This episode picks up right where the last one left off, with the recap being the pre-title sequence. I will say I'm a little peeved seeing the phrase "and Freema Agyeman" and not just her name, they didn't do that to John Barrowman last year. What about when the Rose, Mickey, and Sara Jane episode comes later this year are they going to say, "and Billie Piper", "and Elisabeth Sladen" and and and?? I doubt it. But that's a tiny nit to pick here.

As many people speculated the resolution to the grand dying in the car was pretty obvious, except it was not Donna, but her Mum who threw the rock threw the window, or axe as it were. The whole ATMOS thing plays out very nicely and it seems to employ every single fog machine in the UK, as it belches out tons of poisonous gas all over the world. I will say using Evil Martha to steal secrets and codes didn't seem very Sontaran like, a little too much cloak and dagger for a race that prides it self on facing it's enemies. That aside, the episode starts with some excellent chaos and continues for the length of the show.

While the true plan of the Sontarans takes time to expose it self, we do get to see something odd, (besides the flash on the vid screen) we get to see Donna, actually flummoxed, and not knowing exactly what to do. When the Doctor sends her a message, she actually didn't know what to do with it at first, when simply hitting dial last number would have worked. I will say the whole sub-plot involving the geniuses is completely unnecessary. They should have just killed Rattigan off at the end of the last episode. And I'm getting a little tired of the clichéd use of news broadcasts to give exposition about the rest of the world. There's no reason why it should be done like this over, and over in every modern day episode. This could have been handled by people inside UNIT relaying the info, which for the most part is obvious and not really needed. The fancy TV style graphics is wearing thin on me. In particular the close-up shots of pixelatied mouths and the like.

At about the half way point we get to see the Sontaran force do battle with the UNIT troops, and since bullets cost real production money the UNIT boys don't really stand a chance against the Sontarans at first. But I will say I was pleased with the Sontaran weapons they looked very old school. Plus the single best line EVER is uttered by the Doctor himself when both he and the UNIT forces go on the offensive, complete with protective gear. It's such a brilliant call back, that it caught me completely off guard.

Overall the episode was an excellent conclusion to the Sontaran story line, even though the whole Sontaran plan was a tad weak, the pacing of the episode was very good. Again could have done without the Rattigan story line, and the Doctor's fear of a gun, which he certainly knew wouldn't work did bother me a bit. But all in all, quite satisfying.

Just my 2¢, Kelvington

If the Doctor ever has to face the alien race of the Tomsk then he'd definitely need Wilf's help.

It was tight, well plotted and really fun, some tense Donna momants and Im glad Martha is still around, she never really got to do much upon her return, it was all her evil clone.

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It would also have to happen after the restoration of Gallifrey since the First Doctor and Susan are essentiall on the run from the other Time Lords, and while there have been rumours, there is no solid evidence that Gallifrey and Skaro will be restored, so it's unlikely that this daughter is the mother of Susan.

This would of course mean that this new daughter is at least the second child to have been fathered by the Doctor, with the first child being fathered by the First Doctor way back before the series began.

It all brings up the question though, where is Susan? I actually think she may have fought in the Time War and was killed, given that the Ninth Doctor has a line where he says that his family was killed in the war.

He was better in Undercover Brother.

As for Tate, honestly I think she's been pretty good really, and she certainly brings her own dynamic to the show, just as any good companion should. I do wish we could go one episode without her crying though...

I love the escapism and fun of the show, and certainly if you look at BBC or ITV saturday night scheduling before its return it's a much better place for it. Ecclestone was fantastic (better than Tennant IMO, but thats preference) but with the stories in series 1 there was a different 'feel' to the rinse and repeat formula thats worked its way in slowly over the last three series. The major trouble is out of about 12 ep's a series for all of the four seasons there are roughly four excellent-to very good efforts in each and then the fall off for the others is scary.

Since Blink last year for me there hasn't been anything remotely near it in quality, and the promise of two written ep's written by the same guy at the back end of the run just isn't enough. Don't get me wrong I still like to dip into the show and what it represents, it just doesn't warrant the easy praised or hype it seems to get in the UK.

Perhaps the most annoying issue is that Russell T. Davies in interviews tends to use the George Lucas defence - i.e. "well if adults don't like it or think its bad then they've got to remember its a KIDS show and they aren't as critical". It's the worst defence in the world, and invalid since the younger cousins I have tend to lean towards the the well written ep's too (they loved Girl in the Fireplace and the Human Nature ep' and meh'ed at the last four ep's)

In terms of scares The Empty Child (the gasmasks), Blink (the statues who come for you when not looked at), Human Nature (the girl being banished to every corner of a mirror) and hell even Rose (being eaten by a bin!) work effectively because the idea is so simple yet innate. It plays on the mind. This is the same for concepts of sci-fi. My young cousin who loves Who (aged 9) has been going through season 1 again and the IDEA of the Time War blows his mind. Seeing it just can't live up to that promise and they should never try. As does the premise of The Girl In The Fireplace - that a ship far in the future in space can have horses running around on them and can transport you to princesses (I think Sophia Myles may have something to do with his curious fascination of that ep too heehee).

Certainly the idea of Sat-Nav systems going wrong may try to tap into the fear that technology is taking us over but it's nowhere near as well executed. Naturally you need the aliens and big monsters for a prime time entertainment sci-fi show but you need ideas to back them up. Simple ideas. I understand the need for assistant but the issue with Donna/Tate isn't necessarily with the actress (though I'm not a fan). A few episodes of Tennant solo to kick off season 4 would have been very interesting to explore the hinted on changes in his character, to which the introduction of a new assistant then would have made more impact. As it stands she doesn't really have enough character to match up to Rose or Martha. The fact that the whole of Season 4 is being built to Rose's return and is causing quite good anticipation) causes a problem in that it highlights the gap that the character left. The other problem with following the 'Bad Wolf' motif they seem to like is that now the audience know somethings coming they better ensure the payoff is worth it. Last years Mister Saxon/Master finale was well below par

Again I enjoy the innocence of the family driven nature of the show and will watch if I'm in next week. It's just the preview looked very formulaic. That said the preview for Blink looked naff and with the known absence of the Doctor I assumed it would be like that god-awful Tennant-lite Monsters ep from Season 2 with Peter Kay - so previews can be deceptive.

That was under Davisson by the way.

And he lived through a launch into space.

Pertwee may have as well.

But Romana was a blonde and married to Baker.

I think episode ten.

English High and Late primary Teachers try to discourage kids from ending their stories in 'It was all a dream' type fashions so why should adults get appraised for it?

I like Who. It's greater than the sum of its parts thankfully. At it's best it can be thought-provoking and fun (Gridlock was a decent effort). It's just that in terms of Sci-Fi for homegrown efforts the UK are buggered and whilst imports are abundant the quirks of the these shores dont translate well (see Red Dwarf). If the Doctor is for kids as people argue then what have the post-teen audience got - Torchwood?? Cheap T&A the odd swear word and a late timeslot doesn't mean it qualifies as intelligent sci-fi. As mentioned before my young 9-12 cousins like Who but like most kids don't underestimate them - at times they can be quite discerning. The 12year old liked Journeyman for one, to which I was most grateful since it followed a Hannah Montana marathon the next day with the youngest :(

If you don't happen to like it then that's ok. Just please accept that some of us have the capacity to like it without being thick.

This is driven by my liking for a decent story. I'm not really a dedicated Who fan. As for "are you SURE you want to claim it was as intelligent as you seem to remember", I haven't mentioned the earlier series of Who at all for the same reason. I've seen a few and if you're right in that the ratio of good stories/bad stories (but still enjoyable) is about the same then my issue still stands - in the lack of decent UK sci-fi I wish the hit ratio were better.

It'll be interesting to see if Moffat does take over the reigns as rumoured - people always say be careful what you wish for. For all the complaints Russell T. has driven it's success and Moffat merely swooped in and written a few stories. If it's any consolation and on the topic of nostalgia generally, I remember liking Super Sammy's Incredible T-Shirt when I was young - about a boy...who became strong...when he wore a T-shirt - so my tastes probably aren't what they were.

Ironically the mistake writers make is that just by sticking big plastic headed aliens in it doesnt make it sci-fi.

Personally, I'm enjoying this season, more than the last few, I still think they need to do a few years of Paul, and CE before they do a regeneration to the next Doctor.

Simply have a great big push in to the Doctor's eye as he thinks about what took place in the time war and cut to Paul in the Tardis for the events that lead up to it.

To bring CE back simply show the moment in Rose where the Doctor tries to talk her into coming along and the TARDIS fades out, then have a couple of seasons with CE, then at the end go... Oh I forgot to tell her it was a TIME machine, and back he goes to the Rose episode.

As for next week, here's hoping the daughter hasn't got tacked on lesbian issues because, frankly, I'm getting really tired of Russell's 'agenda' now.

Mike The Cool Person was cooler than a penguin's todger, but General Staal rocked!

It was 'blink and you miss it' stuff...

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My bad.

Except for nicking the teleporting bomb idea from Stargate. That was shit.

We really need a controversial episode- these are being far too civilised this year.