I must say right off that I thought it might be possible that this new Doctor Who episode may not be as good as the previous two seasons. I love David Tennant in the role and I think he is every bit as good as all the previous doctors (I have a tough time saying "the best" or even "one of the best" because I believe all 10 have had excellent episodes). That being said, I did grow a bit tired of 99% of the episodes of both the previous series being on Earth. Still, that is pretty much my only gripe with RTD's reboot of the series. Well, that and "Love and Monsters" from last season. "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday" were brilliant but maybe it's possible that the series might be getting a little dry, especially with the appearance of a new companion right off the bat.

Well forget all that. I believe that this is the best episode of the new series yet! I know, it's a tough thing to say but seriously, this was just about the most entertaining episode I have watched in this new series. The introduction to "Jones" is perfect, just a quick shot of her family and their current situation, a shot of her running into the Doctor and one of the upcoming threats and off we go! Ok so the old lady is not the most exciting baddie Who has ever dreamed up but for the most part, she is funny, clever and has a wickedness that could rival even the Master of old.

"What did he say?! He he just compare a crappy throwaway character to our beloved renegade Time Lord?!"

I love the Master but I'm talking in terms of evil and the willingness to destroy simply for their own gain. This plasmavore used human blood to survive, to mask that she was non-human and to escape she was willing to kill half the human population! Just about to do it and get away with it too!

Not only that, but Judoon are introduced (I don't know the spelling...sorry) and are very very cool for simple space policeman-type thugs. The Doctor is charming as ever and Jones will make an excellent companion. She is very book smart, pretty much street smart as well, beautiful and with a bit of sass. I can see her growing into an excellent companion. (A little annoying that The Doctor gives the whole "One trip for saving my life and off you go. I'd rather be alone" speech when we all know Martha is here for the long haul. Still, we'll see how that is resolved next week.)

Last of all, I am never one to comment on the music in an episode. I feel that the best music is in the background and you hardly even noticing it means it's good. Well, the music in this episode was certainly in the background but the score was simply brilliant. Every scene seemed to have the perfect music and it all sounded perfect. This will be a soundtrack I would actually want.

So to sum up, I said a few things long time Doctor Who fans might laugh at (I am one by the way...), but all in all I think if you go into this episode with no preconceptions and watch purely for enjoyment, I am excited as hell about this new season. I really wish the previews for next week were previews for the whole rest of the season like they were last year...I can't wait to see the Daleks in Manhatten!! Still the Shakespeare episode looks awesome and thank god Doctor Who is finally back!! If this episode is any indication, this is going to be a superb season!

Series 3 had so much to prove. The astonishing departure of Rose, played so emotionally and brilliantly by David Tennant and Billie Piper, and an OK Christmas special meant that the stakes were really high for Series 3: especially with the arrival of a new companion.

So - where to begin? Well how about with the new baddies, the Judoon. Surely these Rhino Police have to be one of the best costume effects ever produced on Doctor Who: with a great voice provided by Nick Briggs (who also makes the Dalek and Cybermen voices: though you wouldn't have known from this performance!). The creatures were imaginative and scary, with just a dash of absurdity - just enough to make me hope that we haven't seen the last of them.

And David Tennant seems to have grown into The Doctor's shoes now. I have to confess I never really liked Chris Ecclestone that much: he seemed to take the whole thing (and himself) far too seriously. I've loved David Tennant from the moment he first spoke: he seemed to have pitched The Doctor's voice exactly write: RP but without the stuffiness. David seems more sure of himself in the role, and seems to know where the boundary is from gurning at the camera to being twinkly-eyed. For me he is probably now my second favourite Doctor (Tom Baker, of course, being the favourite!). This episode wasn't really about The Doctor in any case, but there was enough for me to just feel very happy that we have David Tennant in the role.

And so to Martha Jones. Freema Agyeman is absolutely superb as Martha Jones, a feisty, funny and far more intelligent companion than Rose. I love her warmth (both with her family and to The Doctor) and her sense of adventure and wide-open view of the world. Russell T Davies has done a great job over the last series of letting chinks of light through to the 'Earth' characters, so that we don't have to waste any time getting over their disbelief in Aliens. They've seen spaceships crashing through Parliament, so humans know Aliens exist. Thank God! I miss Rose enormously, but Martha is clearly going to make a great companion for the Doctor, and I like very much that Russell has managed to write a very different dynamic between the Doctor and Martha.

If Episode 1 is anything to go by, Doctor Who seems somehow bigger, better and more confident in itself. After the big, dramatic, emotional ending of Series 2, Russell T Davies seems to have continued confidence: the script for his last few episodes have all been excellent (ever since those last two episodes of Series 2) and I just can't wait for more. No more going out on Saturday nights: Doctor Who is back -bigger and better than ever.

Previous season openers and The Runaway Bride had individual opening scenes before the famous theme tune starts, but such a prelude was conspicious by its absence as we were immediately plunged into the time vortex and the tune which Captain Jack sung to such great effect during The Weakest Link the night before this episode was broadcast.

I was expecting great things given the publicity and build-up with Jonathan Ross saying how marvellous it was. But like the Borat movie, which again everyone said was brilliant, I felt Smith and Jones lost out a bit and could have been much, much better.

The high points were the two lead actors who were terrific. David Tennant had some great one-liners and was full of exhuberance but that was neatly played against his inner hurt at the departure of Rose.

The new season opener was all about Martha and she fared magnificently. I thought she came across as independently minded and there was real mutual affection between her and the Doctor.

I thought the old granny that turned out to be the blood-sucker was a bit of a disappointment and I didn't think a lot of the Judhoon. While the rhino faces were brilliant effects, they just seemed a bit too comical - a bit like The Slitheen. The black helmeted flankmen who looked like security guards were far better and much more sinister because you didn't see their faces.

Russell T Davies sometimes hits the spot with his scripts, and the dialogue is always top class, but I felt the storyline was a bit lacking. I loved the moon stuff but this obsession with blood... what with the Christmas Invasion and the different blood groups, and the forthcoming "Family of Blood"...

I just think Russell, as he shows in his Doctor Who Confidential broadcasts, picks out some vital ingredients for that particular episode and then hopes everything else just falls into place. I don't think it did. A bit more investigation of the Moon would have been good too!

The reference to the Doctor's brother was interesting, and the dramatic bit where Martha saves the Doctor and then vice versa reminded me a bit of the Doctor and Peri in Caves of Androzani. The kiss all seemed a bit quick and it was almost blink and you miss it. A cleverly publicity trick all the same.

I loved the start and I do like stories which start a little bit differently. Not just simply the Doctor turns up in the Tardis. This and School Reunion were in a similar vein and I would like more of the same.

Martha's complex family life seems very different in tone from Rose's and will be an interesting sub-plot. I will greatly miss Rose's Mum and Mickey who were both very good supporting characters.

For me though, the best part of the show was the final five minutes and the Doctor appearing on the scene and Martha's first look aboard the Tardis. The Doctor's mimicking of 'it's bigger on the inside than the outside' was a fantastic touch, apparently provided by David Tennant, and I loved the scene where you see the Doctor shaking hands with Martha over the console as it rocks through the time vortex.

A promising start, Tennant and Freema were first class, the story was good without being wondrous (RTD set such a high standard for himself after Army of Ghosts/Doomsday which were wondrous), and roll on the new series which looks like it has every chance of being absolutely thrilling.

Well that was a long wait over! I've been looking forward to David Tennant's second series with the eager anticipation of my inner (earthly) child. This time the wife and I hooked up with one of my oldest friends to watch Smith & Jones, and had a stimulating conversation beforehand about how we believe Tennant to be the best Doctor since Tom Baker...and how we dislike Michael Grade etc...

But to Ms Jones, and I have to say that while the episode will not go down in my lists of classics it nevertheless did its job. Although we started with the soap element, RTD wisely toned things down compared to "Rose" and we were given just enough to glimpse into Martha's life and why she might prefer travelling in the Tardis to staying earthbound. Martha has a family, and like many families they squabble over the everyday issues...she has grown tired of it all.

So what of the story? It seemed quite light, which is perhaps not a bad idea for the series opener. However I preferred last year's "New Earth". I thought the plot was only worthy of one 45 minute episode, although more details of the alien's crime might have been of interest. I did enjoy the glee on her face whenever she brought out her drinking straw!

I liked the Juddoon, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that they are intergalactic police rather than evil monsters. It lends the otherwise two-dimensional species some character and would also make future appearances more interesting. Indeed of all the new alien races we've seen since Doctor Who's reincarnation, the Juddoon are the one I would most like to see again. I'd imagine a writer on good form could hang a really interesting story on the whole intergalactic law and police operation.

I'm getting used to RTD's brand of humour, and I suspect he's restraining himself a little too. I actually found myself chuckling at times, though I was afraid that the Doctor might fart away the radiation in the x-ray room. I wonder what shoes he'll be wearing next week?

Martha and the Doctor seem to have hit it off well, I do like that Martha is a thinker. I loved the Rose character but Martha is necessarily different and that should ensure her success.

Overall it was light, tea time family entertainment with enough Doctor Who to just about satisfy...perhaps the most satisfying parts were in the detail such as Tennant miming "its bigger on the inside"...I am hoping for better stories in the coming weeks.

6.5/10

Well... that was a better season opener then previous series.

But only just, and that's not saying much.

We'll cast 'New Earth' into the 'so dire, it's name can never be uttered in polite (or impolite) company again' cosmic bin, first off, as 'Smith and Jones' is starting from the same point 'Rose' did a couple of years ago... and that's where the problem lies.

Comparing the two episodes reveals that the show doesn't seem to have evolved at all. The same formula has been applied to Martha's debut as was used for Rose's. Thus we get, the new characters life encapsulated in the opening scene, the introduction of her family (a clan who seem to have been rescued from the Eastenders reject bin). A 'no time to breath' adventure in which the new companion saves the Doctors ass, and a slightly creepy, 'Come into my Tardis, nudge, nudge, wink, wink' seduction scene at the end (I got a real 'stalking' thing from this one, what with the Doctor hanging around in an alley watching Martha from afar.)

We've been here before...

Elsewhere we get exactly what we always get from RTD. Misplaced 'comedy', a wildly uneven tone, dysfunctional domesticity (!) lot's of running about (that corridor chase, went on for about six shots too many), a complete and total disregard for scientific fact (I'm surprised Davies acknowledged the lack of atmosphere on the moon, so I suppose he's done a modicum of 'research' this time) and a pantomime villain, uttering the kind of 'arch' comedy crap every Davies villain utters ad infinitum. There's a real problem here, because RTD doesn't seem to be capable of writing outside this box, or perhaps, just doesn't want to. All his scripts exhibit the same flaw's (I'm sure he'd see them as virtues, and if his attitude from what I've gathered is anything to go by, he'd no doubt tell me to to "F*** off"... but he's not here, and this is MY OPINION, so there!) and their now permeating every script he hacks out. He undeniably did a good job of re-establishing the series, but perhaps it's time to move on, for if this is an example of what to expect from series three, the show is starting to stagnate already.

And as for Tennant... well, instead of toning thing's down, he seems to be turning the 'pratt' knob to eleven. All the aspects that irritated me about his performance last season, seem to have become, not so much facet's, as 'constants'. He now wears that 'bug eyed' expression, no matter what the situation, and seems intent on behaving like a prat at every turn. There's just no gravitas, nothing to balance the idiocy, It's like he's perpetually high on his own self importance. I would have been fine if the Judoon had pronounced him guilty of insufferable smugness and vaped him on the spot. In sync with RTD's script's his portrayal of the Doctor, in my opinion, is actually de-evolving, which is a shame. When Tennant does go (and on the strength of this episode, I hope it's soon), I'm with one of the forum poster's who thought Michael Sheen would make an interesting choice, though personally, I don't see him doing it.

Anyway... there were thing's I liked! The Judoon were impressive in they're Sontaran crossed with Judge Dredd type way, though was there really the need for six or whatever platoon's to take down an old lady wielding a straw! Actually I thought the villainess was going to reveal her true form at the climax (a big, horrendous CGI creation straight out of Lovecraft) and wipe out a couple of the aforementioned platoon's before being taken out itself, but alas, she remained an old lady... wielding a straw... right till the end (Good God!) Incidentally, I reckon the Judoon should have scanned the extra's before filming, for traces of acting talent, God knows what the footage of the panicked patients they didn't use in the edit was like!

The direction was assured (some nice cinematic wides), and there was that occasional sense of scale, the show does, that we see so little of on television (including American) these day's. The music was as bombastic and over the top as usual (as it's been from the first episode onwards), but I'm just enamoured with the fact that it's both thematic and orchestral (something far too many movies seem incapable of achieving these day's, let alone a TV show), perhaps the volume could be turned down a notch, however. The FX were more then adequate and the production as a whole look's very good, which unfortunately makes the flaws I've outlined above glare even brighter.

As for the new companion, and bearing in mind how much of a lynchpin she's going to be, if the last two season's are anything to go by, she seems... nice! I can't think of anything else to say, she just seems... nice! Hopefully, she'll develop.

I will continue to watch the show... but I'm seriously considering skipping the RTD penned episodes, they just annoy me too much. I'm certainly going to avoid the return of the cat people from 'New...' ( Phew... almost 'uttered' it there ), if an idea is crap, it's worth using again, huh, RTD? The Dalek one (much as I like them) look's pretty iffy as well, I mean... 'pig men' (cos, if an idea is crap, it's worth...you get the picture). In fact, the adverts for this season ( twenty seven times a day between show's, as is the BBC's 'non advertising' status, these days) have turned me more off then on, still, I'm not everyone... which is just as well!

Judging by the forum I reckon my opinion of 'Smith and Jones' will be in the minority. Dr Who, is primarily a kid's show, and on that level, I'm sure it worked just fine. But it's not on CBBC (though 'Fear her' should have been) and if it's going to appeal to adults, it has to do better then this. Now it's established itself, the show should be branching off in new direction's. This episode merely treaded familiar ground, and it does not bode well for what's to come, though I'll be happy if proven wrong.

By the way...I really hope we've seen the back of Martha's family, but alas, I reckon I don't need a Tardis to know the outcome of that one!!!

Like so...'

Essentially, this is 'Doctor Who' reboot 2.0. Russell T Davies takes all his experience from the first two series and distills them into a second pilot episode. But it's a pilot episode informed by the rules of engagement established since 'Rose'.

And what fun it is. Confident and witty, the introduction of Martha Jones feels more assured than that of Rose Tyler. Granted, back in 2005 an awful lot was being gambled on with the new series but here, two years in, we've been given something that takes the familiar tropes and gives them a jazz treatment, free associating playfully with our expectations and associations. Cue the Doctor in pyjamas and dressing gown again and Martha's cousin as well as a recap of various alien incursions on Earth in the last two years.

The general theme here is one of crime and punishment. The Judoon, beautifully designed space police rhino thugs by way of 'Hitch Hiker', are tracking down a Plasmavore, hiding in plain sight as a dotty old lady played by the marvellously arch Anne Reid. The kids won't sleep knowing their granny could be a blood sucking creature from outer space. Back to our theme then, prisons...prisons....prisons. Martha trapped in the escalating domestic disputes of her own family, caught in the mundane reality of death and taxes and the Doctor doomed to wander the universe alone whilst the Judoon catalogue anyone and anything in a merciless tyranny of numbers. A bizarre satire on the management hell of NHS trusts then? Even in space, you're a statistic. The hilarious squeeky marker pen crosses betray a deeper symbolism - you will conform or die. The cross represents the individual idealised, the crucifix an enforcement of conformity. Just don't go breaking vases over the heads of rhino space police any day soon. It upsets their cataloguing and the due process of the law.

And the Plasmavore has murdered a child. Yes, from the description it sounds like Shirley Temple meets Bonnie Langford but to kill another being because they had a fresh complexion and a curly barnet is a sign that you've been swallowed by the 'darkness' to come. The criminal is oh so familar with the underworld, has a deep relationship with the darker side of life, knows how to duck and dive. Strangely, the Plasmavore and the Doctor are functioning opposites - both pretend to be patients in the hospital to gain their own advantage. The Plasmavore is a hacker, swiping identities to hide in plain sight, the Doctor is a freakish Time Lord gigolo luring Martha into his TARDIS. Granted, he sacrifices his own identity to flush out the interloper.

So what of Martha? Personally, I think Freema hits the ground running. She's quite splendid in this opening episode and establishes the character not just in a broad sense but in the smaller details. Her humanism is right to the fore when she pauses to close the eyes of the now deceased consultant, Mr. Stoker (yes, a little nod to Bram there). She respects the dead and the dying and understands completely that the Doctor has sacrificed himself to save the day. She doesn't muck about and takes quite a lot in her stride. Her sentimental side will, I think, be the force that drives the forthcoming series as she tries to keep her feelings about our favourite Time Lord in check. That she bookends the entire episode is entirely fitting and like 'Rose' the story is told from her point of view. It's important that she remains the audience identification figure. The way Freema handles much of this in the episode is an indication that we're in safe hands.

Tennant's Doctor seems a little more world weary here. You get the sense he's been travelling alone for a while but I do think there was too heavy an emphasis on the 'seduction' of Martha to his lifestyle. There was a feeling of him shopping around for his next companion in this and the scene in the alley did have an odd predatory, sexual undertone that didn't belong to the series. However, overlooking this aspect, Tennant's performance throughout was confident and boisterous without recourse to some of the over-acting in the earlier parts of Series 2. The tone has shifted and he's picking up and recycling little physical ticks and speech patterns that are uniquely his own with a good deal of sensitivity. I really got a sense of his Doctor this time round.

And Anne Reid was both funny and frightening as Florence. Her lip-smacking performance was pitched just right and she clearly homed in on the requirements of the script with Russell's typical volte face of wit and horror.

On the production front we've moved up a notch again. Fantastic work from the boys at The Mill especially the fetishistic, phallic Judoon spaceships landing on the Moon which then carried through to the rhinos in leather look of the costumes. Great prosthetics from Millennium and Neil Gorton but it was obvious that the budget only allowed them to have one helmet-less Judoon in the story. And Murray Gold...will this man ever stop coming up with the goods? Lovely music, gorgeous theme for Martha which I'm sure will have many iterations over the coming weeks and some finely judged solo strings amongst the bombast of the Judoon's marching themes.

Overall, then...bureaucratic rhinos from outer space taking the free market to extraordinary lengths to try and keep their statistics up to date, identity theft from a little old lady called Florence and the Doctor's symbolic death and re-birth as witnessed by one Martha Jones. The fact that Russell T Davies juggled that lot and threw laughs aplenty in there too is quite astonishing. Plus some prefiguring of the coming darkness, an indication that the Doctor did have a 'brother' and Martha's take on the TARDIS as a spaceship made of wood.

Lovely.