Talk about a tease. Parting of the Ways - at last, the new Doctor revealed! …for twenty seconds and a joke about teeth. Children In Need - at last, the new Doctor revealed! …for seven minutes and a lot of guff about hopping. The Christmas Invasion - at last, the new, no, hang on, he's still asleep, come back after three more months and a joke about the Lion King. Compared to this, those sixteen years post-McCoy went by in a flash.

I'll be honest, I was worried. Despite the wonders Russell T Davies has pulled in the past, surely all these peeks and glimpses would steal the thunder from the new series? David Tennant's already done the chat-show circuit back in December, so where's the big first episode ratings-boost from strangers wanting to know what the new guy's like? What's gonna make this feel like a big bold beginning instead of just another adventure? How can we be sure people will watch?

Well, shows how much I know. People watch it just 'cos it's Doctor Who, these days. And the most extraordinary thing about this episode – this in-itself very ordinary, 'just another' adventure – is exactly that there is no thunder to be stolen, at least on the new actor front. It's all jolly exciting, thrilling, action-adventure stuff: an alien world, an alien race, a lot of huggermugger sculduggery; things being plotted, stuff blowing up, the usual suspects – and there, you suddenly notice, in the middle of it, like he's been there all along, is the Doctor, having an adventure. No grand fanfare, no finally the new Doctor revealed!, just a sudden, subtle realisation that you've got used to him without even trying. Which of course was the whole point of all that teasing, and of all the thrills and spills and special effects around him. A mad, months-long conjuring trick filled with effusive patter and a great big cgi bucket of misdirection, all to slip that one bit of sleight-of-hand past you: that it's not the same guy.

The upside of this is that we get an absolute zinger of an episode, all-out belly laughs mixed with zips of fear and zaps of danger; comic turns with epic set-pieces; running for your life with running gags. The central gimmick of the story is something of a standard sci-fi trope, an excuse for a good old romp for the regulars, but combined with enough of a story to hold keep its momentum. The effects are ambitious and effective, turning a revolting day in Cardiff into a reasonable one on another planet; a series of attractive women into a matching set of attractive cats, and a large collection of extras into a particularly nasty bunch of Nasties of the Week. The performances are as usual fine throughout, with Billie Piper even more than usually superb as she's asked to pull off all the funniest lines without forgetting she's also carrying the plot, and managing both with aplomb. Even the music – if you can persuade the surround-sound not to bleach out the dialogue – is feisty, fun and exhilarating, with an Austin Powersesque action sequence taking the award for most daringly silly and enjoyable theme so far.

The downside, of course, is that a plot designed to be fluffily distracting does tend to be a bit, well, fluffy. And distracting. Gimmicks, effects, cats, and nasties add up to a bit of a noisy mess at times, all sound and fury signifying that the scriptwriter doesn't want you to pay too much attention to the details. Last year's lesson proves true once more, that if Russell T's scripts have a problem, it can be summed up in two words: "plot convenience." Never mind the fiddly explanations, just hit the button on the wall next to you! Never mind the logic, just do what's cool! Never mind the plot holes, just run for your life!

There's no denying that this story, fast-paced and full of explosions as it is, does lack a little coherence as it zips from one subplot to another, glossing over exactly who's doing what, for what, for why; how the solutions are reached, by whom, or when, or, bluntly, why the hell they'd work. "Who Cares if Doc is Drivel?" crowed the Mirror the next day, praising the show for being lovable despite its manifold, viciously-listed flaws, in surely the most backhandedly positive review ever published. Others were still less kind, pouring scorn on the oddly-paced, elongated ending (a trademark of Russell's scripts) and of the attempt to get the audience feeling joy at an uplifting ending (a trademark, rather too obviously, of Stephen Moffat's, where it works considerably better coming after two episodes of gritty, terrifying danger than it does here following nine minutes of what the BBFC witheringly refers to as 'mild peril'). Partly due its flaws, and partly to its impossible expectations, New Earth was always going to have trouble. And indeed, the initial feeling from audiences seems to be a less than startled 'oh right'.

We knew this would happen, of course. Last year Doctor Who was being compared to what people remembered of its death in the 80s: wobbling, cardboard, light-ent tripe, barely watchable even as a child – which much of it wasn't, but that's what sticks in the mind. This time round it's being compared to what they remember of last year, and just as unfairly: always the sheer, unparalleled brilliance of The Doctor Dances, of Dalek, of Father's Day , rather than the just-another adventures of The Long Game or Boom Town. Put this next to Rose , last year's season-opener, and there's simply no comparison – New Earth is quite, quite brilliant. But quite-brilliance isn't enough when people are comparing the new series (and we knew they would, we really knew it and were braced for it and still it's not enough) to only the very finest, utterly brilliant moments of Season One.

But you know what? I'm not going to write an apologetic review, because this story doesn't need one. There are flaws, but there are few. The opening seems somewhat stretched, with Rose uncharacteristically cloying in her admiration for the Doctor and their adventures (which unfortunately comes across as a sort of smug self-satisfaction with the series itself). The ending tries to crowbar the audience in a direction they're not emotionally ready to go; two crucial story elements not quite dovetailing together well enough to form a common theme. Arguably, where Eccleston had unplumbed depths of angst and fury, Tennant has pulling his lips back over his teeth. And the plot doesn't actually make sense. But that's it.

I watched this on Saturday, adult and analytical, and fretted madly about all those things. And then I watched it on Sunday with six shrieking and manically enthusiastic eight-year-olds, who'd been drinking coke for five hours straight and bouncing off the walls at an all-day party, suddenly silent and transfixed except for blurts of "Eww!" and "Woah!" and "This next bit's brilliant!" and "Shut up, I want to hear!", and realised it didn't matter. Whatever impossible, child-engrossing, attention-grabbing, silence-summoning magic Russell T conjured up with Christopher Eccleston (who?), he hasn't lost it now.

Logic is for wusses and grown-ups. This episode is fun. Just as fun as last year; just as funny; just as scary; just as silly; just as great. Just another adventure. Just enjoy.

(And next week - at last, the new Doctor, revealed!)

As a Doctor Who fan, I've often wondered what it was like to tune in and see "Robot" on its first airing. Did fans then have an inkling of what was to come? Did they know they were witnessing the birth of a what many fans consider to be the golden age of the show and they were seeing the first tentative steps of the man whose name, face and costume would become synonymous with the show not only in the United Kingdom but world-wide?

And now, over 20 years later are we at another crossroads for the show and witnesses the dawning of a new, golden age for Doctor Who.

It's hard to ignore the similiarities.

Jon Pertwee's era on Doctor Who had been, by all accounts, a huge success. In fact, I'd imagine if the Internet had existed back in the 70s there would be numerous debates on whether or not this new guy could live up to the consistency of the third Doctor. Now, here we are in a new century and we've just come off a successful run as the Doctor by Christopher Eccleston. Luckily, we have the Internet today so fans can wonder if this new guy will live up to the consistency of the ninth Doctor.

With Pertwee, I think history shows us exactly what Tom Baker did in the role. And while the book is still to written on David Tennant's tenure as the Doctor, I get this strange feeling we're on the verge of a new, golden age for Doctor Who. And I have a feeling that in a few weeks, we may all be saying, "Yes, Christopher Eccleston was good, but wow David Tennant is just fantastic as the Doctor."

(Please don't take this as a condemnation of Eccleston. I love what he brought to the role. He did a great job and I do wish we'd got more than one season with him in the role.)

So far, we've had two episodes featuring Tennant as Doctor. The preview of what's to come with "The Christmas Invasion" and now we've got the first episode of series two, "New Earth."

With the regeneration crisis past, we can jump back into the adventures through time and space that make Dr Who what it is. For their first adventure together, the new Doctor and Rose travel farther than they ever have before. The Doctor's received a message from the far-future, asking him to come to visit a hospital ward. Beyond that, he knows nothing else but this is the Doctor and he can't resist a good mystery. He and Rose head to New Earth, which is the planet that was created after the sun expanded in last year's "End of the World."

"New Earth" serves as backdrop to allow us to check in with some of the creatures we met last year in "End of the World." Whether that's good or bad depends on if you liked "End of the World" or not, I suppose. I like it, but I can honestly say I was't screaming for more of Cassandra. Which is what we got. Cassandra proves to be the Rani of the new series in that there is nothing she can't somehow survive.

The plot for "New Earth" is pretty jam-packed and complicated. It's one of those blink and you'll miss it type of stories in terms of plot twists and developments. Russell T. Davies seems to write stories that combine everything and the kitchen sink into the script. Visually it can be stunning as we see the alien vistas of New Earth, but when it comes to following the story or summarizing for a review, it can be a bit much. I will say that this script pays homage to a lot of elements from the classic series including the villain wanting the companion for some nefarious purpose, an army of "monster" skulking about and running down corridors.

Visually, the story has some callbacks to previous eras as well. I had to wonder if the medical pod set was somehow meant to invoke images of the tombs of the Cybermen that we've seen over the years.

But the real strength of "New Earth" is the work done on the characters. Russell T. Davies manages to make Cassandra a more realized character, to the point that when we got the final scene, I actually felt sympathy for Cassandra and her fate. Davies managed to make those last scenes bittersweet without being too cloying or over the top. Yes, it was tugging on the heart strings a bit, but it felt like an earned moment and not manipulative--as it easily could have been.

But the real heart and soul of this were David Tennant and Billie Piper. Tennant seems to be relishing the role and brought an almost Tom Baker like air. He was whimsical, wide-eyed enthusiasm and wonder we saw in the best of Tom Baker with the undercurrent of deadly seriousness when the situation called for it.

And Piper, as usual, continues to be a revelation. She's growing in the role of Rose. A year ago, I'm not sure she could have convincingly pulled off creating two separate personas as she does here. But now, she does it with style and is utterly convincing. The scenes with Cassandra trying to convince the Doctor she was really Rose were a delight. As were the first few scenes as Cassandra gets used to inhabiting Rose's body.

About my only real complaint is there are almost too many good ideas packed into a 45-minute storyline (a typical complaint with stories by Davies). But the program is a showcase for Piper as Rose and to a lesser extend Tennat's first steps as the Doctor. Hopefully as the series progresses, we'll get to see Tennant have a tour-de-forced like Piper does here. Because based on the glimpses I've seen, he's set to knock one out of the park.

I felt rather let down by the previous season of Doctor Who and in particular by Russell T.Davies and Christopher Eccleston. I love their previous work but for some reason they just didn’t work for in the Doctor Who context. So when I found out the first episode of the new series was another Davies script I was more than a little worried.

We had yet another goodbye scene with Jackie and Mickey, how boring? Added nothing at all to the episode and didn’t need to be there. And when we last saw these two it was Christmas but judging by the weather this time around it was summertime. Surely Rose and the Doctor didn’t stay that long?

I don’t like the idea of the Doctor and Rose fancying each other, at all. It’s just wrong in my mind. The Doctor doesn’t fall in love with everyone to come through the Tardis otherwise he’d be a bit of man-slapper. And its such a boring and unoriginal plot as well. So why even bother? And all the sentimental crap surrounding it is so tedious. It almost makes me reach for the remote.

For the most part the special effects were good but the odd one brought the show down. Which is a great example of why storyline must come before effects! I get the feeling the production crew are trying to show off and amaze us all with these brand new special effects the old series never had. Problem is they actually look rather cheap and don’t stand up to the likes of Battlestar Galactica. Now there’s a show that has got the balance right. Yes they have very good special effects but they have excellent storylines to match, dark and moving. Doctor Who needs to look at this re-invented show and learn some lessons. I want to see story to the episodes and less showing off and far less humour. Doctor Who always worked best when it was scary and there was nothing scary about this episode.

On the plus side Billie Piper proved what an amazing actress she is during this episode. Switching between Rose and ‘Cassandra’ was brilliantly done. And the Lady Cassandra was a welcome return. She was by far one of the better things about the previous series. She’s so witty and bitchy, she’d be perfect for Footballers Wives. I do hope we see her again because there’s plenty of potential there. Her change of heart was rather sudden so I’m hoping it was all a trick on Cassandra’s part otherwise its just a little of a cop-out. The cats costumes were another high point as well as their characterisation. They’re another species I hope we see again. The Face of Boe added a little mystery to the episode, what does he have to say to the Doctor? Could it be a warning about the Cybermen or about his own people?

The dialogue for the most part was good. Although I doubt that Cassandra, five billion years in the future, would actually use the term chav it was all very funny. The plague victims looked a little…..dodgy. I couldn’t help but think of Terminus and how dodgy that make up was. And how on earth can they speak and why do they have clothes? The Sisterhood bred them for experiments and finding cures not to try out different fashions on them. Why bother clothing them? It’s pointless. And if they are bred for experimenting on, and kept isolated from each other, how do they possess the skill of speech? Children learn to speak by watching and listening to their parents and copying their behaviour.

Deep down under all the humour, special effects and bitchy comments there was actually some kind of moral to this storyline. It’s all about animal testing and human testing. It’s wrong. And in this case I can’t help but agree. Breeding animals just to experiment on them is totally and utterly wrong.

Overall not a bad episode really. An improvement on some of the direness of the previous season and a much better actor in the role. However, I’m still not sure of Davies and prefer other episodes to his.

Looking at the early UK newspaper reviews, this hasnt been received too well...I loved it personally. Yes it was silly but what's wrong with that? It made the contrast with the sad ending to the episode so much better....

One review said that Billie Pipers cleavage would only get her so far....well, suffice to say it didnt bother me too much...It would have been nice to have a bit more Zoe Wanamaker..maybe had her voice over the Doctor's and Rose's and a trick was perhaps missed by not showing Cassandra/Rose's point of view when she changed.

As for the new Doctor, I enjoyed him immensley. David Tennant can obviously do the funny stuff but he showed that he has that steel needed for the role as well. This certainly shows with the Cat Nun scene.

I think the backlash to the hit first series has started now but not every episode is going to be emotional and upsetting a la Fathers Day or The Parting of The Ways. I think you have to have funny and sad, crying or glad as contrasts or you dont believe each of them when they come around.

You could definitely see it was a Russell T Davies script for exactly those contrasts. He walks that line of happy and sad more than any other writer on the show. Before the Anti-RTD crusade starts...just jump in the TARDIS and imagine when he leaves the show. Think about who might take his 'Dalek Emperor' role....the care and attention he brings to the show, the care and attention that he brings out in others....those will be big shoes to fill...

I think most importantly the kids will love New Earth and I'm actually going to agree with my missus for once...that Doctor Who is a kids show...as someone said the kids show that adults all adore...

I'll warn you, dear reader, I'm not happy. My short review is that that New Earth was childish, camp and lazy. The long version follows...

First good bits: It looked good most of the time. Billy and David are exceptionally good at what they do though neither of them made me laugh. (It's too early in the series to be trying comedy with the leads). The themes of clinicians' scientific detachment from patients in need of emotional contact were interesting (though virtually unexplored). The end was quite imaginitive.

Now my quibbles really begin...

Bipedal Cats as medical nuns is a very strange idea. It's a bit pantomimey, a bit simple and a bit easy. You could imagine them as incidental characters in a children's book populated by dog firemen and Duck taxi-drivers. However they're weird and outlandish enough to be really fantastic sci-fi/fantasy creations- but only if they are more than just nurses with cat faces. For some reason I'd expected some kind of interesting and imaginitive explanation for their existence- something a bit clever or a bit mysterious or maybe a bit allegorical. But no- they were just there. They are there ONLY because they're a bit weird and might look good- nothing to do with plot, nothing with any reason or thought behind it.

This is a bit symptomatic of this episode and RTD's Doctor Who writing in general. This is such a shame as he can be so good when he's on form- by the time we'd got to 'The Parting of the Ways' I'd completely fogotten how much I'd cringed at the burping bin and fart-driven plots in last year's series. The brilliant character work in the script and in the perfomances shone so brightly I'd completely forgotten everything that was awful. Whoops.

New Earth did have some good moments and ideas- the ending focussing on Cassandra was a lovely idea and could have been moving if it wasn't completely unbelievable given what we seen up to then. In fact the episode teemed with characters and themes that were supposed to be heart-wrenchinlgy profound but came across as vapid and camp...

The hordes of imprisoned disease-carriers were supposed to be so heart-breaking having spent their existence craving human contact and suffering from every disease possible. But the groups of pleading and beckoning extras looked awful- the performances were laughable. If you'd turned on half way through you might think it was a quirky comedy sketch show. Perhaps a Doctor Who spoof? And then one of them cuddles up to David Tennant after he's cured them with an unbelievably childish plot device.

It's as though RTD is saying all that matters is you have people who look needy and pathetic, they get sprayed with magic by the Doctor and are fixed so then we think the Doctor is wonderful. There- That's drama. Tick. It really seems as though he doesn't think anything else in the script matters and he can slip in the simplest and most childish explanation for anything and get away with it because somewhere there's some camp sparkling dialogue.

My real problem with this is that a very similar thing was going on in Steven Moffat's WWII two-parter last year where Christopher Eccleston showered broken people with what was effectively fairy dust for non-scifi fans but there was SO MUCH MORE going on behind it. The nano-gene premise, the issues of motherhood and guilt in the social context of 1940s Britain, the themes of redemption and forgiveness an these being what brings about change in a scene with amazing semi-religious imagery but an intelligent explanation about DNA hierarchies and re-programming the fairy-dust. How can you go from something that good to New Earth?

The previews of next week (and the big stretch of guest writers' episodes following it) look really good and there are some writers that we know produce brilliant scripts. I was looking forward to this series SO MUCH and I'm hoping that there's some truly wonderful Doctor Who coming out way.

After what seemed endless trailers and previews, mentions in newspapers , and interviews the new series was back. Having read other reviews, I do feel that it is unfair to criticize RTD , the man who brought back the best TV series in the world and made it good.

It was alright. What does get me though, is why he needs to constantly bring back characters , which were not that good in the first place. The slitheen made an unwelcome appearance last year, and no Cassandra and the The face of Bo. Harriet Jones was the only return that in my opinion worked. The only saving grace with Cassandra was the brilliant voice of Zoe Wannamaker , which brings such life and humor to a fairly plain character. The body swapping was quite funny, but after the fourth time got annoying. The snog, which he said in confidential will ( paraphrase) 'Have funs up in arms'. It seemed pointless to the plot, and a bit of titillation was completely unnecessary.

The story heavily relied on the CGI and prosthetics . This is not Doctor Who, it should be character based, and I feel it went to far and relying on the effects. The zombie like creations were uninteresting and boring and predictable, similar to the traditional zombie, but also the Unquiet dead creations.

As for Mr Tennant, well I think there is no doubt that he is miles better than Eccleston. Having seen him , it all comes so naturally, where as Eccleston performance , with hindsight seemed force to put on the eccentric qualities. But maybe if he went into it, not liking it, just to get a career jump, well what was the point? But then that’s another matter. DT is superb, and thankfully he is sticking around, although I wish he went to Specsavers for the glasses!.

I only hope this is the flaw in the series and we shall see a rise to the glory heights , Pauline Collins as Queen Victoria looks good, although the werewolf’s don’t look that excting. Can’t wait for the Lis Sladen to return , and bring some marvelous talent to the show, not to sure on K9 or the cyberman, but then the proof of the pudding.