, whereas a few short weeks ago I would be choking on my own disgust. The plot seemed to be a mix of the previous Dalek episode with the odd plotline from the TV Movie. Interestingly the actual story elements only lasted about 8 minuets from beginning to end, and then we were confronted with the whole ‘what if?’ business that the original show rarely touched on. Once more RTD seems to think that more of Rose's character development is necessary and we end up going over the same old ground again.

I have made my Bad Wolf feelings known throughout these reviews, but before the conclusion is known I would like to say this. The Prisoner, Twin Peaks, Nowhere Man etc. were all brilliant because the obscure references meant something by the end and the whole journey was worth while. Wild Palms and many others meant nothing and just added weird bits for the sake of it or to be ‘Mysterious’ and get people talking. By the end of the series, the conclusion was so dull you wished you had not bothered. I do genuinely hope that RTD has something decent to say with this Bad Wolf business, as it has certainly got my interest. The last thing this series needs is another cop out.

Every day I read new reasons why the show is ‘Fantastic’ and if you don’t like it, it is because (amounts other reasons) it is a kid’s show. And anyway the whole country loves it because it gets 9 million viewers a week… 8…..7…. I would just like to respond by saying this. When I was a kid I wanted to be just like The Doctor and travel with him in his TARDIS. Who in there right mind would want to travel with this guy? Can you imagine kids looking up to him or re-acting scenes? Think of the lovely quotes like “You’re an idiot”, “Shut it” and “Your all a bunch of stupid apes” that they can play out with each other, let alone the “Shall we get a hotel room” stuff. Secondly, even if 7 million viewers choose to watch the show, it still means that around 53 million choose not to. Besides, 20 odd million used to watch Terry and June, only a couple of million saw Fawlty Towers when it first aired, so does this make Terry and June a comedy masterpiece?

In fairness I think the show has come a long way since its early episodes and my worst fears of the public laughing at it for years to come seem to be unfounded. It was done a great job of filling a Saturday night void. As far as light entertainment goes I would give it 8/10. Unfortunately it purports to be a different show judging by the title and thus it gets the score above.

The Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack have to flight for their lives on board the Game Station. But a far more dangerous threat is lurking, just out of sight.

As the Doctor sits in the Big Brother chair, his final line before the title sequence is "You have got to be kidding!" By strange coincidence, these were my words (Give or take the odd profanity) when I first heard of the plot to this episode. Once again we have another mixed bag. Although far from perfect, we have seen how bad scripts can be from this self acclaimed fan. To start with the positive - the story seemed to flow at a reasonable pace and kept me interested and entertained throughout. We had some lovely shots of the Daleks before they were finally revealed and like 'The Long Game' elements of the story sat quite well and would not have been out of place in a show I used to watch years ago called 'Doctor Who'. I also thought it was a nice touch that the used the sounds fo an original Dalek ship.

In order to stop being repetitive I will forgo the usual stuff about Ecclestons casting (Although his performance was a little stronger in this episode) and get down to the new problems. Firstly I did not find it necessary to use real games shows such as the Weakest Link and Big Brother, to me it seems like a cheap ratings grabber that will date rather quickly. Although I think the idea was a good one, a better writer would have made up his own futuristic game shows. It is also interesting to note that all three show play in the US, which again seems to be catering for an American audience that does not want it.

Rose Tyler has seen danger and wonders alongside the Doctor, but now their friendship is put to the test as Earth plunges into an epic war.

To quote Doctor Who, the REAL Doctor Who…. “Oh dear, we are in trouble aren't we” Wow! That was bad. RTD has shown us that he is capable of new lows. It's my own fault; I let myself get built up by the hype. For the most part I tried to stay away from spoilers and even got concerned, that with one brilliantly clever script, RTD could put all the pieces of the jigsaw together and make a brilliant and dramatic crescendo that would make me eat all of my badly chosen words. Even the die hard fans at OG are screaming cop out at this story for the most part.

Oh where to start. Rose gets rescued with no effort or plot what's so ever. The big shoot out with the Daleks is a huge let down and surprise, surprise the leader is the emperor Dalek. The TARDIS heart (or votez whatever) can now only be opened by a pick up truck and not Mickey's Mini (As any good who fan could have told you). The episode is once again plagued with unncerrery emotion which makes the whole episode feel rushed. In a repeat of the last episode, Captain Jack is now killed (As we thought Rose was) and brought back to life, which makes a joke of the Fathers Day episode.

The new look emperor Dalek now thinks he is a God and so do all the other Daleks. No need for this stupid inconsistent plot, but RTD puts in a weak one-liner to explain it all away, and pats him on the head for some biblical inferences. The Daleks were in no way menacing and the pace of the episode was unbelievable, with no suspense or build up, just fast camera angles to get your attention and Murray Gold and the Misfits playing over the top music.

The long anticipated Bad Wolf explanation was neither clever nor satisfying. Sorry to go over old ground put here is a quote from my Boom Town review…

“The Prisoner, Twin Peaks, Nowhere Man etc. were all brilliant because the obscure references meant something by the end and the whole journey was worth while. Wild Palms and many others meant nothing and just added weird bits for the sake of it or to be ‘Mysterious' and get people talking. By the end of the series, the conclusion was so dull you wished you had not bothered. I do genuinely hope that RTD has something decent to say with this Bad Wolf business, as it has certainly got my interest. The last thing this series needs is another cop out.” – Need I say more?

I am not going to go over the old ground of the kisses. As amusing as they were, it was out of character for The Doctor to kiss Rose or Jack and yet another cheap plot device is not going to make me ignore 40 years of continuity because this is what RTD wants to see.

The episode contained some of the poorest and laziest writing I have seen in this series and leaves questions unclear about the existents or otherwise of the Timelords and Daleks. I won't ask why they were at war in the first place; I guess it just sounded cool. Once again, someone else had to save the day, which has happened in almost every adventure – The Doctor does virtually nothing and has very little impact on the story. By the way, can anyone tell me why the votex thingy can kill a powerful Timelord but not a little human?

The regeneration was the worst ever, with flash cards for those that do not understand what was happening. I was more moved by Rowan Atkinson in the Comic Relief ep. which I can still take more seriously then this nonsense.

Tennant seems to be trying out an RP accent for the role, except for the cockney pronunciation of ‘righ' (no T). Still, at least we can forgo the “Loads of planets have a Scotland” line in the Christmas special. In conclusion this was the most disappointing episode since Rose. The fans who were guessing the final plotlines had far better ideas then the one used and after all the hype, no real surprises occurred. Honestly, trained monkeys could have written a better finale then that. Even I could… Let me just get a few tins of Spaghetti….

I famously said that the new Doctor Who would be the worst thing you will watch on TV in 2005. Am I eating my words? Well, sort of. The show is not bad. In many ways it's quite good. Alas it can be so far away from the original concept, that everything can be right, except the title of the show. The Doctor Who I knew was a brilliantly written Sci Fi action adventure series. The show that currently bemuses me, is a lighthearted comedy / soap with some Sci Fi elements and the occasional nod to the classic British show Doctor Who. I think at times the show was dire (Rose / Aliens of London / World War Three) but also could contain some very interesting writing (Fathers Day / The Long Game / Dalek).

Alas RTD has dumbed down the show in order to make it popular again. From a success point of view he is doing exceptionally well. But I think that has more to do with the current state of British Television (Especially Saturday night family entertainment) then it does about this writers achievements. All that said, it was a joy to see the kids in DWC going to the Brighton exhibition and getting excited about meeting the monsters, as so many of us did when we were younger. However, when I was young I enjoyed The creature from the pit as much as I did City of Death . It is only now that I am grown up I can see how awful the effects and other elements of creature was and how wonderful City if Death is. I think that is my point. If a 6 year old watches Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings in 20 years time, I'm sure they will appreciate the production values and see how wonderful the films still are. Where as watching Dr. Who will get the “I can't believe I watched that cheap crap” comment. That is all I have every been saying. Before it's too late SAVE DOCTOR WHO.

Not the best in the world, but hey at least it was the right bit of music and in tune. Actually incidentals music was not bad albeit a little overused.

No face of The Doctor, awful 70's American style names and cheap looking graphics. Looks like the sequence they rejected in favour of the 80's McCoy titles. How can the “Flagship BBC show” for 2005 have this opening?

A very mixed bag. Some work, some don't but the whole thing should look a lot better then it does. The Big Ben CGI was laughable. When Rose and The Doctor had an obvious and long green screen conversation on the lead up, it looked like the 2005 equivalent to the cardboard cut out Master in Logopollis. I thought the look of he blitz eps. was first class, as was a lot of the costumes and makeup. Nevertheless, it says something when a flagship show can not been shown in High Def because it will show up cheap tricks that will badly date. For those that think these effects are cutting edge, ask yourself, why the US won't touch the show with a barge poll?

The man is a reasonable actor, not great, but good. – Alas he has proved himself to be totally unsuitable as the Doctor. He did not watch the show to research it and it shows. He seems to have The Doctor confused with Ian Beale from Eastenders. He wanted to use his own ascent because kids need to know that heroes are not all RP and yet he does not play the part as a hero at all. You need to be more then a good actor to be a good Doctor. For example William H Macy is a brilliant actor, but he would not make a good James Bond. Never stops to make me giggle that fans think he will be up for a BAFTA.

What can I say, the first time I thought the show would be a car crash, was when I heard that Billie was to be cast. Wow was I wrong. So perfect for the role it is scary. Very attractive young lady and who was to know that she could act so well. Just a shame that she did not have better material to work with.

Very happy with the performances of guest actors. All have been perfectly cast and have managed to do the job brilliantly. Possible exceptions would be Rose's Mum and Mickey, but I think the blame should be equally shared between the actors and the head writer.

Anywhere from quite good to downright awful. Although bits there are some exceptions to the rule, RTD is writing Doctor Who for Hollyoaks fans. I think it is interesting to explore the effects of a companion leaving family and friends behind a little, as this has never been done in Doctor Who before. But this would have made an interesting episode (Like Fathers Day) not the whole series. Awfully drawn characters like Mickey and Rose's Mum feature far too much. I understand they have been written to give the Rose character a bit more depth, but the show is called Doctor Who, not The adventures of Rose Tyler – although I would be not have a problem if it carried this title. Unnecessary political and sexual references throughout, which are only about the head writer expressing himself and nothing to do with the plot, seem ridiculous.

All Doctor Who fans at various forums rate every new episode as the best one made in the last 42 years! This really goes to show that some people will love anything with the title Doctor Who. I find it such a shame that viewers are not questioning some of directions that the show is taking. RTD announced Mickey and Rose's Mum will once again feature heavily in the 2 nd season. I don't see anyone jumping for joy and yet the fans still think the sun shines out of RTD's arse. Is this is because he brought the show back to our screens and might take it away again? I have given up trying to conceive what goes through the mind of a fan(atic). I simply can't understand why people think this guy is the new Dennis Potter.

Maybe things will be different next year. The best thing that I have to say about David Tennant thus far, is that he is not Christopher Eccleston. The best thing that I have to say about season 2 scripts thus far is that RTD is writing one less then this year.

Well that's it from me. I will be back at Christmas with a yet another pseudo name. (Alas if I revealed my true identity I would probably lose my job – but well done to those of you who have worked it out so far). Let's hope things get better next year and we don't have to suffer The Doctor raising a glass to the audience at the end of the Christmas special or the line “Loads of planets have a Scotland”. But as with all things…. Only time will tell.

Thanks to all of you have encouraged and enjoyed poorly written, yet heartfelt reviews.

It is so gratifying to speak to like minded people who wish to raise the standard of British television. I, like most of you hope one day this page can go back to being a celebration rather then a critic of this once great show.

Cult TV has now put all 13 reviews in THE FORUM. if you agree with Armitage or have an alterative view, we would love to hear from you.