The issue of temporal paradoxes was one that Doctor Who dealt with all too rarely; usually the TARDIS was simply a device for establishing setting, and it was left at that. When it did rear its head, it was treated differently each time: in The Aztecs it was established that history simply couldn't be changed because from the future's point of view your interference has already happened so it's all been factored in. This would seem to be the most logical idea, and is borne out by stories like The Visitation in which the Doctor's involvement results in the great fire of London.

In Day Of The Daleks the Doctor could change history safely as by doing so he was in fact repairing a temporal paradox and generally giving history a bit of a spruce up. City Of Death presented a more standard alternate-timeline theory, while Attack Of The Cybermen told us that to change history would destroy the universe. Now, with Father's Day, changing history results in massive gargoyle like creatures appearing and eating everyone.

Frankly, that one came a bit out of left field.

Maybe I'd underestimated Paul Cornell, but I enjoyed Father's Day a lot more than I thought I would. With such a complex subject it's easy to get bogged down in problems but he subverted this by giving us a character study first, monster story second. In this sense it's slightly disappointing as the Reapers are such superb monsters: not evil, but doing what is necessary to protect the time/space continuum. I must admit though that keeping them in the background increases their menace, and the shots of their silhouettes swooping round outside the staned-glass windows of the church work wonderfully.

As with Dalek Joe Ahearne's directing was excellent, a particularly good example being the washed-out overcast effect used when it seems that the good guys have lost. The shot of the time-looped car going round and round is chilling, and Murray Gold provides one of his best scores for the series.

Now to the most contentious aspect: the Doctor's apparent death. The Doctor's plan fails, and it takes the noble sacrifice of Rose's father to bring him back. Ordinarily this would be fantastic, but in a series where the Doctor seems less and less involved in the resolutions of the stories it seems to be taking it a bit too far.

What this episode is first and foremost though is an emotional journey for Rose. This was something the original series never really got the hang of (sometimes it did though: the Doctor comforting Victoria in The Tomb Of The Cybermen is my all time favourite scene), and this completely thrashes the most emotionally literate episode of the original run, The Green Death in that respect. It makes it even more of a pity that Russel T. Davies, with his smug jokes and less than subtle subtexts is in charge.

Overall then, a 9/10. The least of the three non-RTD scripts we've had so far, but when you consider the brilliance of The Unquiet Dead and Dalek this is hardly a dreadful criticism.

Well, that was certainly emotional and dramatic television - my wife and I both had watering eyes - but was it Doctor Who?

Rose and the Doctor travel to November 1987 so that Rose can be with her father as he dies. But instead, being an emotional human, Rose saves him and unwittingly causes a rift in time. This brings demon-like "reapers", and we're told their intent is to put right the time rift. They seem to believe they can accomplish this by randomly attacking and eating people.

Good use of location work sees Rose attending a church wedding with her father, mother and baby self. The reapers attacking a church was good symbolism and handled well by the effects team. An amusing moment was Rose meeting a four year old Mickey, who is frightened by the goings on and clings to her.

As the story progresses, Rose's dad realises who she is and why she travelled back in time. He also realises that the only way he can heal the rift is to sacrifice himself and be run over by the car that Rose saved him from. In the meantime He and Rose have a few hours to bond and get to know each other.

All emotional stuff, great television and a lovely story...but what has this to do with Doctor Who? Not a lot really, as the good Doctor admits he doesn't know what to do (in fact he does know, but isn't willing to tell Rose that the only way forward is to lose her dad). He really doesn't do anything much in this story, and seems an inconsequential character.

So, as far as this season of Doctor Who goes it does provide more answers to Rose's past and to the Doctor's own lack of feeling (except anger) at the loss of the Time Lords this was a success. But as a slice of Doctor Who, it didn't "do it" for me.

Eight episodes down and to my mind we have two absolute classics, two duffs and four good episodes. I can't complain but I do seem to prefer episodes not written by RTD. Which is a shame as without him we wouldn't be watching this show at all. I was glad that he stated in tonight's episode of "confidential" that he does not want Doctor Who to become a soap opera.

We're over halfway through the season now. So what does Father's Day show us we haven't seen before?

Well, it brings much more of a touchy-feely emotional side to Doctor Who. We see [through some superb acting by the entire ensemble] depth in the characters and in the script that we wouldn't see otherwise. The BBC keeps up it's reputation for doing 'the past' [does 1987 count as a period drama?] well, as everything seems, well, 1987-ish, besides the large mobile phone [I thought they still had large, briefcase-sized power sources/aerials back then].

The script would, in any other sci-fi series, be excellent, but after some of the Dr Who episodes we've seen here seemed not as good as it could be. In the first half of the show [especially when Rose gets a lift off her dad] there's some incredibly unsubtle hints at the paradox of Rose being in the past, which to be honest made me wince.

We see more of the BBC's favoured 'let's show a monster-eye-view of people being destroyed to lower CGI costs by omitting the monsters', which we saw in the past two episodes too - we saw Max the Jaberwocky come down, and Dalekcam. Nothing wrong with this, but when we already know what the monsters look like from previous weeks' spoilers it seems somewhat pointless.

One thing definately noteworthy is Murray Gould's score of incidental music. It received a panning in previous weeks, but this week it was, in my eyes [or should that be ears?] perfect. Violins were out in full force, beautifully realised, but the touch of genius was having silence when Rose's Dad died [for the second time]. It takes skill and nerve to write good incidental music, to omit said music to heighten the tension, drama and emotion surely takes more. Mr Gould is talented; let's call last week an off week.

What else? The CGI remains impressive. I'm not sure how convinced children used to entire CGI films or PC games found the Reapers, but I found them convincing [although possibly not quite as flowing as a real biological creature would be]. The highlight in CGI terms though would be either the Tardis semi-appearing and glowing yellow, the Doctor [or the passers-by] being "swallowed" by the reapers, or the disappearing and reappearing car [an Austin something? Not my era].

One thing struck me this week - the continuity. The reapers only arrive now [for the first time in Doctor Who canon, I assume] because the Time Lords can no longer control them. That's continuity for you. Plus, we see baby Rose, 5-year-old Rose [who, by-the-by, looks nothing like 21-year-old Rose] and adult Rose. We see wee 5-year-old Mickey [who looks more like adult Mickey, but also gets some cheap shots lobbed in his direction].

So this week showed us a different side to Doctor Who - one where the emotions have higher priority over the flashy CGI, over the plot, over everything else, really. And it's not the worse for it. Roll on World War Two next week.

After the more mellow and traditional Doctor Who romp in the form of The Long Game, we are introduced to one of the most dramatic Who stories to ever grace our screens.

Father's Day is the story of Rose's encounter with her father on his death-day in 1987, and the consequences of her actions when she prevents his fatal hit and run accident.

The episode is perfectly written, with some beautiful dialogue between Rose and her father, as well as the Doctor and his companion. The arguments between the Doctor and Rose add to the mysterious layered texture to the Doctor's character, once again played perfectly by Christopher Eccleston.

It is nice to see Billie Piper given a much more substantial and more challenging role to play, which she copes with well. Her acting ability is no doubt proved as a gem by her emotional confrontations with her dad, and the revelations as to his true character.

The episode visually is good, but one wonders how the younger generation will react to this much more 'talky' episode. However, the Reapers save the day, with a chilling appearance and attitude, and manage to be entertaining monsters, which profit from the lack of in-depth study towards them.

The abduction of the Doctor is a good idea, with the limelight falling onto Rose's father to save the day. The climax and its build up are by far some of the most tear-jerking and dramatic scenes in Doctor Who's history, and they make the episode an instant classic.

Another Saturday night, another episode of the good Doctor. As the third episode not to be written by Russell T, would this follow the same pattern and actually be rather good? The answer, as is so often the case with Doctor Who, lies somewhere between yes and no.

Rose alters time to save her daddy and all hell breaks loose. It seems a little unfair that Adam was punished (a life long sentence!) for trying to alter the world a little, whereas Rose gets away with a few stern looks and the odd tear. We all assumed the character of Adam was created to throw light on Rose's abilities as an assistant, and then two weeks later she pulls this stunt. Her actions are understandable given her history but I would have liked to see more long-term consequences. But perhaps we will re-visit all this in a later episode - let's just hope Pete Tyler doesn't end up being the Master.

Talking of Pete, Shaun Dingwall put in a good performance as a man living on borrowed time, and although I am now very bored of listening to Jackie shouting at everyone, the moment she finally realised the strange teenager was her daughter was actually quite touching. Once again the Doctor didn't seem to do much, though it was exciting to watch him take control of the churchgoers, if only for a little while.

Like most of the other episodes, 'Father's Day' managed to squeeze in lots of plot and character but the denouement still felt rushed. It would surely have been more interesting (and believable) for Pete Tyler to discover the truth, freak out and run from the church in fear and cowardice, only to be run over. 'Fathers Day' spent a long time building up a picture of Pete as a shifty, worthless Del Boy, only to transform him into a genuine hero in the last few minutes.

Russell T has said a number of times that the show must remain 'grounded' for us to stay connected with Rose and the Doctor. I can't say I agree and I think the (only) major failing of the series so far is that it too often descends into a soap opera - and not a very good one at that. Am I the only viewer who groans inwardly at the sight of Rose's family in trailers for the next week's episode? That said, 'The Empty Child' looks pretty great - roll on next week!

This story did something no previous episode of "Doctor Who" has ever done, by its conclusion; I was a whimpering pile of blancmange, in tears in my living room. The power of this episode was in the way it drew the ordinary and everyday into the fantastical and spectacular. By the end of the episode you really feel for the ordinary people caught up in the madness because you have seen them in their normal mundane life. The way that a normal Saturday in 1987 falls into anarchy is very creepy. This is something that Joe Aherne is very good at, his series "Ultraviolet" succeeded in scaring the pants of me just by implying the presence of vampirism in the real World.

Once again we see a definite growth of characters in this episode. Both the Doctor and Rose learn important lessons in this story. The Doctor is once again reminded that humans are not just stupid apes, but emotionally driven individuals who show a gamut of emotions that Time Lords have lost. Rose learns the just what a responsible position she is in whilst travelling with the Doctor, that she has to tread carefully. She also learns to love the father she never knew, gone forever is the blind hero worship instilled by her mother, she has seen him warts and all, and now has a deep love of the man he was. The two lead actors shine, you only have to look at Eccleston's face to know that his Doctor is incandescent with rage at Rose's action, you feel genuine sorrow when Piper's Rose watches her father die in her arms.

Shaun Dingwall gave a magnificent performance as Rose's dad Peter. Here is Mr. Average, who is the focus for events that are far from average. It is obvious who Rose inherited her intelligence and sense of adventure from, however, because he lacks a degree of common sense, he has never quite managed to get the success he dreams of. He does not need to be told that hs death is necessary to put the World to rights; he works that out all on his own.

It is a shock to realise that a point in time that seem like yesterday now has to be recreated with he same care that the BBC puts into one of its historical drama. The Doctor's comment that "the past is a foreign country, 1987 is just the Isle of White" is painfully funny. Pete's reaction to Rose's mobile neatly underscored that this was a time paradox story, as you could contrast the tiny Nokia she had with the clumsy house brick that the groom's father was talking into.

I particularly liked the fact that Paul Cornell recycled the idea of a small group trapped in a church from his novel "Timewyrm: Revelation" that is my favourite Virgin New Adventure.

Altogether, it was a very pleasing story.