Poor acting and juvenile aliens marked Rose's return to London after her brief travels with The Doctor.

After the promise of a spectacular crash landing, an alien invasion and above all a new alien we were treated to the worst characters ever to appear in any serial science-fiction, children's or otherwise.

The Doctor has agreed to take Rose back home and through the versatility of the TARDIS re-assures her that she will return a mere twelve hours after she left with the Doctor in the wake of the Nestene invasion. Unfortunately after missing the mark last week by ending up in Cardiff 1869 instead of Naples 1860, Rose is returned not twelve hours after she left but twelve months.

Predictably it hasn’t been good for those she left behind, the cowardly boyfriend Mickey and her overprotective mother Jackie, neither have whom have changed much still coming off as very shallow characters. Camille Coduri seems to be stuck in a role she played several years ago and Noel Clarke is still showing less emotion than he did when an Auton replaced him. The domestic scenes that attempt to address key issues in Rose’s absence seem out of place as they reveal little about the characters or the situation in which they have been thrown. In fact some plot points seem to get a single line afforded to them before being all but forgotten.

The impact Rose’s disappearance and subsequent returned while addressed was not explored deeply enough, another casualty of the stories reduced runtime, considering this was the first of a number of two-part stories expectation was high that a more well developed story would have emerged. Sadly this was not the case as the re-appearance of Jimmy ‘moxx of balhoun’ Vee as a false alien was hastily explained; presumably to give the new aliens more screen time.

Here lies the rub. In the trailer we were afforded a glimpse of the new aliens The Slitheen, insect like larval creatures with terrifying claws and fangs. As highly publicised as the Face of Boe, their increased screen time and the appalling realisation of their shape shifting abilities, threatened my viewing support. Instead of a race of merciless invading aliens we are treated to a scatological cacophony, which instead of inconveniencing the aliens causes them to laugh like schoolboys. The juvenile attitude they have to bodily functions and announcing that they have been busy enjoying themselves with wives and mistresses reduces any impact they once had to an uncomfortable embarrassment.

Upon hearing of the two part episodes I was looking forward to a return of the classic Doctor Who cliffhanger that set it apart from other programs of its time. Even this was handled poorly with a series of anticipated attacks and laborious reveals of the aliens. Three cliffhangers for the price of one not being the value item it appeared to be, plus the inclusion of a sneak preview of the next episode made the cliff hanger redundant as it revealed that sure enough all threatened characters would survive their ordeals. The zip in the forehead was a nice touch but Aliens in human skin smacks far too much of Men In Black as much as The observation deck at the end of the world reminded one entirely of the Restaurant at the end of the universe, an environment people are sure to become familiar with through the release of the recent feature film version of The Hitchhikers’ Guide To The Galaxy.

Another nice touch, well received is the nod to UNIT, as is the news coverage of the alien’s crash landing. This was unfortunately overdone and I felt the story sagging somewhat as the Doctor struggled to glean information from the broadcasts amidst the general chatter of Rose’s family and friends. In fact I wanted The Doctor to get off his behind and blag his way into the thick of the action, and hopefully find a military foil akin to Group Cptn. Gilmore, Winifred Bambera or even the good old Brigadier himself. As for him having changed so much they wouldn’t recognize him, you can’t help thinking this is rather a poor excuse, as it never bothered him in the past. This is an issue one can let pass though as continuity of the original, while acknowledged, is not a requirement of this new series.

Overall this episode stands as a low point of this and the history of the program, which will hopefully be rectified in upcoming episodes.

What the Shakespeare! Following Gatiss's foray into what the series is capable of RTD comes back on board with a mix bag that, for the first time in four weeks, left me wondering who'd won Ant Vs Dec. It was Dec by the way, Ant ended up taking a jungle shower, which (in case you were wondering) isn't something you order from a Malaysian prostitute. Purile you say? Well it wasn't much different on the Beeb was it?

Coming from a Tom Baker background for me this one was doomed to failure, a time travel show set in the present, UNIT (the purview of Pertwee), Micky and Mrs Tyler and a cameo from Andrew Marr. However, cunningly, this one was set a year in the future showing the TARDIS in full cock up mode and the implications of travelling through time per se. This was very clever and Mickey's 5 arrests coupled with council estate gossip gave a glimpse of what may have happened in the lives of 900 years worth of companions. Micky had his acting head on (well more so than in Rose anyway), UNIT was actually a welcome cameo and the news footage was a healthy dose of realism. Clips from Rose at the start of the episode looked better than I'd remembered and suggested that this is best viewed as a 13 part story rather than a series of individual episodes.

So what did go wrong? The aliens fart, and their transition from rubber to CGI is as obvious as the moveable items in the background of a Scooby Doo. That plump woman is from every children's programme of the last 15 years and every third episode of Peak Practice, Heartbeat & the Bill and was a face too familiar, and rosy, for a villain. Worst of all the incidental music would need to be toned down for an episode of You've Been Framed. It could just be Lucasphobia, but I've had my fill of interstellar flatulence, perhaps its rampant postmodernism knackering TV innocence but End of the World's deadly fans - post Galaxy Quest and now the Austin Powers laughter just didn't sit right. Am I thick? Is this homage to homage, cultural bricolage gone mad, or is it actually making the mistake that Lucas makes and Pixar doesn't i.e.aiming entertainment at children based on the fact that children (as well as adults) like it?

Doctor Who has always been more Harry than Dennis Potter, but that doesn't mean its crap or just for kids. It doesn't have to be a realistic and hard nosed social commentry and rubber monsters don't matter when its Tom Baker and not Rose's Mum struggling against them. I remember an Australian programme where aliens-in-disguise sweated intensely whenever their plan went pear-shaped because of a couple of meddling Kylies. Seeing that antipodean chauffeur mopping his brow filled me with fear, the Blazing Saddles trumpathon did not. The trouble is when it starts to slip enough for your mind to wander it all falls apart. Last week the snow on the TARDIS drifted away when it dematerialised, this week the graffiti stays put (it must have been one of those anti time and space travel spray paints from Halfords - don't leave your century without it). The alien plot was bizarrely complicated, still I suppose an open invite to a SETI convention in the local rag wouldn't have grabbed the Doctor's attention would it? Why was the tubby fella next in line for PM? Why didn't any of the Cabinet race to No.10 of their own volition? Why not make a suit of the PM rather than his underlings, the aliens seemed bigger than the suits so don't tell me they could only mimic fat people? And whilst we all know it's a 13 part series, so no one major is going to die, having a triple cliff-hanger followed by clips from next week does seem a bit pointless. The trigger happy army will shoot an unarmed pig but obey an intruding unidentified leather jacketed Manc who says "pattern delta" in a stern voice. The police and Rose's mum think Micky killed Rose on the night that marauding living shop window dummies shot shopping Londoners left right and centre? Rose, who actually abandoned Micky only a couple of days ago, has missed him whilst also travelling to the years 5 billion and 1869 (stopping off for chips midway) and has also decided that the Doctor is much more important than a boyfriend, it was only two episodes ago she was scratching her head at joining him in the first place?

Overall I didn't like it, apart from the bits I didn't think I'd like, whether this was symptomatic of the unfair juxtaposition with The Unquiet Dead, initially forgivable teething problems with the new series starting to grate or just the episode in its own right I don't know. I'll be watching next week and IF I do get the TARDIS series box set Aliens of London is one I'll avoid but with Micky and Rose's mum set to appear in the Dalek two parter I hope the series doesn't suffer from more CHAV than wheat. Whatever I think, and I accept that I come from a vocal group that may not necessarily be the target audience, I can only imagine that any battles for the remote control next week will be harder to win if it's the Doctor you want on, and that can't be a good thing.

The latest episode of Doctor Who was I am sad to say a little disappointing.

I like a fart gag as much as the next guy. No doubt RTD imagined that kids will be letting rip and declaring themselves aliens in playgrounds up and down the country. School rooms will reverberate to 'Sorry miss, i can't help it i'm a slyltheen'. Fine a throw away line, a quick laugh and be done with it. But for god sakes, it went on and on. I can understand RTD's desire to lighten the mood for the kiddies, but this was purile cheap and frankly nasty.

I rather liked the opening section in which Rose returned a year after she left, to find herself declared a missing person. it's an obvious plot device and I think the scenes with rose's mother were a nice touch and having watched 'confidential' looks like it might be developed further.

The Alien spacship crashing was resonably well done, although I found the design a bit to retro. The aftermath was ok but the TV reporter was weak. Nice to see Andrew Marr involved though.

Eccleston continues to give a decent performance as the Doctor, and Piper is a delight. The supporting cast are less impressive. Camille Coduri is average, and Noel Clarke is frankly wooden.... and what's with this whole Ricky bit from the Doctor. He comes across as both petulant and jealous.

The rest of the guest cast seem to treat the show as an extension of panto season. They overacted and over played everything.

The scene in Albion hospital was a good one. I'll even forgive the upright pig in a spacesuit. However, the actions of the soldier was a little farfetched. One moment they are pointing guns at the Doctor, the next, they are folowing orders from him. it was just a bit too lazy and rushed.

This brings me to one of my major concerns for the long term health of the show. Having RTD , as exec producer , de facto script commisioner, editor and writer, means no one is in a position to say, NO! and that's what this episode needed badly. In his first two scripts RTD was forced by the format to keep things tight and fast paced, and I suspect this reduced his ability to over indulge, but alas given 1 hour 30 mins to tell his story, he has allowed himself to overindulge in uncalled for homour and a lack of real tension.

As a two parter, much hinged on the cliffhanger. Oh dear , even this was badly handled with 3 seperate slow Alien reveals while everyone stands around and watches. The Aliens themself are average, and some of the effects work looked unfinished.

Then to make matters worse the 'next week' segment follows straight on, losing any dramatic tension built up. One of the aims of the show was to educate children to expect better TV. I am afraid this was not a good example. Children are much smarter than RTD gives them credit for.

One of the greatest pleasures I have had in the past few weeks has been the number of people who knowing my devotion to Doctor Who, have come up to me at work and told me how amazed they have been by the new series. I suspect that come monday morning i will be reminded of some of the darker moments of the Eighties.

Still onwards and upwards. Doctor saves the world, and bring on the Daleks!

Russell T Davies was the ideal choice to relaunch Doctor Who. There can be no doubt about it. Not only was he a fan, he was a top notch writer with experience in both genre and real-life drama.

What's becoming most interesting is that it is his real-life drama experience which seems to be working best in his latest project.

Doctor Who is never again going to be about hitting the reset button each week, having an adventure, disappearing off to find adventure somewhere else. And quite rightly. Today's audiences expect rounded characters, story arcs, teasing surprises. All of this Davis excels at. But there does seem to be a slight tension in his writing between this form of storytelling and his wish to keep Doctor Who recognisable as the show he always loved.

Alien of London was a perfect example of this. Rose returning a year later to the consequences of her departure - pitch perfect. Even Mickey the Plastic Actor gave a reasonable account of himself in this side of the show. The 'Bad Wolf' reference continues to tease, the spaceship crash was pitch-perfect, the news reporting, while at times a little melodramatic, was a great touch. The whole 'First Contact' angle was lovely. And we got a mention of UNIT into the bargain. Great.

Then we come to the problems. This is a family show. The BBC don't really need fans tuning in every week, they need families. So slapstick humour, manic grinning with 'fantastic' attached, the odd (perpetually awful) incidental music ding-a-ling I can understand and really don't mind. This aint Ultraviolet. But why did nobody at any point realise that today's children are savvy. They like dark, hard-edged stuff - take a look at Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket and the Philip Pullman novels. Have a look at the size of Buffy's audience which was preteen. Burping bins and farting aliens who giggle at their flatulence just weaken the show. There are better ways to please the target audience whilst not irritating everyone over 12 (still a sizeable proportion of the audience) who are watching.

Then there are the Slitheen. Sigh. And things were going so well. The Autons were a bit clunky, but you could see the thinking. The freak show in The End of the World was wonderful. The Gelth were absolutely, wide-eyed awesome. It looks like Ep 5's budget was splurged on the crash-landing, leaving us with rubber suits with bobble heads, horrible fake human skins and the dodgiest transformation CGI this side of Red Dwarf - which was at least a comedy at heart. Compare this to the CGI in The End of the World. You'd swear you were watching a different show.

The performances ... I seem to recall hearing that a lot of this ep was filmed at the start of the shoot, which would explain Chris Ecclestone's slight shakiness (much more reminiscent of Rose than the masterclass of the previous 2 episodes). It's ironic that Billie Piper was the casting which caused the most controversy, since she consistently steals every episode. It speaks volumes that, upon Ecclestone quitting, I was immeasurably relieved to hear that Billie would be staying.

The story could well wrap up nicely next week, we'll have to wait and see.

So, for me, Ep 2 remains the most satisfying so far. But, not to worry, for the all-conquering Dalek storylines, Simon Pegg and Paul Cornell's eps are still to come!

It has to be said that Aliens of London is the episode of the series so far that has left me least ecstatic - whether that is because of the quality of the episode, or just because the novelty of new Doctor Who is subsiding remains to be seen. However there were many bits that I liked and some that I was not so keen on.

The crash landing and the mocked up BBC News 24 coverage was excellent - as had been expected from last week's trailer. It's good to see a full scale invasion of Earth again - with the army, politicians and mock TV crews - and this felt like very traditional Who territory. In fact, there were many elements that made this episode feel more like the old series than any of the previous three. In many respects it felt reassuringly familiar. It is obvious that the two parter format is going to allow for more slow-building, complex plots and this, again, felt more like 'classic' Who. While not being overly complex, the plot was interesting, and the idea of the faked crash landing good. The mention of UNIT was also a nice little touch, put in to excite those of us who care about these things. The Doctor was once again quickly bossing around soldiers, just as he used to do in the Pertwee days. The Slitheen look very like traditional Who monsters, right down to their slightly rubbery, 70s looking costumes. And there was a cliffhanger! Just like the old series...only this one was largely negated by the teaser trailer for next week. Yes, I know nobody expects that the Doctor is about to die, but to see him running around grinning, just three seconds after the cliffhanger takes the edge off of it a little bit. That was a shame.

So, there were many elements to this episode that seem, on paper at least, to be very 'old Who'. However, if anybody was expecting Spearhead from Space, they were in for a shock. This was '2005 Who' through and through (and more specifically 'RTD Who'). After the sombre ghosts of The Unquiet Dead I think some people may have been unprepared for farting aliens and flying pigs, however I think that, outrageous as these elements seem, they managed to work - just. While they were a little too frequent, at least the fart gags did have a reasoning and purpose in the plot (beyond making the kids laugh). And the pig - well that was a complete surprise and an audacious move. I find that, as silly as 'RTD Who' (in contrast to The Unquiet Dead) can sometimes be, I do actually quite like it. And I think the reason is that it is so fresh and daring that it takes my breath away. It is so different to how the series was, while still being recognisably Who, that I can't help but be impressed. It would have been inconceivable in the old series that a companion would turn around to the Doctor and say "you're so gay", but in Aliens of London it was a minor aside that seemed so natural I'd completely forgotten about it five minutes later.

Other non-traditional elements of the story were, of course, the 'domestic scenes' and, once again, these do work. I love Rose's mum and even Mickey is alright this time around. However, I do feel that the series should now start to move on a bit beyond 'Rose's story'. It's been refreshing to see that the companion, and the effects of time travel on her, have been handled realistically, and she has been given a background. But if Rose is still squealing "but it's soooo alien", endlessly pondering the effects of time travel and arguing with her boyfriend and mum by episode 13, it may have got a bit soapish and a bit boring.

Finally, I just need to make a point about Christopher Eccleston's Doctor. Although his portrayal is largely good and his relationship with Rose interesting and intriguing, I just wish he would stop laughing and grinning inanely at everything! It sometimes seems a little put-on and makes me wince (I think it was in the car going to Downing Street). There seems to be a hint of a slightly pseudo-sexual relationship developing between the Doctor and Rose and it will be interesting to see how that pans out over the series - tricky territory.

All in all then, I enjoyed Aliens of London. The silliness really should have been toned down a bit, and hopefully CE will calm down a little as the series goes on, but Doctor Who is still the most original, enjoyable, clever and interesting programme on TV on a Saturday night by a long shot.