As a two-part story, ‘The Empty Child and ‘The Doctor Dances’ is a queer fish. More than any other segmented story, it really is a tale of two halves, with the first half being more horrifying and the second being very light-hearted in comparison. When watched as stand-alone Episodes, this jarred quite a lot, but how does it cope when regarded as one long adventure?

The first thing that struck me was how many tiny bits really stood out for me when I watched the Episodes as one story. Moments which were memorable, such as Rose and Captain Jack dancing on his Invisible Spaceship or the possessed Typewriter, still stand out, but several other smaller moments also prove themselves to be equally memorable; such moments include the TARDIS phone actually ringing like a normal telephone, Captain Jack contemplating his supposed oncoming death in his Spaceship and virtually every time Richard Wilson is on screen.

This tale of two halves still feels like just that- a story split into two pieces. The switch between backseat humour and forefront horror to forefront humour and backseat horror is very noticeable indeed, and if anything else smacks of greater disappointment. The transition is not slow, but very quick and perhaps if a scene had been included in-between, then the change would have been handled more smoothly. As it stands though, one cannot help but raise an eyebrow when the atmosphere changes so suddenly and unexpectedly.

One thing that did improve slightly, though still not enough for it to be forgiven, was the actual ending where the Doctor dances with Rose. The scene itself is beautifully lit and well-directed, with the TARDIS lights pulsing to the rhythm of ‘In The Mood’ in a way I wish my room did whenever I listen to a CD. Despite this, it still seems unnecessary and a bit embarrassing, but not as much as it was the first time I watched it. I guess that I was just prepared this time round, so I wasn’t as surprised by it.

The resolution of the two Episodes carefully toes the line between acceptable and cop-out. Certainly, if it were not for the Doctor’s back story and the high number of deaths seen elsewhere in Series One then the nanogene conclusion would come as a complete cop-out ending. As it stands, it still smacks slightly of cop-out but works fairly well nevertheless, and it is nice to see everyone smiling if nothing else. Steven Moffat could so easily have ruined this ending, but instead he makes it work by carefully never overstepping the boundaries into pure sugarcoated sentiment, preferring instead for the sugar to only shine dully.

The acting throughout the two Episodes is excellent too. From his very first moment, John Barrowman as Captain Jack impresses and you are firmly confident that nobody could have played the role better than him, nor would you like anybody to try to do so. The slow transition that his character undertakes is handled really well, and is by far one of the highlights of Steven Moffat’s script. When he is contemplating his death, he manages to sum up his character in a few short sentences, and you realise that despite his roguish exterior, deep down he is a nice person, and more than worthy to join the TARDIS crew, which, of course, he does.

As Nancy, Florence Hoath is a joy to watch and, again, the idea of anyone else getting even close to playing the role as good as she does is, to be honest, laughable. To put it simply, Hoath is perfect and well deserving of as much praise as she can possibly get.

Special mention must also go to Richard Wilson as Doctor Constantine, who rather impressively manages to make a long-lasting impression despite his relatively little screen time. This is certainly helped by the Gas Mask scene, though his delivery of certain lines is great too- when he painfully tells the Doctor that he wants his Mummy, it is horrifying and full credit must go to Wilson for making it so.

James Hawes’ Directing throughout both Episodes is excellent, and he shows that he is dab hand in any situation, be it the comedic aspects (The Doctor and Captain Jack arguing), or the scary aspects (the excellent scene where the Gas Mask breaks out of Doctor Constantine’s face in a very painful fashion), everything here is very nicely Directed, and Hawes is equally competent be he on location, or inside a house or a Jazz Lounge. There are some shots that stand out from the crowd, but my favourite probably has to be the slow pull-back from the interior of Captain Jack’s Spaceship into the TARDIS consol room, which is beautifully shot and lit.

Murray Gold’s incidental music is a subservient party throughout the two Episodes, instead allowing the period pieces to take centre-stage, though when his music is heard, he makes it count and really adds to the ambience being painstakingly created in ‘The Empty Child’. His music for ‘The Doctor Dances’ has the same position, yet here the score seems less imaginative with the ‘scary’ music not working as well and coming across as a bit clichéd, a lot like the ‘scary’ elements of that Episode itself.

In all, the two Episodes as one story works in its overall favour and yet also shows up its shortcomings even more than before. It is ‘The Doctor Dances’ which stops this two-part story from attaining the dizzy heights to which ‘The Empty Child’ is on its way towards and this is a real pity. When watched as a whole, this feeling of disappointment is slightly weaker though still undoubtedly present; parts such as the Doctor dancing shed their embarrassment slightly, though still prove themselves to be on the wrong side of discomfort.

The acting throughout is great; the Directing is brilliant; the Special Effects are exemplary; the script is fairly strong though at odds with itself and its own mood. The repeated use of “Are you my Mummy?” throughout is brilliant and remarkably creepy, so congratulations to Noah Johnson for delivering said line in such a superb way.

The rapid switch between the two very different atmospheres being generated in the two Episodes comes as a disappointment, and it is a severe pity that more could not have been done to keep up the horror content, though I suppose this would have made the nanogene solution seems like a total failure of the imagination.

I still feel that, as a two-part story, this lets the viewer down and that it ruins what it sets up by changing its ambience totally and without warning but the peaks, to be honest, just about outnumber the troughs and so what should be a crushing disappointment is relegated to a state of irritating.

Coupled with the initial chapter, "The Empty Child", this has been, for my money at least, the strongest story of the series so far.

To give a little background, I am someone who enjoyed Doctor Who as a child (excluding the McCoy era) but am not well versed in the 'expanded universe' of books, audio stories etc. So my review is based purely on one factor - enjoyment.

My first comment is how well paced the whole story was. "Aliens of London" and "World War 3", as the series' first two-parter, seemed to sag in places and was padded out with a lot of unneccesary Slitheen self-congratulation - not to mention fart gags. Don't get me wrong, I love fart gags, but not in Doctor Who. I digress however. The new two parter didn't let up for a second, the script was lean but detailed and the direction was spot on. As we have come to expect with this series, the characterisation was excellent, but never overplayed as it was, at least in my opinion, in "Father's Day".

Visually this two-parter was hard to fault, from the Nanogenes through to Captain Jack's cloaked ship, everything looked perfect, and the central character of "The Empty Child" played brilliantly on the strange alien qualities of the WWII gas mask. The child himself was the stuff of nightmares, his incessant "Are you my mummy?" put me in mind of "Red rum" from The Shining, along with various other horror movie stalwarts.

This was also a storyline (and there haven't been many) where the Doctor himself had a chance to shine. It has been disappointing in previous episodes to see him unable to act in the face of danger, but at the start of "The Doctor Dances" he undid all that by acting very decisively and sending the child to it's room. And it didn't end there - his deductions were impressive right until the end, where the seemingly confused strands of plot suddenly, and rather cleverly, were all tied very neatly together. And although I had my doubts about "Captain Jack" at the start, his purpose in the end made perfect sense - a rogue, a conman and an idiot. Everything the Doctor isn't, and the perfect anti-hero to set the Doctor against.

Rose took less centre-stage this time and it was nice to see. Previous episodes have been quite Rose-heavy, and although I have nothing against her, let's face it, the program is called "Doctor Who" and that's who we have switched on the television to see.

All in all, I have enjoyed the series thus far and it seems to keep on improving. I would like to see some more writing from Mark Gatiss - I was a big fan of League of Gentlemen, and I think their warped sensibility is perfect for the new Doctor. In a world of shows like Stargate SG-1 and Enterprise, Doctor Who has to compete on the quality of it's writing and it's English quirks - it's managing to do so admiribly so far, so I hope they keep their collective feet firmly on the gas pedal.

Teenage pregnancy, bisexuality ... 'The Doctor Dances' certainly proves the Doctor's been updated for the 21st Century! The concluding part of the two-parter dials down the tension (though that typewriter was eerie) & adds a good splash of humour (my gizmo's bigger than yours, the two executioners, and of course the leg at the end). Though the plot held few surprises, it was a joy watching the Doctor put the pieces together.

I'm glad Nancy proved key to the puzzle -- not to mention managed to survive being a female bit part around the Doctor. (The foreshadowing of the blond kid in the house removing his gas mask was cool.) With her mix of grief, stoicism & calm courage, she's reminiscent of the Doctor himself. I loved the way she didn't bat an eyelid when Jack's spaceship swooped overhead!

I'm really warming to Eccleston's performance now. His exuberant joy at the end might have seemed a touch over-the-top earlier in the season, but here it feels a perfect response in someone teetering on the edge. At this rate, he's going to be my One True Doctor right about the closing credits of episode 13...

Captain Jack grated less this time round: he's a much more pleasant character when he's not trying to be nice. With his calm response to certain death I suspect it's going to remain the woman's job to do the screaming. I remain intrigued by the three-way situation that's been established. I really don't know how far they can push things, given the audience they're aiming for -- but it's got me at the edge of my seat!

Hmm... Bad bits. Given how well the plot had been set up in the first part, I rather missed the creepy atmosphere of 'The Empty Child', but the most annoying bit was the obtrusive score.

Concluding episodes never quite make the grade of the original, and 'The Doctor Dances' was no exception. Nevertheless, a solid episode.

Wow! Just watched 'The Doctor Dances' and thought it was brilliant. It had me in tears, made my heart swoon and had me laughin in pure joy. This is what the new Doctor Who series about- progressive, spunky and scary all at the same time....I few of my mates who were non DW fans watched the first one and didn’t think too much of it but I'm sure that this episode would have won them back.

Anyway I loved it and thought it was thought provoking and interesting. I was worried that the Sister/mother would have to sacrifice herself or something to that effect and that would have made it too much like the other characters who have had to kill themselves in order to save the universe. Seeing the mother united with her child, Jamie filled me with such joy which was manifold in the Doctor's dance of joy too.

I loved the sexual tension between the characters and it was great fun to see them 'dance' in their respective attractiveness to each other and the viewer. I was also amazed that on national TV there was a sexual ambiguous character such as Jack or maybe not so much that it was on TV but it was on Doctor Who. Being a gay man myself I loved the interaction between Jack and the Doctor and Rose. John Barrowman has movie star cinematic looks and is just perfect as Jack. He will cause both the husbands and wives, daughters and gay men to desire him.

The special effects were also fabulous and Jack's ship was beautiful to look at although I thought that an explosion at the end would have been good. Thought they skimped abit there but it was a good ending and left me grinning from ear to ear.

Also saw the preview to 'Boomtown' and that looks fabulous too with a welcome return of an old foe...but I am not telling....I don't want to get under your skin...

To recap the events of the previous episode, the sudden awakening and advancing of the “infected”, although similar to the cliff-hanger in “Aliens of London” was far superior and suspenseful. But then, the whole episode already had a large degree of eeriness from the start and although I didn’t spend the week forming my own explanation of how the Doctor would escape this situation, the resolution was simple yet brilliant ending with another superb line from the Doctor with regard to his last words. I am sure there can be a cheap (or expensive) cash-in out there for Doctor Who series quotable lines.

Going into this episode, I had the feeling that the fear and suspense initiated previously had been diminished due probably to my familiarity of the story. It had a feel of the last episodes of the McCoy era with long scenes with no dialogue and plenty of intrigue with no apparent explanation. The Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack and Nancy observing as the “zombies” move slowly around. But the chills had gone. Furthermore I noticed that the special effects had been reduced from that of the previous episode but this was because the big effect of Captain Jack’s spacecraft was saved until the end.

There is still a gay undercurrent in this episode. This time a reference to the father of the house, Mr Lloyd being in liaison with the butcher. I am gay myself, and initially, I found some of these homosexual undertones irrelevant to the plot. They were quite novel to start in the episode Rose but I find that there is no reason, other than political statement/correctness to insert them into continuous storylines. For the record I don’t preach or oppose gay rights, but in turn do not think it should be (to coin a phrase) rammed down people’s throats when unnecessary. However, on watching the episode again, it becomes more apparent and relevant why Nancy was “blackmailing” this character. Captain Jack’s bisexuality by contrast does seem integral to his character and becomes intriguing as the episode progresses with references to his knowledge of “Algie” and the Doctor’s quip on who he would like to dance with.

As the story progresses I did find that the fear element was still evident, especially the ghostly typewriter and the recording tape that had run out. The shivers soon returned down my spine as the repeated “Mummy? Are you my Mummy?” continued through the story.

The Doctor as played by Chris Eccleston becomes the most “human” performance in this and the previous episode, a flippant reference to a previous adventure (the bananas, “today is Volcano day”. This to date showcases MrEccleston’s ability as an actor and more importantly, a perfect personification of the Doctor. Sometimes rude, sometimes brash but always caring and fond of the human race. It definitely was the Doctor’s episode and some might say, finally. He gets to carry the episode, solves the mystery of the alien/human hybrids and then gets to initiate the “cure”. His immense joy at saving everyone’s life is both genuine and moving.

Florence Heath as Nancy is the core character in this story and I have to admit that I had guessed her involvement right from the start but this did not diminish my euphoria when she reunited with her son. Richard Wilson was noticeable absent from most of this episode but gets one of the funniest lines of the 90minutes. I must admit I was hoping for more than what amounted to a brief cameo. John Barrowman eased into his new role with aplomb, which turned out to be quite a complicated character. Billie Piper gives her best performance of the series.

I don’t usually discuss the direction of episodes but I did enjoy some of the quirky camera angles and point of view shots used by the director which enhanced the suspense of the episode. The music also consistently improving as the season goes on.

The alien hybrids were a fantastic creation and sent plenty of chills in every appearance but I would still like to see a WW2 story with Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans or Raston Warrior Robots as the big bad!!!! (Maybe not the last one)

This episode may be just a tad inferior to the opening instalment but as a pair I rate them first before The Unquiet Dead, Father’s Day, Dalek, The Long Game, Rose, Aliens/WWIII and The End of........

Oh boy....My expectations were high for the conclusion to this two-parter. Loved the episode title, for a start, and 'The Empty Child' had been wonderful; so what did I get?

Expectations surpassed. Don't you just love it when that happens?

This was sublime , creepy, emotional and life-affirming television...and occasionally very funny to boot.It boasted Christopher Ecclestone at his considerable best . There have been criticisms that the Ninth Doctor has been rather ineffectual at various times in this series, relying on others to resolve situations. I can see that (I've *said* that!) and wasn't impressed by the treatment of Adam, but this has become a complex and fascinating interpretation of the role, and it's a shame that as I warm to him more and more, I know that the Ninth Doctor will soon be gone. It's sad and rather wonderful at the same time. (Does that make sense?! I just mean...actors come and go, but the Doctor lives on.)

Anyways...'The Doctor Dances'. The resolution of the cliffhanger was spot on ("Go to your room!") This really was a wonderful script. I adore this programme, but I've seldom found myself laughing out loud and banging my thigh in delight whilst watching. The scene with the 'zombies' surrounding our heroes and the Doctor being very reluctant to describe his sonic device to Jack (I've got a sonic...oh, never mind.") could well be my favourite of the season so far. The way Chris plays it and ends up shouting "Screwdriver!" ....lovely, funny stuff and *very* Doctor Who. (loved the 'banana' business too)

Got to mention Florence Hoath's performance. She held all the scenes with the children together beautifully. And the moment when we realise Nancy's actual relationship with the 'empty' child; *great* acting. Nancy trusts the Doctor and saves the world in the process....beautiful stuff, brilliantly played.

A few other thoughts...Direction; faultless. Captain Jack; glad to have him on board. An engaging character with a bit of mystery about him, very engagingly played. Nice to think that the TARDIS dynamics are going to be shaken up a bit. (I assume that Captain Jack 'riding' the bomb was a deliberate 'Dr.Stangelove' ,er...'homage'?)

Glenn Miller and dancing in the TARDIS....how special *is* this?

I think this story is right up there with the best that the programme has offered and the conclusion rocked, basically! This Doctor has obviously seen and experienced a lot of terrible things recently. His joyous cry of "Everybody lives!!" was a wonderful part of a wonderful conclusion...this was very special.

The Doctor dances? Too right he does.

Ten out of ten.