A confident episode in the new series with some great moments but unlike the other episodes, there are sadly some poorer scenes.

It was an interesting idea to bring the Rose's family back into the picture; portraying a very human side to the companion (she still has a life and a family). The concept of the Doctor brining her back was a good idea and excelled in places, however when the alien story took over the plot began to deeper with great intrigue.

The concept of these aliens was strong, I quite liked the idea of them zipping open their heads, however the flatulence and even CGI from underneath the suits was a little poorer, I liked the concept that as aliens there is something not quite right, paralleling to that of Third Rock from the sun in one sense, but I was unsure to whether the flatulence was for this idea or to make the kids laugh.

The pig was an intriguing idea and hard to make judgment simply because of what may develop in the second episode. And that is what we have to understand about Aliens of London, it is in all sense a two parters, two parters are notoriously slow allowing the story to develop for a stronger second part, so I am not too surprised or disheartened that this episode is the weakest, every series has one especially that of a 13 parter.

A good classic cliffhanger though with every character facing their own imminent death, I look forward to seeing how this story and indeed the characters develops.

What was that assault on my eyes! I'm afraid, unlike last weeks triumph, this week was very badly written and acted by Chris Eccleston. The Doctor simply wouldn't be surprised by an alien crash landing! He's got to stop all the laughing a happy smiling, his portrayal of the Doctor has been very weak so far although he does serious so much better!

All in all this episode with all the toilet humour was, well, boring. The fart gags for laughs was funny at first but then it went on and on. The cliffhanger took ages to develop, and when the cliffhanger happened which was actually really good they spoiled it by telling you how they all get out of it, i.e. Mickey comes in to save Rose's Mum, and then they try and salvage it by putting it if I save the world I'll loose you.. Like the Doctor would care.

The special effects and the directing of course are all up to A1 standard, Keith Boak is clearly an excellent director, I'm glad Euros Lyn doesn't do anymore this season as his direction has been weak at best. Loved the spaceship crashing into Big Ben and I also liked the Doctor's UNIT reference, where's Lethbridge Stewart to sort it out!

All in all, I know it’s a harsh review, but that’s two stories now (End of the World being the other) that have been very weak and not that entertaining and the two lowest rated episodes. It’s a great romp for children, but can't it have just a little hint of seriousness for us Mum's and Dad's - even just a little?

After 2 reasonably good episodes [ The Unquiet Dead and The End of the World ] I was looking forward to this 2 parter which looked impressive judging by the trailers I'd seen. It starts off quite well but then just goes downhill rapidly and degenerates in to childish schoolboy type humour - with farting aliens and a ridiculous looking pig creature that's obviously a man in a completely unconvincing rubber suit. The farting bits just ruined the story for me - right from the start.

Also annoying is Roses boyfriend - who though not quite as annoying as in the first episode is clearly being used as the comedy relief, even though he's not in the slightest bit funny. Rose and her boyfriend also have these annoying streetwise accents - obviously in an effort to appeal to a dumbed down teenage audience. Some of the bits with the new version of UNIT showed potential but again it was all in vain as any air of menace or urgency was ruined by the poor attempts at humour.

Christopher Ecclestons performance was pretty much the same as in previous episodes but even though he's on top form when he's taking a more serious tone, the manic grins are becoming a bit tedious and I still have trouble believing he's an alien with his obvious Northern accent.

The aliens themselves were bad. Not in an evil sense, but just plain bad. The actual design of the aliens would have been quite spooky - but they just look so obviously like men in cheesy rubber suits that they have a virtually zero scare factor. I think there was one convincing cgi rendered shot of an alien bursting out of it's human disguise, but that's about it.

All in all I'm completely unimpressed by this latest episode and Russell T.Davies just seems to treat the whole thing as camp, childish nonsense with a few feeble attempts at horror and too much slapstick humour. There's hardly any attempt at class or to move the whole thing above the camp whimsical rubbish that was the Sylvester Mcoy era. Some [ and I repeat some ] of the special effects are better than the previous Doctors shows but judging by this latest attempt - camp, unbelievable childishness is still an unfortunate trademark of Doctor Who.

By episode four you would expect a series to begin to settle down and develop a sense of pattern and style. After watching "Aliens of London" I'm becoming increasingly aware that the new series of Doctor Who seems to be developing an identity crisis. Worse, given that seventy-five percent of the episodes so far have been written by the same guy, that Russell T. Davies is developing some kind of crisis!

We went from a victorian episode, one that I willingly admit I was looking forward to seeing least and ultimately enjoyed most. An episode that had the masses, well some of them anyway, comaplaining that it was too gory and violent, straight into a comic farce, complete with ample amounts of flatulence.

If the general public are to have decided by now wether they like the series or not, and after a month you'd expect the audience to settle into it or not by now. It would help if the series settled down too.

I suppose this is in no small way a testament to the diversity this format allows for story-telling. But I felt, especially after last weeks' hard-hitting drama, totally unable to take this episode seriously at all.

The aliens... well all I can say is that they work far better in CGI than they do in foam rubber. By far the best part of this story was the dynamic in the early part of the episode between Rose and her mother (a character I never took to I might add).

I'm looking forward to part two, I think! In the mean time I'm wondering where on Earth, or off it, this series is going. This series is all style and substance but if they don't settle into some kind of continuity of content soon they'll be seriously in danger of antagonising a large part of their audience.

I tried to love it, but this was the first episode of the new series where I really had to try. Apart from some decent basic ideas and a couple of nice touches I thought 'Aliens of London' was sloppily written, inconsistent and excessively flippant. Coming after the excellent 'The Unquiet Dead' didn't help it either.

Oddly enough, it was the first episode with anything resembling a decent plot: undercover aliens in Britain's government fake a first contact scenario to lure the planet's 'alien experts' into a trap. It even had a promising subplot: Rose's return to earth after twelve months, and its repercussions.

Unfortunately the main plot was let down by incessant fart gags. 'Excuse me', the Doctor says to cap it all, 'would you mind not farting while I'm saving the world?' I can just see Russell T Davies chuckling to himself while writing this line, but it doesn't belong in Doctor Who. It's not offensive, just puerile, and it repeatedly deflated any buildup of tension (NOT better out than in). I also wasn't happy with the numerous sexual references, by the general/alien and regarding the Doctor and Rose's relationship. Again, this sounds like prudishness, but I was three years old when I started watching Doctor Who and would like to think that children of any age could watch it safely (despite the BBC's recent advice!).

All of this just kept me thinking 'This isn't Doctor Who.' It was RTD showing us what he could do TO the show, not WITH it. That may be tremendous fun for him, but he needs to remember he's only the guardian of a long TV tradition. He also needs a script editor, or at least someone to read what he's written. No one seemed to have examined this script in any detail. One minute Jackie thinks the Doctor is a sinister kidnapper, the next he has his feet up watching TV in her home, without any explanation. A group of soldiers training their guns on the Doctor suddenly begin acting as if he's their commander when he shouts some nonsense about 'Plan Delta'. Neither Mickey nor Jackie react to the interior of the TARDIS when they enter it. And so on.

I liked some things. The pig 'astronaut' was really surprising and a suitably off-the-wall touch (and where there are little pigs, there are bad wolves, right?). Some of the performances were good -- though not Piper or Eccleston this week, both hobbled by a subplot that sounded like a bad Eastenders episode. The Slitheen were reasonably creepy, and just cheap-looking enough to qualify as proper Doctor Who monsters. And as I said, the basic plot was interesting and promises some further twists.

On the whole, though, I found my attention wandering for the first time this series, and the prospect of another episode (and, to be honest, of more RTD-penned stories) doesn't fill me with glee. I'm sure ratings will drop next week if they haven't already. Fortunately we have a Dalek story to look forward to after that, and one not written by Russell T Davies.

This is extraordinary writing from Mr. Davies. Not only has he provided us with an imaginative and gripping story, but he has been as daring as one could possibly imagine.

He knows full well how certain ‘Who’ fans will react to this one – and he doesn’t care. Oink.

A pig in a space suit? This has to be the most marvellous Who moment of all time – and it beautifully captures the mood of the current series. How can something so absurd be so tragic? And yet the death of the pig and the look on the Doctor’s face was the most poignant moment of the series so far.

If you had been handed the new series of Doctor Who, would you have dared to go as far as Russell T? In a million years?

I doubt it.

I find it hard to believe that a fan of the show, such as Russell, would have the guts to write an episode filled with fart gags. Is it naff? Cringe-worthy? Or just a case of a writer who is waiting just around the corner with another surprise that we didn’t see coming?

And yet, despite the fact that we really didn’t expect the change of tone that this episode brought us, there is a constant element running through the entire series. The character of Rose – and Billie’s portrayal – is more realistic than any other character in any sci-fi series. Once again we were taken back to the reality of Rose’s home and reminded of how outrageous everything else is. From the first episode onwards we are constantly viewing everything through the eyes of Rose. Even when we are alone with the Doctor, we no longer wonder what it would be like to be him – but instead wonder what it would be like to travel with him.

This episode reminded me more of the old series than any so far. The absurd elements, the ridiculous aliens, the doctor’s indifference and sense of fun all amounted to everything Doctor Who should be.

And what marvellous lines we were given to laugh at. ‘Take me to your leader’ has to be the funniest so far.

Playing each week before our eyes is the TV we will be watching again and again in years to come.

Roll on part 2.