The Star Beast

There is no middle ground in this one - it's either wonderful and inspired, or cheap nostalgia bait and pandering. Sometimes I found myself taken aback from the action, and sometimes I felt like I was watching a kid's show. Sometimes I thought, thank god it's back, and then, only minutes later: Be careful what you wish for.

The new theme song is like someone runs three songs at once and completely forgot that he still wanted to mix the whole thing. Then again, the sound effects are great, a clear improvement even though they were never bad.

The acting of the old guard was great, while the new faces... well, they knew their lines.

And we have a new expert for everything time lord right next to the doctor, River Song and the Master - a teenager who knew of her heritage for all of 30 seconds . And one day writers will remember ways to empower their characters without turning them into single-issue space Jesus , but today was not that day.

Was it perfect? Of course not. But it was a breath of fresh air after the previous era, carried heavily by the chemistry between David and Catherine. Tennant fits back into the doctor as if he never left, ultimately a really great and fun episode.

On another note I'd like to praise the production quality, you can clearly see where the budget went. In recent seasons the CGI was becoming very jarring, there's still some iffy stuff in keeping with what we love but it ties everything together so nicely. I especially enjoyed the cinematic framing of the episode, it's doctor who as we've never seen it before.

I never finished the last few seasons of Doctor Who, but I know this is better. It's definitely not perfect, but it's the start of something better. The beginning was a little rushed and weirdly done. There were a couple scenes that were VERY on the nose with the gender aspects, but I think that'll get toned down as the episodes go on as it was an introduction (hopefully..). I did love the new theme song, it feels very fitting for the new era. For me the standouts of the episode were Donna and her mom. There was a nice buildup of Donna getting her memories back. Obviously there are definitely some tweaks that should be made, to make the viewing experience nicer (and a little less cringy), but I'm happy with the shows return.

I am very so slightly torn on this one and it is that nature of torn that ups this to three star from zero.

On the plus side, I suppose, RTD is back and even at his worst he is a better scriptwriter than Chibnall was. Tennant is nice to see back in the suit, although it is almost remorseful in the way having Indy back in Crystal Skull was.

Yes this is RTD, at his worst. Yes this is Tennant back, for a time, having to star in something that is RTD at his worst.

This is chaotic and stupid and some familiar old faces doesn't make it not be these things.

I was hoping I could start taking pride in being a Whovian again. I can't yet.

Doctor Who has always been a big part of my life, ever since it returned to screens when I was a wee nipper. I've since watched the original show and delved into the world of the novels and audio dramas and despite loving (almost) every second of it, I've always held Russell's era very closely to my hearts. I was both extremely excited and extremely worried about this fresh run of things: would it be able to capture the charm and atmosphere that made the Davies' era so wonderful? Would it feel like a soulless nostalgia grab? So many questions! But I'm glad to report that I LOVED this first episode. It was everything I had hoped for and more! Brilliant effects, wonderful performances, a tight script, music that hits all the right notes... I could go on. I'm not going to spoil it because it's got more twists and turns than a twisty turny thing but you should go and watch it right now! I imagine that I'll be seeing you back here this time next week, so until then, allons-y!