So there I was, a month after I’d seen my last Doctor Who episode, in the middle of my overseas trip. I was incredibly homesick, I’d just been living it up at the Edinburgh Festival (a happy accident), and now I was alone in a relative’s place near Stirling. Oh, and I’d just bought a Doctor Who DVD for the first time in years. It contained four episodes, none of which I’d seen before. I felt twelve years old again. It was the middle of the day, and I couldn’t wait till tea-time, so I closed all the curtains, switched off all the lights – mercifully it was a grey day outside – and sat back to watch The Long Game.

It didn’t take me long to sit up and notice something – I’d forgotten all about Adam! It had been far too long since I’d seen Dalek. So the TARDIS crew was now back to three for the first time since 1984. (On TV, anyway.) It was a frightening thought, especially considering how close the Doctor and Rose had become by this time. Their closeness was evident in the pre-credits scene, when they played their little trick on the new kid. Of course, in Who tradition, the kid faints. The Doctor looks at him, and remarks, “He’s your boyfriend.”

Er… huh? When exactly did this happen? Doesn’t Rose already have a boyfriend? And haven’t these two kids just met? This is Adam’s first trip in the TARDIS… how long have they been travelling? And if the Doctor’s just teasing her – it certainly sounds like that in his delivery of the line – then why does Rose reply with “Not anymore”? Simple answer. Second-rate writing. The last RTD episode I saw was World War Three, which was terrifically written. (We won’t go into its predecessor.) So naturally I was a little worried when I heard this opening exchange. Hopefully, I thought, things would get better.

Mercifully, they did. When the episode properly opened, and we were introduced to Satellite Five, I got a real sense of culture shock – far more so than in The End of The World. Don’t ask me why. Perhaps the direction was better this time around… no. Can’t say that. Euros Lyn really proved himself with his two consecutive episodes. The Long Game just looks like a modernised Colin Baker story. But back to the script. Yes, things began to look up, especially with the introduction of our three other main characters – Simon Pegg’s immediately chilling Editor, plus the terrific Suki and Cathica. The first “spike” scene made me feel very much like I was watching a JNT/Colin Baker story, but I was kept interested by the cutaways to Floor 500. Kudos to Simon Pegg for this achievement. I might’ve switched off otherwise.

Anna Maxwell-Martin really came into her own when she arrived at the top floor and her true identity was discovered – suddenly this nice, shy journalist is a cold, tough freedom fighter. And when she was eaten by the Editor’s “boss”, her scream was traditional and perfect. I also loved the way that was shot. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – traditional Who elements are a breath of fresh air in this series.

Unfortunately we then came back to Adam. This guy, I recalled, had shown real promise in his introductory story. Now I hated him. Was this another case of bad writing? Probably not, actually. I just didn’t like his acting anymore. He was already annoying me more than Adric. Thankfully he then met up with the Nurse, beautifully portrayed by Tamsin Greig, who obviously relished her role. Has she been waiting for a Doctor Who gig for a while, I wonder?

The “investigation” scenes with the Doctor, Rose and Cathica were a triumph, and made me wish Cathica would join the TARDIS crew, even if she was a little sceptical of… well, everything. But isn’t that what makes the best companions in this show? And when she follows them up to Floor 500, we’ve got a nice piece of writing and characterisation – RTD hasn’t forgotten this woman is a journalist. Of course, the Doctor and Rose had to come up against the Editor at some point. And when they do, their interplay is just beautiful. I got shivers when the Editor hissed, “Time Lord.” Again, I get the feeling Simon Pegg has been after a role on this show for yonks. He’s just such a good villain. Unlike the one-joke Slitheen (or whatever their race is called), I finally found a villain I wouldn’t mind returning. And how horrible is his boss? Great effect… and great name too.

I cheered when Cathica saved the day – and Suki too, sort of. The later scenes between Adam and the Nurse helped to break up the action on Floor 500 and build up the suspense. But once the Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe (just wanted to type all that out) is defeated, and it’s time for the Doctor confronts Adam, I just wanted him to throw the kid out into space. But hey, what he did do was good enough. I’m not a huge fan of Rose as a companion either, but I guess she’s the lesser of two evils. It’s too bad Rose didn’t get much to do in this story, actually, but then again, The Long Game is bookended by two very Rose-oriented stories. So I can’t complain, and neither can she.

So The Long Game wasn’t bad. Cleverly plotted, for the most part very well-acted, but it still seems like a small-impact episode compared to the epic of the Aliens Of London two-parter and the sheer beauty of Dalek, not to mention the excellence of The Unquiet Dead and The End of The World, and the unmitigated excitement of Rose. It didn’t help matters that I sat through this story eager to move along to the next three, all of which have been purported to be classics. But for an ‘in-between’ story, The Long Game could’ve been far, far worse.

Sigh!.....Just what was I watching I asked myself? Is this Doctor Who?

Father's Day is in a word - boring! As some of you may have read, in my review of The Long Game I welcomed Eccleston's Doctor once again appearing to be relevant and active in the story. Sadly, the Doctor has once more been relegated into the background, he doesnt appear to have much to do and once more looks lost - just as I wrote in my review of AOL. One wonders if Eccleston left because the scripts were letting him down? RTD should wake up - here he has a fine actor, capable of performing convincingly (and then some - see DALEK!) and he is being wasted.

I just wonder what the point of the whole thing was! Plot-wise, things were wafer-thin. Im a supporter of the new series devoting considerable time to character development but this was ridiculous - and RTD, who is at the helm and obviously has final say over scripts needs to take a step back and look at what he is pushing for and ultimately approving.

I had worked out (as Im sure the rest of you did) very early on that Rose's father had to die for the time line to be restored - anyone seen the Back to the Future movies? - of course you have... I say no more.

As I write this I really struggle to find anything I like about the episode - I even watched it twice to see if my views would change, but alas this has not been the case. I guess considering his limited role within the episode, Christopher Eccleston delivered an excellent performance, but ultimately the script let him down.

The show is called Doctor Who isnt it...? For a second there, I thought it was called The Rose Tyler Show....

Bring on next week - please!

Purely Historical. Purely Sci-Fi. Pseudo-Historical. On May 14th 2005, DOCTOR WHO just created a new genre. The Purely Emotional Story.

Being able to relate to the human element was always one of WHO’s strengths - I’m thinking that first episode between Ian & Barbara, Jon Pertwee bidding Jo Grant adieu before driving off into the sunset... Then The Doctor turned into a brooding alien and it seemed a good excuse to fall into line with STAR TREK and not bother with that side of things. Of course, JNT made big moves to make the companions real people with real families. Who can forget Auntie Vanessa’s demise in LOGOPOLIS? But with no hope of The Doctor staying on Earth for any length of time, due to the wishes of BBC executives and producers, it would take until 2005 for the ties-that-bind element to become a permanent state of affairs again. Now, with an emotional core being a market-driven necessity, it’ll be almost impossible for a future companion not to have a fully-fleshed out family that we dip into and out of periodically.

The isolated Church set-up brought it home to me just how much WHO is set on Earth again, like in the Pertwee years and I for one am chuffed. I think Russell T was bang on the money when he says setting more than 50 of the cent stories elsewhere causes the viewers’ interest to wane. It was always wrong to minimise “on Earth” from the late 70s on, but delighted that it’s back.

The 80s set-up was convincingly brought to life. The make-up, costumes and the posters: one (which again has resonance for 2005) hoping “No Third Term For Thatcher” in vain, being supplanted by the coming of acid-house music. A necessary escape. It’s ironic too that a great original story has been made of a year that saw the original series at it’s worst. When we think of 1987 now, will we think of Iceworld, or Rose’s Dad?

This series is very good at creating memories through visual set-ups. The Doctor and Rose watching The Doctor and Rose watching what we already know: that Rose’s Dad is going to get knocked down by a car. Only this time, he isn’t...

It’s been said The Doctor was naive to let Rose have a second look. But it’s more an indication how she’s got to him on an emotional level than perhaps any other companion. Eccleston was great when he scowled at her in her Dad’s flat.

What a turn-up for the books when The Doctor opened the TARDIS to find a cubby-hole inside!

Cue the Reapers: gargoyle type vultures with red eyes. They were genuinely chilling.

Not for the first time this series, post Time War, The Doctor looked impotent against the worse-case scenario. But he hadn’t reckoned on Rose’s Dad, who kept seeing the car that should have killed him keep appearing and disappearing and decided he would be the hero Rose always thought he was.

It's fair to say Father's Day is very different to any (broadcast) Doctor Who story that’s gone before, and probably because of this when I first saw it I took a dislike to it. I thought it was silly, too soapy and had a predictable resolution which broke the golden rule that the Doctor must save the day. Having watched it again I have realised I made a big mistake, and it is an excellent story, well written and well acted.

Indeed what I first thought were its flaws actually help to make it so good. At seems odd that the Doctor would take Rose back to watch her father die, and even odder that he was surprised by her reaction, but this is to judge him as a human. His actions are perfectly in character with the slightly insensitive alien Doctor as played by Tom Baker, who Eccleston is reminding me of more and more each week. On the other hand the Doctor shows he is capable of emotion when he talks about the loss of his planet. Similarly the soapy elements – Rose’s interaction with her parents – gives the series the reality it needs to keep the casual viewer interested. Also the fact that the Doctor fails, shows he is fallible, something that is needed to keep the series interesting, and also gives Pete the chance to redeem himself. Even if it is obvious after about twenty minutes how the situation will be resolved, this only enhances the tragedy of the situation.

On the acting front A+ grades to Shaun Dingwall, whom I hope turns up again in the future, and Billie Piper who gives her best performance to date. Eccleston also comes across well, but is somewhat of a background figure, as he needs to be for the episode to work. Most of the supporting cast is superb too.

Thus all in all this is a very good story, although it is quite heavy and needs a couple of viewings to be appreciated. Its a pity Paul Cornell is not writing for the series next year, but hopefully a third series will entice him back.

What can be said about this episode? 10/10? 5 stars out of 5? The Greatest Story Ever Told?

Try all three!

Emotion, power, monsters, humour - it had the lot. I can honestly say this is the only story to ever make me cry, apart from Earthshock (I was a lot younger then, okay?).

A simple premise - Rose wanting to visit the father she never knew, so whilst considering that, let's ask the question 'Is this her plan all along?' To be honest, I think not. To see her dad - perhaps. To save him - no. If she'd wanted to save him, she would have done so the first time she saw him get out of the car. There may be those who say the Doctor had a crafty hold of her hand to stop her, and so she couldn't risk him snatching her back and thus failing in her objective, so having proved herself she persuaded him to go back, leaving the way open for the save at the second time of asking. I don't think so - is Rose really that devious, cunning and clever? How could she be sure that the Doctor would agree to go back a second time? No, Rose never had a plan to save her dad at either the first or second opportunity. However, having seen his death for the first time, it simply became too much to watch it once more and, unable to stop herself, she did the deed.

Which, of course, allows us to get to know her dad, Pete, who, all in all, seems a decent enough kind of guy. A wheeler dealer, true, but an honest one. There is no hint of any shady dealings on his part, just a wish to earn the family crust. A marvellous performance here, as Pete slowly realizes just who Rose is, why she was there and what, ultimately, he has to do.

The scenes between Rose and her dad are, without doubt, the most emotional in the history of the series, and Rose's tearful ' My Daddy' as they hug in the church set me off for the rest of the story!! I'm just an old softy, but, as anyone who has lost a parent will agree, this situation is a tear-jerker, particularly when you know that there can only be one ending to the story.

I have to admit to being a little stumped by some of the negative comments made about this story, particularly on two points. Firstly, the acting of Eccleston and the use of the Doctor. Sure, there are times when Eccleston doesn't seem to be doing a lot in the acting stakes, but doesn't that fit in with this Doctor? This incarnation can be incredibly laid back one moment, and absolutely hyper the next. Eccleston's acting is merely reflecting that. Don't get me wrong - there are times when I could gleefully ram that stupid grin down his throat (strange how Tom never had the same effect!). However, I find his acting convincing and watchable. As for the 'under use' of the Doctor, again, does this not fit in with the character we are getting to know? There are times when he takes time to get involved, as if, occasionally, there is a reluctance - almost as with the character of the other 'ninth' Doctor from 'Scream of the Shelka'. If you think of the stories, they have mostly started from the traditional 'accidental' stumbling on to the scene of the TARDIS crew. TEOTW was supposed to be a trip to watch the destruction of Earth. TUD a trip to Victorian England to see Christmas. Even AOL/WW3 was just a trip home!! The Doctor's actions in the stories have not been the 'gung-ho' and straight in style of his earlier selves. He has tended to watch, but not get immediately involved unless he has had to or someone has been in danger. Perhaps the destruction of Gallifrey has had more of an effect on the Doctor than we currently know, and more will become clear later on...........

My second 'gripe at the gripes' is about the 'altering Time' problem and all that comes with it. Who are the Reapers? Where do they come from? Why do they leave at the end when Time has still been altered? What happens to the TARDIS? Why does the key glow hot? Why does the car keep re-appearing?

IT DOESN'T MATTER AND I DON'T CARE!!!!!!!

The story as it stands is more than good enough, you don't have to have every little thing explained like a 5 year old. It must be like watching an episode with a kid in the room for the familes of some reviewers! 'Why has that happened?' 'What does that mean?' 'Where did it go?' Try to use a little imagination of your own for once - good stories get you thinking and making up your own ideas, which is exactly what this does. Blimey, if people wanted answers straight away to everything in Star Wars Episode Four they'd never have had to make the other five!!! (and I'm still waiting to see if the new one explains why Obi-wan doesn't know who R2D2 and C3P0 are in Episode 4, and why they themselves can't tell everyone what's been going on! And why did Darth Vader never say 'Yes, C3P0, I am the Maker you keep thanking'?). Writers should not be expected to explain every little thing (particularly in 45 minutes!) and this is nothing new. It can be done for various reasons, not least to stop stupid questions of a different kind. As another example, in 'The Lord of the Rings', Frodo and Sam are rescued at the end by Gandalf and the Giant Eagles. Does this not beg the question 'If you can get Giant Eagles to fly there to rescue Frodo and Sam, why couldn't they have taken them in the first place and cut out most of the three books we've had to read through?'

But, if you really need to know, the Reapers are creatures from the Vortex - we have heard of enough over the years! - and they help to heal wounds in Time. WE KNOW THAT BECAUSE THE DOCTOR TELLS US! They leave at the end because Time is healed - the injury was Pete still being alive. Yes there were other smaller changes still around, but that is normal with any injury - you slash a great big cut in your arm and tell me that it's just the same as it was before when it's healed. Nothing is the same once healed, not even Time, but it can be made almost the same as it was before. The inside of the TARDIS disappeared because Time was, if you like, anaesthetised, whilst being healed. Although time was passing, Time was not - if you see what I mean. With no Time, there's no time machine. Simple. The key was with the Doctor, the oldest thing around, and so was kept safe from the effect. Once charged up, it was able to draw the TARDIS back to it. Simple. The car, if you like, was the immune system of the body of Time, going around and around looking for the infection to destroy - the infection being Pete, the one thing that should not have been there. Simple.

Well, that's what my imagination tells me - you can think up your own explanation if you want! That's the beauty of it - you decide!

I thought the Reapers were convincing and not obviously CGI, but I did think they were a little dark and that you could not see as much detail as you could have done.

All in all, the best of the series so far, and quite possibly the best ever - but will it still hold that title by episode 13?

Its been a long time coming, but finally, a series about time-travel has covered the consequences of time-travelling.

Back in the old days, we had the cautionary tale of Barbara interfering with the Aztecs, the Meddling Monk, the Time Warrior, and of course Day of the Daleks. But the actual exploration of the concept was a little lightweight.

Then along comes Father's Day. This episode, above all the others, really explores the depth of the Doctor/Rose relationship - although the Doctor is suspicious of Rose's motives for joining him, ultimately he is able to forgive her.

We also explore the mother's willingness to protect the daughter from the truth about her father, so that she can see him as a hero. And although that particular bubble is burst as soon as Rose meets her dad, in the end he becomes the hero he never was in real time.

The Reapers are a little too comic-book to be truly frightening, but they are exceedingly intricate monsters.

The costumes and make up really bring out the eighties setting, and the incidental music is never too distracting.

All in all, another highlight for the new show, avoiding the obvious trap of being too angst-ridden.

Doubtless, the "rent in time" storyline is going to feed the minds of the continuity freaks for years to come, but when it all comes down to it, Dr Who is not about continuity, its about a damn good story!