If the last series began by riffing on early Jon Pertwee then this one began by mainlining the Douglas Adams era. Idiosyncratic english space opera at it's unashamed best. I also detected some of Warren Ellis's deadpan 'so-preposterous-it-must-be-true' sci fi gigantisms (to wit-"what kinds of disease? "All of them"). It's great to see that this show- which only a few short years ago was little better than a dusty antiques fair populated by curious, ageing fans- has been reborn so wonderfully.

First off- Bille Piper. Bi-liee Piper. Dang! Ding-a-Dang! One almost despairs at how good she is, because it means that surely she's destined for bigger (would it be offensive to say greater?) things, and soon. Horny teenagers throughout the nation will doubtless have fumbled frantically for the record button during the scene where Cassandra inhabits Rose's body and starts examining her new figure. Those of us older but with the mind of a horny teenager and a little patience will wait sweaty handed for the dvd. Ripping my mind from the gutter and fixing my sights firmly on Ms Piper's art- ART I said! She was the best thing about the last series and she's the best thing here, plain and simple. It's high camp all the way when the evil Cassandra posesses the Doctor's body, utterly convincing character acting from line to line when she takes Rose for a joy ride. Which is not to slight David Tennant in any way, shape, form or thought- if Christopher Eccleston was this generation's Jon Pertwee, Tennant may well be the new Tom Baker. The wide eyes full of intergalactic boggle, the grand canyon grin adding Tardis-like dimensions to Tennant's elfin face. All Bakerisms to a man. An effortless comedian one moment and mysterious, star weary eternal the next. I'm very excited.

Secondly (secondly? Thirdly, surely), the effects. Shallow I know, but...is it now boring to say that mainstream sci fi on the telly has to compete with the likes of (repeat after me in Dalek tones) Buffyangelstargatestartrek? Well yes, but the first bite is with the eye so to speak, and what a banquet New Earth was. You could practically SMELL the apple grass! New New York was Coruscant from the Star Wars designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and Jack Kirby. Alien races have taken a few leaps forward since the last series (I was never keen on the porridgey Slitheen) and the Cat Nuns are creepy patrons of a stark, futurist hospital. Brilliantly though, the imagery is rightly second fiddle to the characters and the plot. There return of old face Cassandra and big face the Face of Boa signal that the new Who is creating it's own mythos whilst honouring the old, which is more than I could have ever wished for. A shame Cassandra had to be killed off though- imagine her teaming up with Sil, or even the Master! Fans, start your fanwanking. A fine set up for the future series which, if it mirrors the last one, will get better and better with each episode. The trailer for round two has me salivating- Werewolves! Warrior Monks! With Queen Victoria! In Scotland!

Vworp Vworp!

So Doctor Who is back, after months of waiting with baited breath, countless news reports and a build up that not-surprisingly outshone the new Wembley Stadium, the very first episode of Doctor Who Series 2, graced our screens.

Unhampered by the dulcet tones of Graham Norton the episode got off to an interesting start, with Rose saying another goodbye to Jackie and Mickey. The arrival on New Earth is to be honest a bit rushed, infact that plagues the episode throughout and really brings back some of the rather upsetting faults of 'Rose' form the previous season.

The only real thing that really made me cringe in this episode was the stomach-churning relationship between the Doctor and Rose. It just seemed to tacky and with a bit of luck won't develop much further. Fair enough character development is essential to television programmes these days it seems but one can't help but feel the Doctor-Rose 'love' relationship is undermining the programme and the main action. By all means let them travel the universe and have a laugh but all this mushy luvvy duvvy nonsense is...well...nonsense.

Despite this the rest of the episode is enjoyable. The Cat Nurse seemed a little spare to the plot at times, but it was wonderful to see Cassandra back, especially in human form. Chip is an interesting addition to proceedings and the mutants at the end of the episode might seem a bit cliche but are harmless enough (if you get my drift).

The drama could have done with a bit more time to develop but other than that it was an enjoyable romp, which started off the new series well. David Tennant seems to be finding his feet well and holds the episode up nicely. Billie Piper delivers a hilarious performance as the Cassandra-possessed Rose (and David Tennant's attempt is none too bad either)

The ending is a nice wind down moment and Zoe Wanamaker is wonderful in the final few scenes. The pathos is played well and David Tennant's last look at the unfolding scene is a good way to finish. The trailer for next week looks to be a good return to the more sinister and spooky side of Doctor Who, and with this episode a pretty much firm starting block (perhaps the humour could have been played down a little) the new series looks to be just as good as the first.

"Fantastic?" - Not quite - As the first episode of the second series of Doctor Who premiered on UK terrestial television to an audience of 8.2 million viewers, it failed to deliver a story befitting the return of a much loved character. However, "New Earth" had its moments and there is no denying the chemistry between Tennant and Piper that exudes on screen. Tennant has yet to convince me he is in the same class as Eccleston, although he did a fairly decent job given the fact he appeared to have a script written in the mould of Eccleston's Doctor, despite RTD efforts to tidy up Tennants transition.

On the plus side the special effects were great - star warseque in standard for our first alien world adventure, and the new breed of diseased riddled humans would have have sent the kids running behind their sofas. The Face of Bo was a welcome return, now shrouded in even more mystery to be revealed in a later episode. Zoe Wannamaker was excellent as Lady Cassandra - shame about Tennant's and Piper's possession scenes - you either love it or hate it, and I hated it because it was a weak plot twist that detracted from the more sinister going ons with our feline Sisters of Mercy. RTD uses the characters of Cassandra and the Face of Bo to complete Tennants Transition as the 10th Doctor, but it just back-fires as you remember how great Eccleston's Doctor was.

It is early days for Tennant and glimpses of future episodes show real promise. I just hope RTD allows Tenants Doctor to reveal his own distinct querks that will enable us to love him in the same unique way we love his previous incarnations. - "Any one for a jelly baby?"

Oh dear. As with other RTD stories, arenВ’t you just left with the feeling that it could have been so much better? There are tonnes of great ideas in this episode, and the hospital the setting is extremely well realised. But 45 minutes just isnВ’t enough time in which to develop them. In fact, itВ’s worse than not having enough time. The series feels constrained by the rhythm of the 45-minute format. You can almost predict how the pace of the show will change at any given moment. Star Trek TNG had the same problem, with the dramatic ebbs and flows timed around the commercial breaks. At 25 minutes gone, with most of the ideas introduced, I found myself looking at the clock and waiting for each of them to be wrapped up in the time remaining. This argues against making any emotional or intellectual investment in the story. The old four-episode structure allowed for a more thoughtful development of the ideas less predictability.

On the plus side, I was favourably impressed with Tennant. The Christmas Invasion left me very cold, but in this story we were shown the new DoctorВ’s serious side. He still canВ’t quite do angry (like McCoy), but heВ’s definitely got the hang of thoughtful. Those glasses probably helped. He lacks EcclestoneВ’s insecurity and accompanying arrogance, which is great. Hopefully, he will also lack the 9th DoctorВ’s questionable moral judgement.

RTDВ’s mixture of smutty, ironic humour isnВ’t to everyoneВ’s taste, but he does bring it off very cleanly. I think it would certainly be a problem if he continues to dominate the series as he did last year. Doctor Who doesnВ’t belong to anyone В– not even him. Its strength is in the flexibility of the format, which allows new writers and directors to come in and do their own thing in their own way. RTDВ’s obsession with referring to the mythology of his own episodes is a means of maintaining some continuity and familiarity from one week to the next (in the absence of multiple-episode stories), but he must be very careful not to undermine the very thing that makes Doctor Who so successful В– and durable. Likewise, the smut and irony is used to gloss over the fact that the story is too short to sustain all those wonderful ideas В– so it all comes back to format in the end.

Next weekВ’s episode looks good, but letВ’s go further back in time! Think of the epic quality of Marco Polo: the historical setting, the time spent on the journey to Peking, the distance covered, the range of different setting, the changes of pace. Doctor Who in 2006 simply cannot so this anymore, and the series is the poorer for it.

I grew up with Doctor Who from Tom Baker's hey-day onwards; overall I enjoyed last year's new series very much, and I've even built my own Dalek. I've bit my tongue, sat back and read other people's reviews for year, and haven't said much of anything myself.

Until now. Russell mate, this has got to stop; if there's one Doctor Who website you read, then surely it's this one, and if so, I truly hope that you take some notice of the reviews here.

Your episodes, while not always sucking, are certainly always the poorer ones. You're a great executive producer, maybe even a great script editor, and should remain in both of those roles, but it's time to hand ALL the individual episode writing out to other people.

'New Earth' has so much wrong with it it's hard to know where to start, from production difficulties that were obviously beyond the crew's control- namely, the Gower weather, leading to some very obvious dubbing, through to frankly embarrassing dialogue.

The opening powering-up of the TARDIS by the new Doctor was great; I'll even allow for the constant prescence of the reject cast of EastEnders to see Rose off again (Anyone else notice the 'Wolf' still written on the ground?) But by the time we've arrived on 'New Earth', with it's flat CG buildings and it's sub-Playstation quality flying cars, we're in trouble. The use of the Cardiff Millenium Centre as the shopless-hospital foyer was all too obviously just a building from 2006; another fault with this series. Despite what they say, there's not THAT much of Cardiff, you know.

Giving Rose a 'comedy episode' was a grave error of judgement, at least for a series opener; this episode should have been all about the new Doctor, his companions' breasts. (Nice as they undoubtedly were) David Tennant is clearly settling in well, and I look forward to the rest of the series- though not so much to the episodes written by Russell.

The zombies felt decidedly flat and unthreatening, and the ending- with the Doctor supposedly mixing up a multi-coloured cure for everything- was pure RTD stupidity and laziness. Likewise, Cassandra's instantaneous change of heart at the end was very rushed and unbelieveable.

Another big issue for me with this one was the music; seemingly patched-together from all sorts of pieces from last year, it was yet again too loud, and too constant. And the sound effects; in this one new episode alone, I heard many effects from throughout the last series. Cheap, and lazy.

It's wonderful to have Doctor Who back, but the 45 minute format rarely works...and neither does Russell.

Well it took me two screenings of the first episode to be able to write down how I felt. My anticipation was so high that I was a nervous wreck watching it. I watched it - thought it was OK - looked at the reviews later that night and was not surprised by the mixed reaction. I think everyone's expectation was very high. On the Monday I watched The Christmas Invasion and then calmly watched New Earth again. I loved it. I think there is the danger of becoming to analytical - about the CGI - The writing - Did The Doctor do this? - Did Rose do that? - Didn't like the make up! ENJOY IT. It is damn good.

It followed on from The Christmas Invasion and David Tennant has got it nailed. No point comparing him to Eccleston or anyone else - he is not the new Baker or Pertwee he is David Tennant and he is The Doctor. It works.

The opening was great - they left old comfortable earth and arrived at New Earth! It is Sci Fi - It is 5,000,000,023 and that is how it looks - Who are we to argue? The Doctor and Rose enjoy each others company and each other - and why not! They travel through time and space. Straight away there is intrigue - Chip and Cassandra - The Sisters of Plenitude - The Face of Bo. There are patients with every disease - the scene of all the pods was breathtaking. Rose gets possessed by Cassandra and she in turn then kisses the doctor - and do you blame her? Stuck with no body for ages. Like the zombies - she wanted physical contact. It was Cassandra and NOT Rose kissing the Doctor.

The Doctor knows this - and he in turn knows he has to save the day - Cassandra is a good sub plot but it all ties in. The Zombies are cured - Mankind lives on - Rose comes back and Cassandra realises this is a New Earth - not her earth of old and she lets go - and again why not? The beautiful scene at the end where she meets herself and tells herself she is beautiful - because for years she had not seen it and only had memories - but there she was face to face with it again. It was great.

Finally - The Face of Bo. What a great cliffhanger there - waiting to run with it throughout the series - what will he tell the Doctor? - I cannot wait.

Some people have quoted - Plot holes - CGI not good enough - Acting not good enough - Using the word Chavtastic! - Body swapping - !!!!! CHILL - It is Sci Fi. Russell T Davies will never please everyone - but to say he is no good is all wrong - he is the driving force behind this revival and we should get on our knees and thank him for it. He is not perfect - but then again neither are any of us.

So sit back and enjoy Series 2 - It is going to be a great ride!