Eight episodes in, and I feel duty-bound to finally put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard!) and praise this series which is fast becoming one of the most consistently wonderful TV programmes I can ever remember.

It's not that the episodes so far haven't been worthy of praise; "Dalek", "The Unquiet Dead" and "The End of the World" all deserving of the gushing eulogies which have been heaped upon them, and only "The Long Game" failing, in my view, to engage in the same way the rest of the season has; but "Father's Day", while relatively predictable in plot devices right down to the climax, was without doubt one of the most perfect pieces of TV you could wish for (and do be careful what you wish for...!)

In writing, direction, and acting, this was top-notch stuff, plucking on our heartstrings in a way Dr Who has never done in all its glorious past. I hope this doesn't get lambasted by those fans who have compared Rose and Jackie's previous domestic scenes to EastEnders; this series has decided to show real, genuine, fleshed-out characters and these scenes have all been important in this respect, and I feel for the most part (though not always) they have been successful. And if it hadn't been for the audience slowly learning and empathising with Rose's personal life and history, this episode would never have been as poignant as it was. Billie Piper - wow! - she just goes from strength to strength, and without a doubt is the best companion the show has ever had. In this episode's scenes with her father, it was difficult to imagine anybody handling them better. This series has made us laugh alot and now has made us cry. Shaun Dingwall was fantastic as Rose's father, a much better-written character than I was expecting from his first few scenes, and even Camille Coduri - who I feel has been the weak link so far in the ensemble cast, more so than Noel Clarke - put in a solid performance as Jackie. The cast were all aided by a quite wonderful script from Paul Cornell, along with "Dalek" without doubt the most mature and thoughtful script of the season so far.

As we've come to expect (dare I say take for granted) this season, the effects - such as they were - were of a high quality, the Reapers being another well-realised monster for this series, despite having perhaps not quite enough to do. Of course, this was because the episode was so wonderfully dialogue - driven, with the Reapers feeling almost incidental to the plot.

And I haven't even mentioned Christopher Eccleston yet...I've read various views on his performance with interest, and can understand to an extent some viewers' irritation with the humour, silly faces etc. But was Tom Baker's Doctor - surely THE Doctor in most fans' eyes - really too far off that with his staring eyes, wide grin and jelly babies? The only problem I have had with this Doctor is occassionally with the way his relationship with Rose has been portrayed - last week's "that's your boyfriend" comment being the sort of juvenile comment which has at times sat a little uncomfortably with me - but here I felt that relationship was judged perfectly, the purile humour nowhere to be seen, and Eccleston, as with "Dalek", showing that with a little longer in the role he could have staked a very real claim to being the best Doctor yet. As it is, I feel personally only Pertwee and Tom Baker have been better - but I know that's all a matter of taste. What is beyond question is that Eccleston is a fine actor who has been consistently good, with flashes of outright superlative excellence. What a shame we're over halfway through his tenure.

Much was said in praise of Joe Ahearne's direction of "Dalek" - with good reason - but I think he's topped this with "Father's Day", creating what felt like quite a pacey episode despite the relative lack of action. And Murray Gold's music - well, I'm not a detractor of his anyway, and have been a little surprised at some of the comments that have gone his way, but I can't imagine anyone having a gripe with the incidental music for this episode - again, perfectly judged.

Yes, Jackie of 17 years ago looked like Jackie 2005 with a different hairstyle. Yes, if you look even vaguely closely, there were holes in the plot - any show that deals with changing time etc will have holes big enough to climb through (what of the driver who killed Pete, surely his life must have been dramatically changed, and surely Rose would have then grown up knowing that the driver had stopped and wasn't a hit-and-run) - but any niggling criticisms are just that - niggling - this was superbly - crafted, quality TV, setting the standards for everybody out there that works in this medium. And shame on ITV for even beginning to think that churning out yet another bunch of Z-list "celebs" for an idea that must have taken about half a nanosecond to think of - Celebrity Wrestling - would even begin to dent the fantastic ratings that this series has got.

A final word - intelligent criticism is always useful and important, but some of the whingeing comments from so-called Who fans about this series has made my blood boil, especially that aimed at RTD. Without this man we wouldn't be enjoying a series of Dr Who at all, let alone such an incredible one. Comments such as the Dr wouldn't have said that, done this, etc - yes, this is Dr Who, but it's a new Dr Who, it has changed with the times as it had to, and at this moment in time nobody knows what the Dr would say or do better than RTD himself. Russel - you are a star and keep up the amazing work!

And one final final word - have to agree about the preview of the following episode at the end of the "Aliens of London" cliffhanger - didn't work - but for the single episode adventures, this is a great hook for the next week. My jaw was already dropping at what I'd just spent 45 minutes watching when the preview for "The Empty Child" came on, and it dropped further still. From those few seconds, it looks like the most amazing spectacle yet, and I just can't wait, and can't believe that something so near-perfect can keep getting better still.

Like any field of expertise, Dr Who fandom is blighted by jargon. 'Umbrella season'. 'Cancellation crisis'. 'Season 6b'. Phrases with no meaning outside the geeknoscenti. But among them all, few loom larger than 'base under siege'.

A staple format of the Troughton era, such stories place the Doctor, his companion(s) and a selection of guest stars into a claustrophic environment, attacked from without by some malevolent alien force. Our heroes can then fret and fight off incursions for however many episodes are required, without the need for a single new idea. All you needed was a new monster (or failing that the Cybermen) and a girl with a good pair of lungs, and you were off.

But that was the 1960s. Dr Who then was action adventure, plain and simple; all fist-fights and derring do, like Robin Hood with airlocks. In 2005 the series has moved on, and its first base-under-siege story – while admittedly featuring Billie Piper's scream debut – absolutely epitomises that contrast.

>From the get-go (which these days comes in the last minutes of the previous episode), it was clear this was going to be an ambitious, high concept story. Time is damaged; trusts are broken; people die. But more than that, it was also going to be essentially a character piece, which the classic series (even in its slower under-siege moments) had little time for. Gone are the familiar Troughton tropes – A Traitor Unmasked; The Coward Endangers Us All; The Cyberman Turn Up For No Good Reason – and in its place is a tight, fiery, emotionally intense piece about the dangers and importance of self-knowledge, that treads the sort of emotional territory ordinary dramas genuinely cannot reach.

It's brilliant stuff.

Mind you, that shouldn't be surprising. The writer of this episode, Paul Cornell, is best known to fans as the author of some of the best original Dr Who novels around, and it's the same techniques that made them work that gives this one its strength. Indeed, many aspects of Father's Day – the playing around with time; the use of symbols and images; the exploration of real-world relationships and emotions (particularly guilt); the epigrammatic Doctor and the brittle, argumentative nature of his relationship with his companion; even the impact of fathers – are all core elements of the spin-off 'New Adventures' series that made his name.

These days the NAs are often summed up by the single word 'angst', and undeniably this is an angsty story. But Paul Cornell's books in particular were also known for their powerful emotional focus, and this is where Father's Day really shines. The author's trademark linguistic cleverness (Jackie gloriously describing her husband as 'an accident waiting to happen'); his attention to structure (the delicate bookending voiceovers), and the elegant, double-layered possibilities of the closing sequence would be worth nothing if the story lacked a soul. In his creation of Pete Tyler, brilliantly written as an intelligent, open-minded individual rather than a foil to circumstance, and brought to life flawlessly by Shaun Dingwall, he gives us one that's truly to be reckoned with. The fluttering, hopeful uncertainty of his relationship with Rose does a better job of depicting fatherhood than half a century of soap, and, through a series of genuinely moving, perfect vignettes, fuels a tragic story that really does have two hearts.

Unfortunately, the downside of all this is that the action adventure aspect is rather put to one side. Consequently, while the first half bundles along at a fair old pace, by the second half pretty much everything has happened that's going to happen, and there's nothing left to do except explore character arcs and just generally be besieged until the finale. And indeed, while the siege some features tremendous dialogue, as well as two of the best performances ever seen in the show, this is nevertheless essentially what happens, with lots of rather talky scenes separated only by repetitive establishing shots. In dramatic terms, the whole thing feels like it's crying out for another beat in the under-siege sequence, leaving the story simply too short on events.

It's only fair to note that budgetary constraints may have played a part in this, given Cornell's admission that after repeatedly being told to think bigger he was finally told to think rather smaller for the final draft. It's perhaps telling, therefore, that while the monsters are impressive in both design and realisation, particularly when seen as shadows flitting half-seen past windows, they never really do anything. Their cgi unworldliness, though arguably in keeping with their nature, is only heightened by their conspicuous lack of real-world interaction, and this limitation (as well as their lack of dialogue, or any visual evidence of their supposed global impact) ultimately undermines the threat. Given, too, that all the visual set-up is there for a climactic bursting-through-the-stained-glass-window sequence which never comes – and given that the whole point of setting something in a church is to have something climactically burst through the stained glass window – it's tempting to suppose that at least some of the sagginess of the final act was due more to money than to over-egged angst.

Ultimately, then, Father's Day is monumentally effective... just not, perhaps, as Dr Who. With its curiously minimal science fiction element, and touchy-feely emotions in place of rampaging monster sequences, it's hard to imagine younger audiences feeling entirely comfortable with the sudden change of pace. But while it's not quite what viewers were expecting, which is arguably no bad thing, and not quite as good as it could have been – and when has that not been true of a Dr Who story? – it remains, on its own terms, a tremendous piece of television.

As fan jargon would have it, it's rad, not trad - and it's not half bad.

Having just taken in Fathers Day, I can honestly, hand on heart, say it was the best piece of television of watched this year. I am a major, major doubter of the 45 minute episode format being suitable for Who. I was proved wrong by episode 3, The Unquiet Dead, and again Fathers Day has re-assured me that BBC can deliver a stunning episode of Who within this format.

The quality delivery of this episode is three fold; the script is simple but very clever (and the concepts of time travel are bent to extremes at points..). The direction is beautiful. It is unmistakably 'new Who', yet re-assuringly traditional. Even before seeing the vulture type creatures, the sense of cold mentioned on screen touches you in your armchair. And the acting....well it's simply superb. Billie Piper does in this episode what Ecclestone did in the Dalek episode - adds a totally new dimension to the character. The stirring exchanges between her and her parents and just perfect. I'm no blubber, but I had tears welling in my eyes.

This was the perfect piece of 45 minute entertainment. I still think the core of episodes should be two parters, but if the bar is raised to this level, then 45 minutes one parters MUST be a part of the Dr Who format. Congrats to all involved with making Fathers Day, it's an absolute gem - one of the best.

Playing The Time Line

Oh Rose, you've been playing with Time,
That harbinger of death or life
Bringing you strife
And grief. Can you hear wedding bells chime?
They're calling out the Time Lord's name,
His lonliness married to awkward identity
Needed to fight the Reaper entity
Again delivered with fine artistry.

Oh writer, you've been playing with Time,
That question of One or Two
Haunts this series through.
Relief . Did you know you're innocent of the usual crime;
Of solutions squeezed in with seconds to spare?
But drama well paced – requiring concentration
Needed to understand Time's rules and machination
Above the younger head and their imagination?

Oh Doctor, you've been minding your Time
Forming that character so Jekyll and Hyde;
Equally caring and then so snide.
Self Belief. Did it leave you - this aura sublime?
Your perfection was nicely questioned.
Your performance deep in its madness,
Desiring human experience your Archilles sadness.
Knowing all Paradoxes yet powerless!!

Mr Tyler you've made a mess of Time,
That point at which you first died
Differed erroneously from where Rose finally cried.
Chief Mistake! You'll know you're in the mire- the slime
When the net awakes to timelines illogical.
Just wait for the hot geek debate
Regarding your change in suit and fate.
By such you wiped humanity off the slate.

Oh Producer you've been playing with Time,
That large quantity and space given to Rose
Takes the focus off the Dr dealing with foes.
So Brief. Have you remembered that our prime
Reason for watching is Who and his intent?
But surely not an episode for every Tyler
What next a long lost cousin from Outer Mongolia.
Or a new boyfriend soldier?

Oh ReViewer you've been playing with Time,
That manmade measurement of experience
Which yields 45 minutes of sci-fi reverence.
High reef!! Have you dissected the promise and grime
With responsible charity and clarity?
For whilst we interweave our opinions fair
Do not forget to influence hearts and minds out there
For pundits' love of the Who can be a short affair!!

This episode of Dr Who will do something that no other will - it'll make you cry. At the same time, it'll blow away any critics of Billie Piper's acting ability since her performance is spot on, and very moving. In fact, everyone in this episode acts their socks off to produce an excellent piece of well-crafted character driven drama. No wonder Dr Who in the UK is knocking the pants off ITV's Saturday Night offering - Celebrity Wrestling !. I'll step into the TARDIS anytime, thanks.
The Doctor takes Rose back to 1987 to be with her father in his dying moments after a hit and run accident. On the second attempt, Rose saves his life and changes the timeline, creating a 'wound' in time. This heralds the arrival of the Reapers, bat-like creatures apparently created by time itself to act as antibodies and cleanse the wound by wiping out the human race. With no TARDIS and everyone trapped inside a church, can the Doctor save the situation ?.Well, this time the answer is 'no', beacuse for once, he has no plan !. Although the final solution is easy to work out, thanks to skillful writing by Paul Cornell, fine performances from the cast and lean direction, the story manages to lose none of it's emotional impact and the closing scenes will guarantee not a dry eye in the audience. This is Dr Who at it's very best where the SF element of the story plays second fiddle to the human drama and characters.Being a time-paradox story, there's a lot of fun to be had too - 1980's fashions and subtle references to the era (US fans might find these puzzling), large mobile phones, Rose as a baby and her future boyfriend Mickey as a toddler. The scene of him on the swing in the kids playground, watching all around him mysteriously vanish as victims of the Reapers is geniunely spooky. It was also a nice touch having the car that killed Roses' father, appearing and disappearing as it runs around the outside of the church, almost like it's stalking it's intended victim.But you know they're all in deadly trouble when the Doctor makes a shocking discovery about the TARDIS.This episode has some beautiful perfomances and emotionally charged scenes, especiallly between Rose and her father when he realises who she is and what must be done to save the day. Although inevitable, the ending is still very powerful and sad.

It was all going so well. Unfortunately, Father's Day was the moment "New Series 1" had a rather nasty prang and ended up sprawled over the bonnet of a speeding gold Chevette.

Let's start with the good stuff. The human elements of Father's Day - and the overall premise - were brilliant. Who hasn't thought "if only" or wanted to change something in their lives, see how the world and their family was before they were born? Shaun Dingwall gave a stunning performance as Rose's dad (all the more so given the material he had to work with - more on this later) and Billie Piper was again excellent; human without being mawkish, understated without being cold, warm without being too cosy. This new, more personal side to Dr Who... y'know it could just work.

Standards of direction were high - notably the long shot of Rose's face against the backdrop of the church window - as was production, with big hair and shiny suits all present and 1987 correct. Nice little touches like the Graham Bell phone call and the car radio playing 21st century techno showed good attention to detail. And the Reapers looked fantastic with the moments before they appeared, and their ultimate revelation, genuinely spooky/scary.

However, it's somehow ironic that a Dr Who episode set in the late 1980s should fall down so badly on plot.

Simply, Father's Day made absolutely no sense at all, whatsoever. Even the Doctor couldn't muster anything approaching a sensible diagnosis for why a "wound in time" needed to be "sterilised" by crossbred vulture-dactyl things, scary as they were. Things went from bad to worse when, somehow, a 80s brickphone battery was rigged up to "recharge" the invisible Tardis, which would somehow get the damn things back in their cage, let Stuart and Sarah get married, keep Rose's dad alive and er, wipe everyone's memory. I'm struggling here.

Once again the Doctor passed the buck - here Rose, last week Adam - for events for which he bears a great deal of responsibility. More attempts to underline the doctor's 'alien-ness' perhaps, but yet again, he comes across more arrogant, selfish - and human.

Clueless too. Surely a TIME LORD would be the expert at sorting out disturbances in, er, time? This Doctor is more bodger than schemer. The sum of his character's role in this episode: has a tiff with Rose after showing off to impress her (again), runs around shouting, acts a bit miffy, sulks, apologises, then gets himself Reaper-ed. Eventually it took Tyler senior to obligingly throw himself under the damn car (why had it followed him to the church?), perhaps in hope of terminating the nonsensical turn the life-he-shouldn't-have-had was taking.

Someone in post-production should have intervened to at least ask for some attention to be paid to these problems. Here was a fine premise - meddling in time with unforeseen consequences - but one which to make convincing required depth of imagination and commitment to detail. Sadly, Father's Day had neither. In the end, this story reeked of compromise. Perhaps Russell T upped the human elements to gloss over the holes, perhaps the writers didn't credit the early-evening audience with the intelligence to follow a complicated idea. Perhaps it's enough for children to have an attack of flappy scary scaly things and some big weepy moments. For me however, this episode was a big let down. Maybe Richard Wilson can make amends next week.