Any episode following the superb Dalek was going to suffer from comparisons. Even so, The Long Game, was undoubtedly the weakest and most superficial episode of this series so far.

The opening scenes were very reminiscent of The End of The World, deliberately so to compare Rose’s reaction to time travel with Adam’s. But to set the episode in an almost identical setting (Platform One and Satellite Five not being the most original of names) seems to show a lack of imagination, both in the writing and the set design. Wouldn’t it have been better to set this episode on another planet or to show a futuristic version of Earth? Even the music was the same, as Satellite Five burst into life just like the arrival of the aliens on Platform One…

The Doctor and Rose didn’t really have much to do in this episode, concentrating as it did on Adam and the Editor. I understand this was deliberate to lessen the work load for Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper, but it made the episode rather dull. Adam’s plight was interesting in examining the way some people might not take to time travel, something which the original series took for granted. Bruno Langley’s performance was just on the right side of irritating, giving Adam some measure of sympathy. However that sympathy was ruined with an ending that was so smug and annoying, it was obviously going for the cheap laugh. It would have been far more effective from an emotional point of view, to have the Doctor leave Adam behind on Satellite Five as a consequence of his actions, not just return him home to his mum like a naughty little boy.

As for the Editor, I really didn’t buy Simon Pegg’s performance. It wasn’t really sinister enough and he appeared to be playing it for laughs too. The other guest characters didn’t really engage me at all, which is a shame as Russell T Davies has written some superb and very strong female characters in this series. Suki and Cath were rather one-dimensional characters, and although competently played by Christine Adams and Anna Maxwell Martin, they failed to engage any sympathy in the way that Jabe or Harriet Jones did in previous episodes. Tamsin Greig, another excellent actress was rather wasted as the Nurse, and actually managed to convey a clinical sort of menace which sadly wasn’t followed up in any way.

And did the costume designer have a day off? For the year 200 000, the characters looked more like they were from the year 2005 with the Editor’s smart suit and Suki’s flowery blouse. The Jagrafess of whatnot doodah was yet another CGI monster that looked great but did very little; he was simply there to roar, slobber and scare the kids. What was he doing there, why was he trying to suppress the human race? I know Russell said all will be revealed later in the series but that’s not really enough for a casual viewer.

I realise that the series can’t be fantastic every week but we really can’t afford to have dull runaround episodes like this. Not when he and other writers have raised the stakes emotionally and dramatically with episodes such as The End of The World, The Unquiet Dead and Dalek. I simply wasn’t gripped by The Long Game as I was with those episodes, which is a shame as the actual premise behind it was rather interesting. However the episode as a whole was a passable and rather forgettable romp, lightweight and in places, irritating. Sorry!

I wasn't going to submit a review of this epieosde. Earlier today I read through the first few reviews that had been submitted, and was shocked to see so many people coming out to say "oh! Russel T. Davies is a good chap really." I was apalled!

I've seen for a few weeks now a simple problem with the new series, and simply put it's Davies' scripts. The two non-Davies scripts so far, Unquiet Dead and Dalek have been hailed all round as the finest two episodes so far. Please please Davies and BBC take the hint.

So what's wrong with Russel T. Davies' scripts anyway? (and what does the T stand for? Is that like the T. in James T. Kirk??) The problem is a simple lack of any depth or substance. The Unquiet Dead and Dalek both have something in common that no other episode so far has. This is that they took a simple premise and didn't try and either over-complicate it, or do too much with it.

Davies' scripts have so far translated almost as cartoons, parodies of what an episode should be. It's like Little Britain Sci-Fi sometimes.

I didn't really enjoy this episode simply as he was trying to so much with it that there was no depth. I would like him to have completely dropped the Adam story. If you were going to include a parable about "why it's wrong to change history", then I think that'll come about in the next story, and is indeed the entire basis for it.

We didn't find out anything about why the journalists were apparently so unwilling to ask questions. We didn't delve at all into the character of the Editor. Pegg was magnificent. Eccleston and Piper are playing off each-other so well now, that they'll be completing each other's sentences in a couple of weeks.

When I reviewed AOL, I said that I felt RTD was a very clever writer.... The Long Game supports my opinion totally. I have read some of the initial reviews on this site of this episode and I have to say I believe some them miss the point - completely.

The Long Game may not be the most Earth-shattering episode of Doctor Who but it serves it's purpose effectively with a storyline that DOES get you thinking. RTD is making a statement here, one that is very relevant to what is going on in our society. One only has to take a closer look at how "free" and "unbiased" media is fast becoming a thing of the past to see where he is coming from. The Murdochs of this world (and I here I hang my head in shame, for his "empire" was born in my city, Adelaide, South Australia) ensure that independant media is something we can no longer take for granted. The vast majority of what we read, what we see and how it is presented to us is is slanted very much toward a certain political ideology (and I wont use this review to wax lyrical on what I think about Rupert's conserative views). We must rely on our Government media outlets such as the BBC and here in Australia, the ABC for that "unbiased" point of vew that is crucial.... right off the soap box and on with The Long Game.

Some criticism has been written about how the episode looked. I do agree it looks somewhat plastic and cheap. But if one were to place this in the context of the story, then I feel the design is about right. The Doctor soon clocks that all is not what it seems. That it is all a little too good to be true, so with this in mind, does it not make sense that everything would look just that little bit too shiny, too false?

Simon Pegg's performance as the Editor was a brilliant. Just enough menace and black humour to not only believe he was a threat but to also relish his evilness. It was not overdone or hammy.

The regulars were in fine form. When I reviewed AOL I felt Eccleston's Doctor was at risk of becoming almost irrelevant - too much the fool. Since then, the greater complexities of this Doctor have been fleshed out. In Dalek, we saw the many layers of the last Timelord. The effect the time war has had on him. Eccleston's skill as an actor were clearly evident. In this episode I felt he had settled nicely into his performance and I sensed little touches of Hartnell and Baker (C) popping up now and then - reminding us that despite his youthful exterior, this was a well travelled Timelord who no longer suffers fools gladly. Billie Piper was once again in fine form, and I dont think I can add much more to what has already been said in other reviews. RTD obviosuly enjoys writing for Rose - it shows.

Bruno Langley's Adam is a less successful character. Im not so sure he is as capable an actor as our time travelling duo. I went back and watched his performance in Dalek and noted in some early scenes with Billie Piper he was not very believable. Where was the boy genius? He lacked the depth that Mark Strickson played with ease as Turlough ( I wont use Matthew Waterhouse as a comparison in anyway here, as I believe Mark Strickson's Turlough is a more suitable character to use). Turlough was played with just the right complexity that you were compelled to follow his misadventures as he grappled with the Black Guardian. Adam seems to just fumble about, I couldnt see the cogs in his head turning (something the actor has a responsibility in showing!) to make me believe he was either a genius or someone whom I wanted to follow and see what he was about to get himself into.

For me there isnt too much to gripe about. The episode is consistant with the vision of the production team and fits nicely into the season thus far. If there is one thing that let it down it was the character of Adam.... which it would seem (for now atleast) is no longer something to worry about! It was well paced and generally well acted. I cant see how any ardent fan or your general audience member would not enjoy it - if one looks at the dross on television these days (Celebrity Wrestling...? dear oh dear!) we shoud not have much to complain about with The Long Game.

Tons of suspense. When that young woman got "promoted" and the bodies popping out - chills!

Great satire too. (Jagrafess should've been called "Murd" not "Max"!)

The "ho hum" previews by Ceefax and Radio Times were wrong. The only thing they made sound promising was the Jagrafess ("send the tots to bed", "Gerald Scarfe nightmare" etc)... but the story turned out great (the Jagrafess design, less so. Bit bland).

Everything was the opposite of what I expected - the story being good and suspenseful, the Jagrafess a bit disappointing. Nice idea calling him Max though (obviously a Robert Maxwell media emperor reference - lucky they didn't call him Murd!)

This could have been a McCoy era concept - and if the McCoy era had had the deft and experienced writing and direction of this, it would've worked.

The Face of Boe thing was a bit daft but fun. The psychic paper is going to make the doctor as invincible as the all-purpose sonic screwdriver (which has more functions now than it ever did in the Classic Series).

Perfectly paced, wonderfully acted (especially by Pegg, predictably) with three (count 'em!) excellent female roles (the Nurse and the two journalists) four if you count Rose.

Some superb dialogue, wonderful use of colour.

And anyone who says Adric is annoying, he's nothing compared to Adam. Think yourselves lucky!

Two things I didn't understand: the title (what Long Game?) and Rose saying Adam was her boyfriend. This was clearly his first trip, so exactly what had they been up to in the TARDIS -- spooning?

All in all, a tight little story and a nice breather after the grimness of last week.

So, what did I like about The Long Game?

It was nice to see the (pregnant!) Face of Boe. The way Adam was 'seduced' by the creepy/sexy/maternal nurse into having the implant was believable - the temptation and eventual submission were well portrayed, and I found myself thinking, "Yes, Adam is wrong, but in his place, I'd be sorely tempted."

The editor was exactly the kind of man who will serve an unjust ruler loyally, and take sadistic pleasure in the power this gives him, but will ditch his master without a moment's hesitation when the game is up.

It's true the editor was played as a comedy villain, but I thought Simon Pegg's somewhat pantomime performance didn't reduce the character to a stock meglomaniac. He's not evil, he's not insane, he's an ordinary, everyday bastard, just like your boss. It pains me to say it, but to me the editor felt a lot more real as a person than Davros ever did.

As for what I didn't like...The sets and costumes looked like they were trying to do Blade Runner on the cheap. I'm sorry, but adding smoke and garish colour scheme to burgervans and background characters with punky hair does not look futuristic. It looks like 'futuristic' looked in 1981.

The Doctor has gone from being annoyingly enthusiastic with a big cheesy grin, to being impatient, judgemental, and inconsiderate of everyone except Rose. Why does he almost simper over Rose while being unfair and hostile to Adam (and indeed Mickey). This isn't a love story, and as RTD knows perfectly well, the doctor has never had a sexuality. At least, not the kind that ordinary humans have.

The dead Suki grabbing the editor's foot as he tried to make a run for it. The way the Doctor estimated the duration of technological retardation to a year's accuracy - progress just doesn't work like that! Yet another 'bad wolf' reference. All these things annoyed in small ways.

More than all that, the question I came away asking was not "How did the big monster on the ceiling get there?" It was "Why is Adam in the script at all?"

Perhaps this is just RTD playing games with audiance expectations - introducing a new companion, then instead of having the doctor travel with them for a while, dump them immidiately. So the whole point of introducing Adam was to surprise us by dropping him. This is the kind of pseudo-interesting idea beloved of students on Media Studies couses - and yes, I was one of those a long time ago.

Besides, hasn't it already been done? Wasn't there a female companion introduced in the Hartnall era who was killed in the next adventure?

Maybe Adam is there to keep the gay male viewers entertained. Whereas once there was Louise Jameson's bikini to keep the dads watching, we now have the cute gay boy from that soap opera. Written by gay blokes, watched by more gay blokes, and played by a straight one.

No. I don't think the reason is as vaccuous as that. I think the only reason to give Adam half the plot of an episode, and leave him in schtuck back on earth, is to reintroduce him later. Give us a companion, make us care about him by giving him a sympathetic subplot and lots of screen time, drop him in a dangerous situation ("They'll dissect you in seconds"), leave him - and us - to stew and worry for a few weeks, then bring him back. We'd be pleased to see the familiar face, a dangling plotline gets resolved, and we get to see him saved and redeemed. The doctor admits he behaved like a judgemental arsehole (which he did - very strange characterisation), and lets Adam back on the TARDIS. We'll see, I suppose.

The satire in New Who is welcome. But the problem is, it's just so patronising. In World War Three we had "Massive Weapons of Destruction, capable of being launched in 45 seconds". This is a good throwaway line - it makes it's point, brings a smile of recognition, and doesn't bog the action down by being long or didactic. But then the line got repeated by Andrew Marr. And then again by a TV presenter. It's like RTD assumes we're too slow to 'get' the joke first time. The point is laboured further when Harriet(?) asks something like "Will people believe it, just because it's on television?" and Rose replys, "It worked last time".

Having 'done' the war, we now get Immigration 'tackled' in The Long Game. What the editor says is substantially correct, "A word in the right place, repeated often enough...Create a climate of fear, and it's easy to keep the borders closed". Cathica's vague, puzzled justification for the lack of aliens, about "all the threats", none of which she can specifically remember, is absolutely in keeping with the easily manipulated public who like to think they're well informed and liberal.

Politics is nothing new to Doctor Who. The Masque of Mandragora and The Curse of Peladon were concerned with social manipulation through religion. Full Circle and The Sun Makers used notions of economic class. And so on. The political content is less intrusive in The Long Game than in World War Three - perhaps because it's more integral to the plot - but I still feel like I'm being lectured on basic media theory by a well meaning but finger-wagging teacher.

The Long Game wasn't actually bad. It was just uninteresting. I think we're entitled to more from Doctor Who.

Those in the 'anorak tendency' jumped on the luke-warm previews as proof that this new series of Doctor Who had finally tripped itself up. "The Long Game" certainly does not have the instant impact of the other episodes, but it was not exactly clear why so many vultures were up in the air ready to swoop. Maybe some fans are too eager to jump on every little glitch, for "The Long Game" was understated, but by no means bad.

The episode was a light satire on media power, focusing on an intergalatic organisation which controls the broadcasting of news and information, and where human nature is manipulated for all its negative traits. Certainly this was yet another episode where the money pumped into the new series was spent for all its worth; the effects were fairly impressive, although the "spike" didn't seem to cause its users much affect- even the earlier episodes would have made it clear what was happening without a standard "What's happening Doctor?" explanation. The idea was certainly interesting, with a mysterious upper-level controlling the space station masked by its distance from the 'slaves' in the lower decks. Humans are always going to strive for promotion, and this device was executed well.

The episode felt somewhat deflated because it did suffer from being in 'fast-forward'. Adam's character did have something to do, but it was fairly clear that RTD didn't know what to do with him, so treated him as a kind of modern day Adric. His bumbling into the Medical Floor and operation didn't really have much point to it, and although it was stitched onto the narrative it still felt as though his wanderings were separate to the plot. The Doctor's joking to the effect that Adam was Rose's boyfriend brought to mind the sniping shortness of Peter Davison and Tom Baker, and suggested that the hints of a Doctor/Rose affair are being put to one side in these later episodes.

Rose was not well used in the episode either, but Simon Pegg as the Editor certainly was. His sci-fi kudos was lifted in "Shaun of the Dead" and in this role he managed to weigh up sinister evil with a cool cunning side. He and Christopher Eccleston had a great tussle together, working off each other very well. Yet again, more hints of "Bad Wolf", which was highlighted in a very subtle line from Rose. The Editor and, erm, "Max", were a good team together, with the balance of power shifting in well executed scenes. Sadly, the two female characters seemed too neatly packaged and did not convince.

"The Long Game" may now be shown up by the neigh-sayers as the first loose thread in the fabric, but it was a clever concept which failed to be executed well throughout. It did have too easy a conclusion, although the typical Doctor Who moral tail packed a sting. This episode certainly had some good humourous lines and Christopher Eccleston maintains his high standard of emotion. Playing on the power of the media can often result in less than satisfying stories in many kinds of programme, so it can be excused that it's difficult to put together Doctor Who and such a topic. Certainly this is not the 'beginning of the end', and some fans would like it. Good, just not up to the high standard thus far.