Back when Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves was bringing in the punters at cinema screens, Doctor Who was looking like a completely finished tv franchise. Few loyal viewers or die-hard fans could imagine it coming back stronger than ever and being confident enough to be more varied in tone and subject matter on a weekly basis than the original run generally aspired to. Time has perhaps not been kind to the blockbuster epic which featured Kevin Costner sound distinctly American, yet the film has also managed to enter the public’s consciousness on quite a deep level. Certainly many adult viewers of this latest episode will almost find it surreally familiar in that special way that Doctor Who can be. Perhaps it is a surprise that our great TV show has never directly featured the heroic outlaw and his ‘merry’ band of men.

This episode from the pen of Mark Gatiss is in some respects refreshingly linear – there is little that requires the viewer to connect the dots on their own initiative, and each scene builds on the next in a straightforward if predictable fashion. Of course there are some revelations as not all is as it appears to be, and notably the Doctor ends up not being proved totally correct, and that is in part due to his rather protective stance towards Clara. A good tribute to the river fight featured in the celebrated story sees the Doctor takes on Robin on a narrow bridge over the river. It is a nice moment that exposes some of the Doctor’s vanity and pride. However much later in the episode it is emulated in a manner that takes away the crucial drama and also feels self-indulgent.

The direction, design, music and acting is mostly solid – although the key role of Robin Hood is just a little under-cooked both in script and performance - if by no means badly done. Although Robin sounds authentic enough, there is perhaps too much obvious effort of him conveying energy and roguish charm, rather than just embodying those qualities. Right from his first appearance where he declares that he has answered the Doctor’s call with a pronounced wink the viewer will not be bored by this Robin, but perhaps will also not focus on what makes him tick either. On the plus side, anytime that Tom Riley interacts with Jenna Coleman, there is a definite sense of chemistry and Robin is more believable. For the most part though he feels like having just one persona of ‘gung ho’, ‘flippant’, ‘romantic’ or ‘agitated’ and there is little complexity that the best guest characters have had in modern Doctor Who.

Peter Capaldi has many of the best lines from Gatiss’ script and at this point in series 8 I have now been able to adjust to his rapid fire diction (that contrasts with Matt Smith's more deliberate manner). He has so many ways to convey emotion and like all strong Doctors has the right bland of humanity and alien detachment. Notably he is somewhat less cold than the preceding week’s adventure with the Daleks but then this story is a decidedly jolly romp and has little pretentions to be something else underneath the surface. There is even some modesty in the early scenes when Clara again reaffirms her belief in the Doctor as the definitive well-meaning person to which he responds that he is just ‘passing the time’ – a nice little pun which is played straight. The Doctor’s cynicism over this forest/castle environment actually being the late 12th century and perhaps something rather more artificial is a brave move and yet just what the new season has been putting forward so far with the lead character. Clearly Steven Moffatt and Peter Capaldi have put a lot of work into making this latest incarnation stand out distinctly from Doctors 10 and 11.

Rather fittingly the gloriously wicked Sheriff of Nottingham also has feelings towards Clara and probably appreciates her more for who she is – a thoroughly capable independent woman who knows her abilities and doesn’t talk around subjects. The way that Ben Miller comes across as a despicable and yet thoroughly charismatic and engaging character is a big plus for this episode, but certainly no surprise given how strong a career this versatile performer has had thus far. The episode also has a very clever variant on the usual background to the Sheriff – his ambitions in general are revealed to be rather bigger than scale than many previous portrayals of the character in yesteryear.The only drawback is that Miller is so strong that when he eventually faces Robin in a key battle towards the end all the attention and excitement seems to centre around him. Of course many villains in film and tv steal the show, but it still feels jarringly lopsided – given how much screen time Robin has as well.

The episode has a lot of snappy elements to enjoy. One of the really funny moments involves a contest to find the best archer in land. The Doctor's marksmanship being top-notch somehow feels right for the Twelfth Doctor, and it is good to see him with a weapon other than sonic screwdriver .. for a few moments anyway. The prize of the golden arrow is tied into plot well, making this sequence not only entertaining but also key to the story. Less positively some dialogue comes off as cod-mediaeval, reminding me of 'The King's Demons' from the early 1980s. Despite the deliberate choice to set the story in the time of King John, I feel that the writer did not mean to pay tribute to a rather mediocre Peter Davison adventure. However the finale to the main story has some sharp dialogue and sharp combat which perhaps ends in a slightly slapstick way but is shot stylishly all the same. The Doctors involvement in final resolution is well done and quite a heart-warming moment that will resonate with many viewers perhaps unused to an older looking Doctor. Following that is a clever coda which pays off the viewer looking for clues over the identity of a supporting character with fairly limited screen time.

The biggest compliment I can give the episode ultimately is that it sets out to achieve its key objectives and it firmly establishes the Doctor/ Clara dynamic as something with a lot of substance. As much as I liked Jenna Coleman’s work from day one, she has really progressed now and Moffatt and his writing team now seem to know how to maximise the character’s effectiveness; something that was not always apparent in episodes like Nightmare of Silver for instance. Also the Doctor's arrogance is skilfully measure by Gatiss and it is also good to see him clearly concerned for Clara's safety having been rather casual about her in the second episode.

Finally -all fans of classic make sure you don't miss the ship's database scene as a clever cameo by one of the early Doctors ties in neatly with the main story.

Catherine Tate has said that before she joined the series that she thought the Daleks were in every episode of Doctor Who; viewers who have joined the show since the 50th Anniversary might well think the same, as the Doctor's greatest foe return for their third appearance in four episodes! I've never been a great fan of the ranting exterminators so yet another encounter so early in the series was not on my priority list of things to look forward to; it would need a good 'gimmick' to draw me in, which in this case was the Doctor encountering a lone, 'good' Dalek.

The story already has one good thing going for it, of course, Peter Capaldi. His portrayal of this plain-spoken, focussed but also easily side-tracked Doctor never ceases to be fascinating on screen; his coffee-run has a diversion in saving a life, yet having no other interest until there's something less 'boring' to get involved in; his practical but insensitive solution to escaping the Dalek antibodies (not to mention tasteless comments a little later), but then followed by an impassioned argument to regain Rusty's sense of 'goodness' once more; and of course his final 'dismissal' of Journey as a soldier when he departs. Donna had pointed out to the Doctor that he needed someone to temper him over a thousand years before, and this new 'reset' Doctor certainly needs a moral compass to guide him, the job of which of course falls to Clara. This possibly does weigh on his mind, and as the pre-publicity forewarned us, he asks her if he is a good man, to which she replies that she honestly doesn't know. He is aware that he isn't so "feely" as in previous lives, as the (also heavily publicised) "She's my carer - she cares so I don't have to" comment re-iterates. I'm not entirely sure how long this 'alien' Doctor can continue throughout the twelve episodes before a lack of softening becomes mundane to watch, but I somehow suspect that with someone like Capaldi in command of the character this isn't something we need worry about.

So, that 'good' Dalek, what's that all about? It seems that the captured survivor from a battle can see the Daleks for what they really are, and doesn't like what it sees; however, it has also been badly damaged and thus piques the Doctor's interest to help 'heal' it. It was probably pretty obvious that by doing so the Doctor would also restore the its "Dalek Factor", too, but I was sufficiently drawn into the tale not to think of that, beforehand. For a long-term fan such as myself there are the parallels with The Evil of the Daleks to draw upon, and the memory conditioning sits neatly with that former story's realisation - not that this is important to the casual viewer, and it seems the Doctor had forgotten too as he seems to feel vindicated when Rusty reverts to type once repaired. However, this is his prejudice for the Dalek race coming through, and that ultimately bites him on the bum when Rusty perceives and draws upon that hatred as its emotions are re-enabled by Clara.

It's probably safe to say that Rusty is a balanced individual, unlike our previous Dalek-turning-good that was so excellently realised in Dalek back in 2005. In that story the Dalek saw itself as impure and so sought self-destruction; no such sign from Rusty, and as it heads off to rejoin the Dalek fleet it seems very likely that we will see the repurcusions of this 'infiltration' at a later date. There's also the other hark back to that former episode too: there, the (then) lone survivor from the Time War suggests that the Doctor would make a good Dalek; here, Rusty informs the Doctor that he isn't a good Dalek, the Time Lord is himself - maybe Clara won't be the sole source of guidance to the Doctor as he subconsciously struggles out of darkness...

Being this is modern Doctor Who, as well as the 'sci-fi' excitement there's also the back-on-Earth 'domestic' to consider, too. Where would we be without some form of love interest in Doctor Who (shh!), and in this series this takes the form of new teacher at Clara's school, Danny Pink. Being that we only have a few minutes to set-up a new character, so in moments we know he's an ex-soldier whose had a bad encounter that continues to cast a shadow over him, and it's also pretty obvious that this will be a cause of friction with the Doctor after another not-too-subtle signpost from the Doctor's comment to Journey about her profession. Considering his 'crash-entry' into the series, Samuel Anderson does a good job of introducing the conflicted Danny, and it'll be interesting to see how he develops over the next few weeks.

The big Dalek battle at the end was okay, but the plethora of explosions didn't hide their inability to hit targets (maybe they just feel that overwhelming numbers win out extermination-wise rather than being more accurate). The battle cries were fun to hear, though a little frustrating in not being quite the same as those from the classic era they were mimicking (or is that just the memory cheating again?!!). The spaceship crew were pretty unmemorable though, and main girl Journey was herself a bit bland (but why do I get the feeling we haven't seen the last of her, either?). The internals of Rusty were handled well, though I wasn't too sure of the miniturisation scale at times (not to mention them having a handy minituriser to hand, too, shades of The Invisible Enemy come to mind).

Looking at the story as whole, Into The Dalek was a reasonable tale, and certainly more watch-worthy than the ratings juggernaut on ITV, but I think it safely falls into the "average" category of story. Capaldi, excepted!

Series openers have always got a lot to contend with; they have to balance between welcoming back older viewers who are expecting more of what they watched the show previously for, and also welcoming new viewers to the fold who may not know what the show is about. With Doctor Who that can be even harder, with nigh on ten years of new adventures continuing a show now literally in its golden years, under unabated media scrutiny and audience expectation. Then, throw a new Doctor into the mix ...

Unlike the arrival of Christopher Eccleston's version, which the production team took great care to identify as a continuation of the 20th Century series in naming him the - ahem - ninth incarnation, at Christmas The Time of the Doctor actually pulled the reset switch in 'killing' off the Doctor as he reached the end of his final regeneration ... and then like a phoenix rising from the ashes brought forth a renewed Doctor as he is granted a whole new life cycle by the Time Lords. In doing so, it also gave the production team carte-blanche to radically change the Doctor's personality, unburdened by his previous forms, and take the show in a new direction. But would they take that chance to potentially alienate an audience?

Well, of course not. After the disaster that was the sixth Doctor's introduction back in 1984, such a radical alteration was never going to be on the cards. However, as demonstrated in last night's Deep Breath, the character can certainly be massaged into a much more ambigious personality who the audience themselves are unsure of, let alone those on screen. We have the moment where the Doctor apparently abandons Clara to the "Half Face Man" ("no point in catching us both"), and then later his look from the restaurant-turned-balloon after the aforementioned robot falls to its (his?) impalation on the top of St Stephens Tower (this is a Victorian story, pedants (grin)) leaves us in total doubt as to whether he pushed or not. However, considering the way the (original) first Doctor behaved over his first adventures we aren't exactly in virgin territory, and he is essentially still the same being that we've known over the last 2000+ years - as hammered home rather unsubtly during the course of the story by Vastra and the Doctor himself.

Pulling it off is a skill, both in performance and direction, and as the new Doctor Peter Capaldi easily succeeds, ably introduced by Ben Wheatley, whose horror credentials certainly are in play in a number of scenes in the latter half of the story. However, it is the latter half where things properly kick off, with the earlier scenes are perhaps being a little too lengthy and slowing the story down somewhat. This is of course one of the problems with exposition, and as I mentioned when starting this review, there's a fair bit to expose! Writer Steven Moffat allowing some 80 minutes for the plot threads to 'breathe' (sorry!) was a good move, but perhaps it could have been shaved down a little just to make it a little pacier.

Anyway, to the story itself!

Prehistoric creatures have come a long way with Walking with Dinosaurs, and our inadvertent visitor to Victorian London was a remarkable creation (please give Invasion of the Dinosaurs a special edition...). Of course real science might not be in play here (see the New Scientist review) but it is catered for in the story universe (thanks, Vastra). It's a shame that it was a macguffin rather than anything more important in the story, but strangely you do feel empathy for it, courtesy of the Doctor (amazing how the TARDIS selectively translates language for its prefered inhabitants) and its sad demise does contribute to moving the story along - though the indication that the robots have been around since the creature's own era in time is an area of plot that, like the ship's location underground, shouldn't be dug into too deeply! Come to think of it, why bring back clockwork droids at all, their inclusion felt a bit like the Autons back in Rose, feeling more of a "historical" enemy's return for its own sake rather than serving the narrative. Mind you, Wheatley skillfully creates some genuinely disturbing moments that eclipse their previous appearance in The Girl in the Fireplace, so I'm not going to worry about that so much!

Jenna Coleman, Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewart and Dan Starkey continue to perform strongly, with the latter's portrayal one of the highlights of the episode. The fan in me frowns a bit at how Moffat has seemingly turned the Sontarans into the Ferengi of Doctor Who, but he does get some of the best lines and Starkey never quites takes his performance into farce, so I end up looking forward to his scenes. ("The Doctor is still missing, but he will always come looking for his box. By bringing it here, he will be lured from the dangers of London into this place of safety and we will melt him with acid ... We will not melt him with acid.", followed by his 'special' delivery of the Times to Clara win the prize!). Peter Ferdinando was especially chilling with his portrayal of the "Half Face Man", and again the effects did not let down in animating his clockwork half. Whether we've actually seen the last of him remains to be seen after that ending, and like with Rose in Partners in Crime, the appearance of Michelle Gomez's Missy was delightfully unexpected - I really hope the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere isn't going to turn out to be the Rani or a female Master as quite a few have speculated and that she is a new original character for us to enjoy in the same way as Madame Kovarian in the 2011 series.

As for that other cameo, I did know it was coming from filming reports but fortunately had forgotten about it until the phone rang. Watching it live evoked the same kind of nostalgic emotion that the final scenes of The End of Time did, though in hindsight I'm not so sure it really served the story so well - it might have been nicer as one of those online/red button extras to enjoy separately rather than in the story proper. Still, its purpose was to remind us (again) that we are watching a continuation of a fifty year tradition!

I can't finish without mentioning the new titles of course. The graphics looked great, and the reflection of the 'clock' theme within the opening bars of the theme was a nice touch (presumably weekly and not just for this clockwork-themed episode), but the main theme sounded very tinny, at least in a non-5.1 environment - I almost had a "Delaware" moment listening to it again! It doesn't seem to quite provide the majesty that I've come to expect from the series theme tune, but I suppose it'll grow on me in time!

All-in-all, Capaldi's debut story was enjoyable, if perhaps a little longer than it needed to be (though it certainly wasn't a clock-watching episode). There was nothing that made me tut at the screen either, so that is always a good sign. It will be interesting to see if this Doctor continues to be 'alien' or becomes more 'human' as with the first Doctor over the next eleven weeks.

Finally, Capaldi himself delivered all my expectations of him as the Doctor, so I'm looking forward to the next 7+ years of him in the role (grin).

Cardiff has been the production base for Doctor Who since 2004 and perhaps in recognition of this its residents were treated to the red carpet treatment for Series 8's world première 16 days before its TV screening.

As part of the wider world tour to promote the new season and Peter Capaldi's arrival as the new Doctor, the Cardiff première was held at St David's Hall, a concert venue in the heart of the city's shopping precinct and ideally located for a West End-style première event.

Tickets for the screening and Q&A sold out pretty much instantly amongst scenes of the website crashing and demand far exceeding supply. To help manage the disappointment, a free fan meet was arranged for the morning of the première, with Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffat and new guy Samuel Anderson traversing the 1/4 mile from Cardiff Central Library to the front of St David's Hall.

Having such a long "catwalk" was a double-edged sword. It meant that more people had the chance to see the stars up close and personal (at no point was it more than two or three deep), but it also meant they had further to walk in a short period of time. And while free publicity cards of Capaldi, Coleman and Anderson were given out to all, the chances of getting an autograph or two were really down to pot luck. Capaldi was particularly attentive - chatting, personalising autographs, posing for "selfies" and generally soaking up the rock star attention he was receiving.

All the while, Daleks patrolled the runway, stopping to terrorise the occasional delighted child, and Cybermen stomped up and down. BBC execs with clipboards scurried the barrier's length, prepping Capaldi for his next interview or soundbite, while presenters Lizo Mzimba and Jason Mohammad earnestly interviewed another group of delirious cosplayers. Even the TARDIS was in attendance, sitting outside the department stores.

After the screening, the cast set off for the London leg of the tour, hosted at the BFI. But back in Cardiff, as the carpet was rolled up, the railings stacked back on to the trucks and the visitors trooped off to the Doctor Who Experience in the Bay, the magic still hung in the air.

This was the same street that featured in the very same season opener being promoted that day (though it pretends to be elsewhere) and it's the same street that doubles as St Paul's district in the season finale. Two roads over and it's where Rose witnessed Autons smashing out of a shop window, and isn't that where Kylie and Doctor Tennant wandered around one Christmas?

And that's why Doctor Who premières happen here - they're a fixed point in time and space.

• To see more photos of the event, go to Nick's Photobucket album.