Father's Day

Y'know, since reading much of his earlier Doctor Who work, I had high hopes for Paul Cornell's contribution to the new series. I also had fears that the frantic pace of the show's new format would detract something from the story, which I felt the previous episode (The Long Game) suffered from somewhat. I really had no need to worry did I?

Absolutely fantastic episode. Personally I love stories concerning time getting coked-up, but as well as satisfying my fanboy needs, this was a superb slice of moving drama with some fantastic character moments. Billie Piper continues to astound me with the depth of her acting abilities- tonight's episode being (in my humble opinion) her finest work in the series. Mr eccleston doesn't disappoint either, only continuing to make us all realise we're going to miss him once David Tennant takes over. The darkness that is usually only glimpsed at in the character of the Doctor came to the fore on numerous occasions during 'Father's Day', which was a wonderful thing to behold. Its the moments of darkness in his character that make us remember just how old and how alien he is.

The Reapers were fantastic. I am curious though; They seemed much more realistic than the shot we saw duing the showreel that was broadcast on the Jonothan Ross show before the series started- could it be they were unfinished then and had some extra work done before broadcast? They certainly seemd to be textured much more convincingly. Superb design for Doctor Who monsters as well- that sudden movement of the wings was quite a sight to behold.

The flawed bits of the series, i.e. Jackie and Mickey, regained some ground with a great performance from Jackie and a sweet story point with the little boy as a young Mickey.

Rose had some excellent exchanges with her father, especially the dialogue regarding why he shouldn't 'go there'- classic! The drama was beautiful once it had been established that her dad realised who Rose actually was. His final sacrifice was moving and superbly handled.

If anything seemed rushed in tonight's episode, it was the transition from Rose's parents wondering who she was to believing she was a time-travelling version of their baby. That felt like there had been a little too much script pruning to make it fit the 45 minute slot. It was still great, but that one moment was tonight's weak point for me.

Quite a shock to see the Doctor actually get eaten though!!!

Great episode, moving, poignant and extremely well-made. The nods to the 80's way of life were excellent.

I hope that the bext series contains episodes as good as this and "The Unquiet Dead" and "Dalek". While RTD's scripts have been brilliant, the guest writers seem to have given it that little extra push and have made this series incredibly special. I don't want it to end.