After the disappointment of the 2-parter, the hype surrounding "Dalek" had me having the same sort of fears as accompanied "Rose" a few weeks back. Was it to be a travesty? Would it belittle the metal meanies? Would CGI overcome plot?

Thankfully, "Dalek" is a return to the high standards set in the first 4 weeks of the series. A clever script, if the opening minutes are a little familiar to anyone who has listened to Shearman's BF audio, "Jubilee". Luckily, the episode veers from that plotline fairly quickly.

There is pace, a battle scene that will have former members of "Havoc" weeping openly, huge emotion, and this week, the subtext remains just that. We start to see elements of the Doctor's darker side emerge, and the back story of the Time War receives its greatest fleshing out to date. Continuity freaks will doubtless use this episode to debate that following events in Resurrection, the Daleks did indeed launch an offensive against Gallifrey, that the 7th Doctor's use of the Omega device was simply an opening salvo, and that ultimately, all-out war was declared. Me, I just loved the NOW.

The new Dalek actually delivers what previous models have said on the tin - that this is a highly technological race, designed for survival, and dedicated to destruction. This Dalek doesn't just fire at everything in sight: it calculates, strategises, and pulls more than one surprise out of its polycarbide armour.

A new emotion emerges from behind the sofa, too. It may seem strange, but at points you actually start to pity this embodiment of evil, and find yourself doubting some of the motivation behind the Doctor's actions. A Dr Who story that challenges viewers' expectations? Wow!

A strong supporting cast complement sterling performances from Billie and Chris, and Gold's quasi-operatic score adds an atmospheric death that leaves you in no way nostalgic for those plodding Dalek themes of yesteryear.

And finally, the best news of all - for the first time on TV since Death to the Daleks, there's no Davros. Although,there is a cameo from another of the Doctor's nemeses.

All in all, then, a splendid return to form for the show. With the announcement that the final episode is titled Bad Wolf, another reference is dropped in to tonight's episode. It seems that Aliens/WWIII were just abberations.

There were always going to be two big episodes-the first episode and the one where the Daleks come back. Neither disappointed, which is what counts.

The focus of the story is course the Dalek-it would have been suicide to do otherwise! And they really did suceed here. The plunger now has effective use, and the scene where the tortured gets 'suckered' is probably one of the scariest the series is ever going to produce. The rotating sections are really showing how mordern technology has benefited Doctor Who and enhances the feeling of the terror the Daleks create-the 'behind the sofa' factor if you will. The extermination scenes are the key points and they are lovely. I could go on for ages, but the bottom line is the Daleks are back and frankly could not have been done better.

Now on to the rest. The opening scene is very nice and retrospective, yet not interfering in the slightest. Its also special to me-the Cybermen were always more important to me than the Daleks, and if I could write for anything, screw te Doctor its these babies I want to write for. But thats another story. The guest cast is worth consideing. The soldiers are precisely what they should be, Von Straten is a complete hadcase and Diane has great potential. Then of course there's Adam, who we can see more of. He looks promising in adding a new dynamic to the TARDIS crew.

The sets are very nice, with the sprinkler sequence showing off the full scale of what they can do.

If you're going to borrow, borrow the best, and this is what Shearman has done. He has taken Power & Evil of the Daleks and melded some of the best sequences from them into a 45-minute crackpot. The downside to this is the rather predictable bit of the piece which allows for the ending. One feels a final climatic battle would have been worth it. The War bits are especially good though f you consider how strong the Daleks were getting as a result of time travel and the inevitable consequences.

This is truely a good dalek story, and a strong gun for this season, as it should have been. Lets hope the Doctor is wrong, and the Daleks will come back in force.

We know our place in Britain. We make quirky films and television shows, we make intense dramas and, occasionally, we make the odd caper movie. What we do not do, cannot do and should never attempt is flat out, balls to the wall action shows. We are not capable of making shows that fly along at a breathtaking pace while retaining storyline and character. Most importantly of all we cannot allow shades of grey to colour our heroes and villains.

Someone needs to tell this to the Doctor Who crew because at seven o’clock this evening they ripped upped these rules, set fire to them and merrily danced on the ashes.

Dalek was the best episode of Doctor Who ever. Underline, write it up in bold uppercase. The action was intense, the pace was relentless and the effects faultless. Did Joe Ahearne know this was for television? Christopher Eccleston’s scene with the Dalek was intense and his reaction to Rose’s “death” poignant but he is an ensemble actor, generous in his ability to allow his co-star the chance to shine and she took her chance. Billie Piper is officially forgiven for recording “Because we want”. Goddamned this girl has got some acting chops! Here’s hoping that we get another series out of her because she is going to be a star.

But after the action and carnage, the script, direction and acting that we mere mortals do not deserve the thing that will stay in my mind for weeks to come is the Dalek opening up to experience sunshine.

I pity next week’s show because this ain’t gonna be topped!

LetÂ’s face it... Put a Dalek in a Doctor Who story and you are going to get peoples interest. We have waited for over a decade to get these things back on our screens, and by God, did they do it with style!

What we have been treated to is something so much greater than just the return of the Daleks. This story had real body and soul. This is an episode from which all the Doctor Who fans the world over can say, ‘We told you so’ with a grin firmly planted from ear to ear.

From the offset it’s quite clear that this isn’t the script of RTD. No slapstick humour, no grafting on of pointless jokes, no cringe worthy lines of dialogue, just pure and simple sci-fi drama. This was a great flight of fantasy. After all, Doctor Who was not meant to be too intelligent at the end of the day, that’s what “Sapphire and Steel” was about (please can someone bring that back too?). But while it was nail biting edge of your seat stuff (and I assure you I was on the edge of my seat) it had real heart.

In “Dalek” we had elements of Asimov’s “Robot” and Philip K Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of electric Sheep”. Yes, it really was that good! A Dalek all-alone dealing with emotions for the first time. Long time fans will be amazed how beautiful and emotional tonight’s episode has been. New fans will just see why we have all wanted to see the return of this show for so long!

I really must say this. Thanks RTD for bringing back “Doctor Who”, but there is a big difference between writing for “Doctor Who” as a fan and writing for “Doctor Who” for the fans.

Once again, the work of a different writer marks a much welcome change of tone and pace for the show.

There were huge expectations for 'Dalek' - the return of the most celebrated of the Doctor's enemies, the middle-season event episode, the promise of a darker, more complex tale.

Incredibly, it delivered.

After the slightly goofy shakiness of 'Aliens of London' and 'World War Three', we were thrown straight into a tighter, more claustrophobic setting in the form of Henry Van Statten's UFO museum, deep in a bunker in Utah. The Doctor and Rose are catapulted into the tale within the first five minutes (after a rather wonderful fan-pleasing moment featuring a Slitheen arm and - brilliantly - the helmet from a classic series Cyberman), giving us over to the episode's real star - the Dalek itself.

There has been huge build-up to this moment - the Doctor's vague references to the Time War which wiped out the Time Lords and was responsible for countless further damage to the Nestenes and Gelth, amongst countless others, have clearly been related to the Daleks.

And the creature's unveling, followed by the Doctor's gobsmacked reaction, which soon turns to venomous hatred, was outstanding. This was not a dumb, clumsy pepperpot which could only yell 'Exterminate', this was a soldier, intelligent, manipulative and incapable of understanding that there was nothing left for it to fight for.

Until, that is, it uses some of Rose's DNA to repower itself (a contrivance which seems sketchy but is entirely forgiveable given the places it takes the story) and sets about wiping out the inhabitants of the bunker.

There were so many superb moments here, not just Doctor Who moments but moments of real, heartfelt drama. Chris Ecclestone, after looking a little unsettled in the previous tale, dives into the script with a vigour and commitment which is entrancing to watch. Here is a Doctor who is not only eccentric and mercurial, he is damaged. He still hurts and hates for what happened to his people. Ecclestone's movement from fear to hatred to anguish to desperation to sympathy is an absolute joy.

Yet, almost unbelievably, it is once again Billie Piper who runs away with much of the episode. She has none of the Doctor's (or, indeed, many of the audience's) history with the Daleks, allowing her to see the wretchedness of its existence and to show it a second's kindness which ultimately saves all their lives and takes the viewer into the real tragedy behind the two races of aliens whose face-off she gets caught in.

Special mention should also go to Nicholas Briggs, who gives the Dalek more depth than any seen before.

It's hard to see how the series could get any better than this. Rob Shearman should certainly be given more episodes to write next season and I can only imagine what such a radical rethinking could do to, say, the Cybermen or The Master.

All this, and a new companion to boot. The Doctor has been back for a few weeks but now, finally, he's even better than before.

And just what is this recurring Bad Wolf reference leading to?

Well this was it. This was what the fate of the entire series was resting on. Seems a bit odd that they kept it back to episode six frankly, especially after the abysmal effort that was episodes four and five. (I'm so ashamed I can't even refer to them by name any more).

The Daleks are definitely back. Bigger, badder, bolder and bronzer than even Kilroy-Silk. Let's get one thing out of the way. In order to help itself regenerate it needed "time traveller DNA", though how Rose's DNA would have been changed by time travel is a mystery to me. The Dalek knew it needed this but seemed surprised when it, apologies for substituting one dastardly tag line here for another, assimiliated Rose, and got all sorts of girlie thoughts in there as well. For heaven's sake! The bloody thing had assimilated the entire internet. Did it just skim over the websites for Hello! magazine and Top Shop? Frankly if I were looking for aliens on Earth, I'd probably start with Hello! magazine.

I definitely approve of the upgrades and it seems the Mill have finally sorted themselves out with the special effects, and are producing effects, not only that the series deserves, but that viewers want to see.

It was frankly a single premise story but it was very interesting to note the helicopter at the beginning of the episode was referred to as "Bad Wolf" and now with the Grafitti from last week and episode twelve, another big Dalek one, also being called "Bad Wolf" I know this is going to turn into something interesting, and I hope they manage to keep it a secret until the time is right.

It was good to hear more about the time war. frankly anybody with a brain could have figured out it was the Daleks' fault. I sincerely hope they don't just keep referring to it however, and actually show us either it, or some refugees and consequences of it. It's a bit like hearing about Somalia on the radio but never seeing the full horror of it for yourself on TV.

So there you go, my review. I liked it... alot! It was precisely what I've been waiting for and was in my opinion the strongest episode so far. Cool to see a girl from Stargate in it too, never hurts!