The Leadworth Green Blog Has Regenerated

THE LEADWORTH GREEN BLOG

HAS CHANGED NAME AND LOCATION

YOU MIGHT SAY WE'VE REGENERATED

CLUCK HERE TO VISIT THE NEW LOOK SITE:

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ALL PREVIOUS BLOG POSTS FROM

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ARE STILL AVAILABLE AT

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AND ARE LINKED ON THE NEW SITE'S SIDEBAR.

THE CHANGE IN NAME IS SIMPLY SO A LESS

PERSONALISED ADDRESS CAN BE CIRCULATED

(SOMETHING WITHOUT MY FULL NAME IN IT, MAYBE).

I HAVE TAKEN THE LIBERTY OF RENAMING AND ALTERING THE LOOK OF THE BLOG ALSO.

SORRY FOR MESSING YOU ALL ABOUT

AND THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING.

Writers Response Or Load Of Old Cobblers?

The following post has appeared in a very short-lived thread on Gallifrey Base entitled "Dear Community - Sincere Announcement" and it appears to be written by a Doctor Who writer.

The poster uses the screen-name CoffeeWriter and has no previous post history. Whether this is a genuine post by an actual DW script writer or just another of Gallifrey Base's members' hilarious joke thread remains unclear. The post (duplicated below) basically states, in a sarcastic way, that the complaints about his work are reaching him. Here it is:

Dear Community: Sincere Announcement

---

The prose I facilitate, apparently exorbitantly pompous in representation, is confuted for the condescension which is supposedly attested in the implicit deceit of my writing. You are right, I should vitiate every sentence I state for a consummate masquerade of inferiority to all commentary, superseding scarce lucidity with cultivated vulgarity.

I'm at a low level which is impenetrable to these accusations of an intrinsic motivation, nevertheless it's a tomb, every last acknowledgment being chimerical remarks as they are comically superficial. The orthodoxy has solicited inanity upon concord and I'm consequently an advocate of an austere service to our intellectual downfall.

Regards,

Doctor Who Writer

You know of my name; people have exhibited their animosity as of recent times.

Make of that what you will... Seeing as it seems to talk of recent comments there can only be so many people it could be (if it is, indeed, genuine). It could be Moffat. It could be Gatiss. It could possibly be RTD. What do you all make of this post? It may not last long on the Forum as the thread was closed within minutes of it being started.

I, for one, think this is a very clever, very effective response to our prattling and small complaints if this is true. However posters on Twitter seem to think it is a complete fabrication and claim that the Original Poster has been banned for... well... being a tosser, like.

Either way, it's jolly entertaining and as daring as it gets. Shame it had to happen in a place where this kind of thing is, quite rightly, completely against the rules!

04. The Time Of Angels - Review (And Next Time Trailer)

Now THAT'S what we expected from so-called "Moffat Who", taught suspense, laugh-out-loud humour and a proper nasty monster. The Weeping Angels are back and they are stronger than ever!

Trapped within a Maze Of The Dead with a small team of Cleric soldiers and the glamorous, annoying and utterly brilliant River Song, the Doctor and Amy Pond are tasked with leading the hunt for one of the Lonely Assassins that was imprisoned in the vaults of the Byzantium.

I loved this episode. Undoubtedly the best episode of the series so far, it has so much to offer and takes all of our favourite Moffat ideas to the next level. I'm thinking of the mysterious past of River Song, the upping-the-threat treatment the Angels got ("that which holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel" - so now even bloody images of the Weeping Angels aren't safe to see. So much for watching next week's episode without worrying about the Angels on-screen hopping out to get me!) and the brilliantly effective re-hashing of the "use of a victim's voice" to up the creepiness factor by about a million! Poor, poor Bob!

And for what it's worth, I believe the Angels are now the most frightening villain in Who history. Notice how there was less "sending back in time to live your life to death" and more "snapping necks" this time around! And the "getting inside your head to slow you down and make you easier prey" that poor Amy had to endure. Kids are never going to sleep again, are they? It's bloody horror movie stuff!

I also want to say a bit about the performances in this one. As many of you know, this was DAY ONE of filming on the new series. The first episodes to be shot and the first time Matt and Karen got to play together.

And what a first performance! Both leads and Alex Kingston (River) were outstanding in this episode. Matt especially, throwing out comedy asides left, right and centre and genuinely OWNING the part.

Matt Smith IS the Doctor. Seeing clips of Tennant in the role in Confidential (BBC3 - after the episode) made me remember just how "hammy" his portrayal was. Not a bad thing. He was brilliant, but Matt just has a more real, subtle delivery which, for me, works better in bringing to life what I think makes the Doctor. It's the same reason I rate Peter Davison head and shoulders above fan favourite Tom Baker in the "Best Doctor" stakes. But that's another post for another day.

AND THAT NEXT TIME TRAILER!? Wow! More Angels, more scared Amy, more manipulative Doctor, more cheeky River, more about that crack (lots about that crack actually!) and possibly the most anticipation I have ever felt for an episode of Doctor Who. Flesh and Stone cannot come fast enough for me. ONLY a week seems like years. Anyone got a spare preview copy out there (preferably without a Kanye West-esque Norton interruption, please, this time)? Talking of rappers, nice cameo at the start by The Streets' Mike Skinner! One line, no point really, but great all the same. Clearly, as a fan (which Mike is), he got in touch with his mate, episode Director, Adam Smith and asked for a part. Nice.

Unquestionable a 10/10 from me for this one... Sorry to those who will hate that because it "leaves me nowhere to go when the show gets better" but, to me, this is as good as it gets (It's been online for less than 24 hours and I've watched it 5 times!)

Now. Go watch the next time trailer (below):

This Week In Who - A Lazy Post

Sorry for not blogging for almost a week. I've been busy with work and stuff, but I'm going to get back to normal starting next week. So... For this week I guess I'll have to do my best with a "news update" gathering together the Who stories from the days gone by...

...to begin with...

The biggest news this week, I think, is the confirmation that 70s companion Jo Grant (Katy Manning) will be re-teamed with the Doctor in a special two-part episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures. The episode will see Jo teamed with Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor and the regular SJA cast. The story will be written by ex-Doctor Who Show Runner Russell T Davies. Filming is due to begin very soon!

In other news, Doctor Who will soon be available in Computer Game form. The first chapter of Doctor Who: Interactive Adventures - City Of The Daleks will be available for free download from the official Doctor Who website from June 5th 2010. It promises to be an exciting adventure, if only for the fact that it sees the return of Dalek home planet Skaro. I'll be downloading it... no question about that! It's not the Doctor Who Lego game I'm still wishing for, but it's a start.

Next, all those panicking about ratings falling this series can relax because figures have shown that time shift results have seen a jump of more than 2 million since the overnight figures were collected (based on The Beast Below). Last week's Dalek episode failed to pull in the huge audience it was expected to get. But if you're worried, don't. This week's episode, The Time Of Angels, sees the return of the Doctor's LATEST 'scariest foe', the Lonely Assassins and the Doctor's maybe-future-wife River Song (notice she's not a professor yet!) There's a lovely clip from a recent BBC America documentary included below this post. Notice Matt's awesome responses in this brief exchange with Song, one that may anger some of the more possessive, picky fans.

Oh, and something about Matt Smith having a shit? Or something? I thought we were above this kind of tired pretend-journalism. Hope you like...

And if YOU have anything to share, please comment below! And come back here for my review of The Time Of Angels, this Sunday.

03. Victory Of The Daleks - Review (And Next Time Trailer)

Okay. So this one was always going to be the one that divided fans. It had NEW Daleks, Winston Churchill, a robot scientist and our Doctor threatening the metal monsters with a Jammy Dodger.

But you're all big boys and girls, you can all make your minds up about the episode for yourself! If you want my opinion, here it is: I LOVED IT. Talk about bringing the Daleks back for good! The new design looked far less garish than they did when the Radio Times revealed them. The Doctor was perfect this week. Matt Smith gave everything he had! And I loved it. I think I would have liked it even more if this was a two part story. It all felt a bit rushed. But it was brilliant. It really is great to have the Daleks back... and you know what? I think they've just been re-established as a serious universal threat. And about time too. Moffat and the team have managed what RTD never quite managed; He made the Daleks big, threatening, unstoppable and genuinely BACK!

Notice the little things in the story though? The fact that the Doctor doesn't allow Amy to keep the TARDIS key. The fact that she doesn't know who the Daleks are... The fact that, despite everything they did, there was a feeling of "unfinished business" about this story - almost as if this was part one of a larger tale. And that crack at the end!! Another instance of WTF! THAT'S what makes this story so appealing for me. It really wasn't about the story itself, it was about a) getting the Daleks back on form, and b) dropping those little hints at what's to come. Lovely.

Overall, this is a a bit of a Marmite episode. You either love it or you hate it. I loved it. I thought it a very tantalising teaser of what kind of threat the Daleks can be when written big (and I don't mean "OH! Daleks blowing up the universe", I mean Daleks as a real, violent, thinking and plotting threat!

Undoubtedly one of the best Dalek stories in Who history.

A massive 8/10 from me! :)

Now, take a look at what's to come next week!

WOULD! YOU! CARE! FOR! SOME! TEA?!

Daleks are a lot of things. They are warmongering, nasty, deadly alien bastards with no emotions other than hate. They've been generic killers, cults with names, imperial armies and mutant humans. They've been led by emperors and scientists. But they have never been "invented by a Scotsman" - until now, apparently!

Saturday night sees the broadcast of Victory Of The Daleks, the Mark Gatiss story that sees everyone's favourite metal maniacs assisting the UK's war effort during the blitz. Apparently, Professor Bracewell has invented them. Britain's new secret weapon! But that can't be the case, can it? Surely not?Well, of course not! The Daleks have a plan, as always. The return of the Dalek race to prime position in the universe pecking order. And if the title is anything to go by it looks like they're about to get the upper hand. Bad news for the Doctor. This must be the first time he's ever really been beaten by them... But you know him, he'll have a plan. And anyway, it's going to be amazing fun to see how the newly designed Daleks (see previous posts) are written into the legend. According to those who've seen it already, the lucky buggers, this could be the best Dalek story in the history of the show. A brave claim considering this is an early-in-the-series stand alone story of seemingly little significance overall. But hey, who knows!

The BBC Doctor Who site have uploaded a few awesome clips from Saturday's episode on the Victory page. They're about half way down the page, just below the wonderful PDF download of that Dalek poster from the next time trailer. A poster that will be hanging on my bedroom wall before the weekend's out. And remember, dear readers, to pop back here after the episode for my review. I usually aim to have them available before Monday. I have a feeling this one will be up more or less immediately, however.

NEW DALEKS DESIGN REVEALED

The Daleks return to our screens this weekend after what seems like no time at all but is in fact quite a while. And as you can see from the image on the left, they've been kitted out for WAR!

Yes, Saturday night's Victory Of The Daleks sees the metal bastards pretending to assist Winston Churchill during WWII. The BBC One TV spot shows a lone Daleks blasting numerous planes from the sky and also offering tea to the humans. All very Power Of The Daleks.

But it's not just the new paint job that sets the Daleks apart from their previous appearances this week, as these new Radio Times covers (available on the Radio Times website, linked below) show! The Daleks design has been given a pretty neat overhaul to pull them into the new era of the show. The exciting new look has seen the vertical slats around their neck removed, the horizontal vents altered, the trademark "bumps" jazzed up and a brand new BLASTER/EYE-STALK/"WHISK" combo added. Oh, and a serious paint job! Now available in all your favourite colours* the Daleks have gone "all political" for the new series! Yellow, Red and Blue Daleks - bright and reminiscent of the 60s Dalek movies (starring Peter Cushing as, in my personal opinion, a mental patient/inventor pretending he's the Doctor - calling himself "Dr Who" - schoolboy error mate!).

I personally love the new look! I think they've been given a brave, exciting and "retro-future" look which somehow sits brilliantly in the lap of the new series. It's a design that simply won't do for some, though.

Already there is a pinned thread on Gallifrey Base discussing the pros and cons of this new and hefty tweak. Some love then (mainly those who've seen them in action - the lucky buggers who have already seen Victory) and some hate them. I have to say, again, I love them. I think they are beautiful. They have the menace of the Daleks of old, the clunkiness of the 2005 era and an added "comic book future" look to them.

I would love to hear your thoughts, love them or hate them (or just simply feel indifferent to the new design). You can comment below, leaving as much love or hate as you like! And you can see the actual covers themselves, one for each of the three coloured variants (red, yellow and blue, topped with the strap line "VOTE DALEK" - never let it be said that Doctor Who doesn't "do" politics!) by clicking on to the official Radio Times website and browsing through the thumbnails to the left.

I suppose only time will tell how these new-look nasty swine match up to the Daleks we know and love, but I'm confident. They are, after all, just Daleks. Right? Well, Saturday. BBC One. 6.30pm. Not long now...

BBC One 'Victory Of The Daleks' TV Spot

Here's the TV spot for Saturday's episode, Victory Of The Daleks. I love the bit where we see the Dalek's "laser" firing into the sky from behind the sandbags!!



Awesome!

02. The Beast Below - Review (And 'Victory' Trailer)

The Beast Below. As many of us though it wasn't a vicious, murderous monster but rather a kind, helpful Star Whale. Of course, being the Government (probably Tory, I would have thought) they had to torture the bloody thing to make it fly when all it would really take was a gentle tickle from a kid!

Yes, episode two was a blinder! The Beast Below offered all the things we needed to see from Matt's Doctor in order to fully accept him. And, for me, there were three moments that SANG! Firstly, the Doctor swearing to stick to a policy of non-intervention, then appearing on the scanner to comfort a crying child. The most beautiful nod to children everywhere... It doesn't matter if he's not allowed to help, if you're upset then the Doctor is there for you! Brilliant.

Secondly, ANGRY DOCTOR! Matt losing his temper is a terrible and frightening sight. As one Twitter user put it, he made me feel "slightly ashamed to be a human" when yelling at Amy for keeping things from him. Simultaneously heroic (He has to help them! Whatever it takes!) and pompous and arrogant (Seemingly believing that he should be made aware of simply everything! As if it is his right!). A terrifying sight. When he spat "Nobody human has anything to say to me today!" I felt, for the first time, that this Doctor is not a nice chap when you piss him off! Fun loving and as heroic as ever, but owed something. And thirdly, the beautifully fresh throwaway line he spoke when Amy asked if people would wonder where they went after saving the place; "Oh, the songs they'll write...!" - sarcasm is either the lowest form of wit, or the most effective encourager of endearment!

Oh, it was a beautiful story! The supporting cast were great. The Smilers were threatening in a haunting way and the Star Whale evoked genuine concern from an audience, despite not being seen until it was safe again!

I enjoyed this as much as The Eleventh Hour, probably more - but wanted more time to explore the ideas in greater detail. That's my ONLY criticism. It was a great "back into it" story; deep space, aliens, conspiracies, a deep, dark secret and a satisfying cliffhanger - I'll be talking more about this in the week, but that Dalek shadow scene at the end? Tonally perfect! If this is what we can expect from next week's episodes then it'll be a 100% success rate from Moffat and the new team. And with a Gatiss script, I think things will be just fine! Nice, also, to see a blatant segue into the next story, a la Hartnell era tales. More of this please, production team! Thanks.

There was also the reappearance of "that crack". This time, spanning what must be a mile or more, along the shell of Starship UK, that same shaped crack in the Universe. Very interesting and surprisingly, effectively daunting. What the hell has the power to do this? Is Amy involved?

The Beast Below was a nice, touching, thoughtful fairytale in the mould of a Roald Dahl short story which was the perfect come down to last week's blistering "acid trip" of an introduction. I have a feeling some may disagree with this, but this is what Doctor Who should be like more often.

This episode gets a very high 8/10.

Now it's time to get in the mood for this!

Doctor Who Game Becomes A Reality - FOR FREE?!

The Sun have reported that a Doctor Who computer game will be made available for free download on the BBC Doctor Who site in June, starring the voice talents of series regulars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan.

The game, made by UK Games Designer Sumo Digital, is made up of four interactive chapters written by Phil Ford (The Waters Of Mars) and James Moran (Fires Of Pompeii) and will feature the Cybermen. All early reports are that the game is good! It can't be too long though, if they're making it available for download, for free!

But hey, who am I to complain? Any Doctor Who is welcome! And I suppose if the thing is a success then maybe manufacturers will take note and knock out a real Doctor Who video game. I know I'll be downloading it. I wonder if it'll be made available to non-UK users too though - or will some silly licensing law prevent it reaching the States, Canada or other European countries? I'm genuinely hoping it's going to be nice and light, fun, puzzle-orientated game play, not some Dalek zap-em-up which transforms the Sonic Screwdriver into a lethal deathstick!

The character design (presuming the photo above is representative of game play) is incredibly good! It'll be nice to BE the Doctor. And apparently there are elements of the ACTUAL TARDIS that were inspired by the game's design! Those stairs shooting off everywhere? They came from the game. Nice huh? I suppose only time will tell... But even if it's shit - like, terrible! - at least it's a bit more Who.

There's an awesome quote from one of the kids who got to try the game out, included on The Sun's website, which I shall shamelessly reproduce here (because it made me giggle like a child and took me back to the days of getting bored and making Lara Croft commit suicide off that London roof); here it is...

"It's fun, but it's educational as well. On my first go, I accidentally killed Amy so I think I need more practice." Ell-Oh-Ell! What do you guys think? Comments please... :)

Introducing The Beast Below

The BBC Doctor Who site now has four excellent videos introducing the next episode; The Beast Below.

The first is a brief episode intro from show runner Steven Moffat, which offers a little taster of what's going on! The second is a clip of Amy's first trip inside the TARDIS, as seen in the trailers. Then there are two clips of our companion and "a girl" exploring Starship UK a little more. You can see them all right HERE on the Official Site.

I love that little bit about Scotland wanting its own spaceship! So true!! The Beast Below will be shown on BBC One, Saturday, 10th of April at 6.15pm. TUNE IN!

"Must Be One Hell Of A Scary Crack In Your Wall!"

It just wouldn't be Doctor Who without dome underlying menace. We had Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Saxon, The Darkness and "He will knock four times". And it seems that this new series is no different! I'm sure you've all noticed that the shape of the crack in Amelia's bedroom wall is showing up everywhere?

For example, the scene at the end of The Eleventh Hour, when Amy asks why the Doctor has chosen her to travel with him and he claims that he's "just lonely - promise!"... Right there, in between them while they talk is the very same shape replicated on the TARDIS scanner screen! The Doctor makes it startlingly obvious that we're meant to see that! And Matt Smith has as much as revealed that the "crack" isn't all it seems and will take more relevance in the near future. But there's more!

I'm not talking about the fact that Rory's hospital badge states that it was issued in 1990, when Rory would be, presumably, about 6. Nor that the fire engines and cars in Leadworth all have 1990s number plates, despite the seemingly present day setting - mobiles, Blackberries, laptops and Twitter... No! I'm talking about the fact that our lovely new companion is obviously not JUST on board because the Doctor is lonely. Something's up. She pushes a few buttons on the TARDIS console... This could be completely irrelevant but why push them? Is she really Amy? Is she sabotaging the TARDIS in some sneaky way? Probably not.

But who knows!? One thing's for sure. We have a scheming Doctor, the likes of which we haven't seen since McCoy's day! Amy's on board for a reason. Only time will tell what that reason actually is! But that crack, Prisoner Zero's allusions to "not causing the crack" in the first place and the rumour that pieces of the TARDIS are found, later in the series, as if it's been completely destroyed, despite being RIGHT THERE! Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey is clearly the basis for this series. Playing with time and causality. The exploration of the linear nature of time lines. I believe that Episode 12 and 13 will tie together all these things... So all we can do is keep watching... But there's no harm in speculating in the mean time, is there? I'd love to know your thoughts!

If you've noticed anything odd, anything I've missed, anything at all - please, comment below. Thanks :)

The Beast Below Trailer - BBC

Here's the trailer for the next episode of the new series of Doctor Who, The Beast Below:



Set in the far future, The Beast Below sees the United Kingdom floating in space and its inhabitants watched over by the sinister Smilers. Looks like it's going to be good though! I cannot wait!

01. The Eleventh Hour - Review

OH! MY! GOD! The Eleventh Hour has arrived. Episode one has Been Shown! And I think it's fair to say that it was nigh on the most exciting series opener since the show's return in 2005. SO much to say about this masterpiece of an episode so I guess the best place to start is the beginning... I'm not as good at timey wimey as the Doctor.

So, first of all, that pre-title sequence we'd already seen! It's basically a big HELLO from the new team. Flying through the skies of London, in a burning TARDIS, Matt Smith introduces us to his Doctor by dangling from the doorway with a Sonic Screwdriver in his mouth! Unbelievably, the excitement levels are sky high before the opening titles roll! And those titles!!! WOW! We get a smoky, stormy, cloudy new "vortex" (is it the vortex? Or is that blue swirl from the trailer the vortex? We don't know yet do we? THAT'S exciting too!) and a new theme arrangement that has been - quite rightly - described as "FUNKY". Out are the "duba-da-dums" and in is a frankly killer intro to a positively 80s theme - retro and new all at once. I loved it instantly! Others weren't quite so sure, but as with all new things it may just need time to grow on them.

And now to the episode itself! It's a strange old beast, The Eleventh Hour. The alien threat is almost by-the-by (or is it?) with the main purpose of the whole thing being to introduce the Doctor, as played by Matt Smith and Amy Pond, played with sizzling relish by Karen Gillan. That's not to say the plot is not fantastic too! In my opinion the Atraxi were underused but that is literally the only negative I have to offer. And it's not really even a negative! Prisoner Zero (presumably really the Face Tendril we were told about) is an eel-like shape-shifting alien on the run from a space prison! And it's a monster that fits in perfectly with the new look of the show. A look, incidentally, that is brought about with incredible patience and subtle change. This really is the same old show we've been watching for the last five years! Only bigger, better, cheekier, sexier and yet more grounded and grown up. Even my Mum (a woman who has never watched Doctor Who because - and I quote - "it's fucking shit!") called me after the episode had finished to tell me just how much she enjoyed it! I'm not going to recount the entire episode, you should have watched it already! But Wow! WOW! I just cannot find the words to describe how brilliantly written, acted, designed, lit and shot this amazing piece of television was!

I want to talk a little about the new team we have. Matt Smith, first of all, IS the Doctor. The man has just shoved David Tennant from my "Top Five Doctors" list. He's in my Top Three. He's number two. He could become number one... He's that good. A mix of childlike enthusiasm and ancient experience topped off with what can only be the most alien of all post-regeneration states. Smith takes the role of the Doctor to unbound new heights.

Never has the role had so much energy and thought and wonder - and after almost five years of Tennant, that's saying something! Then there's Karen Gillan as Amy Pond. Again, there's something here that the previous companions seemed to fail to "get" - but we didn't miss it because this is new! This is a distrustful, resentful, hurt companion who isn't a wonderful role model or a likable everyday girl who is the heart of the show. Amy is mouthy, sexy, outrageously flirty, a little bit nasty and incredibly delicate. I have theories about her which I'll be blogging about later in the week maybe, if I don't wake up tomorrow thinking I'm completely wrong. Amy IS the best new companion. Of that there is no doubt. She takes everything that was RIGHT about the previous three - Rose's heart, Martha's wonder, Donna's humour - and distills it into the perfect character. Impeccably well written and expertly played. She has more layers than an onion! And Gillan makes her seem so real!

But, for me, the stand-out performances in this episode were from two of the supporting actors. Firstly, young Amelia Pond played beautifully by Caitlin Blackwood (she's going to be a huge star, you mark my words) who is cheeky and trusting yet devastatingly cynical of life and people. A nice change from perfect life portrayals of kids that we're more than used to on television these days. And secondly, Rory Williams. Arthur Darvill is NOT the Doctor. That's who his character is. Long suffering boyfriend of Amy, completely in love with her. Downtrodden and looked over by everyone. I have a feeling he's going to bring something very special to this show, you know.

Yes, for me the characters in this episode made it so special. The story was great, the action exciting and wonderful. The aliens were creepy (Prisoner Zero) and unusual (the Atraxi) and the Doctor is well and truly back. I defy anyone to watch this episode and not like it. You don't have to LOVE it (although I did, completely) but like it. It's charming television.

There are also several laugh-out-loud moments in it! My personal favourites were the Doctor proclaiming "Get a girlfriend, Jeff!" after borrowing a supporting character's laptop and seemingly discovering his porn stash, and Rory's EXCELLENT line - my favourite in the whole episode - "You just summoned aliens back to Earth. Actual aliens. Deadly aliens... ALIENS... OF... DEATH!" The poor guy! What a plonker, eh? Genius. If this is the quality of writing we are to expect in the Moffat era then I will be the happiest man alive. The future is well and truly in safe hands. Smith, Gillan, Moffat! The new dream team. And we've had our first taste of what they can do. Magic. Or Fairytale. Wonderful - I've watched it three times and I'm re-watching it again RIGHT NOW! It really was that good.

If you haven't seen it, or want to see it again then check out the BBC Doctor Who site or head over to BBC iPlayer and watch it again now!

I give this episode a strong 9/10.

Episode One - The Eleventh Hour (Reminder)

The night before the night has arrived. Tomorrow, at 6.20pm on BBC One, Doctor Who returns to our screens in the 63 minute mini-epic The Eleventh Hour.

Matt Smith is the Doctor, Karen Gillan is his companion Amy Pond. Arthur Darvill is her love interest Rory Williams and there are also scary kids, a freaky fella and his dog, a face tendril, the Atraxi, a duck pond, a closed post office, a crashed time machine, a garden swing etc.

This is the thirty first series of the show since it first began in November 1963. Or the fifth series since its hugely successful return in 2005. Or the first series of Matt Smith's era (and Steven Moffat's ego trip).

The series is made up of thirteen full length episodes, seeing the return of the Daleks, the Weeping Angels, the Cybermen and the 70s favourites the Silurians. Also (re)appearing is could-she-be-the-Doctor's-wife River Song played by Alex Kingston. Guest stars this series include Ian McNiece, Sophie Okonedo, James Corden, Bill Nighy and Karen Gillan's baby cousin, Caitlin Blackwood, as a young Amelia Pond!

As many of you know already I will be reviewing each episode of this run. The reviews should hit this site within 24 hours of transmission. They will contain spoilers for that week's episode, so watch it first, then come here for the review. THEN tell all your friends how great the review was and send them links so they can come here too! I'll also be offering links to the episode being reviewed on BBC iPlayer. I hope you'll all join me on what promises to be a fun, honest and exciting journey through the world of Doctor Who! It's back ladies and gents. It's bloody back!