So, we've passed the halfway stage of Doctor Who's return to TV. So, in addition to reviewing The Long Game, I'm going to make a few comments about the season so far.

The Long Game was built on that mainstay of Doctor Who plots for over 40 years: Something's wrong at the heart of the glorious Earth empire, with a quick sideswipe at the media. RTD's wish to tie everything in to the human race takes a mundane approach: people buy food from fast food outlets, and wear suits, jeans and t-shirts. The space station interior is impressive, and well lit.

Simon Pegg is suitably menacing as the Editor, and his turncoat act at the end is worthy of the Master's various attempts to leave his collaborators to their fates. The easy manner, and humour he injects into the role, add to its general creepiness.

His unpronouncable, but incredibly impressive CGI alien boss, is used well. In a very "Alien" approach, we see ever-increasing glimpses of the creature throughout, which builds up a lovely tension to the piece.

The subplot involving Adam is a great treatment of the idea that we'd all use a trip to the future to enhance our own lives, although the denouement of this plot seems to indicate what I suspected: it would take an impressive companion indeed to break in to the chemistry between Rose and the Doctor. Tamsin Grieg is slightly unnerving as the nurse, without actually being a villain.

The Doctor is on top form, possibly the most recognisably "Doctor-ish" performance from Eccleston so far.

My one gripe now is that I think the Bad Wolf storyarc is being a little overplayed now. Is it really necessary to have a reference dropped into EVERY episode? A minor grumble, I know, but sometimes it just seems to be there for the sake of it. Maybe all these references are crucial to the resolution, but its difficult to see how.

This episode had some nice touches but struggled to really get above your typical sci-fi fodder. Mind control is hardly something which has not been used before and there was not much in "The Long Game" which was new and dazzlingly different. Even the title is a bit of a misnomer and does not suggest anything. This is a pity because the idea of journalism and the editor is something which could have provided a lot of possibilities and investigated further. While understandably there are limits in 45 minutes, Dalek certainly did have an epic feel to it. The Long Game felt a bit, well, long and drawn out!

I thought the opening scene was good as Adam collapses in shock at realising he is in the future and looking out upon the world.

At the start, Rose seemed to take everything in her stride and almost took on the Doctor's role as the investigation began. Simon Clegg's portrayal of The Editor was suitably evil but the silly monster was not all that impressive up above. The most thrilling part of the programme was Adam getting the brain surgery and taking in all the information as The Editor discovers who the Doctor really is.

It was a good ending and I thought it was very good for the Doctor to take Adam back home and show him the damage he had done. It was also very neat to have his Mum walk in and snap her fingers. I felt Adam did not offer a great deal in the episode, and it may have been better to have a sinister companion like Turlough.

Throwing the Doctor into a human habitat certainly seems to work very well at this point but tonight's show lagged somewhat. End of the World, which used the same set, was many years ahead, and also miles better than The Long Game. Some more aliens in the space station would have spruced things up a bit.

We have now reached the half way stage with the brand new series of Doctor Who and some of it has been absolutely excellent with the first three episodes and Dalek being particularly impressive.

With next week's episode harking back to Rose's past and changing time, I have a strong feeling that we are set for another rollercoaster ride. The Long Game was fun in places, with some great quips from the Doctor, while Rose also seemed quite settled in her role, but that all looks to change next week.

I felt the journalism idea could have been better handled and, being a journalist myself, I would have loved to write last night's episode! I didn't even think that The Long Game was even scary in places. The old skeletons may have been slightly fearsome but it was hardly anything shocking.

I hope there is much more of the terror element in subsequent weeks. The absence of the Tardis interior in recent episodes has been a bit disappointing but that is a minor gripe!

The Long Game was run of the mill sci-fi and did not have the fast cutting edge of some of the best Who episodes so far in the series. The pace was not so great, and the budget meant that the same set had to be used as in The End of the World. It had the makings of a good story but just did not deliver.

As a Television series progresses, one hopes that it will introduce new ideas and stories whilst tying up old ones. This episode has answered a question that has long plagued me and a few people I know. Why haven't any of the companions tried to gain knowledge for personal gain..? Well, now we know.

Eccleston and Piper have developed such a dynamic that it is amazing how well they play off of each other. The love and care that the characters have for each other develops more as the series goes on. In the way they look at each other, and comments made by Adam as to their relationship.

Simon Pegg was great in the role of The Editor, but I feel that he should have had a bit more screen time. And the creature was just disgusting. At one point it really looked like he was drooling on Rose's head.

The effects department (both SFX and CGI) need to be commended for their work on the new series. The effects seem flawless and unnoticeable.. which is the greatest compliment that one can pay to an effects team.

With six episodes left in the first series, one wonders how it will all play out.. especially with the whole "Bad Wolf."

It was nice to see "The Face Of Boe" turn up in a newscast.

At the beginning of The Long Game, you might be forgiven for thinking, 'Hang on, wasn't this episode screened already?' The sets and CGI shot of the satellite look lifted straight out of The End of the World. Only less expensive-looking. End has been my favourite Davies episode thus far (although Dalek blew everything out of the water), so I held back my worry and let it happen. It wasn't half-bad.

I mentioned in my Aliens of London review that RTD seems to have a tension in his writing between his more radical nature and his love of traditional Who. This was blatantly evident here. The first 15 minutes of The Long Game feel like a McCoy story. With the icy Floor 500, I kept flashing back to Dragonfire. Major problem is that Who has moved on - we really shouldn't be stuck in that mould any more. Thankfully things picked up in the second half, as Adam had a bizarre personality change and became a money-grubbing liar. You have to wonder just what RTD was intending to do with the character - why bother to introduce him (relatively anonymously bar some entirely understandable flirtation with Rose) at all in Dalek if he's going to be dumped in the next episode?

Some of the issues (lightly) touched upon concerning the power of the media and how people will do almost anything if told to were extremely interesting. It was a joy also to see Rose playing the part of the seasoned time traveller, giving new-start Adam his induction. The CGI beastie was one of the best thus far in the series, too. And, of course, Simon Do-No-Wrong Pegg.

But there were problems - mainly in the design. The sets looked like ... well, sets. The matte backgrounds were horrifically realised and it all felt a million miles away from the spectacular spaceship crash in AoF or the planetary explosion of EotW, or even the ethereal Gelth of UD. It was just kind of shoddy.

Also, the Bad Wolf references that were so teasing initially seem to be a bit silly now. It's as if they're just being stuck in any-old-where and it'll take some serious explanation to justify this come episode 12.

Still, a good, solid, standard episode.

What's most annoying is that Davies really is a stunningly good writer, but we just haven't seen that in his Who work so far. He's written a good pilot, a clever follow-up and then treaded water a bit. Every one of his stories has parts that are great. Just not full episodes that are great. Personally, I'd love to see him rework some of the ideas from his old Dark Season children's drama. Dark sci-fi doings in a High School. I'm sure he's got some superb adventures in him for the show. He just hasn't got them to us, yet. Still, at least there was no farting or burping this week, so things are looking up.

The concept for next week's episode is a killer - always rely on Paul Cornell to take a love of traditional Who and shake the concept up a little.

After the excellent Dalek I wasn't expecting Doctor Who to come up with another rather good story directly after. But Episode Seven did just that.

Appearantly the idea for this episode was one from several years ago and for the original series. And that shows because it feels like it wouldn't be out of place, too much, in the original series. But this doesn't mean the episode, as with Dalek, is without flaws. I want to look at them first.

The special effects (CGI). They have really failed to impress me so far. The best thing about the original series was they knew they couldn't rely on special effects because they didn't have the budget too. Instead the writers concentrated on storyline rather than visual appearance. If a story was driven by special effects the plot and episode would suffer because of it and the whole thing would feel terrible. This time around the producers and writers obviously feel they have the budget to go along the special effects drive route. It feels to this viewer that they prefer visual appearance above well constructed storylines. And I'm afraid that the special effects just aren't good enough to make up for often lack in plot. Also the special effects never look realistic. If aliens are created through CGI then that's how they look, they don't look real just computer generated animations. The creature in this episode, I won't even attempt to spell its name, looked excately like that. That may be why we didn't see it until the end.

The other criticism I have of this episode concerns the Doctor's attitude towards Adam when he dumps him back on earth and with his father. Adam did try to change history and because of his foolish antics he put Rose and the Doctor at the Editor's mercy. BUT Turlough tried to kill the Doctor (and Tegan/Nyssa) several times. When all of this was revealed the Doctor didn't drop him off back home, he kept him aboard the Tardis. Both Turlough and Adam repented by the Doctor still dumped Adam, why? Well maybe because, as with Mickey, he was jealous of his closeness to Rose. If this is true its a side to the Doctor I don't like. The Doctor doesn't fall in love with companions and isn't jealous of their love interests. Otherwise poor old Ian or Mike Yates would have really been in for it!

My other criticism is the tagged on feeling of Adam's departure. It didn't feel as if it was a natural part of the storyline but instead tagged on when it was decided Adam wouldn't become a regular. It's quiet likely that it was always intended for Adam to leave in this episode but that doesn't come across on screen.

With that aside I'll concentrate on the good aspects. Excellent script, for a change, and excellent acting all around. I can't think of one bad performace. Another round of excellent guest stars with Judy Holt & Tasmin Greg both giving excellent and amusing performaces even with their limited screen time.

The supporting characters are all well done and fit the storyline perfectly. In other episodes they have felt rather pathetic and weak, also pointless, but here they seem to serve a purpose.

As always Billie Piper continues to shine but I suspect next week's episode will outdo all of her performances so far and that's no easy task! At last I am slowly warming to Christopher Eccelston's Doctor. He is starting to feel like the hero I watched on UKGold when I was younger. He is becoming the Doctor more and more instead of some character stuck with that name tag, as other episodes have made me feel. But just as one grows to like the 9th Doctor he's going to regenerate and it does feel rather pointless growing to like him when he's going so soon.

And finally, the banks sold the human race to whatever the creatures name was. Not the most original plot device ever, is it, really? But I'll give this episode 9/10.

Episode 7 was always going to be the middle of the series, and this is turned out to be in more ways than one. Not that I'm complaining as being middle of the road is no bad thing in the quality series we are being presented.

The story was a risk for RTD (and his team) as it had many areas that could go horribly wrong. The editor could have been played over the top, the monster could have been plastic and the large open sets could have appeared as no more than large open spaces. But this is where Doctor Who is now safe, the clever acting and excellent dress of the editor kept him realistic, the monster was CGI'ed and limited in screen time and the sets were kept busy and were sensibly weathered.

Once again the main and support cast were strong and kept me focusing on the story rather than some poor or obscure acting technique. Chris' Doctor has now truly settled down from his wobbles in AOL and I now feel he has excelled all expectations.

The down side to this story was it felt ninety eighties, I had to keep checking the TV to ensure it wasn't going to be Sylvester McCoy's Doctor in the next shot. Whilst this was not a problem it seemed a little out of place with the other episodes to date.

In summary it was great to see an episode not on earth and a true run of the mill Doctor Who story.

(Did anyone else think it was odd Adam's family home looked current day despite being in 2012. Furthermore Adam's ability to phone 2012 further confuses the Rose's mobile phone issue as discussed by RTD in DWM!!)