Unfortunately Russell T Davies' 'the long game' makes this almost embarrassing to buy - the story is a tired re-hash of countless cheap childrens dramas since the 70s, and excepting Simon Pegg, contains some truly pathetic acting. Don't watch it, it's lazy.

The next episode, 'Father's day' by comparison contains som top performances and is a well-paced and mature piece of drama. Moving and insightful, it doesn't even matter the story relies on gaping sci-fi plot holes. More about symbol than science and does it well.

The final two make up one story set in the blitz - you can tell the writer does comedy as it's a witty and clever. Also the most atmospheric of the series, with some exceptionally good story telling and high-level concepts. The linking of a good scientific idea to wonderfully emotional and (dare I say again) symbolic events in the resolving scene is a joy to behold. DO watch this one!

Once more into the Tardis dear friends
Review date: 2005-08-12 Rating: 10 out of 10

Into volume three of the Eccleston series, and you can see that the writers and production crew are growing in confidence, becoming almost blasé about their potential to deliver a good story. This is Dr.Who with attitude.

"The Long Game" is an ironic spin on the ability of a corporate network to exercise control over the news - hard to believe it's not reflecting on efforts of Blair's cabinet to manipulate news and demand that the BBC come to heel? Humanity is shaped and guided by its consumption of news, by the ability of the media to define what shall reach the public consciousness. Here we have news as the religion of the universe, information as the opiate liturgy of life. And only the Doctor can peel away the spin and reveal that by creating a climate of fear, the ruler of the media can manipulate people to do whatever he wishes. Beautiful performances from Simon Pegg and Tasmin Greig enliven an excellent story.

"Father's Day" has Rose return to meet her long dead father. The Doctor succumbs to her sentimental urge and is not unduly surprised to discover that, yet again, one of the monkeys has fouled up the timeline and plunged the universe into disorder. It's a good story, a bit maudlin in places, but entertaining enough.

"The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" are the halves of a two-parter, neatly split by a cliff-hanger end to the earlier episode. This is a seriously good piece of drama, set in London during the Blitz, the special effects creating both a realistic atmosphere and a comic book feel, with Rose flying above London courtesy of a rogue barrage balloon. This could become an iconic image.

This is excellent: a gas-masked child roaming the streets searching for its mummy transforms science fiction into horror and creates a strong, cross-genre narrative. It's a wonderfully choreographed story, tension and humour used with commendable skill, plot and subplot woven tightly together.

All in all, the new, revived Doctor Who has proved outstanding, able to use special effects to good effect, to weld quality storytelling with a new, riskier direction and production outlook, and to present science fiction as not simply speculating about arcane scientific developments but as a vehicle for dissidence, for a fresher understanding of the contemporary world ... and an opportunity to satirise and ridicule. Eccleston, of course, is a very fine actor, and he has brought real authority back to the character, his persona beautifully complementing the dissident dynamic of the series.

Excellent production, well worth waiting for ... but then, what's time to the Doctor?

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