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Doctor Who returns to our screens, and it’s not half bad! Series 1 and 2 had pretty poor first episodes, however with Series 3 and Freema Ageyma last year we actually had a decent episode, although the rest of the series was a mix and match of poor, good and excellent episodes (Blink standing out as one of the best episodes of new Who). This year I wasn’t sure what to expect, what with the background shuffle and Catherine Tate joining the Doctor full time, it wasn’t looking too good. However after watching tonight’s episode I can confirm it isn’t half bad. Yes, it’s more of Jolly Romp like Russell has recently said, more in common with ‘Love and Monsters’ rather than ‘The Doctor dances’ – but it has some of the funniest and quirkiest moments of Doctor who’s new series. The moment the Doctor and Donna meet, is brilliant – trying to explain to each other what has been happening, while being obstructed by two planes of glass, well it had the wife and I in stitches. Despite the worries, Donna comes across more of her own character, OK a lot more comedy relief “Mate! You’re not mating with me sunshine!” – But we have none of this Love between the Doctor and his assistant – which was one of the things that dragged down last season. David Tennant is on fine form again, however he seems a little more’ by the numbers’ in this episode, perhaps it is a time for a change, ludicrous in any show on telly to suggest – but on Doctor Who it seems to be the norm, perhaps though we’ll see his character develop more this series – I really enjoy Tennant, and he is my favourite Doctor, so would be sad to see him go. The story, is pretty run of the mill and incredibly silly and obviously aimed towards kids. There is a new drug on the market that apparently gets rid of fat; however as we the audience and Donna learn, the fat literally walks away as some sort of cubical alien. Actually how Donna is introduced is strange to say the least, obviously she’s chasing the Doctor but what made her investigate the Company, there are some brilliant scene’s played here though, as Donna and the Doctor narrowly manage to miss each other, through their various investigations in the building. Their investigations eventually intertwine and the true reason behind the Company and the little creatures are revealed. As I mentioned the initial meeting of the Doctor and Donna is brilliant, and continues pretty much all the way through. Sarah Lancashire, plays the evil alien well, however I couldn’t help but notice how similar her character was to the one in the pilot for the Sarah Jane Adventures, if anything she played the role less sinisterly than in that show. Do I like Donna as the new companion; well I don’t think I hate her at this point. Her conversation with her Grandfather (Bernard Cribbins) is played out well, and at the end when she gets the doctor to go past him so he can view the Tardis on his telescope is well done. Hopefully the comedy side will not be dragged out too much and if they can avoid using her as someone to just get laughs we can enjoy her for what she is – enthusiastic. So overall a very good story, nothing startling but then we just wanted a good adventure to discover and this one delivers on most levels, admittedly the little creatures and concept are ripped out of some children show, but it’s played so well that we enjoy the characters much more than the plot. SPOILERS*********** The ending actually has some foreshadowing in it – by showing a familiar face right at the end (hint: Blonde)
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