Mmmm. Not totally sure what to say about this episode. I'll tackle the good points first: a fairly convincing recreation of Elizabethan London, quite reminiscent of the slightly later setting?of The Visitation, though by no means any more impressive (in fact, I'd say, the latter story's depiction of Restoration London still has the edge in atmosphere); the concept of an alien race who use words like a science (ie, 'magic') is quite unusual, albeit rather absurd; the scene with the deranged architect in Bedlam was nicely disturbing; the necessarily un-pc but authentic references to Martha's incongruous skin colour (forgot to say last review that I am very pleased that we finally have a black companion) was well done;?the leader of the?Carrionites (I thought it was Carrier Knights)?played it well; the period-spiced incidental music; the Doctor was refreshingly alien and detached in the bed scene.

The bad/less good points: the bed scene being there in the first place - utterly inappropriate and irrelevant; the frankly rather silly, hackneyed interpretations of cackling, hook-nosed witches and?their rather jarring and badly composed rhyming speech; the hit-and-miss, rather prattish?depiction of Shakespeare, not as bad as I anticipated, but very much from the post-modern 'laddish' school of historical?interpretation currently in vogue in modern drama (cue Ray Winston's ludicrous cockney portrayal of Henry VIII a few years back); the vapid flirtations between Shakespeare and Martha; the constant and rather clumsy allusions to various famous Shakespearian lines put oh-so-unsubtly into his mouth by the Doctor; the absolutely fatuous allusions to Harry Potter throughout ('Good old JK'), and as always, uttered even more painfully from the Timelord's own mouth rather than from that of his companion (this is simply sloppy and ill-thought-out scripting); token but growingly typical sexual innuendos; the 2,000 mph cosmic explanations hurtled out by the Doctor in one of his typical fits of sudden illumination; the continual references to Shakespeare's 'genius'; and, well, the entire plot... which was frankly utter bunkum from start to finish.

Apart from the odd interesting idea here and there, The Shakespeare Code is still a disappointing mish-mash of 'almost good'?and 'Doctor Who for idiots'. Sadly, chiefly the latter in my view. To have to keep throwing in continual contemporary mainstream cultural allusions - particularly to the tiresome banality of Harry Potter - in order to 'draw in the audience' is a) patronising to most of us watching and b) a sign of scriptural insecurity, in that obviously the writer doesn't have enough confidence in the strength of his own piece of work to let it just stand alone and tell its own story. Stylistically this episode is so blatantly similar to the staid triteness of the Potter films that there is no need at all to bring this similarity into the script itself. That's almost like saying 'Look we know we're just shamelessly ripping your stuff off Miss Rowling, but at least we're flagging it up!'

Then of course there is the title and its obvious pun on the equally tiresome legacy of the Da Vinci Code. Who bets RTD said to Gareth Roberts: write whatever you want as long as it includes Shakespeare, Harry Potter references, Cackling Witches, a zeitgeist-oriented title and a pointless appearance from Elizabeth I at the end!? Not much left for Roberts to do then. Except just shove a shock-haired Doctor and thoroughly bland companion in.

Martha then? Haven't much to say on her at all really. I find her completely bland and uninteresting, and frankly almost exactly the same as Rose, except with a stethescope to her name. What's new? Hardly Liz Shaw is she?

As for the complete arrogance of attempting to invent a lost Shakespeare play, Love's Labour's Won, well... I suppose it's better than Hamlet II or?Macbeth - The Return (and?this time?he means business).

One more thing: I think we've all forgotten that this isn't even the first appearance of Shakespeare in the series. Remember The Chase? Mmmm. Dean Lennox-Kelly hardly resembles that previous depiction of the Bard does he? Bit of a cock up there then.

This episode is certainly a big leap forward from the quite appallingly banal season opener, but is still far far away from not only the majority of the classic series, but also from many previous peak episodes of the last two years (such as Unquiet Dead, Dalek and Impossible Planet).

Next week looks like an equal waste of video tape but I remain stubbornly optimistic as some later episodes, particularly the tantalising Human Nature and its scarecrows running amok, look and sound much more like the kind of thing we should expect from paying such an exorbitant licence fee.

Here's hoping. 4/10

Poor Gareth Roberts. He had a lot to live up to for his first full 'proper telly' Doctor Who. But then again it's entirely his fault for writing such wonderful novels in the first place. The silly man.

Roberts' enthusiasm for his material shines through. The dialogue in this story is a healthy mix of Douglas Adams and the Bard himself. Literary references abound, and such is the verve with which they're employed you find yourself wanting to fire up Google (or a reference book if you're old fashioned) for the ones you didn't get, before firing it up again to look for pictures of Christina Cole in Hex.



However it just didn't...flow as well as you'd have hoped. The dialogue flowed freely, the actual plot did not. Your enjoyment was either spoiled or enhanced by this. In my case I felt the plot was a bit too lightweight to sustain all the action that was taking place. There is also the argument that it is scientific gibberish. Here however I will defend Roberts to the hilt (wherever that may be, I hope it's a pub in Cardiff) here, as his idea is a wonderful one. The story is about wordplay, the power they can have, all tied in with the fact that it's bloody Shakespeare prancing about over there, and the man's a genius (Romeo and Juliet notwithstanding), so the idea of a system of words being used in the same way as numbers in the field of science ? it's up there with the Bistromathic Drive as a bonkers yet brilliant idea. It just seems right, and anyone who is in love with ideas will find much to enjoy in this episode. Similarly, a knowledge of Shakespeare is helpful, but the script sticks to his most famous quotations in a running gag that unfortunately runs out of steam halfway through the story (even with variations on the theme it feels tired around about the half hour mark). The contemporary (well, in Back to the Future's case contemporary-ish) references seemed to grate for some people, but the 'Expelliarmus!' moment was, besides being very funny, a nice way to give Martha some involvement towards the end.

Fortunately Roberts has more than enough one liners to spread around the cast, but donates most of them to David Tennant, as if he needed them. Craziness reigned in there is almost nothing to dislike about his Doctor, give or take a few lines about Rose which will make you sigh ? whether this is a good thing or nor depends on your opinion of Rose. Personally I found the scene where the Doctor and Martha were in bed together to be the kind of Rose reference which grates, as it seems at the expense of Martha, whereas the idea that the thought of Rose gives the Doctor a reason to do what he does is not at the expense of anyone and seems more in character. But then again maybe fandom would like to see Martha's Mum slap the Doctor as well? Let up a magenta flare at midnight on Wednesday if you agree. If anyone asks, just scream 'Gay agenda' at them til they go away.

Meanwhile, Martha does not get too much too do in this episode. She seems sidelined to an almost Jo Grant-esque role of saying the right thing at the right time and prodding the Doctor in the right direction. Freema does well with what she's given and reinforces the convictions most fans found in Smith and Jones but the episode really belongs to Tennant, who just barnstorms through everything with a mix of all the qualities people have enjoyed in the most recent Doctors.

Dean Lennox Kelly did alright. Just sort of...alright. He didn't really do anything for me as he seemed slightly too laid back for most of the episode. To be honest any hint at Shakespeare's genius was given through the script rather than his performance. He didn't do badly, he just didn't seem to raise his game as we'd like him to until the finale, which again only sort of worked. The idea may be good, but good ideas are notoriously hard to realise. Anyone who accuses the show of dumbing down and hiding behind flashy visuals (oh by the way, someone give Charles Palmer something nice out of the Argos catalogue. Anything he wants really, I'll chip in a fiver) should stop and consider the fact that the resolution, instead of simply being a fancy CG explosion, consisted of the man regarded as the greatest playwright that Britain has ever produced ?using his skills in that field to ward off an alien invasion. It's the most complex bit of an otherwise utterly simple plot.

Once you've got your head round the ideas you then might think that Roberts has either been extremely clever or extremely lucky in coming up with such a concept (who's betting on the former?). It's a resolution that's been used in Doctor Who before, notably in The Daemons when the Doctor wards off Bok. Speaking of weird looking superstitious creatures, weren't the witches a bit scary for the kids? Christina Cole, mad cackling aside, was a damn fine villain. In a longer story or a novel her character could've been fleshed out further, but she did well with a role that could've fallen into clich?, although that almost seemed the intention. The other two witches, while played well enough for the mad ol' crone role, did have slightly static faces that looked like half finished Muppet masks from The Muppet Christmas Carol. And the cackling got on people's tits, quite frankly.

This could have been one of the all-time great Doctor Who stories, but two specific elements were allowed to ruin the illusion, making it merely "very entertaining" (and yes, I know most TV barely even aspires to THAT level!).

Let us start with the praise: the cinematography and stuntwork in particular is spectacular. I mean even given how good the last two seasons have been, this story just looks GORGEOUS. Sure, it helps when you get to use the actual Globe Theatre, but I'm referring to everything seen on-screen. Even the matte shots are just stunningly good. If the rest of the season can keep up this visual level, my eyes my explode from sheer delight.

I thought David Tennant really nailed the part right on the head in this one. He was by turns funny and dramatic, serious and whimsical, callous and empathetic, fanboy and hitman, human and alien. Whereas he got a little silly in bits of Smith and Jones, he was just spot-on here.

Freema was a nice change and handled many of her scenes very well, and I look forward to more from her -- but it's still too soon to judge exactly how she's going to work out. Very promising, and RTD wasn't lying when he said she wouldn't be "Rose Lite," but you know I'm almost ready for another male companion on board ... how about someone significantly older?

I should mention that I met Gareth Roberts through the Manopticon crew many years ago and we hit it off very well back then, though we haven't kept in touch -- so feel free to take my review of his script with a grain of salt if you like, but I mostly loved it, particularly the dialogue. There was perhaps a bit more expository dialogue than most of these stories get, but there was more back-continuity to refer to. This could be worrisome -- the new series of Doctor Who has spent more of its time looking forward than back, and I want that to continue because it seems to help the mass appeal -- but if they're only going to be so referential only once in a while I certainly won't mind.

The two things I do take exception with were the stylised performances of the Witches/Carrionites, and the Master of the Revels. Having been unimpressed with director Charles Palmer's direction of Smith & Jones, I'm inclined to blame him more than anyone else for the simply dreadful campiness of the witches. I'll come back to the Master (no not THAT Master) later.

I understand what they were trying to do -- make the witches very much like the stereotypes we all know from childhood of what witches were like -- but it was laid on as thick as Tammy Faye Bakker's makeup, allowing no room for further exaggeration in history. Even small children would find their cackling, rhyming, Monty-Python- Pepperpots voices grating and unbelievable and completely over the top. Was the second unit directory Mary Whitehouse herself? I ask because nobody else could take the menace out of those creatures and render them comically ineffective quite like that harpy do-gooder. The scene in which Doomfinger hysterically confronts the Doctor and company when they visit Peter Street is one of the biggest mismatches of acting since Ralph Richardson had to act alongside Andie MacDowell. "Fan quality" doesn't even begin to describe how bad the Carrionites were on screen. "Porn acting" might just cover it.

The other problem with this story has to do with the dramatically shorter 45-minute format. Important characters, such as The Master of the Revels, are reduced to "pop on and die." This is not the first time this has happened, but it's the most obvious -- I was left scratching my head as to how Martha knew the Master's name was Mr Lynley (answer, after reviewing the episode again -- oops! continuity error ahoy!). Furthermore, what purpose does Mr Lynley serve (other than "expendable extra")? Why is he so set against Shakespeare? What's up with the permits -- and script approval?? These are just some of the things neither Roberts nor Davies bother to answer because there's simply NO TIME to delve into the character, but what they forget is that this also means there's no time for us to CARE about him or his death. He's a prop used almost solely to show off the "death by drowning on dry land" trick. It's unfair to the performer and in service to the story that he gets such short shrift.

I can live with the Doctor's rather feeble explanation of "magic." I can stand discovering that Jor-El's "Phantom Zone" is full of big- nosed old biddies who use words for physics (hey, I bought into "bloc transfer computation," didn't I?). I can even deal with a bisexual Shakespeare and gratuitous -- and I do mean GRATUITOUS -- Harry Potter references. It's just a shame that I have to.

When you've got such a marvelous story, such wonderful actors, such beautiful dialogue, such gorgeous location and model work and so rich a backdrop, you should linger just a bit more over it. Think of how much better The Shakespeare Code would have been as a two-parter: we could have fleshed out Lillith, her suitor, Lynley, the King's Men actors, even Queen Elisabeth! And before you complain that I must be one of those old-school fuddy-duddies who thinks everything should be a six-parter at least, I should point out that this is only the second time in this new series that I've wished for a one-part story to be a two-parter (the other was "Rose," which desperately needed more "there" there).

Overall, The Shakespeare Code is solid entertainment with only minor annoyances to those of us who take it seriously, and I'm sure it will do well in the season poll for its looks, cast and style. To me, sadly, it's tantilizingly close to perfect, but just ruined by ham and cheese -- oddly enough, not on the stage!

A pseudo-historical comedy featuring William Shakespeare? No, it isn't Nev Fountain's Big Finish audio 'The Kingmaker', it's Gareth Roberts' first television script for Doctor Who, and in terms of what to expect it holds no surprises for anyone familiar with his previous work. Which means that it doesn't break new ground, but that it is witty, affectionate, and hugely entertaining.

Shakespeare has now, but my reckoning, met the Doctor on at least four occasions in various different media, so from my point of view including the Bard is old hat. The period setting also feels like Doctor Who-by-numbers, and magic as a different kind of science has been done on numerous occasions in the novels, especially the Virgin New Adventures. So in many ways, 'The Shakespeare Code' has a cosily familiar, almost formulaic feel in the much the same way that Mark Gatiss' 'The Unquiet Dead' did, but like 'The Unquiet Dead' it's no less entertaining for that fact. It is also more overtly a "comedy" episode than anything we've seen thus far in the series since it returned, and it's worth noting that although all the Shakespeare quotes batted around between the Doctor and Will are an obvious route to take, such moments are nevertheless genuinely amusing and don't rely on flatulence and knob gags. And 'The Shakespeare Code' did amuse me greatly: compared to the odd shoe scene in the otherwise very good 'Smith and Jones', the heart-restarting scene here feels far less intrusive given the tone of the piece and made me chortle, as did the "we're going the wrong way" moment. The plot is pure Harry Potter, an obvious way to appeal to the kids, but Doctor Who has always borrowed heavily from other sources and as in the past, as here, rarely bothers to pretend otherwise, so here we get Martha contributing the words that banish the Carrionites with a spell from J. K. Rowling. I also find it easier to cope with pop culture references in a story that also plays spot the Shakespeare quote and throws in some Dylan Thomas, than I have done in previous episodes when presented with Britney bloody Spears.?

Shakespeare himself works rather well, Roberts doing what he did in 'The Plotters' and making a well-known historical figure down-to-Earth and likeable and providing comic relief. On the one hand he's an egotistical flirt, but he's also genuinely intelligent, deducing of the Doctor, "You're from another world like the Carrionites and Martha is from the future. It's not hard to work out." He's also genuinely delighted that the Doctor is clearly more knowledgeable than him, creating the refreshing and unusual impression that in Robert's hands he's not egotistical per se; he's just not falsely modest. ?

Having previously written for the Tenth Doctor in 'I Am a Dalek', Roberts again brings out the best in the character, without making him the pompous ultimatum-deliverer of certain Davies scripts. It also helps that Tennant continues to exercise restraint, and the combination is a Doctor who feels more "Doctorish" than in numerous episodes from the previous season, especially when he bitingly tells the Bedlam warden "I think it helps if you don't whip them. Now get out!", a moment of contemptuous anger delivered in passing that isn't overemphasised by script or performance. And he positively bristles with excitement and curiosity during the bizarre ending, as an enraged Queen Elizabeth sets her guards on him in punishment for something he hasn't yet done and he and Martha leg it back to the TARDIS. The only moment that disappoints is when the Carrionite uses the name Rose, and Tennant snarls out the line, "That name keeps me fighting", which is deeply irritating and has probably been inserted by Davies, who really needs to move on: the Doctor is more important than the companion whatever he might like to think.?

Speaking of which, Martha continues to prove likeable, asking intelligent questions about time travel. In a series that has been overly cluttered with pop culture references, the Doctor neatly explaining to Martha what would happen if her history changed by referring her to Back to the Future is perfectly sensible, and an ingenious narrative shortcut for Roberts. Perhaps inevitably, she ends up flirting with the Doctor (who happily seems utterly oblivious) when they end up sharing a bed, but she also deals smoothly with Shakespeare's advances. It is worth noting though that she is out of her depth: she seems to have the average sort of knowledge about Shakespeare's works that the well educated tend to pick up even if they've never read any of his stuff outside of the classroom, and this and the fact that she's confronted by witchcraft mean that she's less useful than in 'Smith and Jones', forced to defer to the Doctor's superior knowledge at every single turn. This needs watching: after a promising start, I'd hate for her to degenerate into a screaming accessory. Interestingly, Roberts also takes the sensible option of addressing the issue of her race rather than glossing over it, but not making an issue of it here, with Shakespeare simply taken with what he obviously sees as her "exotic beauty". It will be interesting to see however if the writers dare to take Martha to periods in history where it will be an issue, and how they'll handle the subject.?

There's nothing groundbreaking in 'The Shakespeare Code', but it is enormous fun. Actor Dean Lennox Kelly is very good as Shakespeare, which was by no means clear from the trailer at the end of 'Smith and Jones', and the period is evoked with the same sort of bawdy colour that characterises Shakespeare in Love, with buxom wenches and lewd comments aplenty. The witchcraft is by no means novel, but for all the Doctor's technobabble about magic being another type of science, it nevertheless gives the episode a pleasingly distinctive feel. Overall, for me at least, it's just a really enjoyable episode, and that is not a thing to be underrated. That's two good episodes in a row: it'll never last?

It's hard to pinpoint why The Shakespeare Code never really came alive for me. It had so many of the ingredients that go into making a great episode ? an excellent cast, an interesting story set-up, superb special effects and ambitious location shooting. It was an episode I had been especially looking forward to as I have enjoyed much of Gareth Roberts's previous work as well as the previous 'celebrity historical' episodes of the new series. But unfortunately I just found the spark to be missing this week. I kept waiting for the episode to really come to life, and it never did.

Which is a shame, because as I said, there was much here to like. Freema Agyeman continues to impress, although she had a great deal less to do this week, which perhaps might have something to do with the episode's lack of dynamism. David Tennant continues to grow wonderfully into the role of the Doctor, conveying more authority than he did in series two and doing a good job of getting across some of the wonder and mystery of the character here. And Dean Lennox Kelly, an intriguing choice as Shakespeare for those of us more familiar with his laddish role as Kev in Shameless, was excellent as the Bard. There was good support as well from the two actors playing Shakespeare's colleagues, and the performance standards as a whole cannot be faulted.?

Hmmmm, it feels as if I'm searching around for things I didn't like, and in a way I am as it is a genuine puzzle to me as to why I felt this episode simply didn't get going. The pre-titles sequence, I will admit, I found to be a little on the over-camp side, with its cackling witches ? and was it ever established just why exactly they needed to rip that chap to pieces in the first place? A poor pre-titles sequence doesn't necessarily sink a story, though. This time last year I found the kung-fu monks in Tooth and Claw a bit of an embarrassment, but after the opening titles that episode was a cracker from end to end.?

Which this wasn't. Perhaps it was the little things that got on my nerves and stopped me from simply sitting back and enjoying the story. For example, I got a bit ticked off at the constant flow of Shakespearean lines from the Doctor, followed by Shakespeare's replies of "I'll have that!" Once or twice, yes, but so many instances and it seemed like over-egging the pudding a little. Perhaps it's because Roberts is such a fan of Shakespeare and couldn't resist it ? certainly his appreciation of the famous playwright serves him well elsewhere in the episode, though. Shakespeare standing up against the Carrionites and using his lyrical talents to reverse their science works well, and it was also nice to find someone perceptive enough to be able to see through the psychic paper for a change. His realisation of just where exactly the Doctor and Martha were from was also good, and his observations did add more of an air of mystery to the Doctor, which is always welcome. Why indeed this constant performance? The Carrionites noticed it too, seeing no has no name in the same way Reinette did last year. I love those sorts of moments.?

Speaking of the Carrionites, perhaps it was them that I didn't take to? I could certainly have done without the two cackling old crones, but I imagine that they probably went down well with the children at home. Christina Cole's turn as their leader, Lilith, was a good performance though, walking just the right line between seductive villainess and your more bog standard evil alien adversary trapped on Earth. I was relieved that the witchcraft element turned out to have an alien explanation, as Doctor Who always works well ? like Quatermass and the Pit before it, the grandfather of this sort of thing ? when supplying a scientific, if not necessarily earthly, explanation for seemingly supernatural events.?

"Your effect is special indeed," is, as Martha Jones herself points out, one of the weaker lines that Roberts gives Shakespeare in the episode, but it is fitting when discussing the work of the special effects teams on Doctor Who and the effort that must have gone into The Shakespeare Code. The overhead shots of the streets of London as the Globe Theatre is enveloped by demons are stunning, as are the less obvious but still impressive crowd shots in the theatre early on, built up piece-by-piece from little clumps of fifty extras. It's amazing what moving from place to place on a green screen and swapping hats and cloaks can achieve! The practical effects seen during the episode were also of a high standard ? I particularly liked the death by drowning, a gruesomely unpleasant scene that will doubtless have caused a few nightmares and had a few concerned parents ringing in to complain about the irresponsibility of the BBC. Lovely stuff!?

Charles Palmer also deserves praise for his direction ? a second top-notch episode in a row from him in directorial terms, and I am pleased that we will be seeing more of his work later in the season. Co-ordinating all of the effects, costume and design efforts that must go into a period episode can be no easy task, and having to de-camp to London to shoot scenes at the actual Globe Theatre reconstruction must have been a huge effort too, but it was all worth it as Palmer manages to get a real gloss on screen. Perhaps it's due to him too that we have had such a strong start to the series from Tennant and a great debut couple of performances from Agyeman ? I hope the standard is maintained next week, with another director new to the series at the helm.?

So far, so good. All of it good. There are nitpicks and scenes I didn't like and lines that I found irritating rather than amusing, but none of this explains why at the end of the episode I felt underwhelmed by what I had just seen. Perhaps it's due to expectations ? last week I wasn't expecting quite so much after the slightly disappointing New Earth last year, but I really enjoyed Smith and Jones. With this episode, I had high expectations of a celebrity historical and a Gareth Roberts script, and I suppose I just set those expectations a little too high and thought we might be in the for the best episode ever. It's not, but it's also a long way away from being poor.?

It also had, it must be said, one of the best little gags there's been in the new series yet, when Queen Elizabeth arrives and recognises her mortal enemy, the Doctor. It's rare for the series to present us with such timeline-crossing moments, which is a shame really when you consider the potential there is in that sort of thing, but I suppose it might be a tad confusing for a general audience on a Saturday evening. Still, it worked brilliantly as a joke to close the episode on, and doubtless one of these decades Big Finish will be providing us with a story explaining exactly how the Tenth Doctor comes (or came, depending on how you look at it!) to incur the wrath of the famous monarch.?

When it comes down to it, I suppose I have to regard The Shakespeare Code as something of a personal lesson to myself ? namely, not to allow my expectations of an episode I am particularly looking forward to to go over the top, otherwise I'll end up being far less impressed by it than I otherwise might be. This was, on the whole, a generally entertaining instalment in what looks like shaping up to be a very good third series.

Season three continues apace with this witty and stylish historical adventure. For some reason I am getting the impression that this is going to be the best season yet, there really isn't one episode that I am not looking forward to and if this is the standard of the filler episodes I think we are on very good form.

It is such an irresistible idea I am surprised it has taken the Doctor over fourty years to come face to face with Shakespeare. Speaking as a man who adores the mans work it thrilled me to see him portrayed with such intelligence and charisma, walking on stage to the same roaring applause Justin Timberlake would get now. Because we are in the uber-capable hands of Gareth Roberts there are a great number of witty line drops, which are fired off with such ferocity and speed they make you chuckle rather than cringe. Dean Lennox Kelly is unrecognisable as Kev from Shameless and plays the Bard with a stillness and confidence that is hard not to be attracted to. Lets face facts when David Tennant is on screen I am usually spellbound by his performance but in The Shakespeare Code Kelly forces you to divide your attention, such is the strength of his presentation of one of Britain's greatest talents. The comparison between the popularity (I refuse to say genius because there is absolutely no comparison between the writer of Harry Potter and Hamlet) JK Rowling and Shakespeare is a great point and with the magic element it makes the contrast even more intriguing.

When I heard that they would be doing a Shakespeare adventure I thought it would be done on the cheap. All you need is a couple of sets and possibly a stage but instead we are treated to what is easily one of the most sumptuous and vivid productions of the entire series. The efforts that have gone in to creating Elizabethan London are astonishing and add another dimension to this historical. The glorious dressed sets, the delicious location filming, the CG shots of London, it all looks amazing. You can expect this amount of detail in a feature film but on a TV budget it is astonishing. Doctor Who really is the best looking show on television at the moment and certainly the most imaginative in terms of style and production, I cannot imagine any other show pulling off a historical with this much verve. The Shakespeare Code looks more authentic than Shakespeare in Love, that's how good this looks.

Doctor Who and magic are usually mutually exclusive if I am honest so to see witchcraft and magic being used so blatantly was something of a shock until Robert's genius idea of words being used as a science dismisses the whole idea. It's a brilliant concept, one of those fabulously imaginative ideas that Doctor Who thrives on. Slowly the Doctor is providing (or uncovering) a scientific explanation for everything in the universe, every myth and rumour, idea and superstition. How long is it before we discover God was some alien up to no good? What is especially good is that using words as power allows this script to ground its plot so effortlessly in Shakespeare's genius and centre the climax around his ability to create 'magic' with words. This is how to impress the kids with the strength of Shakespeare's ability, leave them reeling with the power of his ability to create thrills with words. And the missing Shakespeare play allows Gareth Roberts to explain again one of histories mysteries (see also the amazing Missing Adventure The Plotters).

The details are important. The casual sexuality, the effluence being chucked from the window, the whip being brandished in Bedlam, the chilling doll magic, the tiny people fleeing from the Globe as the world comes to an end, the Doctor's heart stopping, the flight from the window, Shakespeare's blatant racism?there are lots of special details that make this that bit more convincing and special.

The witches are not as over the top as you might think. The first scene could have been diabolical but with a director of Charles Palmers' ability it is creepy, especially the witch that swoops down from the ceiling and starts feasting. Yes they cackle and have warts and fly on broomsticks but remember the details that help make this more intoxicating: the lovely music when the doll mimics Shakespeare writing, the explosive reaction to hearing their own name mentioned, the mention of the Eternals banishing them, stabbing the Doctor, the shot of them trapped in the crystal ball. This is the closest Doctor Who has come to fantasy since it has come back, it is a hugely romantic story (with its glorious visuals and stunning imagery) and the creativeness of witches up to no good in Elizabethan England is to die for.?

Martha continues to impress and give the show-renewed energy and vigour. You would think with a historical so near to her introduction this would feel like The Unquiet Dead but the atmosphere is so different, exuberance rather than scares that it does not feel like a repeat experience. Martha's smiles as she explores this supernatural world is fantastic and helps to sell the magic of the experience. Freema Agyeman is very good at portraying Martha's joy at this whole new universe of possibilities opening around her helps you to fall for her character and her portrayal of the line "Hey Nonny! I know for a fact you have a wife!" is genius! The quiet scene between the Doctor and Martha on the bed is vital because it proves the Doctor is still not over Rose and shows the first hint of anger from Martha about that (justifiably, the thoughtless bastard).

Other points of interest:

"I began questioning my own existence. 'To be or not to be' ? ooh I like that" Inspired!
The exterior CGI shots are amazing and really help to sell the scale of the story. Thumbs up.
The final climatic scenes of the Carrionites swarming around the Globe are about epic as Doctor Who has dared since returning. I want to see how they are going top this!
I haven't mentioned David Tennant. That's because he is so good now it's a clich?.
"Author! Author! Don't people say that?" ? I laughed!

The one word that sums up The Shakespeare Code is indulgence. It is not a necessary adventure but it is a superb example of everything the new series does well. Production wise it is dazzling, the script is witty and feel good, the performances are powerful, the musical score is atmospheric?what's to criticise? I asked my friend Debbie to watch this episode, having never seen Doctor Who before and she texted me afterwards and wrote:? That was really good! I think you might have converted me! And I can't think of higher praise than that.