Doctor Who reviewed to date

Smith and Jones

A good start, and better than last year's New Earth. The moon transfer and the Judoon was fun, and had the feel of old style Dr Who.

The Shakespeare Code

Marvelous recreation of London, but Shakespeare came over as too modern. His breath was supposed to smell, but his clothes were clean and freshly washed at a time when washing was (if done) a once a year occasion. A good adventure, but not really that gripping.

Gridlock

With the Macra bonus! Wonderful eccentric return to New Earth, the face of Boe, and a wide range of different peoples in their cars. The hymn singing, the sense of community, and the religious connotations of the deep, and the opening and rising out at the end, gave it a wonderful feel. Chris Bidmead was good at creating whole cultures, and this is a whole culture experience too.

Daleks in Manhattan

Evolution of the Daleks

A good start and some thrills on the way, rather spoilt by the mock-science (DNA transmitted by lightening?) which was rather incoherent, and had been better done as the "Dalek factor" in Troughton's time. Be nice to see more Daleks than one next time though, and some less continuity which is beginning to strangle the Dalek stories.

The Lazarus Experiment

Another fun adventure story, with obvious homage to the Quatermass stories (the first of which concludes with the monster in a Westminster Abbey).

42

Had scary moments, but they all seemed familiar; it was so much like the Impossible Planet / Satan Pit in the way it was presented that my son was expecting the "beast" to re-appair. The best bit was the escape pod leaving; the worst was having controls outside the ship (why?).

Human Nature
The Family of Blood

An absolute classic. One of the greats. Period setting to brilliant effect, marvellous acting, very little in the way of monsters - the aliens in human form were far creepier than the scarecrows. And performances by Tennant that took one's breath away; and having wrung one lot of emotion with the decision of John Smith, and the life he saw but never had, another with the remembrance day service which was stunning.

Blink

A brilliantly tangled Timey Wimey episode, Doctor Lite, but not any the worse for that. Freakishly frightening, more so than 42. After all, there are statues everywhere! Don't turn around. Keep watching. And don't blink! And as a bonus, no one actually dies, they just live a different life in the past.