After “Father’s Day” I realized that Doctor Who had found a new life. It was growing in ways that us fans could not have dreamed of. To follow up such an emotional episode with “The Empty Child” makes me want to sing from the rooftops that Doctor Who is back and it’s better than we could have ever hoped for.

From the outset “The Empty Child” is a very sinister episode which will not only spook the children but the grown up’s too. We find Doctor and Rose in London during the blitz chasing an alien craft that crashed a month earlier. When they land the effects of the alien craft have already started. Strange voices can be heard crying out “Mommy. Are you my Mommy?” as a strange boy walks the streets of London.

What we are treated to for the next 45 minutes are a stunningly visual representation of London during the blitz. The effects are so real that they blend seamlessly into the action. And boy there is a lot of action! The pace of this story is relentless; it carries the viewer along with it thanks to the tight scripting and editing.

What we have here is a chilling horror story that is fresh and original and could only be compared to such classics as “Quatermass and the Pit”. With Hollywood producing horror by numbers we can finally show then just how to do it. I can honestly say that I was excited to have Doctor Who return to our screens, I just didn’t know how successful it was going to be.

Finally, I must bring up the contrast between this story and the one penned by RTD (once again!). It’s clear that Doctor Who should not lie in the hands of a lesser scriptwriter such as Davies. If there is a feature film let’s hope that the BBC learn from the voice of the fans and get someone else to write it.

British television has finally got its jewel in the crown back on its screens and I can’t help but smile!

AH! I knew this would be good ever since I saw a preview of it on Tonight with Jonathan Ross. It was being touted as the scariest so far, and I can't really argue against it. It was terrifically scary; my only regret was that 6.30pm today was daylight. I watched it again the same night in pitch darkness and it was very creepy. Well done Steven Moffat!

The whole atmosphere was very eerie. It had the WWII period down to every washing-line and it helped that this is a period of history I have a great interest in. Very 'noirish' as Eccleston puts it, and full credit must go to James Hawes as director. However, the Doctor's comments about evacuation were true. Although you can spot one or two kids going into the anderson air raid shelter which can't be right can it? Doesn't matter to be honest. Still a good episode.

Captain Jack Harkness was very American. Likeable too with some edge but did they really have to cut the alleged 'bisexual' bit? It was a joke as far as I was concerned. It wasn't risque at all. I know he's going to become a companion of some sort, but isn't he nearly the same age as the Doctor? As a companion, they really should be a lot older or younger [in earth terms] than him but its only been his first episode. As the episode drew to a close, we saw some conflict within Harkness and some concern at what was happening to the people around him. So he has some potential.

The whole 'Mummy,Mummy' shriek was very peculiar. To turn a kid into something scary is quite a massive feat and not to mention a great idea. It had been used to great effect in 'Remembrance of the Daleks' and it works even better here. The use of the gasmask too, its lifeless, emotionless face is more scary than any Auton or Voc Robot. Even my dad admitted it was very macabre. At 22, I'm too old to find this particularly scary but the whole atmosphere was something which should give kids nightmares for ages yet! However, I bet I'll even get a few nightmares too! As my dad commented, someone has clearly thought out of the box in telling a tale during the most overused period on television.

The plot is still very much a mystery. What's wrong with the boy? Who has spread the virus? What's with the Tula ambulance? What really is Harkness doing there? And that's why I love this. I prefer the two-parters to be honest. Aliens of London/WW3 is definitely my favourite so far and this one has trumped it as far as I'm concerned. Doctor Who stories do need time to breathe. Different layers of the plot need to be interwoven and properly explained. The cliffhanger for this one was a bit drawn out, but The Empty Child is definitely my favourite so far. I love the fact I've got to wait a week to know what happens next week, and I've still no idea what the hell is going on! Better than sex that is. Well...you know what I mean.

And I'm glad there was no preview of next week at the end, or at least, we got a warning about one which prompted me to switch straight away to BBC3!

And to top it all, I could hear my dad hum from the kitchen "Mummy, Mummy". Doctor Who is back in the people's psyche like it should be!

I just hope The Doctor Dances doesn't dissappoint!

I love my job as a primary school teacher a lot, but nothing was sweeter to my ears than walking onto the playground first thing to hear my 11 year old pupils chasing after each other saying "Are you my Mummy?". "Mr. Dawson?" says Ash, "Did you see it? It was really scary!"

My sentiment precisely. I watched the episode in a hurry, rushing in through the door, I stuck a tape in the video and knelt before the TV. By the end of the episode I had edged back towards the sofa, and as I can't get behind the sofa, I'll venture I had reached my highest creep factor so far in the new series. I believe "The Empty Child" was the biggest success of the year so far. Don't get me wrong, "Dalek" was ground-breaking and "Father's Day" was sad, but this episode seemed to pass in seconds, the dark, insidious nature of the boy in the gas mask paired with the hollow child's voice was truly effective, especially in the sequence in the hallway as The Doctor crouched behind the door. Like many of my pupils I actually called out for the Doctor not to open the door! DWM once commented that Doctor Who was most effective when it entered the nursery and presented child-like things in a scary way, and I'd agree this is a fine example.

Eccleston and Piper were on fine form in their different plot threads, The Doctor and Nancy scenes were well played and seemed very natural from both performers "and what do yer ears do?" genius (plus, none of that "FANTASTIC!" stuff). Captain Jack wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting either and it seems the "Adric 05" movement ended with Adam. The Rose and Jack scenes were amusing rather than irritating, Rose being as sleazy as Jack if not sleazier! Richard Wilson only had a bit as Constantine, but the gasmask sequence was brilliant, face-cracking or no face-cracking.

My criticisms of the series so far have been levelled at the wafer-thin plots that have arisen in the attempt to deliver a rounded Doctor and companion, "The Empty Child" has give fans an intriguiging premise and terrifying set pieces, I just hope the resolution gives a satisfying pay-off. "It's because of the Time War" does not count as a decent explanation (R, UD, D, FD). I'm convinced Moffat will deliver the goods though.

All in all I loved this episode. A lot. But has anyone else noticed that the best episodes have been the non-RTD ones? What's that all about?

‘The Empty Child’ has been called a “thing of wonder” in the pages of Doctor Who magazine. Although I do not consider this episode perfect – I think it is rather flawed in one way – I really have no option but to agree. I enjoyed it very much, and it was further proof that the guest writers on this series know how to write ‘Doctor Who’ and Russell T Davis doesn’t really. I am sure that he is good at seasons and plotting, and threading in story arcs, but in his scripts you just do not get the endearing and enjoyable characterisation that fills Mark Gatiss’, Paul Cornell’s and now Steven Moffat’s scripts, particularly of the Doctor.

To be fair, none of the writers before now have made me like the Ninth Doctor – he remains rock bottom of the list of Doctors I would choose to travel with, below even the Seventh in whose company I probably wouldn’t last a day! – but their guest characters were better. Now, Steven Moffat has succeeded with both the guests and the Doctor. Considering this is episode 9 of 13 I worry that this is perhaps a bit late, but never mind, can’t change it.

Mr Moffat evidently knows his Doctor Who. The Doctor is compassionate, wonderful, humble, intelligent and brave. He does things! He gets a whole plot strand to himself, rather than letting Rose do everything! This is partly due to the added time available in a two-parter (and no story deserves two episodes in which to unfold more than this), but it is mostly to do with the fact that we have got a writer who can write it like in the old days! This is amongst the most ‘trad’ episodes so far, a fact which I ascribe wholly to the excellent characterisation of our hero. I still don’t like Eccleston’s performance, but he is undeniably at his best yet, whether whilst delivering a speech on the courage of the British Isles standing up to Nazism, appearing amongst the orphan children at dinner and putting them completely at their ease, examining the ‘corpses’ with Dr Constantine (in a fabulous turn by Richard Wilson), or any of the other beautifully-scripted scenes provided by a fantastic script.

Fantastic, that is, except in one major way. As plot devices for getting the companion out of a certain death situation with the monster go, suddenly having a barrage balloon randomly drifting over, the companion grabbing the trailing rope, and getting hauled Mary Poppins-style over the rooftops of London in the midst of an air raid really takes the biscuit! (particularly as barrage balloons were secured by steel hawsers, not a single length of rope)

It is the single most laborious reveal of a plot element (i.e. they’re in the Blitz) I can think of! Curious, then, that at the time I barely noticed it. What is more, the succeeding scene with Captain Jack made up for it, perfectly referencing old espionage movies as Jack and Rose discuss ‘business’ that could affect millions of lives – with an added Doctor Who twist, the dance takes place on an invisible spaceship tethered next to Big Ben! Switching between romantic comedy the like of which Steven Moffat is justly famous for and full-on Zombie horror (in a sequence which rather reminded me of a stunt from Derren Brown’s C4 show) was contentious in my household, one viewer remarking how silly and surreal it all was and how much it detracted from the drama. But I liked it. It’s a two-parter – let it all hang out, I say. It isn’t as if the scene with Jack didn’t add anything to the plot.

The plot, too, is nicely traditional, and I was hooked from the opening shot. A truly thrilling beginning it was, actually, mostly because we haven’t seen nearly enough of the TARDIS this series. Seeing it in flight, looking like it did at the end of all those Season 13 episodes, was lovely.

This story, in conclusion, pressed all the right buttons, and left me feeling really happy, and glad that the estimable Mr Moffat will return next Season. The balance of Doctor/Rose plotlines and horror/fun, plus the great characterisation of our hero, should become the model for all future episodes.

Billed as the scariest 'Doctor Who' of the season so far, 'The Empty Child' lives up to the hype. Set during the London Blitz, it's a dark episode, both tonally & emotionally, with decided resonances of that other cult British sf series, 'Quatermass'. The eerie repetitive cries of the lost child, the wailing sirens, the rows upon rows of sinister gas masks -- it all added up to a chilling episode. The gas-mask scene (you know the one I mean) was probably the first time in the new series that I turned off my "I'm quadruple the age of the target audience" vibe & just reacted. The subdued score knew when to pull back and let silence do its work.

'The Empty Child' really proves the value of the double-episode cliffhanger format: the tension wound up slowly, the action never felt hurried, and we had time to grow to love Nancy (solidly portrayed by Florence Hoath) before her life is threatened. Richard Wilson was also perfect in his brief spot as the other Doctor.

I didn't warm immediately to time traveller & self-confessed conman Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), and his lightning-speed romance with Rose didn't quite convince. However, his introduction to Rose provides an interesting mirror to her early encounters with the Doctor. Harkness is dashing & technically-savvy; unlike the Doctor in 'The Unquiet Dead', he wears clothes that fit the period. Best of all, after he rescues Rose he sticks around to ply her with champagne, rather than just wandering off. I get the impression he might fit Rose's ideal of a time traveller rather better than the Doctor, and I'm interested to see where they're going with the three-way relationship.

Rose got a bit of a raw deal this week, what with the screaming & the swooning, but it was about time the Doctor got to be proactive in his own show. Indeed, 'The Empty Child' was an excellent episode for him, uniting both the dark & the light sides of the Ninth Doctor.

The Beeb is always good for a costume drama, and the interiors were all crammed with authentic-looking details. The stolen meal during the air raid was a wonderful touch -- though I did wonder why a family at that time would be eating tea at half past nine at night.

Nothing's perfect. The Rose-hanging-over-the-London-skyline moments were a bit "we can do cgi, nyah!"-ish, and in plot terms, I did wonder why Harkness decided to spill the beans so early. But the cliffhanger left plenty of other questions to while away the hours before next Saturday -- where did the virus come from (my money's on Harkness's nanotech)? will Rose abandon the Doctor to go off with the Captain? can the Doctor's "red is camp" comment in the teaser just be a mauve herring?

'The Empty Child' fuses old & new-style 'Who', and gives fans a new menace worthy to join the Cybermen & the Daleks. My season favourite so far.

Ramblings On a Seminal Point In a Series
with a Recovery borrowed from Mr Porter.

Slap me on the cheeks with a wet shiny kipper
Atmosphere with orribleВ’ spooky nipper
Reminding of В‘DonВ’t Look NowВ’ child haunts in Venice
Eerily seeking his Mummy with menace.
Praise for director and those in Production
For one thing we do better than any nation
IS LOCATION SCI-FI for tv.
In this we lead any other country.
You could tell Picard was always on a backlot
Ours is real, mixing history and sci fit plot.

Billie you need to act with your arms
For all that lovely scenic Blitz ariel display
Was marred by your swinging charms-
A lack of strength was obvious IВ’d say.
When you were first lifted by balloon barrage
Against a model city you looked too large
Later when viewed overhead
The landscape has perspective.
But your ascent,
Considering all the money spent
Should have been checked
Before transmission was wrecked
By a model and your arms not sufficiently bent.

Oh fellow reviewers most dear
IВ’ve come over all queer.
ON the settee IВ’ve had to lay myself down.
For Chris had screen time without Rose!
At last At last a writer who went with the Who- who knows!!!!
No gurning В– no beaming, no berating the crew.
Though I presume a Time Lord of his calibre
Would have known itВ’s War before seeing a poster?
But one thing I realised tonight
That his comment to save the world
Although said in a tone often mistaken for sarcasm,
Was in effect his statement of fact В–a truism.

The most dramatic cameo possibly.
From Wilson ever on the telly.
Effective В– quick- visually stunning
Sad, powerful and enthralling
This whole ward scene on good acting relied.
Shame that his talents so quickly died
As his purpose to explain story
Ended in an early demise gory.

Now Mr Barrowman
You know you could have been the man
To have played the Who
When old Chris leaves the Tardis too.
You had charisma and charm
Yet you too had secrets to alarm
Nicely played Sir- nearly a tap dance
On your spaceship roof romance.

Now sit back folks and think on
How much was packed into Part one.
Excellent characters- believable in their plight
Lovely artistic London well lit.
Did you not feel for the young girl
Hearing her brothers heartfelt plea
After we had found out his identity.

Awards spring to mind
Of the acting and directorial kind.
X Files type lighting
Moody mysterious В–exciting.
We were not just behind our settees
But on the edge drawn in with ease.
Tributes to a writer who treated his audience with respect
The tension and empathy for Nancy kept
Our family intruiged and vexed
Wanting answers, thinking as to what next!!

So I can hear from inside that little box with panels retro
The sound of singing from a Cole Porter show.
For Capt Harkness remembering his previous life
Leads Rose and the good Doc in a song of strife.

The night is young, my ship is near
So if you want to go dancing, dear,
It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely.
You understand the Doctor well
You're his sweet sidekick -soon so will I,
It's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely.
You can shout out with glee
What a swell plot this is- most gory,
You can hear childВ’s sad cry Mummy
Murmuring low.
В“DonВ’t let me goВ”
So please dear Rose, with bottom sweet
Just let me sell you, space junk quite neat.
"It's hospital, it's ambulance,
It's detectable, so alien tech,
Good episode, it's tight writinВ’, awards soon.
It's de-lovely".
ROSE:
I left the Doctor to his plot
To prove its his show in case weВ’d forgot.
CAPT.
I believed the stories were all yours
With more screentime in your clause!!
ROSE:
This part, my agent said to me
Will outgrow Doctor Who consequently
CAPT:
But Moffat saw the light,
Brought in me, Nance and Chris to put things right...
ROSE:
No, No, No,No,
Why, Why, Why, Why, Why,
Will I go? Will I go?
The show is young, the futureВ’s bright
Keep away from Mum plots- weВ’ll be alright
It's deciding, itВ’s where we go, that estate or no?
I want to see more monsters too
Not more Welsh Slitheens having a poo,
It's Eastenders, it's Emmerdale, it's worry-inВ’.
You can tell thereВ’s been planning ahead
Davies and writers have planned a thread,
But I hear all my relations
Whispering low,
"Wait itВ’s our show!"
DOCTOR:
I brought Who back with depth and growth.
And when I leave you, just say to me,
"It's delightful, it's delicious,
It's...It's de-lovely".