This is the first episode that has prompted me to write a review. Not because it is the first one that I have thought worthy for I've not been disappointed by any so far. But this is what I remember Doctor Who being like when I was growing up, full of time paradoxes and monsters.

I thought the episode was brilliantly made as always and it left me with plenty to think about when it was done but I do have a couple of nagging concerns.

First, I am now wondering if this series should be called "Rose", and not "Doctor Who", I can't remember any companion forming the central part of so many episodes, and here was no exception. I have no problem with this in general, but I am longing to discover more about this Doctor before he is no more.

Second, the whole idea of these creatures appearing to heal time doesn't really hold together and there seems to be no explanation as to why the hit and run car is now appearing outside the church.

Please don't misunderstand me. The writing in this episode, the relationships explored, and the realisation of the creatures themselves was all done brilliantly. But after the wonder has died down I'm still left wondering. Why?

After the average episode that was The Long Game i was hoping that Fathers Day would be a little more exciting and interesting as it dealt with a theory pondered by many peole: what would happen if i could go back in time and change this, that and the other? So im glad to say that this episode marked an excellent return to the extaordinary form of the new series of Doctor Who!

This story, in some places, felt like some from the old series, especially when we see things from the point of view of the monster (in this case called the Reapers, but i dont think they were ever called by this name on screen, unless i just missed it). As for the Reapers, what can i say? They were one of the most brilliant monsters to ever grace Doctor Who! They had a unique quality to them and looked as if they burst through a rip in time! The location where this story was filmed also looked stunning as it really felt like the eighties. The appearance of baby Mickey was also a great idea.

As usual the lead characters acted amazingly and convincingly and the guest cast also gave good performances. Surprisingly i couldn't see any Bad Wolf references, i thought it would be sprayed on the wall in the background of the play park, or that Rose would mention a Bad Wolf bedtime story told to her by her father.

So, this story was a great comeback after a perfectly fine story that just wasn't up to the high standards of the others. This story is definitely one of the best in the series so far, congratulations to Paul Cornell! As for the preview of next weeks, well, after i retrieved my jaw from the floor after seeing the awesome effects of the blitz, it seems that this series is just getting better and better. I cant see for the life of me why some people complain about looking forward to the preview when we should be more concerned with the episode that is being shown. The previews are an amazing way to hook the audience, tantalising us with some of the best parts of the upcoming story in such a hectic rate that it really catches your attention. On top of that it has the fantastic theme tune blaring over the top of it! It also gives rise to an amusing observation about Doctor Who fans: You know you are a Doctor Who fan when at the end of your day there is a preview of tomorrows events...

Y'know, since reading much of his earlier Doctor Who work, I had high hopes for Paul Cornell's contribution to the new series. I also had fears that the frantic pace of the show's new format would detract something from the story, which I felt the previous episode (The Long Game) suffered from somewhat. I really had no need to worry did I?

Absolutely fantastic episode. Personally I love stories concerning time getting coked-up, but as well as satisfying my fanboy needs, this was a superb slice of moving drama with some fantastic character moments. Billie Piper continues to astound me with the depth of her acting abilities- tonight's episode being (in my humble opinion) her finest work in the series. Mr eccleston doesn't disappoint either, only continuing to make us all realise we're going to miss him once David Tennant takes over. The darkness that is usually only glimpsed at in the character of the Doctor came to the fore on numerous occasions during 'Father's Day', which was a wonderful thing to behold. Its the moments of darkness in his character that make us remember just how old and how alien he is.

The Reapers were fantastic. I am curious though; They seemed much more realistic than the shot we saw duing the showreel that was broadcast on the Jonothan Ross show before the series started- could it be they were unfinished then and had some extra work done before broadcast? They certainly seemd to be textured much more convincingly. Superb design for Doctor Who monsters as well- that sudden movement of the wings was quite a sight to behold.

The flawed bits of the series, i.e. Jackie and Mickey, regained some ground with a great performance from Jackie and a sweet story point with the little boy as a young Mickey.

Rose had some excellent exchanges with her father, especially the dialogue regarding why he shouldn't 'go there'- classic! The drama was beautiful once it had been established that her dad realised who Rose actually was. His final sacrifice was moving and superbly handled.

If anything seemed rushed in tonight's episode, it was the transition from Rose's parents wondering who she was to believing she was a time-travelling version of their baby. That felt like there had been a little too much script pruning to make it fit the 45 minute slot. It was still great, but that one moment was tonight's weak point for me.

Quite a shock to see the Doctor actually get eaten though!!!

Great episode, moving, poignant and extremely well-made. The nods to the 80's way of life were excellent.

I hope that the bext series contains episodes as good as this and "The Unquiet Dead" and "Dalek". While RTD's scripts have been brilliant, the guest writers seem to have given it that little extra push and have made this series incredibly special. I don't want it to end.

I've just got around to watching Father's Day, and I think I finally know what's wrong with the new series.

It isn't the intrusive or inappropriate music of End of the World. And I don't think it's really the pseudoromantic bond between Rose and the Doctor in Dalek, or aliens with supposedly comical long names. I think the problem is Russell T Davis.

In interview, he said Rose and the Doctor would be given equal billing. This turns out to mean Rose is the star and the Doctor is her all-purpose plot device. It's her concerns, feelings and actions that drive the show. The Doctor is there to transport her to settings where she can meet the local sentient life and display emotions.

This is evident in the first scene of Father's Day when Rose asks to see her father on the day of his death, and the Doctor cheerfully responds, "Your wish is my command."

Actually, he lets her do it twice, so they get to see themselves from the first time, in spite of knowing the great dangers of being "present in two aspects" as the Black Guardian once said. Inevitably, Rose impulsively saves her dad, and mucks up causality.

The wedding party get trapped in a church, with the Doctor using an idea straight out of Sapphire and Steel that the party would be protected (for a while) from the time creatures because the church is old. Cue a series of dialogue driven emotional set pieces.

We get to see the Doctor envious of the bride and groom, because he doesn't get to do romance and ordinary life. He says the couple are "important" and that he will save them because of their ordinaryness.

The Doctor tells us (once again) that his world – still not named as Gallifrey – is gone, and mentions his friends and family, indicating he would dearly love to go back and save them. Presumably this family is the clan of warring cousins in Lungbarrow. Has the Doctor ever mentioned any family in the television series before? Apart possibly from Susan, the canonical Doctor has always been a rootless renegade.

Rose realizes that the father she'd been told about is a fabrication from the mind of her grief stricken mother, but that the real man is both a failed wheeler-dealer and a decent, charming fellow. He later makes the greatest sacrifice a father could make for his daughter, dying to save her, and incidentally the rest of the world.

We even get to meet Mickey as a boy of about 5. Which, seeing as this is 1987, would make him about 23 in 'Rose'. The prepubescent boy hugs the girl he won't meet for years in a 'foreshadowing' of their later relationship.

RTD described Doctor Who as a 'Space Opera'. This turns out to mean 'Soap Opera'. Science Fiction is a way to explore ideas, not a forum for exploring tortured interpersonal relations.

He pointed out, quite correctly, that Doctor Who has consistently ignored issues about companions joining The Doctor, disappearing from their ordinary lives, and abandoning loved ones to go exploring the universe. Companions seem to effortlessly jettison their past lives and associations when they step into the Tardis.

There is a perfectly good reason why emotional bonds to friends and family are ignored. It's because they don't belong in Doctor Who!

If you want to know about the endlessly layered complexities of someone's neuroses - their insecurities, loves, fears, and of course their family - watch a soap opera, or a 'reality' show. If you want to play 'What If' games with technology, history or the laws of physics, science fiction is the place to be.

Obviously Doctor Who - and science fiction in general - has always had personalities and interpersonal relationships. The first Doctor was a wise but curmudgeonly explorer with bewildered companions, the third was a benign avuncular dandy with a series of innocent relationships with young women in short skirts, and the fifth a profoundly moral man who was very patient with his whining (and sometimes scheming) young friends.

But in Doctor Who under Russell T Davis it's just far too much. The science fiction elements of the plot are paper thin, while the soap opera elements are luxuriously thick. It's mildly interesting to find out about Rose's background, but not to have her family the center of every second adventure.

The Tardis is a way to easily find new worlds and threats for each adventure. It lets us see new aliens and human cultures, new mad scientists and fascistic robots, new political corruption and amazing technology, each time our mysterious, nameless hero lands somewhere.

It is not a way to find new angles for examining the inner life of a teenage girl.

If Russell T Davies' stint on Doctor Who has offered any single quality, it has to be diversity. From the dark suspense of "Dalek", to the light retro pulp sci-fi of "The Long Game", we are now swung head on into the rollercoaster of the human condition: "Father's Day".

I have quite enjoyed the new Dr Who series, as a long time fan from when it first started. I understand that they have adapted the new series for those who might never have been able to watch it before. And although I have accepted there has to be change, and I have allowed for the new Doctor Who's attitude, tonight's episode just didn't ring true to me.

The Doctor can be arrogant a bit of an enigma, but would he really be so stupid? I am having a hard time swallowing the fact he keeps putting his emotional attachement to Rose before everything else.

Knowing he is the last of the Time Lords and that is a weighty responsibility, he still goes ahead to take her back in time to the moment of her father's death on a whim, and his little lovers tiff with her when it all goes pear shaped is making him look pretty pathetic and totally unbelievable.

Come on, the Doctor has dealt with the human race before, he has had other companions, and he was emotionally attached to them. But I think they have taken the Rose/Doctor relationship a bit overboard, and it's starting to irritate me now.

When is the series going to concentrate about aliens and adventure instead of how much the Doctor loves Rose? It's starting to make me nauseous watching them together, and all that petty jealousy and bickering whenever another man comes into Rose's life.. even her father. This episode more than any others brought that out and spoilt it for me. I also thought it was a bit cheap of the BBC to plug one of their other top shows, Only Fools and Horses, making out Rose's dad to be like Del Boy.

Please start concentrating on other things than Rose, thank you.