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!

This is the Doctor Who episode I have been waiting for since ( I could say it all began, but I was only born in 1967) I remember watching it. For all the time periods that the Doctor has visited, he has never dealt with any machinations of the Second World War. The nearest he has come to it is in The War Games but that was WWI and soldiers transported no another period and Curse of Fenric but that was set after.

And as far as I am concerned the best "ghost" stories have elements of WWII in them, saying that only Sapphire & Steel's 100 part Second Adventure (actually it was eight, but t seemed it went on forever) springs to mind. So this story already had a heads up in my view. And it didn't disappoint.

The precredit sequence was one of the better of the series. I have find these to be hit and miss affairs. Just another nod to the theme tune which I love (another request for a fast release on CD)

The Doctor and Rose land and it's straight into the adventure. The chills start almost immediately with the "child" constantly calling "Mummy" and the incidental music assisting. I've already got chills up my spine and I'm 38 and it's daylight at 6.30pm. Rose finds a rope and is pulled up into what HAS to be the best special effect sequence (ever -- well, bar Star Wars episode III opening battle) These scenes of the blitz surpass anything I have seen in Pearl Harbor and the like. Already Rose is in peril and the clever thing in this opening escapade is that what I expected to be the cliffhanger of the story (Rose falling from the rope) was handled in the first 20 minutes.

Her eventual rescue by Captain Jack is great with her doe-eyed look and fainting pure comedy. In fact there is quite a lot of comic moments in this episode considering the very dark and sinister nature of the plot with a special note to the most unforced "Doctor Who?" line in the whole Who history. Going back to Captain Jack, which I could again and again. His bisexual tendencies have been mentioned in the media and I initially thought this might be unnecessary overkill on a theme (there have been frequent gay references through the new series so far) the throwaway line was quite minimal and funny too. In the event I hope this thread is continued.

The child actors were superb; again, British kids can perform creepy better than anyone. The child stalking the city was just plain shit-scary even just with his hand through the letterbox. Richard Wilson as the "other" doctor had limited screen time and I hope there is more of him next week but he certainly commanded his brief scenes. However, this is Chris Eccleston's best performance to date, eerily subdued but again with a huge amount of humour coming across very "human". Billie Piper again has her best role in this "Hello, Hello" - faint "Doctor Who?" etc.

As mentioned the effects were outstanding and it's a long time that I have found a cgi/special effect to send shivers up my spine. That happened during Doctor Constantine's transformation. But as I said before, it's got that WWII ghost story/gas mask voices in the air creepiness that I adore.

Finally I was really happy that they had abandoned the trailer of the next episode as I don't think they should be part of two episode stories (it was on after the end credits, but my tape switched to Confidential before it finished so I didn't see it). hopefully this will be lost altogether for cliffhangers.

Stephen Moffat shoots to the top of my list with this story and although I agree the "guest writers" have written the better stories, those badmouthing RTD should take a step back and take note that his stories are just as good and I'm sure he has had the most input in the story arc which I find the most interesting. With respect to the other producers and heads of BBC, he brought Doctor Who back successfully to our screens.

So, Empty Child heads my list beating The Unquiet Dead (finally off top spot), Father's Day, Dalek, The Long Game (purely for Simon Pegg's performance), Rose, AoL/WWIII and The End of the World.

Well, this is the episode that really delivered the goods for me. The mystery ridden Empty Child marks a return to classic Who and contained at least two scenes that will remain forever with the viewer.

The Empty Child sizzled from the start and ensured that the viewer was kept on the edge of his or her seat as the drama unravelled. The point-of-view shots from the ghostly child of the title proved unsettling and the figure's appearance in various scenes were used to great effect.

The skybound scenes of peril with Rose were extremely well executed, with the boys from The Mill producing a visually stunning recreation of the blitz from their electronic box of tricks.

Richard Wilson's unfortunate demise as Doctor Constantine will become forever known as "the gas-mask scene" - possibly the most bizarre "death" scene yet witnessed on Doctor Who, guaranteed to send the adults scurrying behind their settees, never mind the children.

Solid performances from all cast members, particularly John Barrowman as Jack Harness, a stonking great script from Steven Moffat, and fluid direction by James Hawes resulting in 45 minutes of pure television bliss.

Finishing with a rivetting cliffhanger which brought back memories of many Italian zombie movies, The Empty Child proved a stunning return to the haunting '70s earthbound tales and left me gasping for more.

Well.. I really looked forward to this one, and wasn’t disappointed at all. For a change we saw the TARDIS in flight at the beginning which made a nice change and was interesting to see it materialize whilst the camera was still moving, very good. This seasons stories have been such a mish mash of the very good to average, with we're led to believe the better, more interesting ones at the end of the season, leading up to the revelations we're all dying to see.

This story was so good from the start, the sets, the costumes, all filmed at night... and launched immediately into the story. I’m not entirely sure what the point of the Doctor entering the night club was for, it didn’t really need to be there but then they had to engineer their drifting apart somehow.

Billie’s scene from the balloon was exceedingly well made, the London scenes were imaginative and brought a real sense of what it must have been like for the people of that time, occasionally it was obvious that this was a special effect, especially to old cynical die hards like me, but it was so incredibly well done you could forgive these technicians anything and I could imagine children being totally enthralled as I was all those years ago.

Captain Jack's entry was interesting; he is obviously a rogue who uses not only his mental abilities to survive but his charm and good looks too. The officers face when Jack told him he had a nice bottom too, spoke volumes. This is a fella that bats for both sides and knows exactly the effect he has on people.

I was a tiny bit disappointed in Billie’s reaction to him, she suddenly became a giggly soppy girl for a few moments and it was almost like seeing a different character, but then after what had happened, if a dashing handsome man caught you in his arms, I’m sure more than a few of us would think Christmas had come early that year.

The children were exceedingly well used, the scene in the dining room, around the table worked well, children can be sometimes the best actors and sometimes ,as Coronation Street viewers will know, the absolutely worst. Their surprise at the Doctor’s arrival was a joy, and the lad with half his dinner hanging out of his open mouth looked so normal and amusing.

There is something very chilling about these gas masks, its the old clichй of not being able to see the eyes, therefore losing all the humanity. They used this to the max, and the moment when the Doctor slowly changed took my breath away, that was so well done and very chilling, I don’t doubt there were a few wet beds that night. I'm waiting for the Great and the Good to all complain in the Guardian tomorrow, not that anyone takes any notice.

I kind of hoped that the Captain was going to keep his secrets a little longer than he did, or maybe he has, we know there’s major surprises to come... but most con men don’t own up that quickly, they don’t give a damn about anything or anyone providing there’s a profit and so to see him admit to it, didn’t feel right and was a bit of a let down. Methinks there’s more to come here.

Immediately you can see the Doctor isn’t overly keen on this young handsome man,, as he was with the lad from The Long Game and Dalek, they are a threat. I can't quite fathom out what is going on there...the Doctor has never shown any interest in the old rumpy pumpy side of things and yet here he is, happy to have this pretty bangle dangling from his arm, and acting like a normal jealous human man. I have my own theories on this and I expect I’m miles off the mark, but the last episode will be the clincher on this one hopefully and explain all.,

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable piece of British TV again, it just gets better and better, (maybe apart from Long Game) and long may she reign.

And thank god, the preview has been moved, no doubt Russell’s been reading these reviews...I would if I was him.

To put my review in context I need to give you some background to my Doctor Who past.

I am in my late thirties and grew up as a kid watching Doctor Who. When I was nine my family relocated to darkest Africa, this meant that my TV knowledge of Doctor Who ended during the Tom Baker era. He was my fave doctor followed by Pertwee.

In the absence of the TV show in Nigeria, I read a few novels but not many. Hence my knowledge of Dr. Who while not insignificant is nowhere near geek level.

With this in mind when I moved back to England, I tried to watch episodes of the Doctor that I had missed but could not help but find it cheesy and very unscary!

But I was among the people who eagerly awaited the launch of this new series. The first episode left me a bit cold and so did the next two.

I decided that I will watch it for a couple more and if it does not improve I'd jack it in.

Well along came the episode "Dalek" which I liked and decided to stay for a few more, then we got "Father's Day" which in my opinion is the best episode so far and is a classic in the making.

Now "Empty Child" had a tough act to follow but guess what? It is a good gripping yarn.

There is always something chilling about kids acting strange. And in this episode the image of a kid with a gas mark walking around continually asking if you are it's mum, was as scary as the cybermen (they scared me the most as a kid).

In this episode we are introduced to the concepts of time agents, which is a new one to me but may be something others are aware of and which I missed.

The acting in this episode is of great quality and Richard Wilson's (good ol' Victor Meldrew) portrayal of an undersiege medical Doctor was top class.

The thing I like about this new series of Doctor Who is that it has a unique British feel to it, the manifestation of the symptoms of the disease on it's victims was something I'd only expect from an Brit's mind, it was twisted!

The whole idea of how Rose gets picked up by a blimp and just happens to be spotted by the time agent I found a bit implausible. And is it me but does Rose seem to get smitten quite often? I mean I know that Mikey is a bit of a wet blanket but he hasn't been offically dumped yet has he?

I liked though the idea of the time travelling con artist and how he tried to sting the Doctor but surely as a time traveller money shouldn't really be a problem should it.

Another good touch was how Rose vocalised the fact that the Doctor does not act in the manner of most american Sci-fi characters with thier scans and more stereotypical ways and she finds the conman more comforting when he acts more like Spock.

This is a two parter and I found it gripping enough to make me eager to watch the concluding part.