Doctor Who goes back to its roots with a horror story set in a period setting. Classic Who and nicely realised by all concerned.

Doctor Who always works best with strong supporting characters that are convincingly written and well acted. A fact that arises I suspect from only having the Doctor and companions as true repeating characters. As viewer we need more characters to watch so the one time only characters gain an importance that they would not have in an episode of Star Trek for example…but forgive me I digress so back to The Unquiet Dead

This episode excelled in strong supporting character. Simon Callow was a most credible Charles Dickens playing him with real depth as a once brilliant and creative man who has slowly been reduced to feeling that for all his brilliance his creativity had run dry. His psychological turn around by the end of the episode put a smile on my face. Here was now a man who had again remembered what it was to live and that life was ever full of possibilities and wonder. Something that Doctor Who itself taught me many years ago as a young boy.

Further mention should go to Eve Myles as Gwyneth who put in a very strong performance as the telepathic maid. Her speech to Rose regarding the future as she could see it in Rose's mind literally had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. Great script and so very well delivered.

The relationship between the Doctor and Rose seems a little deeper than I would expect given their time together but the chemistry between then whether fighting or agreeing is riveting.

This episode seemed to manage more depth with the story line but I do miss the multiple episode format and I believe that the storyline depth suffers as a consequence. I can easily imagine that the reason behind the walking deep would have taken a full episode to emerge in the old days however lets be happy for what we have – great special effects, terrific acting and new Who episodes!

The effects were good and ranged from full flying ghosts to simple gas flares. The sonic screwdriver was seen again but only in passing. Personally I have no issue with that but now isn't the time to debate that! The Victorian era was nicely portrayed and the snow looked real! 

All in all a very good episode.

The mystery of Dr Who is back. This has got to be the best new who episode yet. This episode written by Mark was the one I was eagerly anticipating 18 months ago and what a great on screen script it is. 

A pre credit sequence to proud of, capture the viewer instantly with a terrifying death, and the rise of the old lady from the casket - que music brilliant! 

I just love Chris and Billie now – what chemistry they have, and so lovely that Rose's journey is continuing with all her first's simply lovely. What a lovely scene where Rose steps outside the tardis and puts her foot in the snow a touching moment that reminds the viewer how exciting this all is. 

The leading 5 actors in this episode are fantastic, Simon Callow is amazing as Charles Dickens in a performance that captures pure brilliance throughout a very quick paced story. 

Gwyneth was particularly well cast, and her scene with Rose and what she could see in her mind of London and the death of her father reminded me of the good old days of pure brilliant story telling. 

Mark has allowed each character to grow quickly and I found myself caring about Gwyneth's fate as much as Rose. How touching to see the Doctor kiss her before her self sacrifice. This Doctor is certainly not scared to show his emotion and this is what makes Chris so brilliant to watch. 

More on Chris... just how many variations of character can he get in one episode, every week I have laughed in and his gripping stage presence absorbs you totally. 

The gas ghosts are also sheer brilliance, turning again something every day into a monster and making it work. The fans of Ghostlight must all be saying YES! 

Overall the series is moving from strength to strength capturing emotion happiness and adventure all in 45 mins. My only criticism has to be that it's all over so quickly and I just want more. Oh well, another 6 days until the next episode... can't wait!

I'll be honest with you. I am yet to see a story from the new series which I've felt the same way as I did watching 'Robots of Death' or 'The Curse of Fenric'. I shouldn't say so as we're only three episodes in but that's how I feel. The new series is good, but there's something missing. Perhaps the fact that CE is leaving also leaves a bitter taste...

Although, now you mention it, this has been the best episode so far. A good plot, well acted and scary. Simon Callow was brilliant as Dickens and I enjoyed the character of the maid, Gwenyth. The scene between her and Rose was a joy to watch, and reminded me of the scene where Leela undresses in front of Vince in 'The Horror of Fang Rock'. Brilliant stuff. Although I did feel her vision of Rose's world could have been omitted at the script stage. 

The 19th century was well realised, especially the interior scenes and the special effects were what we have come to expect these days. The exteriors may have been quite cramped as one reviewer put it, but the story was well executed. 

I thought to myself during the episode - "What a cop-out! The aliens are nice!" but my spine tingled when there was a lovely twist to the contrary. I just would have liked the resolution to be strung out a bit more, given more time to breathe. 

Aside from those quibbles, it was good but I've seen better. But we are only three episodes in....

This is the first historical story of the new series, and I think that this episode, really shows off Doctor Who's ability to tell a good story.

I have always believed throughout the original series that episodes which were set in the past always looked better than the ones in the future. I believe this to be the case for two reasons, firstly, the past has already happened so we are able to be more accurate. Secondly, the BBC does period drama so well. 

This story was no exception. It had more of a plot to it than the previous two stories and had a more serious tone. We know now how the characters are thinking and what their personalities are. This means that the writers can start writing stories, rather than be constantly trying to justify each character's actions.

In this story, the writers continue the theme of a dark secret which the doctor has. A darker side to the Doctor was developing at the end of the original series and it is nice to see that that feature has been retained. It helps to keep viewers coming back for more, week after week.

As usual, the special effects were excellent, and in my opinion were better than in the previous two stories because they were more subtle, and the story was perhaps less dependent on special effects, which allows the acting to show through more.

I believe that the opening sequence was also better than in the previous episode. I though that the pre titles sequence in "The End of the World" was a little too long as an opening sequence, this one got straight to the point and had more of an effect.

The detail and intricacy of the make-up and costumes was also very important for me. I admit that it is unlikely that we will be seeing men in rubber suits in this new series, but the costumes throughout the series upto this point have been totally convincing.

Again, I think that his week's was an excellent story, the best so far and I can't wait for the next episode, because I believe that the new series has just got into full swing and can only get better.

Expectations were high for this Victorian gothic horror written by Mark Gatiss and guest starring Simon Callow as Charles Dickens. But did it pass or were our expectations too great?

No doubt there will be obvious comparisons with The Talons of Weng Chiang so lets get them out of the way first. The Unquiet Dead certainly shares Talons' potent mix of horror, drama and comedy, as well as boasted some impressive location filming at night, Here however, a foggy sinister London is replaced by a busy, snowy and equally sinister Cardiff.

It also concentrated on creating atmosphere, tension and character and the pre-credits sequence was spine-tingling and effectively designed purely to scare the audience! The episodes slower pace did make me wonder halfway through, if some of the younger and newer viewers would be getting frustrated by the lack of action, in comparison with the first two episodes.

However, the seance scene was spooky and the joke about a "Happy Medium" was wonderful. The climactic scene in the mortuary boasted some wonderful special effects, especially the Gelth turning nasty, plus some more horror to scare the kiddies, as the corpses came to life and killed Mr Sneed.

Rose's scene with Gwyneth in the parlour were particularly well paid by the actresses concerned. Eve Myles managed to make Gwyneth a sympathetic and tragic character without being pathetic. Billie Piper's performance was similarly excellent here, successfully conveying her horror and objection to the Doctor's idea of helping the Gelth by using corpses, which was a neat little subplot and another way of broadening Rose as a proper reasoning character, rather than just a cipher. Even her kidnapping and bundling into the hearse which could be construed as being a traditional and cliched plot device was turned on its head as Rose later stands up to Mr Sneed and accuses him of wandering hands…

Simon Callow's portrayal as Charles Dickens was superb. Callow could have hammed it up for all its worth or played it for laughs. Fortunately, he gave us a very subtle and melancholy performance showing Dickens at first, as a tired old man but then after his encounter with the Doctor as someone whose outlook on life has gained new momentum.

The last scene with The Doctor telling Dickens his work lives on was very touching and well played by both actors.

Any bad bits? Well, who in their right mind would seriously ask a corpse who rises from his coffin, "Are you all right?" I certainly wouldn't and as a Funeral Director myself. In fact, I have to say that The Unquiet Dead has probably done for my profession what Terror of The Autons did for Policemen!

Cracking episode though guys… Keep it up!!

Sure, the production values were very high, and this called to mind the glories of season 14. But in terms of story and characterisation, I think 'The Unquiet Dead' was more 'The Ultimate Foe' than either 'Talons' or 'Ghost Light'.

I say this because, other than running around with a grin on his face, what did the Doctor actually DO? In terms of solving problems and dispatching enemies, he was pretty useless. It was his mistake to let the gas creatures through into our world - a flaw following from his obvious sympathy for another near-extinct species, but a misjudgement all the same, and an embarrassing one considering his earlier moralising to Rose (a 'different morality' - dangerous territory). If this is what it means to make the Doctor more sensitive and human, then it is not necessarily a good thing. Then he told Rose that he would not leave the servant girl while she was still in danger, but in fact he let her kill herself to get him out of a problem he created! (Incidentally, this reminded me of the end of Revelation of the Daleks, when the lamentable sixth Doctor is unable to resolve the situation and similarly relies on another sympathetic character to take the rap.) Also, did he lie to Rose about her being already dead?? And then it was Dickens and not the Doctor who had the idea of turning up the gas lamps to save the Doctor and Rose from dying.

I have felt with all three episodes so far that there are traces in the Doctor's character of something very dark and powerful - no doubt forged in him by his experiences of 'the war'. (I was not happy with the vindictive way in which he killed Cassandra - would any previous Doctor have done that?) This has the advantage of making him more mysterious - even to us old hands - but it comes at a high moral cost, which risks compromising the integrity of the character.

Good things: Simon Callow's performance, afore-mentioned production values, Billie Piper still good. The theme of 'its not ghosts, its (pseudo) science' was a welcome echo of earlier episodes (The Daemons etc.).

Iffy things: this script was less tight than previous ones (why the seance? why did the creatures reveal their true intentions before making sure the servant girl was not in a position to stop them?) and less playfully ironic in its self-references. Some moments just a but too 'Buffy'.

The resolution was too quick - reminiscent of the Davison two-parters. And there was a problem of scale. The gas creatures were going to take over the world, but they only seemed to threaten a handful of people in one house. I suppose the same criticism could be levelled at 'Image of the Fendahl', but then IotF had twice the time (i.e. four 25 minute episodes) in which to build up a credible threat.