This review is for both the Doctor Dances and The Empty Child.

All I can say is wow!!!

These episodes really took me back to the old days. It was spine tingling, dark, action packed, and ontop of that a fantastic story!

When I first heard that Steve Moffat was writing this episode I had mixed emotions, mainly because I had only known him to have written the Curse of Fatal Death, the Doctor Who spin off staring Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor, which was very funny and just took the mickey out of the series, so I wasn't to sure whether these episodes were going to be any good. But I am so glad I was wrong.

What I love about these episodes is that the Empty Child gives us all these questions, what is the child? what kind of disease does this? etc and then the second part answers them beautifully. And for the first time this series we have a brilliant cliff hanger where for the first time we have no idea how the Doctor is going to get out of this one, whereas the other cliff hangers in the new series are very predictable, and very typical like in the Aliens of London where the Slitheen is walking up very slowly towards Mrs Tyler when it could've just run up and killed her. The direction for this episode was marvellous as well, so well done, as was the acting minus Captain Jack.

The idea for the Captain Jack character was a very good one, a character who tries to use his charm and good looks to win over Rose in an attempt to complete his mission. I just feel that John Barrowman played the character quite badly, there wasn't alot of dimension to the character, he seemed to be very 'plastic' in appearance and movement. I thought there could've been some better casting.

I do love the transformation scene though, when the gas mask appears on the actors faces, done beautifully, and really is quite incomfortable to watch. Just love it!

At the end however I would've liked to have seen Captain Jacks spaceship blow up, thought that would've been a good conclusion.

Now I have got nothing against homosexuals, however I think in this episode we have a few to many references to homosexuals in this episode. Firstly we had the officer who was always flirting with Jack, which I thought was probably not necessary, and quite annoying. And also the Doctor uncovered that the reason why a family received such generous proportions of meat from the butcher was because the father was in fact giving the butcher some extra meat if you know what I mean. I thought this was not necessary also, and may make the younger viewers confused.

Apart from this it was a really fantastic episode, great cliff hanger, great acting (minus John B), great directing, certainly one of the best episodes of the series so far (new series, not old) but still doesn't beat Dalek for me. I am glad however to see that the series has finally begun to establish itself, we have had some really fantastic stories recently and I do hope that we are not going to go back to stupidity with the next episode which happens to be an RTD episode.

Having really enjoyed В‘The Empty ChildВ’, I thought there was a danger that В‘the Doctor DancesВ’ might come as a let down. Thankfully my fears were unfounded as this was another stunning episode, and a fitting conclusion to the story, which made nice use of things set up in the last episode, such as the nanogenes. Also while the questions that were of most pressing importance to the story were answered, the episode raised some puzzles for future stories to address regarding JackВ’s back story to accompany another В‘Bad WolfВ’ reference.

For once everybody wins in this story, to the DoctorВ’s obvious delight. This is important because it a)shows us how much the Doctor really cares about the people he tries to help and b) it gives Christopher Eccleston a chance to act what will be remembered as one of the Ninth Doctors defining moments. Indeed there are several lovely scenes in this episode: Nancy confidently blackmailing Mr Lloyd, Dr Constantine being confronted by a woman demanding to know why her leg has grown back,- which is comical, but thankfully not played for laughs- and best of all the scene where the TARDIS crew are listening to the recording of the childВ’s voice, but suddenly notice that the tape has long stoppedВ…

Again the cast all produce sound performances, with Eccleston stealing the show. In addition to the scene of his excitement on saving the day, we see his DoctorВ’s ability to calmly take charge of a situation when he orders the zombies to go to their room. There is also nice interplay between him and Rose regarding his dancing. Also excellent was
Florence Hoath who gave a totally believable performance as Nancy, and John Barrowman and Billie Piper put in solid efforts as well.

The special effects and design for the story were also of a high standard. Indeed all aspects of the production were fine, although the incidental music for this episode, and indeed the series as a whole is nowhere near as good as in the 1970s or early 1980s. Also some of the dialogue about the sonic devices was approaching the border with silliness, but thankfully did not cross that boundary.

Otherwise this is close to being a faultless production.

Yup. This is my favourite story of the whole season. I'm beginning to think that two parters are best really. It was the way Doctor Who was meant to be. I've seen very few examples so far of the 45 minute format working comfortably with the Doctor Who world.

But I digress.

The Doctor Dances, while not as scary as the previous episode, was brilliant. In places such as the typewriter and when the tape ran out, it was still scary. And the characters were fleshed out very well, especially Nancy, whom I took a shine too and I don't feel guilty about it as she's "older than she looks". She was played superbly and was a complex character, tortured by being a young single mother during the Blitz which would have been shocking to Britain back then even more so. Think how shockign it is now!

I was hoping for some evil genius to be behind this, so I was a little dissappointed at the climax in the first instance. However, it works well like a neat little package when you think about it. The nanogenes are the problem and the solution and I couldn't help but feel the Doctor's enthusiasm when he saw everybody living. That was great. Very Paul McGann.

The Doctor telling Nancy to tell all was a perfect scene and I really had a lump in my throat. Also seeing the Doctor a little vexed at not being seen as the dancing type was quite nice, and when he did eventually dance at the end to a more jazzy tune, I couldn't help but get up myself and dance.

What a programme! Well done Sydney Newman but today we thank Steven Moffat! Best so far.

There haven’t been many episodes this year that I feel would have slotted into the old series very comfortably and this is primarily due to the essential elements that have been crucial to making the new series such a success. The soap opera-ish elements, the fast pace, the kinder budget…had the End of the World been made during JNTs reign I suspect we would be horrified at how embarrassingly cheap and camp it is. The only episode I would happily shift back would be The Unquiet Dead as it was clearly written by a man who wanted to bridge the old and new series with his favourite genre from the Doctor Who’s hey day, the pseudo historical. Well now we have a second episode which I feel encapsulates everything I personally love about the old series, strong witty dialogue, good character interaction, a sense of romance about science-fiction, a fascinating setting and scenes that just would not appear in any other series. And despite all this it also includes so much of what makes RTDs Doctor Who so wonderful too, the sexual tension, amazing effects and the sense of realism that sells the story to you.

This has been my favourite episode of the year so far and I’m glad it came along when it did. After feeling disappointed with Dalek, bored by The Long Game and pissed off with Father’s Day this was something to really sit back and enjoy. I cheered, I whooped, I laughed and I hide behind a pillow…I haven’t enjoyed anything on TV this much since World War Three.

I’d like to get my superficiality out of the way first and talk about Captain Jack. What a babe. Is it just me or is there something extremely attractive about a handsome rogue? John Barrowman plays the right exactly right, charming his way into Rose’s good books so he can pull the wool over her eyes and con her out of a lot of money. Whilst I understand there is some controversy over Jack being bisexual (it’s the end of civilisation as we know it!) and suggesting that RTD has some kind of agenda (hmm, I believe there are some bisexual people about but we cannot possibly have them in Doctor Who because it’s making a statement! Which of course having a straight companion who has a black boyfriend is not! So there!) what I think people should be more worried about is his wedging between the Doctor and Rose. She is clearly head over heels infatuated with Jack and I forsee some glorious tension between the three of them ahead. But for now this dashing, quick witted criminal is a fine innovation for the series, the primary difference between a male lead that does not work (the gorgeous Bruno Langley) and one that does (the gorgeous John Barrowman) is that Barrowman gets to play somebody with an engaging character and a purpose. I know who I feel in love with!

Jack brings out a side in Rose that we have never seen before, that giggling girlie we always try to surpress but unleash when somebody charismatic and charming starts chasing you. And while I can see why the producers would want to make Rose a strong, sensible woman and they have certainly spent enough time dealing with the complexities of being a time traveller AND a daughter/girlfriend but it is now time to let her have some fun. Billie Piper captured my reaction to this episode perfectly in Rose, whipped up in the giddying sights of blitzed out London, swept off her feet by a charming conman, showing a newfound sense of confidence against the Doctor…she really has come into her own. Her scenes outside Big Ben are fantastic, not just because it is audaciously imaginative of itself but because we can see Rose growing up and enjoying her adventures. When Jack lit up Big Ben (probably not the greatest idea in an air raid mate!) I was clapping but playing Glen Miller whilst negotiating and dancing in front of the clock face with German planes whooshing around was inspirational. Could any other series have the confidence and style to even attempt this?

There was a wonderful noir-ish sense to the direction of this episode which helped give it another mask and the return of some graphic imagery in Doctor Who is long overdue. The Autons were not as scary as they once were, the corpses in The Unquiet Dead were counter pointed by some ridiculous characters, the Reapers got on my nerves (because they weren’t adequately explained)…what we need was some truly horrific monsters to get those bed sheets soaked again! And the sight of gas masked victims of the war closing in on the Doctor, Rose and Jack certainly qualifies as some of the freakiest imagery in the series. It is that sense of the unknown again and the loss of any recognisable features, like the mummies and the robots from Tom Baker’s era, these blank staring masks contain something evil and mysterious beneath them that sends the shivers up the spine. Plus capitalising on the Poltergeist horror of the scary child was a stroke of genius, and the constant, begging “Muum-mmmy” emanating from the masks was very scary indeed. You should also take into consideration how well filmed these masked people were, shots such as the tilted close up on the gas masked shadow outside the front door or the close up on eyes of the mask at the climax with no features beneath it, and you have the first successfully shit your pants scary monsters in the new series. And I am glad they took the skull cracking sound effect away from Dr Constantine’s terrifying morph into a gas mask, thanks to the incredible performance by Richard Wilson and the flawless special effects, it was already disturbing beyond belief. The kids must have been terrified!

Talking of the special effects I have to congratulate the Mill for their excellent work in this episode. I have been reading threads of people moaning about how fake war torn London looked in this episode but I have to disagree, for the amount of time and money the FX team have they have done an incredible job of realising the Blitz with a sense of scale and spectacle. Because there is such a sense of romance and excitement to the scenes where Rose is hanging from the balloon I could swallow some blurry matte paintings because it was all so ridiculously entertaining and the bangs and flashes, planes shooting past and dizzying sense of height generated by the special effects only heightened the breathlessness of it all. Perhaps the series should not be glamourising the War so much but when a setting is as vivid and rich as this I shant complain. Thanks to some stunning period detail (including musical numbers which sweep you back to the 1940’s effortlessly), convincing performances and excellent dialogue (“Don’t you eat!” one man cries at the German planes as the they soar overhead at tea time!) I was no longer in 2005 watching the telly but afforded a visit into wartime London.

It was how the episode switched tone so invisibly that reminded me of Buffy during at its peak; how one scene can scare the hell out of you (the POV through the gas mask watching the homeless kids on the street) and next can warm your heart (Nancy feeding the children on stolen food and still reminding them of their manners) and the next a gob smacking visual stomach-flop (Rose standing atop an invisible spaceship in the middle of an air raid). Not only does this keep the episode interesting but it shows what a fascinating mix of genres it can cope with, not just in one series but one episode.

Steven Moffatt should be very proud of this script which is full to bursting with excellent dialogue, the quality of which (ie making me laugh and gasp!) I haven’t heard since World War Three. He allows the Doctor much more Doctor-ish lines than ever before I genuinely got the sense that this was the real ninth Doctor, the one who followed all the others. His chat with the cat in the alley was cute (Hasn’t every Doctor had one of these moments? Despairing at the ability of his companion to wander off!) and there were numerous wonderful scenes with Nancy (especially his romantic summary of the British resistance to German oppression) and his quick fire dialogue with Rose has rarely been better (“Are you sure about that T-shirt?”). Jack and Nancy are afforded real personalities and engaged me immediately and even Dr Constantine, who is barely in two scenes, emerges a strong, sinister character.

However this is still part one of two which is both a curse and a blessing. Everything is fairly frightening at the moment because all we have is the empty child wandering the streets infecting people without an explanation to spoil the mysteriousness of it. Next week will have to try even harder to give me the willies as I fear there may be some disappointing scientific explanation behind everything. This episode definitely has the ‘first episode’ feel that the old series used to capitalise on, without having to please the viewer with answer it can concentrate on setting the scene and going BOO! And with scenes as in your face scary as the gas masked victim jumping up at Rose and the toy monkey coming to life, it succeeds admirably.

Brilliant direction, writing and performances (isn’t Christopher Eccleston’s comedian moment at the microphone wonderful?), this is sharp telly and no mistake. It is episodes like this we will be pointing at in the future when we talk about Doctor Who being re-invented with a BANG!

As I told a good friend, almost orgasmically good.

Another incredible episode,right up there with the Unquiet Dead and Dalek and yet again I am saying this about a non RTD scripted one.I can only hope that the second part(which has possibly the poorest title for a story in the show's history) lives up to the promise created by this.

From the moment the Doctor wandered in to admire the singer,detracting him briefly from his task,I felt we were on to a winner: the period atmosphere created seemed perfect,with not a hint of political correctness as people were seen doing what most adults did in 1941- smoke cigarettes!And pretty soon a wonderful contrast was created: the Doctor right in the thick of it,caught up like a detective in a maze of mystery and darkness in wartime London,encountering phones that ring when they shouldn't,a spooky child in what at first seems a bog standard gas mask but is actually something far more chilling,and a girl who clearly knows more than she's letting on.....and then there's Rose,starring in her own mock Hollywood romance,less swept off her feet than swept from the sky,drinking champagne and flirting with Captain Jack amidst a backdrop of bangs and flashes.Splendid stuff.

Many older/long term viewers will have cringed at Rose's accusation that Captain Jack is "coming on to her" but whatever embarrassment they may have felt was hopefully quickly dispelled by Jack asking Rose if she liked Glenn Miller,whereupon the two share a romantic dance.

Christopher Eccleston was at his most impressive as the Doctor here- serious,inquisitive,with only a few well judged jokes.What with Rose's T shirt and the Doctor's speech about little England standing up,alone for a while,against the menace of nazism,why we had semi-patriotism here too....something for everyone.

A great cameo from Richard Wilson and one of the most horrifying transformations in the show's history as the plague virus finally consumes his face.Also the empty child's sister Nancy is very convincing.

Very sad that initial findings seem to show that such a great episode lost about a million viewers due to the schedule change and maybe the ITV competition.

‘An Empty Child’ is the best episode of the new series so far in my opinion. Why? Firstly it is probably the best written story so far, just shading it over ‘Dalek’, with good dialogue, a plot that is easy to follow, but does not feel too rushed the way a few of the one-parters have. Stephen Moffat has also managed to create a genuinely scary and suspenseful story without relying on an old monster. The TARDIS phoning ringing, the child’s creepy ‘are you my mummy’, a face turning into a gas mask, and a cliff hanger with zombies- this episode had it all.

Also excellent was the design, form Jack’s fantastic spaceship to the really authentic looking period locations and the creepy black-out streets which give the story a wonderful feel. The special effects were also of a good standard, although at times perhaps there was two much C.G.I.

On the acting front high marks for everyone, especially Eccleston, who gave one of his best performances, particularly in his scenes with Nancy and in Albion Hospital with Constantine. John Barrowman also impressed on his debut, while Billie Piper again showed that fans were wrong to be concerned about her casting. Richard Wilson was also good, although his screen time was a little shorter than I would have liked.

I for one cannot wait for part two!