Just as I was beginning to think maybe I'm being a little bit harsh on RTD's writing for the new series, and almost starting to persuade myself that little lapses like burping dustbins and Britney Spears outbursts might ultimately be forgivable, or, more easily, edited out from my own recordings of Rose and End of the World, I find that I have been justified in my instinctive dislike of RTD's gimmicky, soundbite-style approach to this important programme.

Aliens of London is puerile and has indellibly blemished the history of the programme with the hammiest, most inappropriate and completely unfunny trio of 'aliens' in a series of unforgiveably crass and infantile scenes ever witnessed in the series. No, I do not speak of an implausibly 'down-to-earth', 'Navvy-on-the-town/live-in plumber of the Tyler household' Doctor groaning to his hosts to 'shoot oop' as he watches the TV in a manner straight out of the equally tiresome Royle Family; I of course speak of the flatulent Slitheens in diguise as Cabinet ministers whose tendency to fart and, just as gratingly, burst into infantile classroom giggles as they do so (why should aliens necessarily find farting amusing as we do?) is tragically - for the credibility of Doctor Who - not confined to just one scene - but MANY which crop up nauseatingly throughout this absurd episode.

Back in those formerly perceived 'dark days' of seasons 24 and (bits of) 25 - now in my revisionist mind comparatively full of hope and wonder for the future of the series - we used to cringe in virtual pits of despair at sights such as Ken Dodd's Tollmaster (Delta and the Bannermen), Richard Brier's Caretaker, Pex and the Ressies (both Paradise Towers), the atrociously ill-realised Whizzkid on his BMX (Greatest Show), the 'Doctor...' tv bit in Remembrance, and just about everything in Silver Nemesis. But at least JNT had the courtesy to confine his occasional whims to isolated scenes, and did not, unlike RTD, string out the 'embarrassments' which tokenised practically every episode in season 24 (obviously RTD's favourite season) throughout their respective episodes! It seemingly wasn't enough for RTD to only vent his highly questionable whims in just one scene (as he did, thankfully in Rose and End of the World) in Aliens of London: no, he had to string out the lavatorial 'fart joke' (which would have had the Carry On team cringing with distaste - except for those numbering the appalling final film, Carry On England, with Kenneth Conner's flatulent officer no doubt inspiring RTD in this gritty new comical edge to the series) all the way through this episode as an actual plot component! As another reviewer has pointed out already, why couldn't RTD have found a less lavatorial and more intriguing biological flaw to the Slitheens which betrayed their Ministerial disguises - indeed, one could have had them occasionally breathing very badly or emitting random gibberish like the Auton disguised as Mickey in Rose (a comparatively tame offering compared to the travesty of Aliens...).

The answer then must surely be that RTD just wanted to capitalise on yet another opportunity to play for laughs and send up a series he claims to be faithfully reinventing. Seemingly his New Who is trying to appeal to the under 5s, but I dare say they themselves would find such frankly crap attempt at humour woefully unsophisticated and silly. I can only conclude that RTD does not take Doctor Who seriously. Is he then, as some are assuming Eccleston is, simply using the show as a stepping stone in his overblown and ludicrously over-rated (courtesy of hyperbolic reviewers and standards-lapsing critics) TV writing career? This element to this episode betrays a tendency towards talentlessness which, if RTD is not careful, will slowly corrupt and obliterate any questionable talent he so far possesses (yes I do admit that Casanova is well-written and genuinely innovative in places, however, even that other series overdoses in humour and trendiness, and endearing though the new Doctor, David Tennant, is in the main role, as one recent reviewer pointed out, his portrayal lacks gravitas and believability, thus ultimately completely undermining the entire point of doing that series).

And yes, I have many other quibbles about this wasted opportunity for a more fleshed-out two parter: the domestic scenes are becoming very very grating and dull, helping to reduce the already excessively mundane ninth incarnation of the Doctor to practically an unconsummated boyfriend to Rose, who's just a tiny bit quirky now and then and who can't quite fully commit himself yet to their 'relationship'.

I really really hate the style of digital video used for the series: it detracts from the dramatic essence of it - with exception to The Unquiet Dead. It seems to me to be the same used for commercials, which I suppose is fairly apt for this highly commercial reinvention of the show. But this style of digi video with its blurry, slightly rose-tinted finish just makes the programme look like one long commercial trailer rather than a drama series. Why couldn't the same film camera used for Casanova been used for Who also? A sharper definition would add a lot to the look of the programme and also make it less impersonal - back in the video-only McCoy days I never thought in the future I would have looked back at that style of filming Who with nostalgia, but I do, and wish at least the TARDIS scenes were done on video.

The blood and thunder approach to much of the action of Aliens, especially the Doctor taking on a sort of undercover SAS style role by leading the charge of the Paratroopers (remind you of any crap recent ITV serial?) down top security corridors, is not refreshingly action-oriented, but simply dull and disrespectful to the series' underlying ethos of brain over brawn (bring back the pugilist Sixth Doctor and Pertwee and UNIT, all is forgiven! Indeed, at least the Third and Sixth Doctors had dandyish smoking jackets and patchwork coat-tails flailing flamboyantly behind them when they took on the terrestrial heroics, which at least still emphasized sartorially that they were more than just your average occasional action hero - sadly Eccleston's crew cut and black leather jacket make him fit worryingly well with his uniformed companions).

Oh yes, and the mention of UNIT, accompanied by a shot of some dull-looking, faceless military officials in bland everyday uniforms which in no way indicate that they are in fact from Lethbridge-Stewart's old organisation - and this Doctor, who has famously collaborated with UNIT in FIVE different incarnations, now inexplicably cites his recent change of appearance as an obstacle to him collaborating with them again: 'They won't recognise me'! Has RTD ever actually watched any of the old stories at all? Maybe when he did he was far too busy imagining his own reinterpretation of the series to actually register its original interpretation.

And the Doctor himself: Eccleston said that he didn't feel the need to wear a silly hat and coat to put across the alienness of the character and that he would do this purely through his performance. Right. So what's gone wrong then? Token occasional erraticism, moodiness, gurning and exclaiming 'Fantastic' at the now practically commonplace vicissitudes of extraterrestrial Earth interventions aside, just how else is this incarnation notably alien? Not only does he wear very ordinary clothes thus blending into the modern day almost completely in appearance, he uses contemporary vernacular and expressions, has a very casual manner and takes to catching up on extrarrestrial invasions via the BBC news on a TV set in a council flat rather than using his TARDIS scanner. (Surely the point of the character of the Doctor is to to some extent stand out as a unique and obviously very different sort of person to the norm; yes, in the past the 'costume' approach might have been used sometimes to do the job of this when the characterisation lacked, but it's not so much the costume which is the problem here, it is frankly the scripting and interpretation of the role). This Doctor appears to love the mundanity of contemporary Earth just as much as he does popping off now and then through time. He is quite obviously torn between the two, and obviously it's a hard choice for him, as it is for deciding between saving the world or hanging out with a London shop girl. These return visits to Rose's domestic background are completely pointless and unjustified:when this was done once in the past, it was with UNIT, and that was partly justified by the fact that those characters were at least engaging (particularly the Brigadier); Jackie and Mickey are not engaging, they are in fact irritating to say the least, and add absolutely nothing to the drama or narrative of the series which couldn't have been channelled elsewhere to better effect. Maybe RTD secretly wishes to produce a soap opera? He could change the name of the series to Time Enders perhaps?

And just what is going on with the constant sexual innuendos regarding his and Rose's 'relationship'? How would we have reacted if the Seventh Doctor and Ace intermittently flirted with each other throughout their time together? What they had as a combination - and I in no way cite it as a flawlessly scripted one by any means - was a genuinely deep bond with each other which really was something 'more' than a boyfriend and girlfriend which Rose hints at in this episode to Mickey. The constant innuendo with this present combination completely undermines any attempts to emphasize a sexually transcending bond. I also find Rose's occasional but consistent referring to the Doctor as 'so gay' whenever he shows sensitivity or vulnerability as quite offensive to be honest, not because I am myself, but because I just think it's in bad taste and is completely inappropriate for this worryingly sexually literate version of a series famed and loved for its androgynous appeal - but of course RTD seems to have a licence to drop these un-PC put-downs through Rose by nature of his own sexuality in the same way that Mel Brooks always famously seemed to have an exclusive licence to make gags about Jews. I don't like this sort of scriptorial treatment one bit and it is completely out of place in any escapist, sci fi series.

I will end on a couple of positive comments about Aliens of London: the TV news coverage, bar the first reporter's very portentous coverage of events, is actually quite well handled and convincing in places - reminiscent of Day of the Daleks; I actually think that the twist of the Pig creature was genuinely quite innovative and surreal, though reminded me somewhat of Time Bandits; the Slitheens, over all, are quite well done when finally and thankfully revealed; the lights coming out of the heads is well done. There, that's it. That's all I can think of that's good in an otherwise highly embarrassing episode. I only hope that eventually things will get back on track to the standard of the excellent Unquiet Dead so we might begin to forget this Rent-A-Ghost-style pantomime of an episode which, I predict, will prove to be deeply damaging to the credibility of Doctor Who's forty year history unless some later episodes manage to completely eclipse its significance.

ALIENS OF LONDON maintains the high standard of the new series and races along with real dramatic weight behind the speed, surpassing the slightly frantic feeling of the first two episodes, and suggesting that two-part episodes will enable the production to achieve an optimum balance between modern TV drama and the more leisurely pace of those old four and six parters.

Some have been complaining about the so-called 'soap' elements of the story. What struck me though was the way in which the 'domestics', to use the Doctor's term, are seamlessly integrated into the sci-fi set-up. The brilliant device of having Rose return home not twelve hours but twelve *months* after she left cued up all subsequent interactions between the mundane and the fantastical. RTD has found a way to mesh the real world (or the real world as seen in other TV dramas, at least) with the bizarre and exciting world of Doctor Who, in a way that is clearly designed to soothe the reservations of those who deride sci-fi for its lack of credibility – but beware soap-loving couch-potatoes, it's a rapprochement with a sting in the tail! I'm sure I'm not spoiling anything to say that this story will end with Rose choosing life with the Doctor over life with her well-meaning but small-minded mum and her sweet but thoroughly average chump of a boyfriend - this is a battle where 'soap' reality loses! (just like that Awards ceremony a few years ago where DW beat Eastenders!) In soaps, characters hardly stray more than 500 metres from a handful of key locations, and for one of them to go five miles away to the London West End would require a bloody feature-length Easter Special. Rose is like a truly great soap character who is about to escape the confines of the Square/Street/wherever, and fly the coop, and I'm rooting for her all the way.

The scenes where the Doctor is trying to watch news of the alien invasion on TV whilst surrounded by the clutter and chatter of Rose's home were hilarious, but again the humour had a sting in the tail. Aliens have landed and Rose's mum is gossiping about some fella she's been out with – a perfect illustration of the small-minded parochialism that Rose obviously wants to escape by travelling with the Doctor. When Rose runs into the TARDIS followed by her mum, her mum bolts back outside, filled not with questions but with fear. She scurries back to the safety of her flat, without a shred of curiosity about the suddenly much larger world she's glimpsed. Rose yells after her that she'll be up in a moment to explain, but then dashes back into the TARDIS to consult with the Doctor about his theory that the invasion is a fake. Rose's suitability as a companion is thus assured – she *can* cope with a larger world, and for once a companion of the Doctor has not only been furnished with a real world background, she's confronted that background, found it wanting, and chosen a life of danger and wonder with the Doctor. She is a brilliant creation, and remember, she's *RTD's* creation, all you Davies-bashers...

The other feature that has 'alienated' quite a few Doctor Who fans is the farting. (Must be down to bad memories of being crammed overnight into shared hotel rooms at Conventions...) No-one seems to have spotted that this is actually 'ripped off,' in the time-honoured Doctor Who tradition, in this case from Stephen King's novel DREAMCATCHER. Personally, I found it surprisingly effective, and I wasn't expecting to think so (I'd heard the rumours beforewhand...). It's both funny, in a vulgar way, and actually rather disturbing. When one of them says "We've got to sort out this gas situation" (I'm paraphrasing), the other sarcastically says, "Oh, I thought it made us very human." And that's the key to understanding these aliens. They're mocking us. They laugh at us. When their plan to infiltrate parliament succeeds, they stand in the Cabinet Office laughing like hyenas. I found this far more sinister and scary than the usual sort of 'fiendish' laughter we get from that jackanapes The Master. They laugh with utter contempt. Being invaded by the Slitheen feels truly frightening because they clearly regard humanity as some idiotic species ripe for destruction, and look forward to killing us with a kind of gleeful cruelty. (although the last laugh under the end credits music was just a bit too 'ho-ho-ho' for my liking - was it meant to stifle the fear factor, I wonder?). The narrative reason they fart is obviously to do with the pressure of fitting their huge bodies into the human skins (which suddenly has me giggling at the idea of Count Scarlioni doing it too!). Perhaps fart jokes are a notch down from the dry, sophisticated comedies every fan *of course* watches between episodes of Who, but for heaven's sake try to be a bit more (ffffffrrrrrrr! - oh I say, do excuse me...) flexible. I know it's written into the contract that we fans must be humourless po-faced drudges, but come on, cut loose a bit (Honk!!!!!! ...dear me, I'm so sorry! Must be something I ate)...

Like last week's episode, this felt like classic Who with a burst of new energy cascading through it. I loved the pig creature, and when it was shot down I felt a lump in my throat - which, given that all I had to contextualize it were a few rapid lines from the Doctor and a brief glimpse of it running down a corridor, means I'm either a complete sap when it comes to poor little piggies, or it was simply the good writing communicating a complex idea with dramatic economy. The 'fake invasion' plot was ingenious – I was completely hooked by the various twists and turns (and no, I don't care if some sci-fi novel I've never read has done it already: and no, AMBASSADORS OF DEATH isn't an example).

The special effects are better than they've ever been in a British show, and miles better than any previous Doctor Who. No, they're not perfect, I was *not* convinced that the production team had found some real aliens and persuaded them to take part. But what do I read on this newsgroup–complaints about lighting irregularities on the rooftop? Jesus wept. To quote a Slitheen: "By all the Saints: get some PERSPECTIVE, you lot!" The alien craft looked great crash-landing, the Big Ben smash was fabulous, and although the Slitheen transformations were technically a bit dodgy here and there, I thought they were gross and genuinely alarming in overall appearance. Reminded me of the weird baby-faced monsters in the dream-sequences of Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL. Those who are suggesting they're the equivalent of the Mhyrrka (spelling?) are either taking the mick or senile. When that creature loomed towards Rose's mum in her pokey little kitchen I felt the stirrings of something long dormant – no not that, I don't fancy either of them – I think it might have been fright...

This is a better Doctor Who series than we ever had the right to expect. What's more, ALL of the people I know who are casual but not rabid DW fans have loved every single episode. ALL of them who have children have said their kids are totally rivetted to the screen. No-one seems to have a problem with the so-called 'soap' elements, and no-one seems outraged by the occasionally vulgar humour.

There are elements of the new series that are not completely to my taste, but my overwhelming feeling is that we have a bold, triumphant return of the best TV show ever, and I for one feel like I'm part of a great big thirteen week adventure. I'm finding it impossible to sit down and watch old episodes because all I can think about are the new ones. I'm now on tenterhooks as each Saturday night approaches and as a fan who grew up with DW in its golden years of Holmes and Hinchcliffe, I think I know a thing or two about 'behind the sofa' apprehension. For the first time since the seventies, I'm feeling tormented by the week-long wait for a TV show.

I'll add a few minus points down here at the bottom, just to show I'm not a production office mole..

the TV reporter (not Andrew Marr, the other one) was phony, which is a shame given how convincing programmes like THE DAY TODAY and BRASS EYE could be. This guy was no better than the one in THE DAEMONS all those years ago.

Why did the female doctor in the morgue go and open the fridge door when she could hear the alien was inside trying to get out? Leave it be!

When the (excellently acted) female MP tries to butt in to talk to the Doctor, she has already seen the aliens. I thought she would have been more insistent and spoken directly to the Doctor, interrupting his conversation with the usher by hissing in his ear, 'I've seen them and they're here!" As that would have prevented the big reveal, better that she should have arrived too late to speak to the Doctor as he disappeared into the other room.

The three-part cliffhanger was great, although it relied twice on people standing still as the transformations took place. A horror film convention, but one that could have been avoided.

And one more thing:

The 'next week' trailer after a cliffhanger really jars. I hope they have time to rethink this way of doing things. The last image should be enough to bring people back next week - isn't that what cliffhangers are all about?

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.