Dalek Empire 4 - The Fearless (Part 3) (2007)

The third instalment of Dalek Empire 4 is without doubt the best. This part was about Kade’s attempt to try and assassinate Susan Mendes. The plot was very strong and it was well supported by some fine acting. There were some classic moments including the moment where Kade and Fisk have a row, what was so supprising was the intensity of it and also the fact that it was so unexpected because they had been the best of friends for the past two stories so when the moment did come it was well acted by both actors. The star of the story in my opinion was the character of Ollander, she for me has proved to be one of the most under rated characters in the whole series. She did well in part two but it was in this part when she tried to paint the picture that Kade and his men were the murderers for wanting to kill a woman who in her eyes was only doing good was a turning point for the story of this episode and confirmed to me what a great character she is.

Of the other characters Noel Clarke continues to impress. His attitude when his dead wife and child are mentioned was not overplayed and was used to heighten the emotional tension. Maureen O’Brian had her best story yet. She seems to me to a manipulative character who is using people’s emotions to do her work. Its one that at the moment only seems to shine when it is against someone like Silus Kade.

This story seem to be a single part story in a series but even if that’s not the case it was still a cracking episode and it is the best one that Nicholas Briggs has penned. Brilliant.

Helicon Prime (2007)

Helicon Prime is a story that sees the return of Jamie McCrimmon to the Doctor Who series. The character of Jamie was played by Frazer Hines from December 17 1966 to June 21 1969 with a brief appearance in the 1983 story The Five Doctors and also returned alongside Patrick Troughton in the 1985 story The Two Doctors. Frazer Hines is perhaps one of the most well loved characters in Doctor Who partly because of his innocence at not knowing what was going on due to the fact he came from 1746 and also partly because he was willing to engage with the baddies and his loyalty to the Doctor. Helicon Prime is also the first contribution from Jake Elliot and sees the second story to be directed by Nigel Fairs. Something else that is worth noting is that it occurs whilst Victoria is away on her Graphology studies following the story Fury from the Deep. It occurs during the infamous Season 6B which is a weird concept but as long as that isn’t taking to literally then the story is far more enjoyable.

This story is a quite basic who-dun nit and of course it is been solved via Jamie’s eyes. The story has a nice feel to it with a great setting and interesting music to help create a party like atmosphere and gives a greater sense of the relationship that Hines and Troughton had. Elliot has written a story that sees the plot moving at a quick pace. The addition of Suzanne Proctor as Mindy Voir who interacts very well with Hines and they have some really good scenes. It starts off with Voir looking over Jamie who had banged his head on the moors and tries to remember an adventure he had with head which is a fairly loose way of introducing a character but it is still effective.

Frazer Hines is very good in this story. He plays Jamie exactly like he did 40 years ago. What surprised me about this story is how he managed to get Patrick Troughton’s voice more or less spot on. His voice has a nice warm effect and listening to him was a joy. Normally when a companion has to do the Doctor’s voice or another companions then it tends to be a bit of a let down but in this instance it’s the exception rather than the rule. Suzanne Proctor is also very good in this story, the character of Mindy Voir was a nice one. Proctor has a nice voice and it blended in well with Hines’. Jake Elliot has written a very good script that catches the essence of that era in Doctor Who. It is nice when a story is simple in plot terms because it means that you can focus on the other elements of the story and just revel in what is perhaps the best of the Companion Chronicles so far. Hopefully he will be able to get chance to write for the regular series because I think with more time and more characters then he could write a really nice classic Doctor Who story. Either that or write another Companion Chronicle story. Nigel Fairs directs his second story and perhaps takes the advantages of the script and uses it keep the story at such a pace that you never realise how long the story has been going on for and soon it’s the end. Whereas Mother Russia was a fairly complicated story which resulted in the story struggling to get its full potential out, Fairs has managed to push the pace and excitement of this story to the max.

Dalek Empire 4 - The Fearless (Part 2) (2007)

The second instalement of the fourth series continues with all the action and pace that part one had. The plot moved along quite a lot in this episode with there being several interesting scenes. The first being the boarding of Kade onto the Dalek ship. There was also the scene between Kade and Agnes Landen was very interesting to listen to. The biggest revelation was what Landen wanted Kade to do and that was to kill the Angel of Mercy. For the first time it really felt like this fourth series was really part of the Dalek Empire storyline. The moment that it was revealed the Kade would have to kill Susan Mendes was a brilliant moment and a excellent cliffhanger.

It was also nice to see in this part Susan Mendes get in on the action with her interaction with Ollander. The character of Ollander is quite a sad one because she seems to be one who would go out of her way to be your friend but has been treated poorly by the Daleks with them taking certain parts of her brain including the part which remembers what her first name is. The fact that the Daleks did such a callas thing not only creates a new character that we can get to know (Ollander) but reminds us of what evil and vicious creatures the Dalkes can be.

Noel Clarke was on brilliant form again as Silus Kade. In this episode he didn’t seem to be as obsessed with his wife and daughter as he was in Part 1, this may have been because he was busy spending time with a nearly dead Dalek. Clarke continues to amaze me in this series as he still doesn’t bare any resemblance to Mickey Smith in the TV Doctor Who. Maureen O’Brien also continues to impress me in this series. In this part she seemed to have more input into the story and her scene with Clarke at the end was an important moment for her.

Nicholas Briggs has continued to the successful return of the Dalek Empire series and it seems that the final two parts will be just as exciting and thrilling as the first two instalments have been.

Return to the Web Planet (2007)

The special release for Subscribers has become a regular thing now. It’s a way for Big Finish to say Thankyou to the fans that spend a lot of money for these releases. Usually these stories are different in terms of structure because whereas regular releases are four part stories totally 100 minutes or so with these there is no cliffhanger and the story is just under and hour so there is little time to pad out plots or characters and there would only be about 25 minutes to tell the story. Over the last few years we have had Cryptobiosis, Her Final Flight and the Daleks. Last year saw the Daleks get the special treatment and this year we are treated to a former alien that last appeared 42 years ago. Of all the monsters to bring back to a modern day audience that appeared in the early days of Doctor Who, Big Finish decided to bring back The Zarbi. Not quite sure what the logic was behind it but The Zarbi appeared in the William Hartnell story The Web Planet in 1965. The thing that I doubted whether the Zarbi would work on audio. The advantage that this audio has over the 1960’s version is that you can create a different landscape to what was produced on a minute budget. Return to the Web Planet is written by Daniel O’Mahony who as far as I am aware is making his debut for the Big Finish/Doctor Who range.

Unfortunately I don’t like The Web Planet even though I do appreciate the risk that the production team took in making it. The advantage of listening to this on audio is that you can imagine a green and pleasant land. We don’t have to cringe our way through unfortunate costumes and sets. I think that the budget limited what could be done and as a result we have six episodes that move so slow that time feels like its standing still. 2 hours and half hours seems like such a long time when you don’t know what is going on.

Peter Davison is very good as The Doctor. His relationship with Nyssa is a strong and well developed as usual. Davison has a nice style in the way that he plays the Doctor. When he is given the right sort of script, Davison can show why is perhaps the best Doctor of the 1980’s. Occasionally though Davison does have to struggle to show his stuff but not in this case. Sarah Sutton continues to perform very well as Nyssa. In my opinion she is the best companion for the Fifth Doctor. She is my favourite companion because she is on the Doctor’s level in terms of intelligence and also she doesn’t scream at the slightest unnerving thing. Sutton always worked better with Davison’s Doctor as opposed to Tom Baker’s Doctor and the best time for Nyssa was when she was the only companion.

I found the guest cast to be top stuff. Sam Kelly is great as Acheron and his voice sounds very much like the Menotra. This isn’t Kelly’s first foray into Doctor Who. He previously appeared in The Holy Terror. What I liked about Kelly’s performance was how he sounded like a character that we could put some interest in. Matthew Noble was very good in this story as Yanesh, the character was a well written one for Noble and he played it with the sort of innocence that you would expect from a primitive planet compared to ours. Claire Wyatt also put in a good performance as the Speaker. Julie Buckfield is a name that might sound familiar and that is because she is the sister of Claire Buckfield. Whilst Claire has been given good solid characters Julie unfortunately wasn’t. In this story she plays Hedyla, the character was likeable but ultimately the way the character was written in the story didn’t really seem to serve a purpose which is a shame. She was only there really to give Acheron someone to interact with at the beginning. The idea that the Speaker was once human but has become involved with the Zarbi was a really interesting story plot and helped the story. The moment where Yanesh and the Speaker merge together was a nice moment but it wasn’t really given the emotional tone it deserved.
The characters were generally well written and well acted. The music and sound effects helped add to create the planet Vortis. With the production values of the imagination I find myself hoping that they don’t wait 42 years before returning. Daniel O’Mahony has written a story that is a simple enough story with characters that have enough about them to have us interested in them. It’s clear from the very beginning that he must have a fondness for them because he has managed to get the feeling of Vortis along with the Zarbi down to a tee. Barnaby Edwards did a very good job as the director. He allowed the characters just enough time to show what they are about. He kept the pace going at a nice pace and made it an entertaining story. I don’t often credit the music/sound designers very often in reviews because they tend to blend into the background. It’s often However was David Darlington did was create a great impression in my mind. The sound effects used was some of the best that I have heard in a Big Finish play for quite sometime.

Overall this is a very good release. Much improved in terms of satisfaction over Return of the Daleks. Considering that it was free for me because I subscribe but I ask myself with this release Would I pay for it? And the answer in this case would be YES. I found the story an enjoyable 50 minutes and it’s a story that I strongly recommend to anyone who wants encounter a monster from the classic series. Well done Big Finish and Thankyou. Here’s hoping that they choose a monster that would come a fans mind to bring back to challenge their and mine thoughts of them.

The Girl Who Never Was (2007)

2007 has been a good year for Big Finish. With such stories as Son of the Dragon and Nocturne leading the charge for Story of the Year contender it was important that the final story was a really good one. The final story of 2007 also saw the final story for India Fisher and for Charley. The character had made her debut way back in January 2001 and was written by Alan Barnes, so it was only fitting that he wrote the departure of the character. The Girl Who Never Was is a follow up from the previous 8th Doctor release Absolution and so had a lot to live up to which was always going to be difficult considering the circumstances. The conclusion of Absolution came a bit out of the blue. Of course Charley feels grief after losing a friend she is going to want some space which is quite similar to how Evelyn felt in Project: Twilight when Cassie died and spent some time away from the Doctor. It was clear that her departure wasn’t going to be the normal.

Whilst I thought it was a good story it was overly complicated. There seemed to be no real need at all to set it in both 1942 and 2008 because all you really needed was a simple adventure with the Cybermen and you would be sorted. Another thing that found wrong was when Charley had been converted, it just didn’t work for me and it just felt like it was a poor attempt at a Cyber voice. I half expected her to jump out and turn talking like she normally does. Also in this story it would have been nice if Charley’s mother had made an appearance. Another negative thing is that I had difficulty at time understanding just what was going on and that was due to the time settings. The first story for the character of Charley (Storm Warning) was a simple adventure which had monsters, a feisty companion and a historic setting whereas The Girl Who Never Was was the exact opposite. When I finished listening to this four-part adventure I did feel slightly confused but that isn’t to say that there weren’t any redeemable features. The first were of course the Cybermen, they were making their first appearance in the regular releases since their double-header one back in September 2006 (The Reaping and The Gathering) and their two-parter in the BBC7 series so it was the most that the Steel baddies have had in Big Finish for quite sometime. The sound of them was absolutely spot on and added a genuine menace to the proceedings. The one downside of the Cybermen (which has nothing to do with Big Finish) is that there is no consistency to how the Cybermen look or sound. With the Daleks apart from one or two stories they have looked and sounded the same. With Big Finish plays they have the same sound in every story.

The introduction of the Cyber-Planner was not only a fantastic idea but it had a brilliant voice. The fact that someone else was playing Charley was a genius move and made me interested to find out just what had happened to Charley and why she couldn’t remember the Doctor the first time she saw him. The scene towards the end where its revealed that it wasn’t in fact the real Charley but someone from 1942 who had lost their memory and took on the name Charley was a nice move and was the only thing that made sense out of the whole 1942 thing. But the best thing about ‘The Girl Who Never Was’ was the exit of Charley from Doctor Who. It wasn’t melodramatic, it wasn’t boring and it most certainly not dull. It was totally unexpected though and the fact there was no real goodbye made it that more emotional.

Paul McGann puts in a different kind of performance in this story. He has to deal with the death of C’Rizz and the shock decision by Charley that she wants to leave and on top of that has to deal with The Cybermen. It’s a good performance from him and its always a sign of what sort of Doctor he could have been had that US version being successful. India Fisher puts in a superb performance in her last story with the Eighth Doctor. This partnership on a actors level has been a joy to listen to and will be deeply missed. The character of Charley has been a really interesting character. She hasn’t stuck to the stereotype of being from the 1930’s but has developed really well over the near seven years that the character has been around. Stories such as Zagreus and Scherzo have really tested the relationship between the Doctor and Charley and have made this combination just a successful as the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn. The introduction of C’Rizz in late 2003 didn’t really allow interfere with the bond these two had which made the character of C’Rizz seem like even more of an outsider. I personally don’t believe the tosh that the character had gone its course, if so why is Peri and Nyssa still around nearly 20 years after they left and its not just because their classic companions. I think that just because this is the last adventure chronologically speaking it doesn’t mean it has to be the last story at all. Set future 8th Doctor/Charley stories just after Charley joins the TARDIS or before C’Rizz joins. In my opinion the departure of Charley will be a sad loss. Anna Massey is a distinguished actress and she played Miss Pollard superbly. Her involvement of this story helped add another emotional side that I thought was a nice touch. Another good involvement in this story was Danny Webb as Byron. The character was well written and was a lot of fun to listen to. Webb has previously been in the seventh Doctor story The Dark Husband and the two-parter TV story The Satan Pit & The Impossible Planet.

Whilst Absolution was a brilliant story for a character that didn’t really fit in, it seems a shame that this story was overly complicated for a character that was the best thing about the 8th Doctor stories. Alan Barnes has written a story which some fans may like but left me feeling like it didn’t need to be like this. It’s difficult to know whether the partnership had run its course but with the arrival of Lucie Miller who is a feisty companion, Charley’s days were numbered.

The Minds Eye & Mission of the Viyrans (2007)

The Mind’s Eye is the second story written by Colin Brake. His previous story also featured the Fifth Doctor, Peri & Erimem. The story is also the fourth story to feature the three part and one part story that has been used on I.D, Exotron & The Wishing Beast. The story is set on a planet that apparently has no name, this seems ridiculous to me as all planets have names and as soon as the name has been revealed then it is mentioned all the time. That is really my only problem with the whole story and as you can probably tell that’s just nit-picking. The story is a really fast paced one and there isn’t one point throughout this adventure that drags. The sequences where Peri and Erimem are living their own lives or believe that they gives a really good impression of what their lives would be like after they travelled with the Doctor. Recently there has been a lot of emphasis on the departures of companions. With the recent departure of C’Rizz and the future exit of Charley it seems that Erimem might be leaving. This is what I was thinking because of the way that she was in Son of the Dragon where it seemed really likely that she was going to be leaving but didn’t and at several points in this story it seemed like this would be leaving. Out of the pair, it seems that Erimem would be more suited without the Doctor as her role in the colony was what we would expect of the character. Peri’s alternative life seemed very much what you would think her life would be. Even though Peri’s life takes a turn for the worst towards the end it seems that both of them would get on fine without the Doctor. Which is quite reassuring because it shows that they don’t see the Doctor as some sort of father figure who they require attention and would be totally emotional drained without him. The single part story was something that I wasn’t expecting a lot from. Previous single part stories have proven to be poor. The only on that has been any good was Urban Myths which accompanied with Exotron. I have to admit that whilst it wasn’t as good as Urban Myths it was still a very good effort. The idea of the Viyrans was very good as they sounded human like but didn’t sound ridiculous. The picture of them does make them sound like Cylons out of Battlestar Gallactica. The fact they aren’t set on total domination was a nice change but ultimately might result in there downfall when or if they return in future adventures. I put the fact that this single story was ok due to the fact that it was penned by Nicholas Briggs who can be trusted to put together a strong story. Again I think that like most of the single stories that have fallen short of my expectations this story could do with being a three or even four part story.
The plot point that there are plants that are slowly consuming both Peri and Erimem was quite creepy and it served the purpose of moving the story along. There was enough to keep you interested and at no time did I look at how much was left of each episode. The characters in this story are written well and are used in a sensible way and are effective. Owen Teale, who had appeared in Torchwood and had appeared in Doctor Who back in 1984 was brilliant as Hayton. From the way that he was talking to the Doctor and to Major Takol it started giving me the feel that he was up to something then that feeling went away, it soon became obvious that he has alterative motives. Teale voice works very well in this story and it is by far the best voice in this story. I think even with a bland script Teale would manage to make the character seem menacing. If you ever watch Torchwood then you would know what I mean. Peter Davison seems to be on a roll. This is his fifth story of 2007 and he has now done three great performances and one mediocre and one poor performance. I think that because of the scripts sometimes Davison’s Doctor came seem to be taking a bit of a back seat in action. What I liked in this story about Davison’s performance in this story is that there didn’t seem as much of the humorous side of his character as there normally would be, it was straight into the action and as soon as he discovered what was happening he went straight into helping Erimem and then helping Peri. Caroline Morris was on fine form again as Erimem, like in Son of the Dragon she was very strong against people she was placed with. Like Kharto who was considered an enemy to the colony just because he had different views was treated as someone who could be spoken to in a respective way. Owen Teale wasn’t the only person who has appeared in Doctor Who on TV as well as on audio. Thomas Brodie-Sangster who was in the Human Nature/Family of Blood two-parter played Kyle in Peri’s life. He was very much the awkward step-son but didn’t overplay it and didn’t try to steal the scenes. His voice is quite distinctive and it the moment he first comes into the story you can tell its him.

This story was well written by Colin Brake and was suited as a three-parter and I think that had it been stretched to four then it would have lost a lot of the pace. The setting was just right and the plot was well thought of and executed in a fine way. Barnaby Edwards has done a good job with the directing of this story. Nothing really out of the ordinary for Edwards but what managed to do was to keep the different shifts in scenes to a reasonable level and by that I mean it wasn’t to complicated.

Rating for The Mind’s Eye was 4/5 and also Mission of the Viyrans got a 3/5. Theres not really a great deal that I could say about this story except that it was a lot better than previous single parters that have been done in the past.

The Tomfiles: #2 - Return of a TV Classic

Doctor Who has gone through a TV renaissance. It was only a few years ago that the show was a figure of fun. Since then show was cancelled in 1989 there had been several hopes of a new series or movies only for them to turn into nothing and utter disappointment. Apart from the 1996 TV movie made by American TV Network FOX, Doctor Who Fans have had to make up their own adventures keeping the series alive long enough for the BBC to change their minds and bring it back. In September 2003, just a few weeks before the shows 40th Anniversary Jane Tranter (Controller of BBC1 at the time) announced that a brand new series would be airing in early 2005. This was far more than anyone was expecting, most would have been happy with a few specials but a series was brilliant. This now meant that there would have to questions asked concerning this 13-part series.

The first question was 'Who would be playing the Doctor?'. There were loads of names banded around like Eddie Izzard, Alan Davies and even Bill Nighy. The thing that I thought about these names is that they are all very good actors but not who I would want to play the Doctor. When Christopher Eccleston's name was revealed in the papers I have to admit that I was surprised, not that I thought it was a bad choice but that it I thought of Eccleston as a rather serious actor and not one to play a funny/serious role like the Doctor. The next question would be 'Who would be playing the Companion?' Again there were loads of names mentioned but it was former pop star Billie Piper who got the role. This did worry me a little bit because I thought that by getting a former pop star they were trying to dumb down the show and trying to just attract it to a younger audience and forgetting the fans of the new series.

In the coming weeks and months there were stories about what might be in the series. The biggest new was whether the Daleks were going to appear in the new series. First they were then they weren't and for a short time it seemed that the first series of Doctor Who for 16 years was going to be Dalek-less. Even the Sun newspaper tried to launch a campaign and apparently President of the United States George W.Bush was in support of the campaign though knowing how he is its not such a big shock. Then all of a sudden they were and people were talking about what the reasons were for the change but to be honest I didn't really care. They were back and that's all that matters.

One of the biggest surprises I encountered in the run-up to the series was the controversy that the logo seemed to attract. A lot of people didn't like it but I thought it was ok. Besides, there was a lot more to worry about that a sodding logo. As time got to the airdate more and more information came out which made it one of the most anticipated shows of the year if not decade. The trailers soon started airing on BBC TV which made it seem real, the look of Eccleston’s Doctor looked really good as did the TARDIS interior. My only concern was with the console, it didn't really look right but I assumed it would grow on me.

Saturday 26th March 2005 is one of the most important dates in Doctor Who history and it arrived with Rose. Those fears and concerns about whether Eccleston and Piper would work soon went away. It seemed that Doctor Who was back and that was supported by the fact that 10.8 million people tuned it. But jubilation soon turned into shock as it was announced that Eccleston was quitting after just one series. I was shocked as but not as much as I was shocked by the reaction to other so called 'fans'. Apparently the story was released by the BBC to early. Silly Twits. Still no excuse for the fans. We didn't have to wait long for the Dalek episode simply called 'Dalek' it was loosely based on Robert Shearman's fantastic 2003 Big Finish release 'Jubilee'. It was an interesting story and it has a sad ending because the last Dalek was gone and the Doctor who four episodes earlier admitted he was the last of the Timelords was ultimately the winner. Because the last Dalek was gone and the Doctor who four episodes earlier admitted he was the last of the Timelords was ultimately the winner. Over the course of the series we learnt more about the Doctor and Rose and then we met Captain Jack in Episode 8. But it all came to an end in 'Bad Wolf'. Now I have tried and tried to understand the whole Bad Wolf thing but ultimately I just can’t. That is really only critiscm that I have of the series because I think that it was just a bit too complicated for my liking. The scene where Rose is on Earth in 2005 and was trying to get back to the station was the best example of how the role of the companion has changed over the years. By this point we knew that Manchurian Eccleston was going to turn into Scottish David Tennant.

It wasn't until Children in Need that year that we got our first glimpse of the Tenth Doctor. Just a few weeks earlier Doctor Who won its first set of National Television Awards. It's a trend that they would repeat in 2006 and this year. The only blip was that Freema Agyeman didn't scoop the Most Popular Actress award. Shortly after the first NTA triumph in 2005 David Tennant had his first proper episode air on Christmas Day, it was only the second time in Doctor Who's history that it aired on December 25 (the previous one was an episode of the Dalek epic The Daleks Master Plan in 1965). The Christmas Invasion was a 60 minute special and the question was would a modern day audience accept a new Doctor after just getting use to another actor playing the lead role. It was the same question fans asked in 1966 when Patrick Troughton took over from William Hartnell. The answer was a resounding YES. Over 9 million tuned in to see this special which is amazing for a Christmas Day show. We would only have to wait a few months or Tennant's first full series. More news about the second series kept being leaked to the papers. It was announced that the Cybermen would return in what would be the 40th Anniversary since they made their debut.

In April 2006, Doctor Who returned with 'New Earth' and it was a ratings success. The Cybermen returned in episode 5, with their really good new look. The thing about the Cybermen throughout their time in Doctor Who had always changed. The ones in the 1980's tended to stay the same but ultimately it was decided to give the metal monsters a 21s Century look. 9.22 million people tuned in and proved that they still had fans. During the transmission of the series it was reported that Billie Piper was leaving at the end of the second series. The character of Rose was a really popular character (even though some didn't like her) so the replacement for the Rose character had to be someone who was just as good. Freema Agyeman was unveiled as the next companion of the TARDIS, she had played a character called Adeola who got killed in Torchwood HQ in Army of Ghosts. The series finale two-parter was strange not only did it write out the character of Rose but it showed Torchwood for the first time after several references throughout the series. It was very much like Bad Wolf in the previous series which made you want to find out what it meant. The only thing was that the Torchwood references was a bit more than the Bad Wolf as the Torchwood link would turn into a spin-off series but more of that later.

The biggest thing about the Army of Ghosts was the revelation of the Daleks who appeared just a few minutes after the Cybermen had made their appearance into the episode. For the first time ever the Daleks and the Cybermen would fight each other and we would answer an age old question of 'Who Would Win between the Daleks and Cybermen?'. It was always going to be the Daleks as any fool would know because they are the Daleks. The series ended in the most bizarre way as it was totally unexpected as there was no indication that it was going to happen. Catherine Tate, who was well known to British TV viewers as a comedian on the star of her very own BBC2 comedy series. The most shocking thing was that people were asking 'How Did She Get into the TARDIS?'. On Christmas Day 2006, The Runaway Bride aired on BBC One. It was a better story that the Christmas Invasion as it was more action packed because Tennant didn't spend 35 minutes in bed. Catherine Tate was slightly annoying but by the end you did want her to stay with the Doctor. The Runaway Bride did the ratings trick with over 9 million people tuning in.

In March 2007, Doctor Who returned for its third series (or 29th). It seemed like the previous two series were a blur. The trailer for this series made the show seem different and in a way I suppose it had to be as you would have found it strange that Martha was the same as Rose. The opening episode was totally unexpected as it seemed to have a pace that the previous series openers didn't have. The Martha character was more intelligent and less likely to lay down the life for the sake of it than Rose who was willing to jump into anything without a moments thought. The 2007 series was by far the best series since it returned but that's not to say there weren't fault with the series. The Macra in episode 3 was pointless like the writers thought 'Let just put them it for the fun of it, the fans wont mind' well I did, Gridlock was a great episode and the Macra let it down. The Daleks in Manhattan two parter was a bit of a let down. I think it was the beginning of Dalek overkill. In 41 episodes, the Dalek have appeared in 7 episodes which was the most of any baddies in the show. As much as I love the Daleks I think they shouldn't come back in 2008 because the baddies need a rest. The thing that I noticed was how the Jones family were completely different to the Tyler's because the Jones's didn't really play that much of a part in the series apart from The Lazarus Experiment and the Master two-parter in episodes 12 and 13. Also they weren't a comedy family like the Tyler's seemed to be which gave a new dimension to the Jones's.

Series 3 was about the master. Ever since Love and Monsters in 2006 where Mr Saxon was referred to in some form (usually after an alien invasion). When you realise that when Episode 12 comes around that all the Mr Saxon references were about the Master it actually gives the impression that the producers planned this really well. I don't know how true this is but none the less it was well planned and well executed. The final episode of the series ended with the Titanic crashing through the TARDIS, you just didn't know why the Titanic had crashed through something that was supposed be indestructible. That was answered though in the second Children in Need Special after the Tenth Doctor and the Fifth Doctor meet. This was a great show as it seemed to come from the heart of the writer (Steven Moffat) and David Tennant. If you haven't seen it then go onto YouTube and watch it, it's the best eight minutes that you will witness.

One of the most surprising things about the return of Doctor Who is that it has spawned two spin-offs. It has produced Torchwood which debuted in late 2006 and returns for a second series in January 2008. It featured Captain Jack and it got mixed reviews. I think it’s because it couldn't decide what it wanted to be. Did it want to be Doctor Who wit sex and attitude or did it want to be something completely different. It didn't help by the fact that they bought in a female Cyberman in. There were several episodes that were very good but ultimately I thought the series was Ok at best. The second spin off comes from one of the Doctors old friends. Sarah Jane Smith got her own series 26 years after he pilot aired Elisabeth Sladen returned to much success in the 2006 episode 'School Reunion'. There was a pilot on New Years Day 2007 and a 10 part series aired on CBBC One in October 2007.

As I am writing this in Mid-December 2007 with just a few weeks to go before the Christmas Special what can I say about the new series and what it has achieved. Well in fact it has achieved more than I ever thought possible. People are treating the show in the press a lot better than they did before. People have a new point of view on the classic stories. Most think now that the Colin Baker stories are a lot better than what they thought whereas before 2005 most 6th Doctor stories were considered poor. I have to admit that I have a new opinion of Doctor Who episodes that I thought were poor or badly written but now they are not that bad. The new series doesn't cover over the cracks and flaws of the old series but it gives you the opportunity to look at these stories in a new light.

People have worked really hard to restore the image of Who and to a UK and International audience. Another good thing about Doctor Who is its cool again to be a Who fan. Mind you in my opinion it always has been. There is a fourth series (30th) starting in the Spring of 2008, three specials airing in 2009 and a fifth and full series in 2010 with Tennant appearing in all of these.