Aliens in London'/'WW3' were among my least favourite episodes, yet last week's 'Boom Town' proved unexpectedly watchable -- so I didn't switch off the television when another of my season lows, 'The Long Game', stepped into the reprise spot. I hated the idea of reality tv for higher stakes (there's got to be a pile of sf stories that play that card). Played out, though, it was more enjoyable than I'd anticipated: Jack's Dayna reprise was cute, and some of the re-envisaged programmes were hilarious ('Ground Force', who knew?). The rapid intercutting of the three scenarios generated enough tension to drive things along.

In contrast, the stuff on the station felt like a return to the old running-round-in-corridors paradigm, and I worried that the Controller had been borrowed from somewhere else ('Minority Report'?). Despite the Bad Wolf references all season, the dramatic end seemed to come out of nowhere in particular.

In the plus column, 'Bad Wolf' features another strong performance from Eccleston, who just seems to be getting better & better, and there are tonnes of solid supporting performances: Rodrick, Strood, Crosbie, Broff, Davage... in fact pretty much everyone except Rose clone Linda-with-a-y; here's hoping she's the obligatory female sacrifice for the finale.

Joe Ahearne's directed some of the most visually exciting episodes of the series, and 'Bad Wolf' has pretty shots aplenty: Davage's blue-lit face when we first see level 500 & the Dalek in reflection struck me particularly. On the other hand, the Dalek fleet had an Ed Wood saucer-on-a-stick feel about it.

Despite my doubts about the ending, it does make an excellent concept cliff-hanger... How did the Controller bring the Doctor to the station? Did she plug in all the Bad Wolf references? How? Is there some link with the soul of the Tardis? What are the Daleks doing with all the losing contestants? Are Jack's missing two years relevant to the Time Wars? Did the Doctor somehow bring about the Time Lords/Daleks destruction? Will he do the female thing, & sacrifice himself to save the world? Will he have to choose between saving Rose & Rose clone? And the biggie: how are they ever going to tie everything up in 45 minutes?

I just hope some of the above will prove to have interesting answers....

Say what you will, but that Russell T Davies chap knows a thing or two about timing. The children's BBC forums have recently voted Dr Who their favourite TV show (trouncing the previously unshakeable Simpsons); their favourite subject for a new message board (beating Buffy, hobbies and mobile phones into the ground), and very nearly their favourite thing (narrowly defeated by Harry Potter, but still way ahead of friends, family and food). The only thing that could possibly topple the series from its television supremacy was that annual festival of relentless shrieking vacuity Big Brother. So what does Russell T do? The impossible, as usual. He puts the Doctor in the Big Brother house.

Genius.

Beyond genius. Shameless commercialism. And quite, quite impossible. Endemol will never agree to it. The BBC will never agree to it. The viewers will never tolerate it.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Everyone says yes. Just this once, Rose - everyone says yes.

Never mind that this is technically a sequel to an earlier (and, unjustly, not very well liked) story. Never mind that the splitting up of the TARDIS crew makes for a slightly repetitive opening. Never mind that the tying up of loose ends from earlier in the series requires some clumsy exposition, or that there isn't as much humour as you'd expect, or that Captain Jack once again pulls a solution out of his ass. For once let's not even mind that the incidental music is obtrusive and repetitive, given that this time that's the whole point. Bad Wolf is, despite all that, genius.

By this time you can write the reviews in your sleep, and maybe that would be better. I can't say what's so good about this episode, the spoiler-pressure is all but insurmountable. The bit where - ! Well, yes. Or that moment when - but no. Can't be done, it would ruin the whole thing (which is why, perhaps, the Beeb does need its knuckles rapped over the preview from Boom Town, although that's still only the half of it). So go ahead. You know how it goes. The script is sharp, witty, pacy and powerful. The design is (even as rehash of sets from reality TV shows and The Long Game) deft, daft and intelligent, a perfect blend of human and alien. The central TARDIS trio of Jack, Rose and the Doctor are all snappily written and brilliantly portrayed. The additional characters are fun, instantly recogniseable, elegantly honed. Every beat is on the money. Every shot a corker. And though you may not know this yet, the pitch-perfect shaping of the central emotional drama is... perfect.

And the truly extraordinary thing - by which I mean, of course, the truly extraordinary thing other than the fact that none of this is even remotely the best thing about it, but I can't tell you that, can't say that, can't stand the confusion in my mind - is that this is just what we've come to expect. We'd feel cheated if we got any less. Because these days, that's what Doctor Who is.

Let me tell you this. I was in a pub last night. Perfectly ordinary pub. Then someone shrieks in horror - they've done it again! They've missed an episode of Dr Who! And suddenly, everyone joins in. Geeks squabble about time paradoxes. Near strangers argue over whether Dalek or The Empty Child was more scary. Perfectly intelligent people attempt to say Raxacoricofallapatorius. Ridiculous, but true.

And the day before: another conversation, in another pub, about how everything on television is rubbish these days. I never watch it, gruff men with pipes staunchly declaim. Absolute twaddle. Nothing worth watching. Oh, except Dr Who, of course. Unheard of, but that's the way it was.

And then today, the reason this is more relevant to Bad Wolf than all the others, and the real reason next week's finale can never, ever hope to live up to expectations. My mum, my actual mum calls me, seconds after the music fades, to gush that tonight's episode was the most exciting piece of telly she'd ever seen. Impossible. Absolutely impossible, like getting the BBC and Channel 4 to co-operate, one using the other's format to parody the very nature of television, and no-one seeming to mind. But I swear to god, it happened.

This is not the world I grew up in. I always knew this was the best show in the world. No-one ever agreed with me. But thanks to Russell T, just this once - everyone says yes.

For about the first 30 minutes of this episode I thought to myself, what a loud of crap. It was absolutely terrible, mainly cause I've never been a huge fan of reality TV, and I absolutely hate Big Brother. There were alot of things that I really hated about this episode, and one of them was Captain Jack, I really can't stand him, he is like a mosquito that won't go away. The character is so arrogant, and just seems to have no purpose in any of the stories that he has been in, he should've had one episode and thats all. I espeically hated when he was touching the androids breasts. I really was hoping that when the androids arm became a chainsaw that she would do the world a favour and chop his head off.

I do have to admit though that the climax of the story was brilliant, really tying in the Bad Wolf references that we have so often heard throughout every episode this series. However I still don't understand how Bad Wolf being graffitied on the TARDIS or a small mention by Gwenyth has to do with the Daleks invasion. It was an excellent build up, and by the time you got to the climax you completely forgot all about the stupidity of the first 30 minutes.

The final few shots of the Daleks in their ships were just magic, as were the previews for next week. And is it just me or did I hear Davros at the end!!!! I really hope that the end solution to this is not that the Daleks get completely wiped out, I think it would be terrible, the Daleks should live on. But I do hope that in the wake of this epsidode that Captain Jack gets killed, and that the BBC get a new Producer/Head Writer for the series. Sorry Russell, but if the Daleks weren't in this episode then it would've been just another one of your pathetic epsiodes. Funny enough however this has been the only RTD episode that isn't based around characterisation, but the first 30 minutes of rubbish really spoil the episode. I thought the story could've worked without references to shows like Big Brother and the Weakest Link. I did however like the reference to the Long Game, and how we see the consequences of the Doctor's actions in that episode, and that it isn't always 'and they lived happily ever after'.

Overall, the climax of this episode is exellent, just looking at 200 Dalek ships preparing for battle is unbelievable, but as mentioned previously the first 30 minutes were absolute rubbish. I really hope the next episode doesn't ruin the best cliffhanger for the season, and I pray that the last episode for the series isn't going to be more RTD rubbish.

This episode was excellent. Doctor Who in 2005 has proved beyond doubt the durability of the series as a social metaphor and modern-day myth. I hope it runs for another 27 years.

‘Bad Wolf’ triumphantly combined the surrealism of 60s episodes like ‘Celestial Toymaker’ and ‘Mind Robber’ with the ironic self-reflexion of the McCoy era and beyond. I also thought the starting had echoes of ‘Inside the Spaceship’, when the characters wake up and don't know what's happened to them, and the interior of the Dalek spacecraft was subtly reminiscent of the sets used in the 60s serials.

The strength of the series has always been its versatility, and this episode moved effortlessly from comic satire to sci-fi horror. The first scene and Eccleston's line before the titles were some of the most flippant and self-aware of the season, but the last scene was one of the most dramatic and exciting cliff hangers of the whole series.

The reality and humiliation TV sketches were great - the four guests are good sports for taking part. The social commentary was nicely tied into the development of the story. Anne Droid's laser comes from her lips, a deadly ray of verbal abuse. Trine-E and Zu-zana promise to give somebody a make over, but really want to kill their character. And Big Brother contestants are vain or insecure victims who equate unpopularity with death.

What’s more, this episode was scary. By taking very familiar names, images and voices and making them covertly threatening, the programme makers have pulled off a neat trick. Trine-E and Zu-zana are some of the best monsters of the whole series, a post-modern combination of Tabby and Tilda and the Candyman. I only wish Jack hadn't been able to dispose of them quite so easily before they got to work.

My previous reviews have questioned the portrayal of the Doctor as a useless, emotional and vindictive character who gets things wrong far too often. This evening's episode finally answered the questions that have been piling up for too long. The breakthrough came in the last ten minutes when the Doctor tooled himself up with the biggest gun he could find, only to throw it away at the critical moment. Then, having bungled so many times in the last season, often leaving others to get him out of a mess or pick up the pieces, he finally took responsibility for what was happening to Rose and pledged to do something to stop it. I could almost see something of Hartnell's Doctor in Eccleston as he stood up the Daleks. There was something noble and brave about it - self-important without being arrogant - that called to mind the first Doctor and his confrontations with the creatures.

The arrival of the Daleks was also great. Having complained before that a Dalek on its own just doesn't work, because fascism is a social doctrine, I was excited to see so many Daleks reciting their racist cry. That’s what's frightening about them. When you look closely enough, it is possible to see in them the human horrors that blighted the twentieth century by brainwashing the individual into a philosophy of obedience and hate. And they're back at last.

I'm trying very hard not to overload on the superlatives, but "Bad Wolf" feels like the episode I always knew RTD had in him, but which he hadn't been able to deliver.

Put quite simply, my view is that this epsiode was possibly the most perfect episode of Doctor Who of the series, and even perhaps of all 30+ years of Doctor Who. It was packed full of humour, pathos, excitement, drama, questions and satire. The pacing was terribly well judged and as the climax built you knew that any moment that famous 'Dr Who' scream of the theme music was going to come, and you kept willing it to stay away for as long as possible. And then the post-credit sequence allowed an exciting glimpse of next week's episode and then suddenly next week seemed such a long way away. I punched the air with excitement and then I just had to sit there for several minutes before I could pick my jaw up off the floor, and the adrenaline subsided. Suddenly I was 10 years old again, watching Tom Baker in Genesis of the Daleks. It was a riveting and dramatic episode.

For the first time in the series, I honestly think that RTD has done virtually nothing wrong. There is a question mark about how the transmat beam was able to move people out of the previously impervious TARDIS. (For what it's worth, my own view is that The Doctor's been involved in The Long Game for rather longer than he thinks - and that the Daleks have had him trapped, playing this game for some time, possibly to keep him out of the way) and that the TARDIS isn't the TARDIS, but a VR reconstruction - all part of the game.) Othewise, I found the episode utterly flawless. It's the first time I've watched an epside again straight after its first viewing (the only episode I have watched more than once was "Dalek" but it was several days before I felt that I wanted to see it again). I can hardly wait for next week's season finale - the worst thing about is that my girlfriend is dragging me off to a folk music night (oh dear!), so I've got to sit through all that music and wait until we get home before I can see the episode. It feels like torture! I think that The Parting of the Ways will be the best episode of the year. I really hope that RTD writes more episodes like this next year. If he does, we're in for an amazing second season.

For the record, I'd like to say that my view is that the man saying "the Daleks survived through me" is Davros.

В‘WhoВ’s afraid of the big bad wolf?В’ IВ’ll admit that I was afraid of В‘Bad WolfВ’, because I thought that the ingredients for this episode, Big Brother, The Weakest Link, celebrity cameos Daleks, and the potential revelation of who or what Bad Wolf is, would, if not handled brilliantly, result in a mess. Indeed as Russell T. Davies had been arguably the only writer on the 2005 series to fail to deliver a classic episode, I really did not think he could pull off what was needed to make this work. Thankfully my fears were groundless and what was broadcast was a very strong and exciting 45 minutes of television, which had me totally hooked from start to finish.

The opening of the episode is well structured. The three main cast members materialise in different locations from T.V. land with no idea of how they got there, which is in some ways reminiscent of the Mind Robber Part Two. There seems little danger to their situation however, until slowly the apparently deadly nature of the games they are playing is revealed, and they have to try to escape. This leads on the shockingly brilliant twist that Rose does not escape and is seen to be killed. IВ’ll admit for a few minutes I really believed Rose was dead, and the publicity over Billie PiperВ’s role in series two had been a rouse, not least because of the obvious successor to her introduced moments earlier in a clever piece of writing by Davies. LyndaВ’s following the Doctor against her male friendВ’s advice on the promise of adventure is of course a nice parallel with Rose leaveing with the Doctor against MickeyВ’s wishes at the end of В‘RoseВ’. Of course RoseВ’s В‘deathВ’ turns to be a bluff, but nonetheless her seemingly being atomised was a truly shocking moment. Her reappearance on the alien spaceship was also pleasing not least because of the familiar humming sound effect that told long time Doctor Who fans exactly whose spaceship this was.

Yes the Daleks are definitely back, and Joe Ahearne reiterates this by cleverly echoing their first appearance at the end of В‘The Daleks/MutantsВ’ part one. The spirit of the 1960s is also invoked with the scenes of hundreds of Daleks and Dalek ships, which look like modern updates of images from the epic Dalek saga from the pages of TV21. This is a treat for fans and older viewers, but these scenes will also surely impress new viewers, for they are visual spectacles. I suspect these moments will prove to be seen as as iconic in forty years time as the sixties ones of the Daleks on Westminster Bridge and the Cybermen emerging from the Tomb are seen as today. All credit to the special effects team for pulling this off. They deserve a BAFTA!

The other great thing about this episode is the Doctor. We see him as the flawed hero, as his actions in the В‘Long GameВ’ were well intended but have caused this nightmare he is now in. We also see him as vulnerable. He is totally distraught when Rose seems to be dead, and for once really looks like he is beaten. Then there is his speech to the Daleks and Rose at the end. No, heВ’s not going to give up and surrender, heВ’ll save Rose, fight the Daleks and he will win. This reminds us what the Doctor is all about and almost serves as a manifesto for the series. Eccleston is brilliant in all these scenes, being totally convincing whether the Doctor is devastated (at Roses loss), bored, e.g. at the time of the first eviction, or angry, e.g when he confronts the Floor five hundred personnel. Most of all, his Doctor comes across as a determined crusader who wants to help his friends and the people he meets like Lynda. ItВ’s sad the Ninth Doctor will soon be no more.

Aside from the Doctor the other characters were also engaging. Unlike in В‘Boom Town!В’, Jack was seen to fill a useful role as someone who can work with the Doctor close to his own level. Rose fills the more traditional role in this story of the companion in peril, but Billie Piper gives her usual excellent performance, particularly during the В‘Weakest LinkВ’ when she realises with horror what elimination from the game means. Indeed this is perhaps the most successful of the game segments, with the terrified women contestant begging to be given another chance, the scheming Roderick, who only cares about his own survival, and the Ann-DroidВ’s ruthless dispatching of its victims. Lynda from the Big Brother house is also an interesting character, who would make a good companion, which as I said helps makes Rose death so believable.

This is part one of a two part story and RTD does not ever forget this, and keeps plenty in reserve for part two. We still do not entirely know who/what Bad Wolf is other than that they are connected to the Daleks. Nor do we learn much more about the Time War and the DoctorВ’s role in it. Also how will/can the Doctor save Rose and defeat the Daleks? New questions are also raised. How did the Daleks survive the War? What happened to the other game players, if they were not killed? Why are the Daleks interested in earth? This episode also fits brilliantly into the series as a whole. It explains the relevance of the В‘Long GameВ’sВ’ title and ties up it lose plot ends. It also has some nice flashbacks to key bad wolf references. (One minor continuity nitpick: Rose did not see Bad Wolf One landing in Dalek so she should not remember it here.)

There were a few other flaws. I felt that the В‘100 years laterВ’ caption spoiled what could have come as a surprise to the viewer- namely that the games are being played on satellite 5- which could have easily been revealed when the Doctor realises it himself later in the episode. Moreover why does everyone in 200,100 dress like its 2005? Also I wonder if the cultural references will make this episode seem dated in a few years. Nonetheless this is easily Russell T. Davies best piece of writing for the series so far, and sets up what promises to be an excellent finale.