It is probably impossible to review this story without also having to discuss the new era it heralds. So, let's get that out of the way first. 

John Nathan-Turner, easily one of the most controversial producers to ever preside over the series, begins his tenure boldly in this story. In fact, this is probably the biggest revisions the series has ever undergone during a producer changeover. It is, at least, a bit re-assuring to notice in the credits that Barry Letts was executive producing the season with him - which means, to me, that JNT probably had an excellent sounding board to work off of as he made the radical changes that he did. 

The most notable changes are, of course, the cosmetic ones (which is almost a bit of a pun since one of the changes the producer managed to pioneer was getting Tom Baker to finally wear make-up on camera!). We have a new a title sequence, new music and new logo. All very immediate assertions that show us we're about to witness a very different Who from what we've been watching before. Having, more or less, "grown up" with this era of Who - it's probably one of, if not, my favourite title sequences (but then, I thought the Sly McCoy title sequence was okay so what do I know?!). Some fans complain that it only conveys space travel and not time travel and that's part of what makes the previous "birth canal" title sequence better. Which is a comment that has always sort of amused me. The previous title sequence is just a nice special effect. That's it, really. It only became "time travelesque" because they needed something to sort of represent the time vortex during certain stories that depicted it. So they decided to save some money and use the title sequence graphics. By this same logic, the title sequence should also convey "Time Lord Mind Bending" since it was also used in The Brain of Morbius. And, of course, the title sequence that dominated the bulk of the Pertwee era should also convey "Dalek Mind Probe" since its graphics were used in Day of the Daleks! 

Anyway, I digress for the sake of getting on with the review of the story. The other more obvious changes we see are that production values appear to have either gone up or been used more effectively. Although the sets are still wobbly here and there, they look much better than anything we've seen before on the show. Costumes, makeup and special effects have all improved too. Overall, the design and feel of the episodes look like the money being put into them is either greater or being used much more smartly. Not sure exactly what happened, but it all certainly looks great. By Doctor Who standards, at least. 

Then finally, in the "blatant changes" department we also have the Doctor's latest costume. I think it best to say that I just plain like it. In fact, I love it. Baker looks great in the outfit and I almost wish he'd worn it for more than just the one season. And, as others have remarked, it greatly symbolises what also occurred with his performance of the role. Which is probably one of the more, but still not entirely, subtle changes this new story heralds. 

I really didn't have much problems with how crazy and goofy Tom was getting in the previous season. His wit, though a bit overabundant, was still always great fun to watch. And it's a testament to Tom's talent the way he would re-invent the scripts so much during the rehearsal process. Re-writing science fiction "on the spot" the way he did was no small feat. But, I do also think the series could not handle too much more of this. That if he wasn't reigned in the way he was, the show would have become a total spoof of itself. So, even though there's still bits of the "old Tom Baker" here and there - it's kept considerably toned down and made to be a bit more whimsical and clever. The most famous of these examples in this story being, of course, "arrest the scarf!". But other sequences, such as the multiple copies of the Doctor vanishing away in episode four and the real Doctor still not being too sure of himself as being the real Doctor, convey this sort of humour far more effectively and creatively. "Arrest the scarf" was a cheap gag - this sequence was just plain talented writing. 

Which is, of course, the other more subtle change in this era. The new script editor, Christopher Bidmead, not only gave us a story (and an overall season) that is much more "science fiction- based" rather than "science fantasy-based", he also gave us some of the most complicated, if not, incomprehensible of plots. From a standpoint of pure marketting, this was probably not the smartest of moves as I imagined it alienated a lot of casual viewers. But the artistic merit of this story (and, again, the overall season) is fantastic. I, for one, was delighted to see a story that could not be easilly understood from just one viewing. It gave the series a new-found sense of sophistication and perhaps, even, pretentiousness. But then, whoever said being pretentious was an entirely bad thing?

Okay, on to a review of the story, proper! The strongest impression this story leaves behind is the brilliant directing and, more specifically, the cinematography. All the gorgeous transitional shots (particularly the shots of the exterior environment being conveyed outside the windows of the Argolin Hive and then "fading through" to the scenes that were taking place on the other side of them) and tight angles (the discovery of the West Lodge Foamasi's rubber mask inside the closet being shot from inside the closet being a great example of this technique) make this story a visual delight to watch. Only the budget, which is still comparitively low by the North American standards I'm accustomed to when watching sci-fi T.V., act as a detriment to some of the director's effectiveness. It's a testament that Lovett Bickford was capable of doing so much with so little. 

The other great strongpoint of this story were the aliens. Both on paper and visually. The Argolins and Foamasi are very well-written cultures that seem like "real people" rather than just cardboard monsters. The Foamasi look as great as they possibly could with the budgetary constraints - and the Argolins look gorgeous. Especially when their whole look is really just a basic "wig, make-up and robe" effect. It was nice to see an Argolin again in the background during "Dragonfire" - they really are a beautiful-looking race that were visually conveyed by the simplest of means. 

The story itself, though a bit contrived, is excellently plotted. The scenes were constructed in a very different and unique way compared to how they were written previously in the show. Expository dialogue is kept to a bare minimum and characterisation is kept to a maximum. Which is further enhanced by the acting in this story. All the performers are comfortable with the idea of subtlety and restraint. Something difficult to maintain in sci-fi when the visuals tend to be so over-the-top. Even Pangol's meglamania in episode four is handled convincingly. His voice is loud and furious, but the need to overdo facial expressions as previous meglamaniacal characters in the series have done, is kept to a bare minimum. 

All of these elements come together to give us one of the smoothest, "slickest" and most sophisticated stories the show has ever produced. Can we call Leisure Hive a "classic"? Probably not. But it isn't really trying to be. It's just trying to tell a nice little story about a small colony on a distant planet whose denizens are trying to either save themselves from extinction or, at least, leave a mark on the universe. And the Doctor, nice little hero that he is, helps them along in the effort. And that's what makes this story so wonderful - even if K-9 is written out of it in a mildly unbelievable way!

The Visitation was a story I missed when I watched the series when I was younger and did not get the chance to watch it until it received its release on DVD. From that first DVD viewing though I enjoyed the story right off but that viewing was during a very busy day so I did not get to do my usual ready to enjoy a story ritual of something to eat, something to drink, and sit down with the lights down to enjoy. But even when my attention was elsewhere I could see that I was sorry to not have caught the story when broadcast on my local PBS station in Virginia. I revisited the story on a whim after reading a few comments on the web about how much of a dislike a few people had for the Davidson era of Doctor Who television stories. I totally disagreed with this but thought I should give those stories a look over again. Not having all the stories in my library at home I picked out The Visitation since I only viewed it that one rushed day and sat down with food, drink, and turned down lights and watched the story. 

There are several things, lots to be honest that I enjoy about this story. Even the android with artistic style was cool as pasted in hints at the shades of crashed aliens to Earth who are not just war mongers but have different sides to their culture. The outdoor filming and the sets I thought where very well done. The famed word thrown at Doctor Who all the time I do not see in this story, that word being low budget. Even the other person in my life who came home while I was watching and laughed out loud at the enlarged rat in The Talons Of Weng-Chiang did not make her normal comments about those type of aspects with this story. I think that had more to do with the quality and creativity put into the film and design work of the story than even the story itself. Visually and with atmosphere it can appeal to viewers new and old to the series.

The actors all I think performed well to their characters. The Tardis crew at this time is packed yes by one too many members as just about everyone has said but I thought all put in little touches that worked for theirs characters. Three very young actors is not in my view the way to go in this type of series for many reasons and add another strong character and acting performance in this story in the form of a highwayman and you have companion overload reducing Nyssa to being in the Tardis to build a weapon just in case the android shows up there? And the others left being captured. Adric is the pain I have always argued the character is meant to be but with him just as with Tegan you have to wonder sometimes how anyone could put up with being around them for long periods of time, especially anyone as interesting as the characters of The Doctor and Nyssa. I never did not like the performances or the characters when it comes to Adric and Tegan I more than anything else hated the fact that such an optionally great companion like Nyssa never got to be used properly because of the companion overload.

The story in its basics is very simple and that is why I believe it works more than some other stories because it really lets you enjoy the atmosphere set up for you and gives Davidson as The Doctor moments to really work with. Beings from another world crash land on Earth and chaos comes from that which The Doctor must stop. Simple is not always wrong. My only real problem with the story of Visitation is why must we always have mind-controlled humans or primitives as they often end up being called? I think that is one of those easy outs my professors’ use to red ink me for in college. Plus am I the only one tired of them in science fiction? Besides giving extras work, and I’m all for giving extras work having more than a few friends working within the business at around that level, but I just think the plot could have been raised out from the normal into the best effort from the writer if this connivance would not have been used to travel a story from different points of story to other points. And if you are going to have a big Tardis crew I say why not just make them the brain washed slaves?

I have to single out some thoughts on the 5th Doctor in The Visitation. The 5th Doctor has always been my favorite. Though I grew up enjoying and loving the stories of Tom Baker it was the 5th Doctor and Peter Davidson’s performances which really got me into enjoying the character to the point of wishing to view stories from Doctor’s 1-3. I think in this story he shows that edge that The First Doctor had but mixed with the kindness that I think was within The 2nd Doctor. The 5th Doctor was limited in ways of not being able to delve as much into comedy as his 4th incarnation and with too many companions for most of his run and a lot of stories with loads of promise from which they failed to reach. I think many have looked past his contribution in ways I think are a misjudgment. If anything I look actually at the era of the 5th Doctor on TV as the one which had the most chances at being great but for whatever reasons seems to have fallen short a lot. But when I look back at all the Doctor Who stories it is The 5th Doctor who reminds me that this being is not another character calling himself The Doctor but the same man traveling the universe and inducing rage from lots of people along the way. That point I think is very important to the character to do that without throwing out two much canon facts or being dark and mysterious just to be dark and mysterious.

To end up I say I would give The Visitation a 7 out of 10 for Doctor Who fans and 4 out of 10 for new to the series viewers. Older fans I think will enjoy it if they get past some of the flows with the companion structure and the writer trying to figure out what to do with them. New viewers will maybe get cross eyed at references to Kinda and Tegan’s situation of trying to get home but I think everyone could enjoy this story for what it is and that is one of the best 5th Doctor television stories. If you like Peter Davidson’s acting as The Doctor or are a fan of the way The First Doctor was on screen for that matter give The Visitation a try.

First of all, I am not reviewing this as a fan. I was a fan of the old series, but I will not let this cloud my judgement.

One of the biggest problems of die - hard fans is that when reviewing they are apt to forget things like how good the storyline is, the plot, even the suspense. The more extreme the fan, the more these things are forgotten.

Firstly, as an episode it absolutly failed. RTD clearly did not know how to inroduce a series in a 45 minute episode. It is always hard introducing a new series, this is why a lot new 45 minute episode series start with a double episode rather than a single one. But with something as important as this series it was almost suicude. Luckily, the series has now found its feet, but it must have been close. The Plotline was almost nonexistant. Everyone I know who watched the series as a kid agreed with this. You simply can't use the excuse that its for modern times. Episodes 6,7,8,9; were modernised and it worked. But for modern TV standerds this was bad.

Secondly: The Pace. When I first watched it I didn't know quite what to think of the actors because they were hardly given time to breath before their next lines. (Luckily Eccleston and Piper were able to pove themselves in later pisodes). The Pace was so rushed that It was a laugh. There was no suspense, no buildup, no climax worth considering. The Only part that interested me was rose's meeting with clive.

Thirdly: The music. Why on earth have that type of music. It completely wrecked any action worth seeing. Murray Gold isn't a bad composer, but he should have come up with something much better than that.

Overall a bad beginning to a series that would eventually right itself. 3/10

After over 15 years of waiting, Doctor Who returns to our screens in a burst of creative ideas, visual effects, and a firm foundation into the 21st Century.

'Rose' is one of the band of Doctor Who stories that really needs a second viewing in order to really get into it. The initial shock of how different the series relates to the stories of yesteryear takes some getting used to, but upon second viewing, one can really appreciate the programme as a whole.

'Rose' follows Rose Tyler’s journey as she faces walking shop dummies, and a mysterious stranger known as the Doctor, who isn't all that he seems.

The acting of the episode is top notch, but the portrayal of Mickey just doesn't seem to fit in. He represents the clown, and, apart from giving Rose a purpose in helping the Doctor, serves little to the plot.

The humour of the episode is very strongly played, and is digestible with an open mind, but the burping wheelie bin gag is just too OTT in order to be accepted. The plastic Mickey is a good concept, but has clownish faults, which detract from the possible drama of the episode.

The Autons are a welcome return to the series, but the invasion at the climax to the programme suffers from being over-shadowed by its predecessors of Spearhead From Space and Terror of the Autons. However, the sequence does work well, as do the scenes with the Nestene Consciousness, which (albeit possibly intentional) is inaudible, a factor that detracts from the piece yet does abolish the stereotypical Doctor Who ideology that all Aliens appear to speak English (which is further picked up by the next episode) 

In all 'Rose' is a good story, but not a great one, but in all it is fair to lament that it is Doctor Who and it is back.

Ahhh,1985, the year when it all went pear shaped. Suddenly Dr Who's supporters were gone from on high and in came Michael Grade and the infamous hiatus. By the time this story was shown we knew the series was on trial, and I don't remember TIMELASH being particularly reassuring. 

At the time I was only 14, and couldn't really understand the fuss about season 22, but revisiting it paints a slightly different picture. After the Davison era- a good doctor who still had a lot more to offer when he bowed out, and generally very strong stories, particularly in his final season, we suddenly got Colin Baker's radically different portrayal and more violent stories. Old monsters galore appeared in place of new ones. Out of six stories, four harping back to the past was too many. Particularly when only REVELATION really did its returning characters justice. ATTACK is very watchable but fatally derivative and the gore content lost the public fairly quickly. MARK OF THE RANI was entertaining for the Master/Doctor/Rani banter but didn't have much of a plot to it, and was ultimately just another blast from the past wasting the Master yet again. THE TWO DOCTORS had some good ideas but was too long and ultimately dull. And REVELATION?

Thankfully this turbulent season was to end on a high note. REVELATION is excellent. 

>From its very opening it drops you right in the thick of things. The Doctor and Peri encounter the mutant, Natasha and Grigory break into the base, Kara gets harrassed by Davros and hires Orcini to bump him off. The story sets itself up beautifully, on contrast to VENGEANCE ON VAROS say, where the opening Varos scenes are excellent but the stranded-in-the tardis-cue-whining-marathon bits are dreadful. It's not a good start to an adventure when the Doctor's first scenes make you cringe, and fortunately REVELATION is much better. The Sixth Doctor's regeneration troubles have eased out, Colin Baker is in confident command of the role, and Peri has ceased to be a brainless bimbo. 

And so the story progresses- more of the Daleks in part one would have been nice, but Oh, well...the excellence of Davros in this tale more than makes up for it. Part One contains much that is great- the glass dalek scene is powerful, Terry Molloy's davros rises to the great characterization that the script offers him, and the direction is polished throughout. 

Part Two is even better. The Doctor is captured, rival Dalek factions get their best battle, and the showdown with Davros is excellently done. This really was a great final story for Davros- bringing him back again in REMEMBRANCE was unnecessary, and it's great that in the new series the Daleks got the chance to function without him again. The DJ gives a nice surreal touch to the proceedings, and the regulars shine. 

Ironically, considering the shadow hanging over the series,

things looked healthy by the end of REVELATION. The Doctor and Peri's relationship was starting to settle down, Colin Baker gives his best performance in the part, and the viewing figures were climbing steadily back up. A great pity that things weren't allowed to continue on their natural course at this point.... 

There were several tragedies resulting from the cancellation, but I am not sure that season 23 itself was one of them. The bits we've seen in book form and in articles largely reveal more old monsters in more half baked

plots. MISSION TO MAGNUS is crap, the auton/rani/master story sounds too overcrowded again, ULTIMATE EVIL could have been Ok but feels desperately underwritten ( I realise things were only in draft form att he time maybe, but even so it is shallow) and NIGHTMARE FAIR, while OK, doesn't fell like a Toymaker scheme- more the Master's league really.Autons and Ice warriors would have been good, but they needed better stories- like DYING DAYS for example......but it might have been better than TRIAL, which tries very hard but wasn't what the series needed right then. It needed radical new stories with dynamism and drive and originality... and we got MYSTERIOUS PLANET. 

The real tragedy was that when the series returned it felt like no one noticed. The habit of DR WHO was broken and the series never recovered. There should also have been a new producer- JNT delivered excellently in season 18 and the Davison era but thereafter things faltered badly. 

And of course there was Colin Baker. I find him a patchy doctor at best- fine with a good script and good direction but unable to transcend weaker material as all the previous doctors could, including Davison. By the end of season 22 he WAS the Doctor- however in MYSTERIOUS PLANET he was dreadful and the TRIAL format gave him little room to progress in characterising his doctor. And when he was boooted out we got McCoy, the all time worst doctor. I am not as much of a Colin convert after Big Finish as many seem to be as I still find his performance in audio these stories irritating at times,and I still wonder whether he was ever a suitable choice for the part, but I do think he was denied a chance to do better. Not just by Grade, but by JNT and Saward as well. Oh well..

At least REVELATION gives him a chance for greatness. Definitely one of the eighties' best.

Rose had a difficult task to achieve. While to many fans the series needs to be a continuation of the classic series, for the new viewers the show needed to re-establish elements of Doctor Who and the characters and essential ideology.

Russell T Davies' first episode managed to perfectly balance both these aspects well. But, for once, this was the Companion's episode and not the Doctor's - this is Rose's journey - we learn about Rose and her life and ultimately her motivation for stepping into the iconic Police Public Call Box. The Doctor (and i think rightfully) takes second place so we can identify with Rose - after all, can we really identify with a 900 year old alien?

The choice of enemy (which is well reported) is interesting. The Autons provide an established enemy (which we've not seen for decades) but also root the episode in our familiar world - children can easily identify with Shop Mannequins and wheelie bins. Since much of the episode is re-establishing the characters and paraphernalia, whatever enemy were included would look a little redundant - and unfortunately, The Autons do not provide the threat (or the scares) which they are capable of. Perhaps, like many Pilot shows, this episode would have been better being 'feature length' 90 minute extravaganza?

Direction is adequate, but nothing is done with the flare or style other BBC Dramas have (Hussle, Spooks). The BBC is also using their damned light saturation technique (I’m sure it has a technical name but for the life of me, i can't be bothered to research its name - for more horrendous examples of this technique watch recent Casualty episodes!) - the technique seems to overpower any visual with a blurred light, from a window for example and is used to create a "cinematic effect" although frankly its far from cinematic. This effect is not the worst case I’ve seen on the BBC, but its existence is noticeable.

Murray Gold's theme is perfect for the show. Its been reported that its very much based on the 70's theme, which is no bad move at all (anything after Tom Baker's era seemed to techno). The instrumental music doesn't feel dramatic but its accomplished and interesting.

A quick note on the two leads. Based on Rose, Christopher Eccleston is as quirky as any of his predecessors - but without the usual costumes seems more approachable and amiable. Chris falls much more in line with Tom Baker's philosophy than more modern Doctors - which is no bad thing (its a very different performance to Tom's mind you). Writing this after Chris' refusing a second series, i think its a shame that Chris felt he couldn’t do Series Two, he's that good in the role! While Piper has been reported to be amazing in the press, she's not. She's good - much better than expected - but she's not amazing. Its a good, solid performance and worthy of praise, but its not amazing or a revelation! 

Overall, I’m impressed. This episode is not without its faults (like many Doctor Who episodes) but these seem to be due to production and post-production techniques. Davies' writing is astonishing and to a certain degree you can excuse many of the faults since its an absorbing story. Its very, very British - probably more so than the original series and based on this episode, is probably the reason the US has not had any news on broadcast. Judging by Rose, i can't see a major US network picking it up for some time. This is impressive story-telling and really deserves a broadcast, but US execs may feel its too British (us Brits get an awful lot of US stuff, which is VERY American but we enjoy it!).

A worthy addition to Doctor Who. 7/10.