OK first things first, confession time. I am a backslidden Doctor Who fan. I only got 4 or 5 right on each round on the recent Mastermind. I had turned my back on all the books, animated and audio adventures that have followed since the end of the series. I watched and bought the film, but only because I felt I had to. I guess thinking about it, I had ‘buried’ Doctor Who in my head, and wanted to move on from it. For me the books, cds and paraphernalia were an unsatisfactory substitute, and just reinforced the sense of loss.

So during the lead-up to the new series I was worried - worried that they would a) produce something of quality but not Doctor Who at all or b) produce something laughably bad that would have Tom spinning in his armchair! Worried that it would be good but I would be unable to enjoy it as I was not 11 any more. And on top of that I was worried I was going to be so worried about it I wouldn’t be able to enjoy it even if it was good!

Given all of these misgivings and negativity, when I say that it was fantastic it’s high praise. Firstly the pace; it swept me along at such a speed that I didn't have time to stop and think. And it was pitched perfectly, at 8-12 yr olds like they said, but with one eye on adults so I was able to enjoy it despite my age.

In retrospect now the plot was a little thin and rushed. It seemed like no sooner had the aliens been introduced and their plan divulged than they had been defeated! But this was made up for by the йlan, verve and sheer sense of fun which covered the whole enterprise. It is acknowledged that every piece of created work gives you an insight into the soul of the creator. Well, this Doctor Who was the product of someone who loves life. And that’s what it should be. 

Monsters and all that. I didn’t expect to be scared or even impressed by the ‘monsters’, and I wasn't. The only monster in ANY sci-fi which has managed to scare me was the Alien. But really it was never about the monsters for me, but more the concept; being – or meeting – someone who is totally free to travel through time and space and the possibilities this throws up. (to give you a clue where I’m coming from, my favourite story is Warriors Gate – no monsters. I've never even been that keen on the Daleks!) The most effective part for me 'monster'-wise was the scene in the cafe when her boyfriend had been copied; I found him genuinely a bit creepy. But judging from the posts on the cbeebies website, kids found the Auton shop dummies scary so that’s OK!

Bits and bobs. Doesn’t the closing theme music end a bit abruptly? Clive – an interesting character thrown away too early. In response to those nit-pickers saying that how come Clive saw the Doctor in various eras when he had only just regenerated – those were places he is going to be! (mangled tenses). And Clive happens to live in the same area as Rose after she does an internet-wide search for ‘Doctor Who’ – what’s the chance of that?!

But these are just footling concerns. I really loved it and I can’t wait for the rest of the series. It’s like being 11 again!

After over 15 years of waiting, Doctor Who returns to our screens in a burst of creative ideas, visual effects, and a firm foundation into the 21st Century.

'Rose' is one of the band of Doctor Who stories that really needs a second viewing in order to really get into it. The initial shock of how different the series relates to the stories of yesteryear takes some getting used to, but upon second viewing, one can really appreciate the programme as a whole.

'Rose' follows Rose Tyler’s journey as she faces walking shop dummies, and a mysterious stranger known as the Doctor, who isn't all that he seems.

The acting of the episode is top notch, but the portrayal of Mickey just doesn't seem to fit in. He represents the clown, and, apart from giving Rose a purpose in helping the Doctor, serves little to the plot.

The humour of the episode is very strongly played, and is digestible with an open mind, but the burping wheelie bin gag is just too OTT in order to be accepted. The plastic Mickey is a good concept, but has clownish faults, which detract from the possible drama of the episode.

The Autons are a welcome return to the series, but the invasion at the climax to the programme suffers from being over-shadowed by its predecessors of Spearhead From Space and Terror of the Autons. However, the sequence does work well, as do the scenes with the Nestene Consciousness, which (albeit possibly intentional) is inaudible, a factor that detracts from the piece yet does abolish the stereotypical Doctor Who ideology that all Aliens appear to speak English (which is further picked up by the next episode) 

In all 'Rose' is a good story, but not a great one, but in all it is fair to lament that it is Doctor Who and it is back.

"Do you know like we were saying, about the Earth revolving? [...] I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is circling around the Sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're spinning through space, you and me. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go... That's who I am."

The wait is finally over. After 16 years (or 9, depending on your perspective), Doctor Who has returned. And it's a new look, new style Who. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"Rose" is fast-paced, slickly-edited television - with 45 minutes to introduce and resolve a plot, it's certainly a far cry from the traditional slow-burn nature of the old 4- and 6-part serials. And yet, it works. The Auton invasion (which many would see as the main plot of the episode) is very much incidental, as the primary thrust of this new first episode is to (re-)introduce the concept of the series, and the new characters. As such, it does tend to fall flat. The Autons are very much underused as a threat, mostly confined only to the first and last ten minutes, although the attack in the shopping centre was very effective. The pace did seem a little too fast at times, but when you're having to infodump exposition to the new viewers (and the new companion), a little speed can sometimes go a long way.

The Ninth Doctor is a man of contradictions - one minute manic and giddy, the next serious, mysterious, and altogether alien. And Christopher Eccleston plays the part superbly, with genuine passion and power. And whilst the manic grin at times does grate, in general, the Doctor remains the mysterious stranger he has always been. The brief hints at this Doctor's backstory - his involvement in the war and the destruction of the Nestene homeworld, the appearances in 1888, 1912 and 1963 (if not the result of future temporal excursions...) - provide us with interesting discussion points, and the sense that this Doctor isn't coming to us at the start of his ninth incarnation, but we are catching him 'mid-flow', as it were...

I wasn't as pessimistic about Billie Piper's starring role as others - having none of the "teen pop star"-type affectations about her acting skills - and was pleased to see her carry the role of Rose Tyler well - a young woman seeking an escape from her humdrum existence, caught up in incredible events. Her non-reaction to the replacement of Mickey with an Auton double, however, whilst more of a script error than an acting one, made the character seem less observant and world-wise than the rest of the episode suggested. But, her general reactions to the events taking place around her - in particular, her reaction to the TARDIS - were spot on. And she didn't scream in terror once...

Of the minor characters, Mark Benton as Clive was, for me, the most memorable. A spin on the traditional view of the "Doctor Who fan" (this one, of the "real" Doctor), his observations of the effects of the Doctor's presence were well-put, and if the episode indeed portrays his death, it is a shame, as the character could have been an interesting one to bring back in future installments. Noel Clarke as Mickey was less of a success - sometimes a little bit too over the top - but did well, especially as the Auton Mickey, portraying an unfamiliarity and a creepiness that was just what was required for the piece.

Musically, the new theme tune perfectly accompanies the style of the new series - powerful, bombastic, and yet familiar and Who. Of course, I am one of the few people who liked the TVM theme, so what do I know...

The incidental music was much more hit and miss. The very first piece, as we reveal the Earth in space, then zoom down to London, was absolutely perfect. But then, at times - particularly in the early part of the episode - the music drowned out voices, overshadowed drama, and generally distracted from the on-screen events. There were some good points - the little snippet of the theme tune as Rose ran past the TARDIS after escaping Hendricks, haunting melodies that played over several key scenes, including the "that's who I am" scene - and in general it improved as the episode went on. Still, it could be improved further. Music should underscore events, not overwhelm them.

But, all in all, it was an outstanding episode - a worthy beginning, and the preview for "End of the World" seems to show that the level of quality will continue. 8 out of 10.

Welcome back, Doctor. It's been a long time coming.

Doctor Who made it's long-overdue return to our TV screens last night and it seems fair to suggest that Rose and the following twelve episodes constitute a real 'make or break' period in the show's history; should it flop here then it seems inconceivable that the BBC would later choose to resurrect it yet again.

What then should we make of Rose?

The opening title lacked a feel of grandeur; after a nine year absence I was hoping for something a little more impressive but it was reasonable enough. I still can't get used to the new logo however, it looks horribly amateurish. Moving onwards, the opening few minutes were fairly impressive; Rose becomes trapped in the basement with a room full of Autons and this was just the start the series needed - something to get viewers hooked from the start. The tension was destroyed somewhat by the already well-documented technical problems involving Graham Norton, however I'm sorry to say that he wasn't the real culprit in destroying any menace that the planned Auton invasion carried...

The Doctor bursts onto the scene to save Rose and it's certainly a dramatic first appearance; after maniacally telling Rose to 'run for her life' he then proceeds to blow up the entire department store. He later catches up with Rose again in a slightly surreal scene which involves him peering through the catflap. At this stage, the undertones of a very zany type of humour really rise to prominence and proceed to manifest themselves far too regularly throughout the rest of the episode. The Doctor is propositioned by Rose's mother; to the best of my knowledge the series had managed to go the previous 160 serials without something like this and it feels alarmingly out of place - as if the show feels the need to keep itself 'fresh' or 'relevant'. This certainly isn't the way to go about it; it came across as completely contrived and an attempt at cheap humour. Perhaps it wouldn't have felt so ludicrous if it was portrayed with a little more subtlety and not inside the first ten minutes of a new show but unfortunately it stood out like a sore thumb.

Things generally took a turn from the worse from here on in. We have an interesting discussion between the Doctor and Rose regarding the spinning of the Earth and this hints at a darker, more serious side to the Doctor but there is painfully little else in the next twenty minutes or so to support this proposition. What we're presented with instead is an alarmingly arrogant, self-righteous Time Lord who appears to have lost any sort of fond regard for the human species (the dislike shown here is much stronger than any previous incarnations have shown) and who isincapable of sustaining any real prolonged conversation with his companion; we instead have some throwaway dialogue that consists of Rose asking questions and the Doctor giving fairly banal responses.

Some of the problems with this episode can be overlooked as perhaps being atypical of the season - how many times will the team need to try and create a scene with a wheelie bin swallowing a human being, for instance? But other criticisms are more worrying - the completely overworked humour being a prime example: why do we need to see the wheelie bin burp afterwards? Why do we need to see the Auton Mickey swerve from side to side; it's already obvious that he's not the genuine article. There's a strong contrast here between the constant humour which really erodes away all menace from the Auton threat (compare auton Mickey with Scobie's Auton duplicate in Spearhead from Space) and humour which exists to just break up the seriousness of the situation. 

The new series risks making the mistakes already made by Doctor Who and other sci-fi shows in the past. We've seen a very confident/arrogant Doctor with a very dismissive attitude to the human species and a proposensity for zany, slapstick humour. The last Doctor who made such an immediate impact, for better or worse, was Colin Baker and we've seen the impact that such a dramatic departure from previous norms can have. Much more needs to be made of the Doctor's darker side and the humour needs to be toned down or the series will lose it's 'hide behind the sofa' appeal - the very thing that drew children into it back in 1963. 

Perhaps the biggest problem with Rose however is not the portrayal of the Doctor, which may evolve over time, but the limitations of the 45 minute format; we were presented with a very rushed serial that gave little to no explanation of the Auton threat or the antiplastic used to counter it. Despite the short duration however, the scenes involving the Doctor being held captive still somehow managed to feel overblown. While future serials won't need to introduce new characters, Rose didn't feel like 5/10 minutes short of being a complete story - it felt some way off.

As it stands, I believe the show is quite firmly in the last chance saloon and the Doctor may have encountered a threat that even he cannot prevail over. The possibility that there might be no more incarnations of the Doctor seems feasible if the problems of slapstick humour, a dislikeable Doctor and rushed feel are all not addressed quickly.

We need to review the Who

In ways more than two!!

Would it frighten the 2005 child

And with fright send them sofa bound, eyes wild?

Auton dummies were unnervingly scary,

Menace spoilt by the bleed through 'fairy'!!

More scenes of plastic destruction to build up alien danger

And less perhaps of Grace Bros, Mr Grainger,

With 'corny' hand grabs the neck frivolity

Stopping the creepiness from escalating properly.

But shade and light calms the fright

Giving release from terrors being remembered into the night

By the young 6 year old who now keeps on the light.

Frighten the nippers too soon

And parents will not allow them to return to the room.

Rose was good, and pacily introduced with English buses red

Plotlines zipped along and never slowed to lead.

Roller coaster riding with an 'odd' sequence by a pit

With the good Dr doing nought whilst Rose's Mum had a fit.

Nice to contrast Cardiff's (sorry London's) plight 

With the inter-cut Doctor's fight

But too long the camera dwelled 

On our good Dr, by dummies held

Weak and ineffectual he appeared- too slow..

More snappy editing would have moulded our hero!!

Wheely bins were just the 'familiar' object to send a shiver

Up my spine when next I deposit my litter!!

Boyfriends to be eaten was an obvious story-line

Only tempored by the sticky sequence with effects so fine,

Until the actor turned around -and then 'oh dear'

We could see the creaky effects, expensive and dear.

And alarm bells start ringing with a clang

For this is one reason why the series went 'BANG'

All the good acting, effects, and work can be undone

By one misplaced and gremlin air brush or CGI gun.

Romantic memories of wobbly sets and scenic flaws

Either pleases fans or is manna for detractors.

Don't take this rhyming rubbish as a moan or complaint,

More a worry and concern for series TWO - reality fient?

Preview clips promise aliens and themes enjoyably scary

But images appear pasted on - be wary!!

They should look part of the background-involved-real

Not a CGI effect of fire in a department floor- surreal

Why not blow out an old stores' floor? 

But whoa- I should not whinge - there's more in store

I have not seen, and judgement should wait.

There is hope and more to praise than berate.

So a quirky, at times glib, and Dr - maybe antagonising 

With a defined excellent sidekick will have their fling.

Kids will see for the first time elements of what fans know

That writers and co have lovingly recreated 'our' show.

But the biggest blunder by the BBC- we need a rolling neck-

Was to play viewer battles with Ant and Dec!!

Why make the same mistake as they did with McCOY

And so possible lower ratings is another argument to employ

By those in power who want only one series.

Please Beeb give it a chance - be proud please.

Program carefully, help the young fans you want access the Who

And then fans, old and young alike will get Series Two!!!

Oh dear. After the rather whizz-bang exposition in "Rose", this was the episode I was expecting to calm things down a bit, deepen and widen the scenario, bring in more of the wide-eyed wonder that is also part of "Dr Who".

It started well enough - the grandeur of the sets, the strangeness of the aliens (even if The Steward could have walked off the set of "Olde Tyme Music Hall"), the visual spendour of the expanding sun held back by gravity satellites.

Then come the spiders, which are beautifully realised all the way through, and obviously Not Good News. And the mystery of who is controlling them - and for what reason...

The building rapport between the Doctor and the tree lady, which culminates in the revelation that Gallifrey is destroyed, and he's the last of the Time Lords, is also wonderful stuff.

But the unfolding storyline is where it rather fell flat for me. Why kill The Steward? The siders had control anyway, they could have just locked him up, or held him hostage like eberyone else. 

The fan room was so obvious that the climax, later, was no surprise at all. And putting THE crucial manual switch at the end of a walkway with them in the way didn't really ring true either. 

The Lady Cassandra, it turns out, is seriously twentieth century obsessed. Her perfect 5-billion year old jukebox (or replica) plays precisely those tunes we the audience will recognise. Her motivation is something any modern business person with few scruples would understand perfectly. And yet, this is 5 billion years into the future? Fans of Michael Moorcock's "End of Time" series must have wept to see such an opportunity missed.

So, for me - like "Rose", this is another curate's egg - full of wonderful moments and touches, yet as a whole, lacking something. As "Casanova" demonstrates brilliantly, Russell T Davies can write wit, comedy and romance to weaken the hardest. But edgy, twisty, genuinely novel thriller stuff ? Still not convinced...