I love my job as a primary school teacher a lot, but nothing was sweeter to my ears than walking onto the playground first thing to hear my 11 year old pupils chasing after each other saying "Are you my Mummy?". "Mr. Dawson?" says Ash, "Did you see it? It was really scary!"

My sentiment precisely. I watched the episode in a hurry, rushing in through the door, I stuck a tape in the video and knelt before the TV. By the end of the episode I had edged back towards the sofa, and as I can't get behind the sofa, I'll venture I had reached my highest creep factor so far in the new series. I believe "The Empty Child" was the biggest success of the year so far. Don't get me wrong, "Dalek" was ground-breaking and "Father's Day" was sad, but this episode seemed to pass in seconds, the dark, insidious nature of the boy in the gas mask paired with the hollow child's voice was truly effective, especially in the sequence in the hallway as The Doctor crouched behind the door. Like many of my pupils I actually called out for the Doctor not to open the door! DWM once commented that Doctor Who was most effective when it entered the nursery and presented child-like things in a scary way, and I'd agree this is a fine example.

Eccleston and Piper were on fine form in their different plot threads, The Doctor and Nancy scenes were well played and seemed very natural from both performers "and what do yer ears do?" genius (plus, none of that "FANTASTIC!" stuff). Captain Jack wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting either and it seems the "Adric 05" movement ended with Adam. The Rose and Jack scenes were amusing rather than irritating, Rose being as sleazy as Jack if not sleazier! Richard Wilson only had a bit as Constantine, but the gasmask sequence was brilliant, face-cracking or no face-cracking.

My criticisms of the series so far have been levelled at the wafer-thin plots that have arisen in the attempt to deliver a rounded Doctor and companion, "The Empty Child" has give fans an intriguiging premise and terrifying set pieces, I just hope the resolution gives a satisfying pay-off. "It's because of the Time War" does not count as a decent explanation (R, UD, D, FD). I'm convinced Moffat will deliver the goods though.

All in all I loved this episode. A lot. But has anyone else noticed that the best episodes have been the non-RTD ones? What's that all about?

‘The Empty Child’ has been called a “thing of wonder” in the pages of Doctor Who magazine. Although I do not consider this episode perfect – I think it is rather flawed in one way – I really have no option but to agree. I enjoyed it very much, and it was further proof that the guest writers on this series know how to write ‘Doctor Who’ and Russell T Davis doesn’t really. I am sure that he is good at seasons and plotting, and threading in story arcs, but in his scripts you just do not get the endearing and enjoyable characterisation that fills Mark Gatiss’, Paul Cornell’s and now Steven Moffat’s scripts, particularly of the Doctor.

To be fair, none of the writers before now have made me like the Ninth Doctor – he remains rock bottom of the list of Doctors I would choose to travel with, below even the Seventh in whose company I probably wouldn’t last a day! – but their guest characters were better. Now, Steven Moffat has succeeded with both the guests and the Doctor. Considering this is episode 9 of 13 I worry that this is perhaps a bit late, but never mind, can’t change it.

Mr Moffat evidently knows his Doctor Who. The Doctor is compassionate, wonderful, humble, intelligent and brave. He does things! He gets a whole plot strand to himself, rather than letting Rose do everything! This is partly due to the added time available in a two-parter (and no story deserves two episodes in which to unfold more than this), but it is mostly to do with the fact that we have got a writer who can write it like in the old days! This is amongst the most ‘trad’ episodes so far, a fact which I ascribe wholly to the excellent characterisation of our hero. I still don’t like Eccleston’s performance, but he is undeniably at his best yet, whether whilst delivering a speech on the courage of the British Isles standing up to Nazism, appearing amongst the orphan children at dinner and putting them completely at their ease, examining the ‘corpses’ with Dr Constantine (in a fabulous turn by Richard Wilson), or any of the other beautifully-scripted scenes provided by a fantastic script.

Fantastic, that is, except in one major way. As plot devices for getting the companion out of a certain death situation with the monster go, suddenly having a barrage balloon randomly drifting over, the companion grabbing the trailing rope, and getting hauled Mary Poppins-style over the rooftops of London in the midst of an air raid really takes the biscuit! (particularly as barrage balloons were secured by steel hawsers, not a single length of rope)

It is the single most laborious reveal of a plot element (i.e. they’re in the Blitz) I can think of! Curious, then, that at the time I barely noticed it. What is more, the succeeding scene with Captain Jack made up for it, perfectly referencing old espionage movies as Jack and Rose discuss ‘business’ that could affect millions of lives – with an added Doctor Who twist, the dance takes place on an invisible spaceship tethered next to Big Ben! Switching between romantic comedy the like of which Steven Moffat is justly famous for and full-on Zombie horror (in a sequence which rather reminded me of a stunt from Derren Brown’s C4 show) was contentious in my household, one viewer remarking how silly and surreal it all was and how much it detracted from the drama. But I liked it. It’s a two-parter – let it all hang out, I say. It isn’t as if the scene with Jack didn’t add anything to the plot.

The plot, too, is nicely traditional, and I was hooked from the opening shot. A truly thrilling beginning it was, actually, mostly because we haven’t seen nearly enough of the TARDIS this series. Seeing it in flight, looking like it did at the end of all those Season 13 episodes, was lovely.

This story, in conclusion, pressed all the right buttons, and left me feeling really happy, and glad that the estimable Mr Moffat will return next Season. The balance of Doctor/Rose plotlines and horror/fun, plus the great characterisation of our hero, should become the model for all future episodes.

Billed as the scariest 'Doctor Who' of the season so far, 'The Empty Child' lives up to the hype. Set during the London Blitz, it's a dark episode, both tonally & emotionally, with decided resonances of that other cult British sf series, 'Quatermass'. The eerie repetitive cries of the lost child, the wailing sirens, the rows upon rows of sinister gas masks -- it all added up to a chilling episode. The gas-mask scene (you know the one I mean) was probably the first time in the new series that I turned off my "I'm quadruple the age of the target audience" vibe & just reacted. The subdued score knew when to pull back and let silence do its work.

'The Empty Child' really proves the value of the double-episode cliffhanger format: the tension wound up slowly, the action never felt hurried, and we had time to grow to love Nancy (solidly portrayed by Florence Hoath) before her life is threatened. Richard Wilson was also perfect in his brief spot as the other Doctor.

I didn't warm immediately to time traveller & self-confessed conman Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), and his lightning-speed romance with Rose didn't quite convince. However, his introduction to Rose provides an interesting mirror to her early encounters with the Doctor. Harkness is dashing & technically-savvy; unlike the Doctor in 'The Unquiet Dead', he wears clothes that fit the period. Best of all, after he rescues Rose he sticks around to ply her with champagne, rather than just wandering off. I get the impression he might fit Rose's ideal of a time traveller rather better than the Doctor, and I'm interested to see where they're going with the three-way relationship.

Rose got a bit of a raw deal this week, what with the screaming & the swooning, but it was about time the Doctor got to be proactive in his own show. Indeed, 'The Empty Child' was an excellent episode for him, uniting both the dark & the light sides of the Ninth Doctor.

The Beeb is always good for a costume drama, and the interiors were all crammed with authentic-looking details. The stolen meal during the air raid was a wonderful touch -- though I did wonder why a family at that time would be eating tea at half past nine at night.

Nothing's perfect. The Rose-hanging-over-the-London-skyline moments were a bit "we can do cgi, nyah!"-ish, and in plot terms, I did wonder why Harkness decided to spill the beans so early. But the cliffhanger left plenty of other questions to while away the hours before next Saturday -- where did the virus come from (my money's on Harkness's nanotech)? will Rose abandon the Doctor to go off with the Captain? can the Doctor's "red is camp" comment in the teaser just be a mauve herring?

'The Empty Child' fuses old & new-style 'Who', and gives fans a new menace worthy to join the Cybermen & the Daleks. My season favourite so far.

Ramblings On a Seminal Point In a Series
with a Recovery borrowed from Mr Porter.

Slap me on the cheeks with a wet shiny kipper
Atmosphere with orribleВ’ spooky nipper
Reminding of В‘DonВ’t Look NowВ’ child haunts in Venice
Eerily seeking his Mummy with menace.
Praise for director and those in Production
For one thing we do better than any nation
IS LOCATION SCI-FI for tv.
In this we lead any other country.
You could tell Picard was always on a backlot
Ours is real, mixing history and sci fit plot.

Billie you need to act with your arms
For all that lovely scenic Blitz ariel display
Was marred by your swinging charms-
A lack of strength was obvious IВ’d say.
When you were first lifted by balloon barrage
Against a model city you looked too large
Later when viewed overhead
The landscape has perspective.
But your ascent,
Considering all the money spent
Should have been checked
Before transmission was wrecked
By a model and your arms not sufficiently bent.

Oh fellow reviewers most dear
IВ’ve come over all queer.
ON the settee IВ’ve had to lay myself down.
For Chris had screen time without Rose!
At last At last a writer who went with the Who- who knows!!!!
No gurning В– no beaming, no berating the crew.
Though I presume a Time Lord of his calibre
Would have known itВ’s War before seeing a poster?
But one thing I realised tonight
That his comment to save the world
Although said in a tone often mistaken for sarcasm,
Was in effect his statement of fact В–a truism.

The most dramatic cameo possibly.
From Wilson ever on the telly.
Effective В– quick- visually stunning
Sad, powerful and enthralling
This whole ward scene on good acting relied.
Shame that his talents so quickly died
As his purpose to explain story
Ended in an early demise gory.

Now Mr Barrowman
You know you could have been the man
To have played the Who
When old Chris leaves the Tardis too.
You had charisma and charm
Yet you too had secrets to alarm
Nicely played Sir- nearly a tap dance
On your spaceship roof romance.

Now sit back folks and think on
How much was packed into Part one.
Excellent characters- believable in their plight
Lovely artistic London well lit.
Did you not feel for the young girl
Hearing her brothers heartfelt plea
After we had found out his identity.

Awards spring to mind
Of the acting and directorial kind.
X Files type lighting
Moody mysterious В–exciting.
We were not just behind our settees
But on the edge drawn in with ease.
Tributes to a writer who treated his audience with respect
The tension and empathy for Nancy kept
Our family intruiged and vexed
Wanting answers, thinking as to what next!!

So I can hear from inside that little box with panels retro
The sound of singing from a Cole Porter show.
For Capt Harkness remembering his previous life
Leads Rose and the good Doc in a song of strife.

The night is young, my ship is near
So if you want to go dancing, dear,
It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely.
You understand the Doctor well
You're his sweet sidekick -soon so will I,
It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely.
You can shout out with glee
What a swell plot this is- most gory,
You can hear childВ’s sad cry Mummy
Murmuring low.
В“DonВ’t let me goВ”
So please dear Rose, with bottom sweet
Just let me sell you, space junk quite neat.
"It's hospital, it's ambulance,
It's detectable, so alien tech,
Good episode, it's tight writinВ’, awards soon.
It's de-lovely".
ROSE:
I left the Doctor to his plot
To prove its his show in case weВ’d forgot.
CAPT.
I believed the stories were all yours
With more screentime in your clause!!
ROSE:
This part, my agent said to me
Will outgrow Doctor Who consequently
CAPT:
But Moffat saw the light,
Brought in me, Nance and Chris to put things right...
ROSE:
No, No, No,No,
Why, Why, Why, Why, Why,
Will I go? Will I go?
The show is young, the futureВ’s bright
Keep away from Mum plots- weВ’ll be alright
It's deciding, itВ’s where we go, that estate or no?
I want to see more monsters too
Not more Welsh Slitheens having a poo,
It's Eastenders, it's Emmerdale, it's worry-inВ’.
You can tell thereВ’s been planning ahead
Davies and writers have planned a thread,
But I hear all my relations
Whispering low,
"Wait itВ’s our show!"
DOCTOR:
I brought Who back with depth and growth.
And when I leave you, just say to me,
"It's delightful, it's delicious,
It's...It's de-lovely".

Well, that was a fantastic episode! We had guests over on Saturday and all seemed to enjoy it, my wife is now a confirmed fan of this new Doctor Who series. She was genuinely scared during The Empty Child and quite annoyed that it's a two-parter as we're kept waiting for a week to discover the conclusion! She's also desperate to get tickets to the special BAFTA showing of episode 13. If the show has been able to pull a casual viewer such as her into the fold then it really has succeeded.

The Doctor and Rose find themselves in the middle of the Blitz on London, he following some suspicious children and she ending up clinging to a rope of a barrage baloon. Rose is rescued by the dashing Captain Jack, who turns out to be a time traveller himself. Quite who the "time agents" he speaks of are we don't yet know but it's all intriguing. Rose obviously takes to him and I have no doubts we'll see more of this character.

Meanwhile, the Doctor finds that the children are apparently homeless and ingeniously waiting for air rades to enter homes of families who are packed into their Anderson shelters in order to eat. But one child, always wearing a gas mask and asking for his mummy isn't allowed in the house. He also appears to be able to make any telephone ring, even the disconnected one on the outside of the Tardis and the Doctor is warned not to touch him.

It transpires that an alien vessel landed nearby, mistaken initially for a bomb, and it has caused strange casualties. The Doctor visits Albion hospital where he finds an ailing doctor tending patients who show no signs of life. All appear to be wearing gas masks, all were "infected" by the alien object and when startled all sit up despite fatal physical injuries. The hospital doctor himself has become infected, and in an excellent use of CGI his whole face sprouts a gas mask! We must assume that some alien is now living inside the victims, and that it needs the mask to filter the air though this has not yet been made clear.

The whole episode was paced well, dialogue was good and the special effects, while not an intergral part of this story were great when they were needed. The atmosphere was very dark and scary, very in keeping with mid 70's Doctor Who. The new character has truly swept Rose off her feet and is a very interesting addition to the mix.

I only hope that "The Doctor Dances" keeps up this excellence, and that the Doctor himself is able to resolve the alien goings on rather than one of his sidekicks. If so this could well go down as an absolute classic Doctor Who story, truly one of the very best.

Could anything beat the evocative and excellently crafted "Unquiet Dead"? Well, I wasn't so sure until "The Empty Child" came along. This is Doctor Who at its very best. Steven Moffat manages in one fell swoop to capture essences of science fiction, horror and period drama, distilling them into something extraordinary.

Immediately, from the opening scenes in the dark 1940s backstreets of London, the viewer was subjected to a sort of surrealist horror which has not been seen since the demise of Sapphire and Steel from the small screen. Everything about this episode really hit the spot. From the shock of the Tardis telephone ringing, to the increadibly eerie figure of the Empty Child himself lurking continually in the background, plaintively asking "Where is my mummy?" - all sent shivers down the spine.

Moffat clearly is a story teller of great aptitude, demonstrating the ability to drive a complex narrative forward at a fast pace without leaving the viewer behind. Intriguing new story-arc developments such as the introduction of Captain Jack tease the viewer on multiple levels.

The realisation of wartime London is executed with aplomb, the attention to detail takes your breath away - the scene with the night-club singer being just one example of this. The direction and editing are exemplarly too.

Only two things spoil what might be the most perfect Doctor Who story yet. Firstly Miss Piper herself, who I just cannot warm to, with her incomprehensible and frequent smirching of the Doctor (what is this "spock" that she wants to be given???). Secondly the fact that the episode was 40 minutes long and not 45. Is this really because Captain Jack's bisexual behaviour was cut by the BBC censors as the tabloids suggest?

Nevertheless, this episode takes the new series to an apex point. Can it get even better still? We will have to wait and see. Even if it does not, this one is more than good enough.