An intriguing second part to this eventful two parter. Setting predominantly most of the episode inside number ten was a risky idea, one that worked more on dialogue then an explosive finale. However this part was also about the lesser characters building the role of Mickey and his relationship with the Doctor and also Rose’s mother who she is and showing that there are feelings within these characters.

The concept of hacking more into UNIT was a clever move, I was realty glad to see UNIT brought back and was deluged with questions to who they were during the first part, but again it’s a good was of linking back to classic episodes.

Brilliant acting from Ecclestone and Billie Piper and I thought the Penelope Wilton’s role was well cast and preformed by a wonderful actress. Complementating the ac ting was again a good script from Davies, he aloud the story to move at its own pace without forcing it forward who changing it in any way.

Again there were small elements of which tailed over from the first part, which I found a little debatable again the flatulence, and I found the mysterious blue light, which appeared inward then, outward when they opened their heads intriguing although that added to the suspense and horror of the story.

The aliens were good, very childish and this came across well and thought the actual concept of them selling Earth was again a striking clever more from Russell T Davies, they were almost an intergalactic homes under the hammer!

However a strong well written episode again showing Davies’s strength in this field, and I look forward to the return of the Dalek on Saturday which looks fantastic.

Not a classic, but a marked improvement on Aliens of London. Unlike the first part of this two part storyline, there wasn't anything in this episode that I felt was "off" (save lifetime backbencher Harriet Jones, MP, Flydale North's constant self-introductions; it may work for William Shatner as Denny Crane, but Penelope Wilton didn't pull it off). Even the Slitheen's rather ridiculous appearence and personalities worked a little better here than in Aliens of London because we were given the explanation that they aren't meant to be scary full-blown invaders, but loathsome businessmen. The twist of them merely being a family instead of a race was moderately clever as well. Bonus points to Davies for managing to make some quite pointed commentary of US foreign policy via the Slitheen; a group of money-hungry monsters creating imaginary weapons of mass destruction in an attempt to hoodwink the UN and seize a valuable asset can't help but be compared to the Bush administration and their misadventures in the Middle East.

One underlying theme of this episode that I found interesting was the evasion of responsibility. Jones "orders" the Doctor to enact his plan even after he says that it could cost Rose her life, thereby sparing him an agonizing moral dilemma. The Doctor lies for Mickey after he essentially tells the Doctor he'd be scared to death to travel in the TARDIS, saving him some face in Rose's eyes. The Doctor can't bring himself to promise Jackie that he'll keep Rose safe. Evading responsibility can have tragic consequences. Coupled with the boatload of corpses that've piled up this season and the theme that the Doctor's only real companion is death, I can't help but wonder how the Doctor's lack of accountability will catch up with him.

I suppose the only serious complaint I have is the dread "buffalo" password. It's marginally plausible that UNIT might have one overriding "skeleton key" password and that the Doctor would know it, but the Royal Navy also having the same exact "skeleton key" is a bit much to swallow. A friend I watched the episode with suggested that the Doctor himself planted the password in every computer on Earth, which is possible, given the "worldwide virus" disc the Doctor gives Mickey at the end, but in the absence of a clear rationalization, we're forced to conclude that it'd ludicriously easy to seize control of England's armed forces (in all fairness, many major motion pictures commit similiar sins).

Ultimately, it looks as if Aliens of London was an aberration rather than the beginning of a downward spiral for the new series. If, as I've heard, Dalek marks the start of a more adult tone for the series, free of the juvenile antics of Aliens of London, I feel reasonably assured that Doctor Who's TV future is very bright indeed

Five minutes after this episode ended, a friend who is also a life-long DW fan called to say how much he had enjoyed it : proper Dr Who was what he called it. And yes - there was, as always, much to enjoy.

For those who think Russell T Davies shouldn't be sending up aspects of our own reality, hallo-o: he's always done that (go watch Casanova inventing the lottery, or buying a mansion with a room specially for wrapping presents in), and for me, it's part of the charm of the whole thing. The Doctor calling You want aliens, you've got 'em - they're here inside Downing St, or I think you'll find the Prime Minister is an alien in disguise followed by blowing up the entire area with a guided missile, should have put broad smiles on the face of any adult watching who isn't running around for the May 5 show-down.

Murray Gold's music, slated by many, has always worked for me.

The direction and technical work is incredible, given the budgets and tight time scheduling.

And in this first two-parter, finally we had the kind of pacing that the classic series had, and which personally I prefer (though as Russell T Davies says, cliff-hangers are best used with care - though the one here worked pretty well).

This episode was slower than the first, and with the Doctor, Rose & Harriet locked up in one room most of the time, the momentum had to be carried by the other actors. After the twists and turns of Episode 4, I found it a bit of an anti-climax, with a fair bit of indeterminate running around. Time for fleshing out relationships, like Mickey and Jackie. And cue lots of cracking one-line dialogue and one-off scenes to compensate. Having the General say to the acting Prime Minister in the lift, Your body is.. magnificent was a cheerful salute to the gay audience too.

What I found less than impressive was the underlying rationale - that the Slitheen are basically interplanetary scrap metal merchants, trying to reduce the Earth to radioactive slag so that they can sell it off in profitable chunks. Wouldn't Mars or Mercury do just as well, if that's all they want? And couldn't they have found weapons elsewhere to do the job, rather than have to concoct an elaborate plan to get humanity to do it with nuclear missles? Was this something to do with their ritualised hunting instinct?

And at the end, the Tardis has obviously become exactly that Number Nine bus that previous Doctors would never have considered. When Rose leaves, it was like watching a family send-off at the local coach or railway station. Is this Doctor that desperate for companionship? Even Mickey or Rose's mother could have climbed aboard without much fuss.

The zips we saw in Episode 4 (surely a CGI oversight, which will hopefully be rectified in the DVD release) were thankfully missing in this episode, too, though the farting was back (but as part of their cheerfully ruthless indifference, it doesn't bother me the way it has done other viewers, especially as it has an explanation. The Gelf changing from silvery-blue into red flaming for no good reason other than to indulge our love of horror staples and a good climax was for me far less impressive).

I can see myself watching this again, and enjoying it.

And although, so far not one episode has hooked me in a way which makes me definitely want to go on watching, I am enjoying the series, and judging by the ratings, so are a lot of other UK viewers. Hopefully as other writers come on board (so far only one episode has not been an RTD one), we will begin to see a broadening of style and some refining of the humour to include the adults watching, as well as the kids of all ages.

Tonight, the story containing the Slitheen seems to have provided the most critique so far and tonight's episode I don't think will bring this to rest.

I must stress to the fans that the programme is designed for a wide audience and that all ages have to enjoy the experience of who. This is how I can forgive very easily the bits I don't enjoy with the fantastic dialogue exchange that I do enjoy. I am not 8 but 28 and all us older rviwers must remember that. 8 million people are watching who weekly now and I think that is fantastic.

The Doctor gets out of his electric shock problem very easily tonight by not being a human. The chain reaction on the slitheen release everyone else from there dilemma. The bit I dont like about the slitheen is that there seems to be 3 formats for them. The human suits which seems to work well at times. The slitheen rubber suit which seems to make there arms ridiculous and they lose there fear and then the Computer Slitheen which for me are the best form but all together this is why it doesn't seem to gel very well.

I do like however the continued theme for children that everyday objects can fight the aliens and pickle eggs , onions and gerkins in vinegar are great things to have in the house in case of an alien attack. The Doctor's knowledge of planets is shown in this episode with his knowledge of UNIT the password buffalo savers the day. Thats 2 f's and 1 l.

Penelope Wilton is well worth a mention of being a great character in this two parter and she would have my vote on May 5th !! Og no she isnt real.

The story arc continues in this episode, the relationship with Mickey , Mom , Rose and the Doctor takes on a new understanding for all characters. This is well written using all characters well and with purpose, no sidelining them from the action but making them all vital to the survival of the human race. The diologue is really good with clever interchanges. I can't help but to keep saying that Billie is giving Rose all she has got and this companion is standing up with the greats of Sarah, Jo and Ace.

I like the fact that Rose's one journey has completed and you feel that she could easily walk away, but no this is really a decision she is making to see the world with the Doctor and it feels like we are only just beggining the adventure she is now fully prepared for.

Chris's Doctor is so breath taking and his style of showing his alieness is very interesting. He is being slated now but I think that his Doctor is very easy to watch and extremely enjoyable.

Overall this two parter has got a major positive , that we can all relate to it, every day emotions that we all feel hug this episode and the characters in this story are very strong. This is all credit to Russell. The only let down is the slitheen themselves and that is because they are in too many formats and this on screen makes there look difficult to like. You cannot fault the other effects the crash landing and the atomic bomb which is handled brilliantly.

And next week the return of the Daleks, let the ratings soar.

An excellent episode which built nicely on the themes raised in Aliens of London.

Personally, I cannot see why people are complaining about the Slytheen. Do they want Doctor Who or not? What was the main ingredient of the original series? Men in rubber suits, that's what - and I felt that these suits were far better than some of the old ones we have had to contend with.

So they had baby-like faces. Big deal! What is this unwritten rule that seems to state that all aliens have to look absolutely evil just because they are, well....evil!

Is it beyond the realms of imagination to accept that there can be nice, cute looking aliens that are completely ruthless? What about the Drahvins - cute sexy blondes! And I won't even mention Beep the Meep!!!!

I admit, the suits in motion were a little embarassing - the heads were too wobbly and they looked like one of those shaking head dogs found on the back shelf of a car. However, the smoothness of the CGI shots of them running through Number 10 made up for it - you could see the muscles moving on their bodies.

On to other points. What other TV show would dare to destroy 10 Downing Street with a missile fired from one of our own submarines? Not an easy thing to show on screen but again I thought well done - not the most spectacular explosion you'll see but very satisfying all the same.

The cliffhanger from the previous week was again approched in a clever way - the Doctor saving not only himself but, unknowingly, Rose, Hilary and Jackie. The tri-cliffhanger itself was a marvellous idea - if you want a good cliffhanger, you have to have the Doctor and/or companion in danger, but we know that they will survive. However, by adding Jackie to the mix as well - we just can't be sure that she won't be torn to shreads, can we? (Well, ok, the true fans know she is in later stories, but the general public don't so have to tune back in to see if she cops it or not!).

The plot was simple, but effective, and unravelled at a logical and sensible pace. The use of Mickey and Rose's 'Superphone' was another clever idea. We have our hero trapped in a room, but still able to save the day. It was nice to see Mickey get some of the 'hero' about him. Coward he may be, but he showed his mettle when push came to shove.

Of course, there has to be some gripes, but these are mostly small, and in some cases, personal ones. The fact that after the Doctor had put the Secretary's body in the cupboard, said sorry and then walked away, you could see in the changeover of shot that the Prime Minister's body had somehow managed to prop itself up a bit!! The fact that the Doctor said there was no one in UNIT he could contact as they were all 'dead downstairs'. What about good old Alistair!!!! Yes, I know that we don't want to much reliance on the old series and risking alienating the new audience, but as UNIT had featured so prominently, I don't see that a quick scene over the Superphone would have made a difference. The fact that it would then have had to change the rest of the storyline...........!

What else? How did Mickey manage to target the missile on Number 10? It was never explained to him and he managed to set the co-ordinates as if he'd done it all his life. Similarly, he was able to stop anything else from intercepting the missile just because the Doctor told him to - 'I'm doing it' - with again no directions at all.

Finally, as much as I do like the Ninth Doctor, I wish he could be a bit more friendly (and I dont mean grin more)! Humans are supposed to be his favourite species, but the way he treats Mickey and Jackie, and talks about them, does not reflect this. He was more concerned about the pig! This does not make him unlikeable, and it could be argued that he manages to pull off very successfully what Colin Baker tried to do with his Doctor, but I do wish he could be a bit more personable to others.

All in all though, a nice episode - 8/10 for this one, and probably 7/10 for the story as a whole.

I was feeling pretty good about the new series through Rose, knowing it needed time to bed down. Episode 2 was amusing but some of the more irritating bits of the first episode remained but then I thought The Unquiet Dead was a serious piece of business.

Then it went a bit funny again. Don't get me wrong, I liked Aliens of London very much, but it had too much of a spoof about it, the farting aliens were particularly annoying. Some of the lines made me wince and the over-acting (a la Space Quest) of a couple of the aliens got very tired.

I love the development of Rose's story and the effect her disappearance from the Earth had on those around her, something that was never really explored before that and it brings a good emotional level to the series we rarely saw before. Rose could just as well be Ace, but we didn't see much about emotion when Ace came 'home.' (I think it was Ghost Light). Rose is coming along well as a companion but the litmus test will of course be how she handles the Daleks.

World War III, though, was not as good as one might have expected. The aliens were cool as they rampaged through Number 10, but, again, there were irritating, puerile things about the story that others have already pointed out in previous reviews for other eps - namely the really poor incidental music and the reliance on some dud gags to move things along. And the security forces were too thick for words. UNIT barely rated a mention through the story and here was Mickey breaking into the UN with a weak password like buffalo. You have to be kidding, right?

Christopher Eccleston also returned to his grinning loon interpretation that I had hoped to be gone after first-ep nerves and in some parts of the story appeared a little too callous for my liking. The Doctor is a compassionate guy and wouldn't have previously watched a companion struggle to get through a door to safety with a silly wave from the lift. And I'm over the re-born sonic screwdriver. Where are the Sontarans when you need them?

Technically the episode was good, the aliens looked terrific as I've already said and the editing was good if a little disjointed in parts. The wreckage of Number 10 was quite convincing and the way Harriet Jones took off to take control while Rose and the Doctor slipped away was nice.

On a story level, Russell T Davies' attempt to trash corporate greed just plain missed the mark. There are so many cool ways to do that and this isn't one of them. I know he had to find a motivation, but the fact it was all for the benefit of a family corporation was pretty dull and, it has to be said, predictable. How would I have done it? I don't know...but then, no-one has offered me the gig, so I'm not giving anything away. Pay me to think and I reckon I could do it. Are you listening, BBC? And the dismissal by the press that the whole thing was a hoax. Um...the PM's dead as is most of the cabinet and a fairly hefty chunk of the government's advisory committee. How was Harriet going to just step into the breach? Or maybe I need to watch that bit again.

The scripting remains good and exceptionally cohesive one story to the next, this is a great re-invention of the series. Rose gets good lines and the way the other characters react to Rose's slow de-sensitisation (?) to what's going on around her is a nice plot device - it's waking us up to the fact that where the Doctor goes, so does death and destruction. It started out as a sort of joke, but has evolved well and is woven into the story quite surreptitiously and then BAM, you're reminded.

Aliens and WWIII didn't do it for me but it certainly hasn't destroyed my faith in the series. Unquiet Dead was such a fine episode and the trailer for Dalek looks equally impressive. Aliens and WWIII were bankers, but entertaining enough.