Y'know, since reading much of his earlier Doctor Who work, I had high hopes for Paul Cornell's contribution to the new series. I also had fears that the frantic pace of the show's new format would detract something from the story, which I felt the previous episode (The Long Game) suffered from somewhat. I really had no need to worry did I?

Absolutely fantastic episode. Personally I love stories concerning time getting coked-up, but as well as satisfying my fanboy needs, this was a superb slice of moving drama with some fantastic character moments. Billie Piper continues to astound me with the depth of her acting abilities- tonight's episode being (in my humble opinion) her finest work in the series. Mr eccleston doesn't disappoint either, only continuing to make us all realise we're going to miss him once David Tennant takes over. The darkness that is usually only glimpsed at in the character of the Doctor came to the fore on numerous occasions during 'Father's Day', which was a wonderful thing to behold. Its the moments of darkness in his character that make us remember just how old and how alien he is.

The Reapers were fantastic. I am curious though; They seemed much more realistic than the shot we saw duing the showreel that was broadcast on the Jonothan Ross show before the series started- could it be they were unfinished then and had some extra work done before broadcast? They certainly seemd to be textured much more convincingly. Superb design for Doctor Who monsters as well- that sudden movement of the wings was quite a sight to behold.

The flawed bits of the series, i.e. Jackie and Mickey, regained some ground with a great performance from Jackie and a sweet story point with the little boy as a young Mickey.

Rose had some excellent exchanges with her father, especially the dialogue regarding why he shouldn't 'go there'- classic! The drama was beautiful once it had been established that her dad realised who Rose actually was. His final sacrifice was moving and superbly handled.

If anything seemed rushed in tonight's episode, it was the transition from Rose's parents wondering who she was to believing she was a time-travelling version of their baby. That felt like there had been a little too much script pruning to make it fit the 45 minute slot. It was still great, but that one moment was tonight's weak point for me.

Quite a shock to see the Doctor actually get eaten though!!!

Great episode, moving, poignant and extremely well-made. The nods to the 80's way of life were excellent.

I hope that the bext series contains episodes as good as this and "The Unquiet Dead" and "Dalek". While RTD's scripts have been brilliant, the guest writers seem to have given it that little extra push and have made this series incredibly special. I don't want it to end.

If Russell T Davies' stint on Doctor Who has offered any single quality, it has to be diversity. From the dark suspense of "Dalek", to the light retro pulp sci-fi of "The Long Game", we are now swung head on into the rollercoaster of the human condition: "Father's Day".

I have quite enjoyed the new Dr Who series, as a long time fan from when it first started. I understand that they have adapted the new series for those who might never have been able to watch it before. And although I have accepted there has to be change, and I have allowed for the new Doctor Who's attitude, tonight's episode just didn't ring true to me.

The Doctor can be arrogant a bit of an enigma, but would he really be so stupid? I am having a hard time swallowing the fact he keeps putting his emotional attachement to Rose before everything else.

Knowing he is the last of the Time Lords and that is a weighty responsibility, he still goes ahead to take her back in time to the moment of her father's death on a whim, and his little lovers tiff with her when it all goes pear shaped is making him look pretty pathetic and totally unbelievable.

Come on, the Doctor has dealt with the human race before, he has had other companions, and he was emotionally attached to them. But I think they have taken the Rose/Doctor relationship a bit overboard, and it's starting to irritate me now.

When is the series going to concentrate about aliens and adventure instead of how much the Doctor loves Rose? It's starting to make me nauseous watching them together, and all that petty jealousy and bickering whenever another man comes into Rose's life.. even her father. This episode more than any others brought that out and spoilt it for me. I also thought it was a bit cheap of the BBC to plug one of their other top shows, Only Fools and Horses, making out Rose's dad to be like Del Boy.

Please start concentrating on other things than Rose, thank you.

I simply can not believe how good "Father's Day" was. This is a story that has been done several times throughout science fiction, and it is a subject that has at least been brought up several times in Doctor Who: The past cannot be changed or there are consequences. Period. However where so many other stories could have been predictable or have dozens of loopholes, this story is solid and surprisingly touching thanks to the acting of Rose and her dad (I'm sure that someone from England will point out he is from this show or that, but as an American let me just say he did a very good job). One of the best things about the episode is that we have worked out that her Dad will need to throw himself in front of the car to save the day about ten minutes into the story. The best part is, so has the Doctor and he sacrifices himself to protect Rose. It is impossible for any of the previous Doctors to ever have said anything close to as mean as what this Doctor says to Rose when she saves her Dad, and yet she knows he would never leave her and he accepts a sincere apology from her with a grin and a hug. Sign of the times and it works brilliantly. Another sign of the times is the fact that the Doctor has worked out the solution while being in the situation for just a few minutes, and neither professes to everyone how he has in bombastic fashion, nor does he "work it out" as the episode progresses as many of the past Doctors would have been forced to do (because of a much longer episode, or sometimes the sheer stupidity of the people around him).

Another great thing about this episode, is the use of a new creature. Where many die hard fans would say "Oh and how come we haven't ever seen THESE guys before?!", the writer says almost matter of factly that the Timelords would have stopped these creatures right away but they are gone. Therefore, there are potentially many things we will be able to see that are now possible without these "Guardians of the Universe" around to act as cosmic police. It was one of the first times I saw the potential good of not having Timelords as opposed to the obvious sadness and bad.

On a side note, this episode was such an easy concept and in the end it is what made it great. Star Trek Enterprise ended this weekend, and if you don't know yourself I believe you will read or hear what a piss poor job they did of ending it. The people in charge don't care about their fans, they don't care about their franchise and that's a couple of many reasons why Star Trek is now gone. Perhaps that's why America won't show Doctor Who. They are scared of the comparison. You can feel the care put into this show. It truly is sad that Chris is gone because he puts so much emotion in this Doctor. Billie is amazing as well. It has to be like Britney Spears being a new cast member in Star Trek and actually being one of the best actors in it. It has to be amazing to be English and see what she does for this show. From the materialization of the Tardis, to the acting and emotion put into these characters, to the addition of new FX, this has become some of the best Doctor Who ever made and that truly is amazing.

Back to a summary of the episode itself, the new creatures were awesome and well explained, the acting was excellent (I'm a big guy and the last part with Rose and her Dad made me want to call my Dad), and the care put into explanation of the story and seal plot holes (to the point of showing the doubles of the Doctor and Rose when Rose tries to go to her Dad a second time!) made this very simple "Father's Day" story, in my honest opinion, one of the best.

This has got to be the episode least like Doctor who of the whole 42 years. But it was a triumph. The best piece of Doctor Who drama I have seen and probably the best already drama too. I even had to endure heckling during this episode. Regular eaders interested in my rveiews may know that I have to watch this episode at work as I am a bar manager at a social club but I have the tv on for the first hour or so (until the lottery is called). My first viewing of each episode is supported by a handlful of members who come through the door at 7. There was an elderly gentlemen who complained all the way through about "this c**p", yet my veiwing was not spoilt despite this.

It has become common to bash Murray Gold's incidental music in this series (sometimes even by me) but apart from a weak score during the first Reaper attack I was thoroughly impressed. I liked the "McCoy" era sting during the point of view shots at the start and it was quite emotional (my boyfriend Gary was in tears) during his 'piano' accompaniment during Rose's final scenes with her father.

Which brings us to the crux of the episode - A relatively straight, moral emotional tale that just happened to have monsters in it. EVERY performance was deep and portrayed with a huge amount of feeling. It was a very somber episode but still not maudlin. Billie Piper remains excellent as is Chris Eccleston. Shaun Dingwall was the perfect person to be Billie's father even though her was never around later (as is the want of the plot).

And the Reapers - Bloody marvellous - again the best monster I've seen in this series of Who, possibly any series of Who and probably any series..... The effects seamlessly blended the creatures with the live action even with clever little touches like one scraping rubble from the church walls with it's 'claws' All kudos have to go to the Mill for their efforts. I had no thoughts of CGI when I watched this as opposed to the floating dalek in that episode.

More back story to keep the arc-interested happy and a simple yet effective time jumping moral dilemma for the rest. I can't fault it. RTD still trailing I'm afraid - But to your credit, you're a bloody genius (I'm sure you've heard that before).

I'm a little confused how much has been remembered by others outside the TARDIS crew but to be honest I don't think it really matters that much.

I'm rating it 2nd after The Unquiet Dead and before Dalek, Rose, Aliens/WWIII and The End of........

This is the first time I've scanned some other reviews online before writing my own, and it's shocked me to see how many people reacted badly to this episode. This seems to have divided the Doctor Who diehards and the rest of us even more than 'Dalek'. After I watched 'Dalek', I felt that we wouldn't see a better episode this season. I'll have to watch 'Father's Day' again to be sure, but I might have been wrong ...

Paul Cornell was probably the most prolific and exciting of the new generation of Doctor Who writers to pick up the reins when the show went off-air. It's only fitting, then, that he gets a shot at it now it's back, and he does wonderfully. What's especially telling, though, is that 'Father's Day' only feels half-Who. The other half is sheer mainstream drama, a lovely counterpoint to last week's episode, which was about as Who as you could get. Slightly melodramatic at times? Well, maybe, but this is Saturday evening television, not gritty Monday night BBC2. And it's a million miles away from the slapstick of episodes 4 and 5, the only major misstep for me this year.

It's interesting that Simon Pegg was initially pencilled in to play Rose's father. He can perform serious drama just fine and would have been great, but it's gratifying to see that Shaun Dingwall, brought in when Pegg couldn't make filming for 'Father's Day' and did 'The Long Game' instead, does a cracking job of portraying the man who was never as perfect as his widow made him out to be but, at his core, would have made a wonderful father to his little girl. The moment where he realises who Rose is and they hug is a highlight of the season so far. And, yet again, Billie Piper shows why she is one of the new series' biggest assets. Thank Gallifrey she's staying for another season.

Speaking of which, as each week goes by I'm getting more and more disappointed that we won't get more Ecclestone. The ninth Doctor is the most interesting incarnation in decades. I love David Tennant's work and it's good to know the Doctor is in safe hands, but more Chris would have been great.

Special mention should go to the CGI again this week - with few expensive sets to build the budget was clearly free for good monsters, and the Reapers are by far the best we've seen so far. Slick, scary and possessing a truly alien feel.

As in 'Dalek', the incidental music was a bonus instead of an annoyance.

Overall, 'Father's Day' is probably the strongest episode of the season in terms of sheer drama, everything from the Doctor's furious disappointment with Rose to her touching final moment with her Dad played beautifully.

In the end, how you feel about it is going to depend on whether it's great Who you want to see - this is it, but not in the form most fans would prefer - or just good TV. When they brought Who back we all hoped for a slick new version that wouldn't embarass itself. What we've got instead is something far superior, a show which really makes the most of the versatility of its premise and allows its characters to behave like real people. We should be grateful.

In the end, though, it really won't matter. There are millions of people out there who will never buy a DVD, book or toy, or attend a convention as we have, but who will continue to watch as long as the show demonstrates this quality. And that means more Who in production which is Just Plain Good.

I've just watched ep 8-Fathers day and it's safe to say I am impressed, very much so infact I would be bold enough to say that it clearly ranks (as did Dalek a fortnight before) a as a classic.

Although on one hand this is "traditional doctor who", it's also one of the most innovative of the series. It is a story told through rose's eyes and as a result broke new ground evoking emotions not seen since the joy of Adric getting squashed whilst trying to rid the world of beryl Reid! Whilst many will complain that the doctor is the star of the series and he's not getting the lions share of the story (a fault of last weeks ep),this week it acted as an advantage and highlighted the sheer talent of Ecclestone who reduced to the role of support act managed to give his greatest performance yet. Stripped of his usual goofiness the doctor became likable, serious and more powerful, imagine Davidson mixed Pertwee with rather that Colin baker mixed with McCoy. It also made Doctor who a drama once again yes we had monsters, bloody good ones in a cgi sort of way but also we cared about the characters we felt for roses as she dealed with her dilemma, we cheered when a little Mickey ran away from the reapers, we felt shocked to find out that roses dad was useless and felt guilty that we'd misjudged Jackie so badly. The Biggest shock of the story however came from the realisation that perhaps rose used the Doctor agreeing to go with him on his travels not through as we thought through love but as a means to an end planning to get the doctor travel back to the 80's after all. As usual Billie piper stole the show I hope she goes on to bigger things (and by bigger things I don't mean series two of hit me baby one more time!)

The support characters were all good well rounded and acted to perfection, a special mention must go to the excellent Shawn Dingwell who played roses dad, left with no option he had to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save the world it was a role the Simon Pegg passed on after seeing the long game I bet he's kicking himself. Camille coduri had more to do in this episode which was good because she has become the best reoccurring character since the brigadier. The main plaudit goes to Paul Cornell however he is my favourite doctor who writers who over the past decade wrote some of the greatest doctor who novels too date. Let's hope his association with the series doesn't end here. And nnote to BBC books pay this man a bundle to publish a novelisation of the episode and no don't get Terrence Dicks to write it.

If I have a fault with this episode it would be with the length whilst esp. like aol/ww3 are not bad episodes fathers day would be more suited to a two part format. Infact I think that's the fault of the series on a whole everything runs two fast blink and you miss it.

All in all one of the best stories to date keep up the good work! PS isn't it nice finally not to be embarrassed when people ask you what you favourite program is!