The current season is a juggernaut where even if you fasten your seat belt you are going to have a bumpy ride. Yet, this is the kind of bumpy ride that any Doctor Who fan enjoys to the max, and all you have to do is just picture yourself rocking and rolling inside the TARDIS with Martha and the Doctor and you'll fit right in with the current season. The fourth episode, "Daleks in Manhattan" successfully delivers what it sets out to do: re-introduce the Dalek menace in a setting previously unexplored. This turns out to be Depression-Era New York City where Hoovervilles fester in the shadow of a looming behemoth-to-be called The Empire State Building, being built as the episode begins, under the direction of an underworld boss who answers to higher powers. 1930's New York allows the producers to go all out with the visuals. The CGI skyline of New York City looks convincing and majestic and the soundtrack sparkles with an Irving Berlin ("Puttin' on the Ritz") tune and a Busby Berkeley musical number that cinematically puts us in the spirit of the era. Likewise, the accents are delivered by the largely British cast in a convincing manner, and if at times they sound a bit stereotypical, just listen to the patter from a screwball Hollywood comedy from the 1930's, and you'll realize that writer Helen Raynor has pinned the patter down successfully.

Thus far, the pairing of the tenth Doctor with his new Assistant seems to be one of the most complex in the history of the series, not just because of the inter-racial reality which accurately mirrors modern British society, but also because this Assistant is the most forward any of them have been about her feelings for the Doctor. Smith and Jones have the potential to be the most sexually-charged duo in the history of the series, and as each show goes by, Martha Jones appears to be less and less reserved about her feelings for her Doctor. Witness this girl-talk exchange between Martha and Tallulah, (played by Miranda Raison) a showgirl with a strident Billy Holiday accent and the kind of spunk that lights up even the shattered lights of Broadway:

TALLULAH: Hey, you're lucky though, you got yourself a forth-thinking guy with that hot potato in the sharp suit.

MARTHA: He's not... we're not... together.

TALLULAH: Oh, sure you are, I've seen the way you look at him, it's obvious.

MARTHA: Not to him.

Arguably, this is the kind of revelation that would have seemed awkward with Billie Piper's Rose with regards to either Christopher Eccleston or David Tennant. Rose's romantic tenure on the show focused on the dilemma involving the choice between Mickey and the Doctor. Martha's path appears to be a little less encumbered when it comes to this aspect of her character. By the way, the above exchange finishes with a cute little coda of a joke which hints at canceling any possibility of a romantic relationship between Martha and the Doctor. After she hears Martha's sad reply that the Doctor is obviously not interested in her, Tallulah answers Martha like this.

TALLULAH: Oh, I should have realized... he's into musical theater, uh? What a waste!

The flame of heterosexual love is kept lit later on in the show, however, canceling Tallulah's suspicions, when the Doctor comes to Martha's rescue, and she turns to him and says "I'm so glad to see you," and the Doctor replies with this forward statement "Yeah, well, you can kiss me later." The follow-up show to this one is called "Evolution of the Daleks," but what we have witnessed in "Daleks in Manhattan" is a clear evolution of the relationship between Doctor and Assistant.

This episode has the makings of landmark status in the series, in a season that constantly surprises us at every turn.

It was back in 1980 during the New York City Transit strike that the newspapers started to use the word "Gridlock" to describe traffic congestion in New York City. Sam Schwartz, NYC chief traffic engineer has admitted the internal departmental use of the word began as early as the 1970's. In GRIDLOCK the BBC's latest Doctor Who offering, we see the Doctor and Martha traveling back to the future to New Earth and rediscovering New New York as any good traveler should - when Martha is kidnapped and the Doctor enters on one of his most perilous quests ever to retrieve her.? GRIDLOCK is a high concept episode that wildly succeeds to entertain, while successfully bringing the "Face Of Boe" arc to a close, and reintroducing, a most unexpected return of a 1960's era Doctor Who enemy.? Riding shotgun in the backseat on a most unusual Doctor Who adventure is once again, the perennial favorite Russell T Davies, who pulls all stops and releases to deliver a whirlwind chase episode that had this fan on the edge of his seat and wondering just how would the Doctor ever be able to retrieve Martha Jones. And so GRIDLOCK begins!

The episode opens almost as a harbinger to the strangeness that would follow in a subterranean area of New New York .No apple grass and gleaming skyscrapers to be seen here.? The sense of d?j? vu that was notable in THE SHAKESPEARE CODE is present once again, only this time, explained away by Davies when Martha discovers The Doctor is taking her to the same places he took Rose. The Doctor and Martha work so well together that it's hard to imagine the Doctor consciously doing this to help him deal with Rose's loss. The Doctor is damaged goods and Martha is beginning to see his pain blistering through the cracks in the wall he has put up between them. Yet his dedication to her, is never in question. David Tennant's Doctor is one who seems to be increasingly angry at the universe and the way things are and he is self-assured to threaten anything that stands in his light. His reaction to the "Mood" dealers him and Martha first encounter sets the tone for the entire episode. There is no attempt to mask the anti ? drug theme of GRIDLOCK, but Uncle Russell's paradoxal script is designed to mask several themes being interwoven at once. The unfiltered anti drug message is perhaps the most noble element of any RTD script imparted as a moral lesson to youngsters and even adults watching the series. Of course Davies liberal left has crept in between the lines of scripts to deliver even stronger messages in a new age and time and once again GRIDLOCK is never as innocent as it seems.

Chris Rea recorded a song a song in 1989 called " The Road To Hell", a song about a never ending traffic jam., an" upwardly mobile freeway " that had become "The Road To Hell"? Chris Rea's "Road to Hell" was much more than just a highway, and Russell T. Davies? motorway beneath the gleam of New New York is a metaphor for something much greater? than just a Gridlock. Martha is kidnapped by Milo and Cheen; two mislead refugees from the motorway, looking to start life in the fast lane. With the Doctor in pursuit, it is here on the motorway where most of the story and much of the action takes place in GRIDLOCK. Entering the motorway, the Doctor, is quickly picked up by Thomas Kincaid Branigan, and his fair Valerie who has just given birth to a litter of very furry felines. The Doctor learns the couple has been circling on the motorway now for 12 years and suspects that something is amiss in New New York.? After realization and coming to terms that he lied to Martha, the Doctor sets out to find Martha amidst the Gridlock of spaced age mini vans in a dizzy, death defying search, leaping from car to car. Branigan and Valerie's remarks that the Doctor is "insane" but "magnificent" sums up Tennant's portrayal perfectly, even on a Wednesday afternoon. The Doctor, leaping from car to car with his sonic screwdriver in hand in the carbon monoxide fog is about as crazy as it gets in GRIDLOCK, and all this is executed very well and takes boldly where no DOCTOR WHO episode has taken us, or the Doctor before.

At first you really don't believe GRIDLOCK can pull it off, but as the Doctor goes from car to car in search of Martha, we are introduced to a carnival of Fellini-esque characters that could only turn up in one of Russell Davies scripts, or at one of his martini parties! Our hasty introductions are punctuated with some light heartened humor as the doctor encounters a nudist couple reading "Hanging Out" magazine amongst an array of strange characters. None stand out more prominently than the Cassini Sisters who are friends of Thomas Kincaid Brannigan, who after 23 years circling New New York have a log book of the journey and a 1930's period d?cor in their hyperspace aged mini van that would give "Old House Interiors "magazine a run for their money. Ironically each car the Doctor enters has a specific personality, from the man with the white suits to the Man in the Bowler hat who helped him get to the lower lanes to discover Ian Stuart Black's 1960's creation, the MACRA, tossing up one of the meanest crab salads ever seen on BBC TV. The characters the Doctor and Martha encounter in the GRIDLOCK are indeed memorable, if only for their brief appearance. A credit here to Mr. Davies, is that you genuinely do start to care about Branigan and Valerie and even Martha's unlikely kidnappers become likeable in their life and death struggle in the Fast Lane. Everyone on this motorway is on his or her own journey and somewhere in this GRIDLOCK Russell T Davies has parallel -parked a thought provoking commentary on the human race.

Davies has taken the threads of the "Face Of Boe' arc and woven them perfectly with a revisiting of "New Earth" as well as presenting to us a dazzlingly adventurous, fast paced story that also serves to hammer out the characters of Martha and the Doctor in the shape of the new series. By the time Nurse Javitt the Cat arrives to teleport the Doctor to the Senate at the request of the Face Of Boe, our minds have been flooded with the tapestry of souls who have been caught in the Gridlock. It is here in the Senate the Doctor learns of the Death of New New York. As Milo and Cheen's? car sits disabled at the bottom of the motor way in the fast lane, we learn a lot about Martha's character? and her resourcefulness as well.? It is unusual to say the least to find a spirituality woven through a Russell Davies script. The man is a self-professed atheist and is very outgoing in his distain of organized religion. THE PARTING OF THE WAYS treaded similar controversial territory but never even blinked an eye even as it bordered on blasphemy. Fortunately, Davies is much softer here than Daleks who discover religion. Trapped in their cars, for years on a freeway to know-where, we discover that the one thing this fellini-esque gathering of misfit refugee's had in common was religion. Faith, songs and hymns for a new age generation. The big difference is in Russell T Davies church of man, Everyone, people of all denominations, species, cats and dogs and men in Bowler hats are welcome, and maybe this is Davies secret message he would wish to bestow on us. In the middle of the GRIDLOCK, I think Russell Davies tried to tell us that whoever you are on a journey, the journey's end is worth the ride!?? When the Doctor with the help of Boe frees the cars from the gridlock and saves Martha from the scissor like claws of the Macra, he tells all the cars to proceed upwards. As the cars rise into the sky, we see the sunlight on the faces of this band of tired New New Yorkers for the first time in 23 years. The Senate scenes and the Doctor's reunion for the third and final time with the Face Of Boe bring all the ends of the story together perfectly. While the Macra in the story was a total hands down surprise, Boe's final words have been buzzing the blogs and forums for months now, with some speculation that Boe may very well be the Doctor himself. In fact, being billions of years old, he may very well have been the creator of the universe and as such, his death would be considerably more difficult to accept.? His death still left a lot of mystery still unknown about Boe, but what an enjoyable thread through the series he has been.

This episode was executed perfectly and once again; you cannot dissect the story without gaining a profound admiration for Russell T Davies and his unique ability at constructing literary vehicles capable of delivering so much without sacrificing believability and entertainment value. He is a true alchemist whose scripts elevate the characters portrayed in them. His one major failing lies in his inability to free his scripts from modern day pitfalls. Davies takes great pains to make the motorway journey of Milo and Cheen, believable- he does it with science and technology that will long be outdated by the time New New York is built. But then again, not everyone is Isaac Asimov either. It was indeed a funny moment when Martha was chewing on a cracker while being told the waste along the journey is recycled back into a food product.? His ability to revisit past character, places and stories successfully is never more apparent than in this particular story.? The Doctor's explanation to Martha about his home world and him being the "last" of the time lords smacks a bit to similar to Chris Eccleson's Doctor's soliloquy to Rose in the First Season.? When Martha offers her solace that he has her and maybe this is what Boe meant in his final words to the Doctor, the Doctor is too quick to steely deny this. His coldness to Martha is surprising-almost as if he is defending his heart.? Again however, it is going over ground already established in season in a far too similar way.

The Doctor leaves New Earth and New New York with "just what every city needs?. cats in charge" and once again another strong outing for Russell T. Davies that leaves one wondering if Janis Joplin is ever going to want her coat back!

Well, it seems like pigs are finally flying as for the first time since Tooth and Claw I have something positive to say about one of RTD's episodes. And I am surprised as anyone else who may be familiar with my normal stance on New Who. But in spite of the sporadic irritating RTD tokenisms sprinkled here and there during this episode, Gridlock to my mind is not only the best episode of Series Three so far, but also by?RTD's best written episode since Tooth and Claw way back near the start of Series Two. In fact, in terms of its almost classic Who-style 'oddballness' (strongly reminiscent of the likes of The Happiness Patrol and Greatest Show in the Galaxy - and their better aspects at that), it is actually more distinctive and interesting than Tooth and Claw's gripping but rather hackneyed gothic horror approach. What I mean to say is, Tooth and Claw, excellent in places though it was, played things safe - whereas Gridlock, at least on first viewing in my eyes, does push out the boat more and risks some possible stylistic misinterpretations because it is, at last, an example of RTD trying to offer something a little bit different to the usual banality and predictability of his other episodes.

And I am willing to stand up and say that RTD has pulled it off this time. In many ways, and on paper, he shouldn't have, as this episode does contain some rather ludicrous aspects and is, let us not forget, a kind of sequel to the atrocious New Earth: cat people, the return of the Face of Boe, incongruously retro and old-fashioned clothes and accoutrements in an implausibly far flung future (5 billion years hence)... and so forth. But this time, finally, it actually just about works. And the reason for this is impetus: this episode has a plausible and fairly imaginative plot which sustains itself pretty much throughout, while making possibly for the first time from RTD's pen, some pretty astute polemical comments on our contemporary society: in this case an hilariously extreme satire on overt car use and congestion, in which the scenario imprisons its protagonists in decade-long traffic jams. Here RTD finally manages to get to the crux of true satire: painfully prophetic humour. Light years away from the shambolic literalism of Bad Wolf - and in terms of thought, imagination and scripting, several giant leaps on from the utter banality of last year's finale, Army of Ghosts/Doomsday.

Gridlock has that same inimitable self-confidence and drive that only Dalek and Impossible Planet have so far displayed.

But most importantly: by and large it really felt like Doctor Who. It was a scenario which no other science fiction series could pull off with as much integrity and energy as Doctor Who can. For me, it harked back, in a good way, to some of McCoy 'oddballs' as I previously mentioned: we even had one driver dressed in a pinstriped suit with a bowler hat just like John Normington's literalistic bureaucrat in the deeply misunderstood Happiness Patrol. Yes, I know I have previously accused RTD of fluffing up in his other episodes with literalist satire, but the image of the pinstripe and bowler is far more generic and inspired (in a sort of Lewis Caroll sense) than such ephemeral and periodically- specific - and specious - motifs as Britney Spears and Big Brother. Here RTD seems to be picking up again on the classic series' more intriguing oddball facets. And I hope he continues to do so. We even had the ludicrous though endearing depictions of the two old lady sisters sat in what could easily be a lounge in the mid-late 20th century, inside their car, with impossibly old-fashioned - for the year 5 Billion - decor replete with frilly lampshades and so on, strongly reminiscent of the less eerily depicted 'Ressies' in the imaginative but appallingly directed Paradise Towers. But here RTD gets the balance just right (and the director more importantly) - not something I say every day.

What we have here is a very kitsch, retro version of the future, which works far better than any other previous new Who depiction. This is arguably the first true oddball episode of new Who so far, and in that is a very refreshing change. The kebab-kiosk-style touters of 'mood drugs' scenario is very well realised and quite witty; it's not over-done, and is a good comment on the likes of Ecstasy and so on. This concept of selling 'moods' to people could so easily have backfired, but strangely didn't. I liked it. This whole grotesque dystopian scenario worked in the same way that the likes of Carnival of Monsters did back in 1973: implausible and in-your-face, yes, but imaginatively and wittily so. Gridlock's bizarre scenario works - because for once there is sufficient scriptural leaven to hold it all up to close scrutiny.

And onto the final icing on the cake: the belated return of the Macra! I think this was a really inspired move. The Macra Terror has always been one of those lost stories that has intrigued me the most, from having listened several times to a hissing audio copy of it. The idea of a futuristic holiday camp being nightly stalked by giant crabs who feed off its incumbents like foxes?off a pen of chickens has been a long-enduring plot-ghost in the cannon. And what RTD has done is take the frankly banal scenario of a future alternative Earth, as introduced in the facile New Earth of last year, and drawn from it something far more imaginative, interesting and entertaining than anyone could have possibly predicted: New Earth's population some time on is decimated by a virus, most of its surviving inhabitants trapped in a perpetual traffic jam deep beneath the surface, imprisoned in immunity, but imprisoned perpetually nonetheless (this episode really convinced with its claustrophobia in this sense). And then, quite plausibly, the heavily polluted 'motorway' is infested by the Macra, who thrive off the gaseous emissions there. This is a far more convincing and substantiated return of an old foe than was managed with the Autons or Cybermen. I take my hat off - for the first time ever - to RTD for this. An inspired choice of past foe. Crikey, it's been roughly 41 years since the Macra appeared in Who - and it is almost moving in a sort of autistic way (which only classic series fans will appreciate) that such a distant one-off but highly memorable monster should be resurrected so far on in time. I would argue that the Macra, a bit like the Nestene in Rose, are slightly underused in this story - however, what we do glimpse of them is reasonably well done, especially the first shot of the lit-up eyes coming through the smoke, and then the first sight of pincers and crab-like bodies. The Doctor's slightly flippant reference to these particular Macras having degenerated over time into sort of pale, unthinking, mutant versions of their Troughton-era predecessors, is perhaps a slight flaw in that it is an excuse not to examine the monsters and their motives too closely. But the juxtaposition of said-creatures capitalising on the flaw of a human dystopian society fits in well with the Macra's mythos and is, as I say, quite plausible.

We also had a nicely pitched inclusion of the well-realised Face of Boe, who played a very important and - again - convincing part in the plot. Some tantalising hints from his worryingly static lips regarding the Doctor 'not being alone' - well, I think we all know where that is leading. But his scenes were well done, and the sets were very impressive too.

Criticisms: well, not too many for once, I have to say. Obviously the token 'rebound' soap regarding the Doctor and Martha is still to my mind inappropriate and tedious, but when an episode is as imaginative and energetic as this, I can just about ignore it. The almost consciously retro look of these futurists' clothes was slightly irksome and reminded me of all the Satellite Five rubbish of Series One a bit, but frankly I could forgive it this time as it oddly fitted with the generally eccentric style of this particular episode. The inclusion of the Welsh hymns was utterly bizarre and incongruous too of course - and more than a hint towards the producer's nationality and the Cardiff-centricity of the series as a whole - but again, just about came off given the special surrealism of this episode. The Father Ted-veteran as the cat pilot just about avoided the sort of irksomeness I had previously predicted. The kitten children was a rather ludicrous and frankly sexually disturbing concept - but again, I can forgive it due to the drive of the whole. Obvious chances for sheer silliness were blissfully missed throughout - something which both writer and director deserve to be congratulated for, as they had many a potential opportunity to send it all up.

Finally, I think this was the most satisfactory and least-jarring performance David Tennant has done as the Doctor since, well, probably Tooth and Claw ironically. And this was almost symbolised by a slightly shorter and flatter hair cut.

Certainly this Season is unpredictable - it is going to be a slow-burner: this episode, one which I was dreading for all the RTD ingredients it promised, is something of a revelation. It is the first episode since The Impossible Planet which has genuinely surprised and entertained me, chiefly by its deviating from my gut instincts for how it might turn out and pleasingly impressing me in where it went. It is one of the most classic-Who style episodes of the new series to date. And it is the first episode of Season Three which has truly entertained me, and which I may very well watch a second time. That certainly says something.

Gridlock is an episode which gets the post-modernism of new Who just right, and the first to provide true wholesome satire.
An enjoyable, witty, imaginative and surprising episode. We need more like these. So keep them coming. 7/10.

Imagine a world where drugs are everywhere. Then add a virus spread by a new drug and threatening to wipe out everyone. Picture a few survivors trying to seal up part of the world so that millions could reemerge after the threat passes. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? Someone could probably make a great Doctor Who episode out of that description. Unfortunately, no one did. They made this instead. It includes a speech where you find out about the exciting events that happened 23 years earlier, but don't actually witness them.

So what is this about? Not much, as close as I can tell. The episode starts out with people being attacked by monsters on another planet. A promising start. I am so sick of London. For some reason the production team is under the impression that everyone wants to see London over and over again. 7 straight weeks of London stories. I don't remember anyone ever telling me they thought the old show was good, but that they really needed to stop going out and exploring the universe. For some reason RTD thinks this is how we all think.

But thankfully we are away from Earth and... oh wait. We are on New Earth again. Gee, that seems like a bad idea. Last year's season premiere was funny, but had an awful plot. Spraying sick people with intravenous drugs to cure them. It was the kind of thing that fans used to be embarrassed about when non-fans would walk by and see what you were watching.

Well, just cause we are on New Earth doesn't mean they can't make an entertaining episode. I'll be positive about it. After all, we are going to get monsters. True, great monsters are hard to do, but I assume we are returning here because RTD had something really good to show us.

Now the show starts and we have rain and some drug dealers... OK, not exactly taking off, but I'm still positive. Then a kidnapping. Now the episode will get going and... why do they have Tennant threatening, snarling, and yelling? In his first few episodes he did that and the effect wasn't very impressive. The show seemed to recognize that and stopped having him do it. Instead, in Army of Ghosts, he sits calmly and challenges Torchwood woman to pull the lever and destroy herself. Very well done... but not here. Here we have snarling Tennant threatening everyone. Did I mention he doesn't do that very well?

Whatever. Stay positive. Now we get to the expressway and are introduced to a very strange world that feels like it just came out of a Douglas Adams story. Except for two things. One, I am having a hard time figuring out where this traffic jam idea could possibly go. I could swear that you couldn't actually develop it into an entertaining plot. Two, it isn't very funny. It is just one joke: The people have been there a long time. Ha-ha.

The scene where he goes from one truck to the next was good, but hardly great. And then the whole episode goes down hill. The people aren't going to go somewhere to start a new life. They aren't being held against their will. They, apparently, are just too lazy to park their cars and go walk somewhere and save themselves.

Back in the classic series, the plots tended to have giant holes in them. It was common for some fan to point out that: hey, why didn't the Doctor just tell them such and such and the whole story would have ended. And in response I could only say: your right, but I was having so much fun I didn't notice or care. This episode... they don't start out showing the Doctor trapped. The Doctor doesn't break down a wall or use the TARDIS to get through a solid barrier or something. Instead, they show that people are living in the open air and can (and do) come and go from their cars virtually whenever they want. They, apparently, just don't want to leave their cars! What a horribly constructed story. What a stupid plot!

Oh, but what about the monsters that started the episode? They are nothing. They don't cause the problem, they aren't preventing anyone from leaving. They just sit there and try and crush passing cars. Wow. What creativity. I wish I could come up ideas this brilliant. I can only imagine what it must have been like when RTD pitched the story:

RTD: I'm putting monsters in the story.
Underling: Really? I see that all they do is sit in a hole and try and crush passing shuttles.
RTD: You're point being? Underling: Well boss, usually you put a monster in a story to make it better. Otherwise you don't actually need to add the monsters at all.
RTD: I suppose you have a point... I know! I'll give them the same name as an old 60's monster.
Underling: Of course! That way, people will associate your mindless creatures with an intelligent, manipulative monster and save you the trouble of coming up with anything creative. You're a genius, boss.
RTD: Thanks!

Just for the record, I normally like RTD's scripts. I loved season 1 when he wrote the majority of them. But that doesn't change the fact that he just didn't bother with the plot on this one. In fact, in the two scripts he has written in season 3, both ended with the Doctor either plugging or unplugging extension cords. That just isn't worthy of this show.

Also, although some of the shots looked good (the Doctor jumping from car to car and the city at the end come to mind) the monsters looked terrible. Just awful. Looked like someone had cut a cheap cartoon in the middle of a live action feature.

But there is more to this episode. After the silly traffic sequences, we have the face of Boe. I remember in New Earth when they put in The Face, but didn't actually use it to make the episode interesting, just say he has a mystery and leave it at that. It didn't look like a good idea to me, but I heard some other people say that they thought it was going to lead somewhere good and were looking forward to seeing him again. Well, here he is and they brought him back so he could just sit there and die. Wow. Great idea. Is there no one at the BBC who can kick RTD in the ass and say, "Hey, that's bad. Don't do it."? (ASIDE - As I think about it, I kind of get the feeling that no one had the guts to tell RTD that New Earth was a bad episode. That the plot was awful. That it was only watchable because it had some funny lines. Maybe RTD doesn't know that. Maybe he was thinking he should recreate the great success of that earlier episode even though he couldn't think of anything funny to put in it, but since it was so great it would work out anyway. I hope I'm wrong. - End of ASIDE)

So here we are at week three and could we please have some character development concerning Martha? They are having her say and react to things the same way Rose did when she met the Doctor. She seems like she should be a good companion, but instead we get her wondering if the Doctor "likes" her. Who cares! I want adventure! I honestly couldn't care less if Martha falls for the Doctor or not. And I don't want anymore references to Rose. I don't want Martha compared to Rose. I don't want Martha insulted because she isn't Rose. I just want Martha and the Doctor to explore and battle bad guys. Is that really too much to ask?

The season started off OK. Episode 1 was kind of forgettable, but it was entertaining even if it again started in London. Just a light bit of fluff.

Episode 2 was better. Still in London, but Shakespeare was good. It looked great. Contrary to what I wrote above, the scene with them in the same bed was good except for the mean spirited insult at the end. This episode was even more entertaining than the last one, but it was still flawed. Putting magic in Doctor Who can be fun, but it is lazy script writing and in the long run will ruin the brand. Also, because RTD insists on 45 minute episodes, there was no time to develop the villains. I don't know why he doesn't see it, but there have been virtually no memorable villains in the entire new show and the reason is because of time. Again, I image the story meetings go something like this:

RTD: More single episodes.
Minion: But the fans are starting to complain about the simple plots and forgettable villains. We need someone who can stand up to the Doctor in a battle of wills.
RTD: Well, just add more cackling. Nothing makes fans happier than cackling villains.
Minion: Good idea boss. You're a genius.
RTD: Thanks!

Gridlock didn't even bother to have a villain, unless you count the monsters sitting in their hole. The show needs better plots and villains and that means more two parters.

Anyway, after two entertaining, but flawed episodes, we get this which takes all the weaknesses of the show and combines them together. This was just a filler episode so that The Face of Boe can tell his big secret and RTD threw in some traffic jokes to make up the time. In fact, except for the nice scene of the Doctor describing the sunsets on his home planet the whole episode should be burned. Some episodes of the new show haven't been that great, but I'd happily sit through everyone of them except this one.

Now before I go, I want to comment on what some other people are saying about this episode. I noticed that quite a few people on various forums are saying things like: Loved it. Best episode since the show came back three years ago. An instant classic.

This is kind of odd, because even if you didn't mind the many flaws I've listed, I'd like to point out that almost nothing happens in this episode. No great puzzle to solve, no great villain to over come, the Doctor and Martha do almost nothing (and don't have much screen time together). I tried to understand some of the things fans of this episode were saying, but they didn't make much sense to me.

Some statements were along the lines of: Russell T. Davies can take something as mundane and irritating as a traffic jam and expand it into an exploration of how determined people can be to struggle on in the hope of a better life, and how much they are prepared to endure and sacrifice to achieve that for themselves, their loved ones, and their children.

Has the whole world gone nuts? It was an episode about a group of people too stupid to get out of their cars and walk up a flight of stairs!

Others talked about how great it was that it included an old monster. I guess naming things that just sit in a hole after a classic monster was a good idea.

RTD: Told you.
Peon: Great idea, boss. You're a genius.
RTD: Thanks!

And others talked about how great the Face of Boe was. They even said things about how they almost cried when it died. It had maybe 10 lines in 3 appearances! It had no personality. It was supposed to have a mysterious secret, instead it just had one piece of information that could have been told at any time. Imagine this happening to you:

Boe: I'm dying so I'll tell you MY secret.
You: Duh, OK.
Boe: Your brother is alive and lives about 4 blocks over on west 53rd street.
You: Really? Why didn't you tell me this before?
Boe: I wasn't dying then.
You: Well that makes sense... you're a genius.
Boe: Thanks!

And of course, how does the Doctor react to "the secret" the Face tells him? Boe, the fountain of wisdom. The great being as old as the universe... The Doctor just says he was mistaken. Pretty much par for the course.

This RTD effort is best described as a mixed bag ? a fairly good plot, somewhat reminiscent of the more whimsical McCoy stories of the late Eighties ; a nice nod to the past with the return of the crab-like Macra, who first appeared as far back as season four of the old series ; and a really excellent supporting cast.

Whatever gravitas is ostensibly achieved by the " Old Rugged Cross" interval (a scene not too dissimilar, at first sight at least , of the Earth High Minister's pep talk in the Ark in Space) soon evaporates with the realisation that the self ? labelled "deeply atheist" RTD has simply used a fine hymn to make a tiresome and well worn anti-religious point about this sort of stuff being the opium of the masses, no better than the other drugs they take, but ultimately providing false comfort whereas, naturally, the Doctor can offer something more tangible, a genuine chance of escape. Just in case we missed the point, Martha spells it out for us : you have your hymns and your faith, I have the Doctor, she says. Is it too much to ask that one of these days we can enjoy a story penned by new Who's chief writer without being treated to the gospel according to RTD?

The revelation of the old Boat Race that the Doctor isn't alone is a terribly predictable and disappointing secret. This ancient and noble creature breathes (we presume) its last just to introduce a future storyline. This wasn't textbook enigmatic this time. I'd have kept it to yourself mate.

Enjoyable despite the above, Gridlock scores a respectable 7.5/10.

Sometimes the mix of each Doctor Who episode is as important as everything else. Perhaps there is too much of one thing and not enough of another. But tonight, Russell T Davies perhaps showed the true merits of his scriptwriting abilities with an absorbing episode which had laughter and disaster, frivolity and seriousness, living and dying, the ethos of the timelords, being caught in a futuristic traffic jam and just to round things off...?re-launching the Macra in a glorious nod to the wonderful early years of the programme from over 40 years ago.

?The real beauty of this episode was that it was not overstated but just a great blend of everything. It was a delight from start to finish. The return to New?Earth was a great idea?and the traffic jam?realisation was a marvellous sequence. Some great laughs as the Doctor?pops into different passing vehicles and then the arrival of the Marca?who looked wonderful in all their CGI beauty.

?The Face of Boe and the catnurse was also a welcome return?and the great final message?to the Doctor certainly gave him quite a perplexed look. Some great lines throughout and Martha is?now striding through the episodes with real style...?a?very smooth transitition.

?It just had me gripped all the way through. Ardal O Hanlan was good as the cat pilot but came across almost as a bumbling C3PO kind of personality. A bit of a sop in other words!

?The death of the Face of Boe was neatly handled and that was a great move releasing him from his glass tank to say his final words and breath life.

?A very high standard and a most enjoyable futuristic episode ... one of the best they have done so far. There was no really big fanfare for this particular story after Shakespeare and the arrival of Martha in the first two episodes but Gridlock was stylish, imaginative, and above all, great fun from start to finish.