Well. Clichй it may be, but the new series goes from strength to strength, improving with each and every episode. This episode, the first part of the three two-parters in the series, opened with a recap of Rose (no doubt to remind casual viewers of Mickey and Jackie Tyler) followed by a wonderful scene where the Doctor brings Rose home 12 months on from the date she left, although he thought he’d brought her back just 12 hours on! Of course, she has been declared missing, and Mickey has become the chief suspect in her “murder.” The one thing that puts this story above it’s three predecessors, though, is undoubtedly the complexity of the plotline. The pace remains just as fast, but with a two-parter there is twice the time for twice the story….

After the Doctor tries to explain Rose’s absence to her Mother and to her Police by saying that he “employed her as his companion” - and gets a slapping for doing so! - the story starts proper as during a very flirtatious chat Rose and the Doctor talk about what they are going to do. The Doctor reveals himself to be over 900 years old to Rose in the scene, the reveals about him still being eked out slowly across the series, unquestionably the best way to do things keeping the new audience in mind. Suddenly, a fantastic CGI spaceship flies overhead, crashing into Big Ben. You can almost see the Doctor’s eyes light up! That is the kind of scene that will stick in people’s minds for years to come.

I thought the ship was done very convincingly, although I must say that the only negative thing I can think of about the episode was the feeble CSO background when the Doctor and Rose stood on top of her building. I understand that it was necessary because of the ship flying over them but even so, I’m sure they could have limited the amount of blue-screen they used in that scene.

The following scenes featuring BBC News were brilliantly done – it gave the episode a sense of reality, and really emphasised that this was on our own doorstep. The scenes in Rose’s flat provided some comic relief (that wasn’t fart-related) – the baby on the Doctor’s knee (funny in itself) wrestling the control away from him and putting “Blue Peter” on (a nice little reference to the years of features Blue Peter have run on the show), the unexplained presence of a Chinese family, and best of all the fact that the Doctor was the only person (Rose aside) showing any excitement at the prospect of humans making first contact with non-terrestrials! As the Doctor points out to Rose, most people would rather talk about mobile phones and being asked out on dates! There is a wonderful moment where he gives her the key to the TARDIS – it really is beginning to seem like there is more than just friendship between Rose and the Doctor, although it’s not sexual. It’s hard to put your finger on but it’s clearly there, although so far the implications have been no more explicit than between the Doctor and Romana in the late seventies (and she was his own species!)

As the Doctor (seen by a gob smacked Mickey) takes off in the TARDIS (adorned with the “BAD WOLF” graffiti – a little clue about the Slitheen perhaps? Wolves in sheep’s clothing anyone?) he uncovers that the alien pilot of the crashed ship was not alien after all – just a freakily enhanced pig. It is a testament to Eccleston’s acting ability that he makes the scene where the troops shoot the pig down emotional – “IT WAS SCARED!” - a scene that could easily have become farcial.

I’m sure a lot of people will quibble here about the troops just obeying the Doctor’s instructions without question, but examples of this kind of thing are littered throughout the classic series – he just has that effect on people! – and you also have to remember he asked them to initiate a military protocol which he could only have known if he was affiliated with the army in some way.

As usual, I was watching the episode with my sci-fi sceptic fiancйe and I was just explaining to her about how the Doctor was exiled to Earth in the seventies and worked for a government/military organisation called UNIT. Watching the trailer attached to “The Unquiet Dead” I was trying to make out the insignia on the troops uniforms hoping that they would be from UNIT, but after thinking it through I had convinced myself that UNIT was an area the new series would try and avoid. However, not to include UNIT in a modern-day alien invasion would have actually contradicted the classic series – how could UNIT not be involved? How could the Doctor not be known to the powers that be? Of course, Russell T. Davies got the balance spot on with their minor presence. Moreover, as the new viewers know so little about the Doctor’s past to reveal that he once worked for a secret government organisation only adds to his mystique.

After following the Doctor and Rose into the TARDIS (alongside an overwhelmed Mrs. Tyler) Mickey reveals that for a year he’s searched the t’internet and history books etc. for every scrap of info on the Doctor – and as they watch on TV “alien experts” (including an forgivably unfamiliar-looking UNIT delegation - after all, Lethbridge-Stewart had already retired in Battlefield set ten years earlier and this episode is set sometime in 2006!) being gathered Mickey explains to Rose about how the Doctor once worked for UNIT. “I’ve changed a lot since those days…” the Doctor quips. It’s nice to see him refer to UNIT as “good people,” and I also liked Mickey’s line about wherever you see the Doctor’s name, you find a list of the dead; a similar comment to those made by Clive in Rose.

UNIT aside, these TARDIS scenes were exceptionally well done. Mickey was a much more compelling character than in Rose – rather than just an annoying cockney kid he was someone who had been persecuted for a year for something he hasn’t done. His jealously and anger towards the Doctor are evident, clearly not helped by the Doctor continually referring to him as “Ricky” and belittling him, 6th Doctor-style. Rose was also brilliant in the episode – Billie Piper really excelled, especially as she tried to explain to Mickey and her Mother how she feels about the Doctor. “He’s not my boyfriend – he’s more than that. So much more!” Jackie Tyler is also brilliant. Her reaction to the TARDIS is massive culture shock – and of course, fear. After all – how would you feel if your long-lost daughter turned up out of the blue, only to reveal she’d been travelling around with an alien? I think most people would call the Alien Emergency Line.

The Doctor. TARDIS. Red Alert!

Of course the Doctor is known by the government from his days on the UNIT staff – and as such, he has to be brought in alongside the other “alien experts.” When he and Rose are whisked away to 10 Downing Street, it finally all dawns on me what is actually going on…

The Slitheen. A wonderful creation. The cabinet and the General are all actors of the highest calibre; as are for that matter the rest of the supporting cast in this episode. To be fair, they had to be to be able to pull of the farting with any sense of menace, but they manage it! Their gastronomical problems actually make sense when you think about it; a huge alien creature contains in what is effectively a highly-convincing zip-up suit. There is bound to be a bit of trapped wind!

I was thrilled to see Penelope Wilton in the show as Harriet Jones. Davies’ episodes excel at conveying the sense of fear, wonder and shock “normal” people feel when they experience aliens, TARDISes etc. – and after the horror she witnesses here she really has our sympathies, especially as she is visibly doing all she can to hold back her terror as she escorts Rose away from the crowd. As a huge fan of Teachers it was great to see Navin Chowdry (Kurt!) in there too, though I did struggle to take him seriously in a straight-role.

And at last, we get a cliff-hanger, and it’s well worth the wait. It’s not just our heroes that are in danger, but ALL the characters we have come to care about – the Doctor, UNIT, Rose, Harriet, Jackie Tyler – and it was poor old Kurt who was first against the wall when the Slitheen revealed themselves. Of course, the Doctor had it all worked out by the time the first Slitheen was revealed – but of course, it was too late by then.

Or was it….

Shortly after the episode when I dropped one and my fiancйe went “you’re an alien!”, I had to have a little chuckle to myself as I realised a nation full of children are going to be running scared whenever their parent’s let rip!

I am shocked and disturbed by the bad reviews I’ve read for this show. Us Doctor Who fans really are impossible to please! I thought this episode was intense. You will be hard pressed to find a better episode of “Doctor Who” ever – this episode really was breathtaking.

After the sublime delights that were Mark Gattiss's The Unquiet Dead it's back to Earth (literally) with a bang with the RTD penned two parter.

As the Doctor takes Rose back to visit her mum, domesticity threatens to overtake the show and an absurd alien invasion begins to take place. Add to this UNIT operatives with less personality that a de-activated Auton and, I'm sorry, we have the weakest story of the run so far.

The premise is a good one ... the augmented pig isn't. The cast is stellar ... the flatulent Slitheen are not. The effects top notch ... until we get men in rubber suits with very dodgy masked and zips on foreheads.

This looked spectacular, but, in keeping with the other parts, it also features the weakest Eccleston portrayal to date. He's just too flippant.

When Doctor who was on tv in the eighties there were moments that make us all cringe, things that are cast up by people who don't like the series to prove it was "rubbish". The Magma Creature, The Kandyman, Dobbin in Warriors from the Deep.

It seems RTD has created his own version of this.

We'll just have to get through next week .. and wait for the Daleks.

Having recovered from the shocking decline of quality witnessed in "The Unquiet Dead", I'm glad to say that this was a return to form. I am worried, however, that all the episodes I've liked thus far have been by the same writer. It doesn't give me much hope for the non-Davies episodes.

In any case, there was a genuine sense of excitement to this episode, something which was lacking from the previous two. For once, I wasn't already ahead of the characters as they were puzzling things out. And I loved the city of London's reaction to the extra terrestrial visitors: the excitement is palpable, but underneath it things are pretty much as they've always been. Rose's mum is far more concerned about where her daughter's been and making sure her guests all have a drink than the world changing events going on a few miles away.

Speaking of Rose, it's nice to see the real impact of her choosing to up and leave her life, instead of this being swept under the carpet and ignored. Are the problems with the TARDIS going to be a continuing theme this series? It stretches credibility somewhat if this has happened two episodes in a row by pure coincidence, but to much better dramatic effect here than in episode three.

It's childish and stupid, but there's something about people running around corridors with guns that never gets boring. More of this, less floating spectres and giant rotor blades please. And I'd never thought I'd say this, but: well done, BBC special effects department. Not only are the Slitheen genuinely alien in appearance, but the shot of the spaceship taking out a big chunk of Big Ben was wonderfully done.

Two minor complaints: firstly, I don't know if I was supposed to be disgusted at what was done to the alien-impersonating pig, but I wasn't ("it must have been terrified" the Doctor says sadly, as if he's talking about an Iraqi child with no limbs). I mean, come on, how can you feel sorry for a pig in a space suit? I suspect this is supposed to be tongue in cheek, so I will let it go.

Secondly, the farting. I know to at least half the population (the male half, predominantly) that farting is the funniest thing imaginable. But there could have been any other number of signals used to denote when a supporting character is actually an alien. Nose bleeds, random vomiting, narcolepsy... all of these obvious solutions are much funnier than farting.

Having said all that, this was the best episode of the series so far, and thanks to the series' first cliff-hanger, promises a lot for the second part.

With the teaser trailer setting expectations high, Aliens of London fails to deliver as much as it promised - with moments of silliness marring an otherwise solid plotline.

The episode starts off wonderfully, with Miss Piper continuing to shine as Rose. It is one of the highlights of the new series to see the companion acting realistically, struggling as someone really would, amidst numerous interactions that arise from her normality clashing with extreme situations. This is particularly joyous given the tendency to excess of Mr Eccleston as the Doctor. The scene with Rose's late return was wonderful, with plenty of amusing comic moments and cultural references thrown in. I thought that Mickey was much better here than before; the viewer was able to sympathise with his anger, relief and resentment of the Doctor.

The overall concept for the alien invasion was intriguing with a suitably surprising and salivating plot twist to keep the viewer interested. Much to my surprise, the augmented pig actually worked... although I am guessing not everyone will agree with me on that! The Slitheen plan is well organised, planned in detail and highly manipulative. Continuing with the positives, the special effects were again superb.

Unfortunately, the story was greatly weakened by the cabinet ministers at the centre of the plot. Rather than enhance the sense of mystery or suspense, they destroy it. The farting was part of a wider problem with their portrayal, with none of them managing to prove convincing at being members of parliament. Disappointing.

The potential for the news footage to add to the realism of the occasion and overall sense of panic was again wasted. Perhaps they feared a War-of-the-World panic should anyone have inadvertently tuned in and it was too believable, but it was sometimes embarrassingly bad and it was often unclear about the passage of time involved.

Aliens of London was yet again good entertainment but failed to match the previous stories, frustratingly because of a basic but important weakness to make the menacing and calculating aliens sufficiently believable as human leaders. The episode ended up being lighter than I had anticipated but, following from the particularly creepy Unquiet Dead and with the (hopefully) scary Dalek to come, perhaps this is not surprising in retrospect. If the new Who is to appeal to a broad audience of children, it can't be too dark. And despite the failings, it is still a fantastic romp and - dare I say it - much better than a great, great deal of the old series!

Given the announcement was this week, I would also like to state my support for David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. Aside from being a fine actor, he is also enthusiastic about the show which I think is important. Let us hope that the quality and, moreover, the great fun of the show continue and that everyone can get behind Mr Tennant as they did Mr Eccleston.

Aliens of London gave me hopes and concerns before transmission. The series up to this point had been strong and the effects shown in the trailer were good. The concerns I had were that the episode was set in (all but) real time and with a new alien threat. It therefore had elements where Doctor Who had gone wrong in the past.

It also had the risk of being a double parter, if it was good then it had the bonus of a good traditional cliff hanger, if it was poor the risk was two weeks to live with.

All in all the story had a lot to live up to and overall I thought it was a complete and utter disappointment. The ridiculous farting aliens and the immature laughing scenes made me feel ashamed to be interested in Doctor Who, I felt I was watching a drama for the pre-school, never mind a programme for the family.

On the plus side, an area where I expected to feel uncomfortable worked well. Billie Piper acted her socks off in the domestic settings of her home. She turned the good element of the plot of the missing twelve months into a realistic plot twist and all in all Billie came out with full credit.

Christopher Eccleston Doctor was not so good. In a couple of shows he looked an alien, but unfortunately not as a Timelord but as an actor in a show he had never seen. His overall performance to date however gives me faith he will recover before the series climax.

Alarmingly the supporting cast acted well, especially Penolpe Wilton. This I say is alarming as it means the poor characters appeared to be due to the quality of the script, and the therefore RTD.

My other areas of concern were the aliens. The zips in their heads and rubber suits belonged in another movie set, but where? The minute their over computer generated bodies appeared it became clear ... Men In Black.

From the above it would be easy to say the episode had nothing to offer, but this isn't quite true. The Doctor fixing his problematic TARDIS, the acknowledgement of UNIT and the Doctors excitement by history offered something for the traditionalists. The great graphics, the Rose family story line and fast moving plot offers something for the casual / new viewer. The appalling farting for the children.

All in all however it didn't pull together, and unfortunately from my discussions to date upset everyone from the casual viewer to the die hard fans. Roll on the Daleks and get ready to grit your teeth next week!

Ah. Well, may be a cynical, embittered, rapidly degenerating old man. But against all my doubts and concerns, the new Doctor Who has had a disturbingly powerful effect on me. Mark Gatiss (a fellow North Easterner!) delivered the first knock out blow with the wonderful third episode and I've been punch drunk ever since. His story was scary, dramatic, funny and genuinely moving.

With this new episode I expected to take a step back. I was barely convinced by the first episode, I loved the sexy desperate mum, but was far from convinced by Mickey and the 'real world'. So I entered episode episode 4 with a real lack of great expectations. How wrong could I be? Mickey was great. The actor is very likeable and engaging, and in this episode he became more than the annoying boyfriend he was in 'Rose'. I really felt for the poor bloke. Again, the joy of the series characters' is that they rises beyond the 2-dimensional expectations.

The 12 months missing storyline was excellent, as was the doctor stuck in the uncomfortably 'human' environment. Haven't we all felt like an alien in other peoples homes?

Like a fantastic pudding, it was only enhanced by countless chocolate chip features like a mention of Unit, the doctor flashing up on the computers as 'recognised', the doctor telling his sonic screwdriver to 'shush' and his endless enthusiasm, which finally for me seemed entirely joyful to watch. I'm not a big fan of farting, or of farting jokes, but you know, this really didn't bother me!

It all built to a lovely climax, ruined only be the trailer for next week. Doesn't Russel T Davies know I'm a broken man and I no longer have the will to turn over even when I know I should.

I'm now at the stage where if I heard RTD had cast a whoopee cushion as the next assistant, I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled off some magic and revealed a depth to a piece of wind-breaking latex I hadn't previously considered.. You know, I've been having way too much fun to indulge in criticisms, which makes this an awful review I know. But if I could have just said 'Hurrah!' and had it printed I would have.

Thanks for cheering this miserable old git up! We still have nine episodes, a christmas special, another doctor and thirteen episodes more to go.