Being the massive cultural phenemenon it is, changes in the actor of the eponymous Doctor of Doctor Who are inevitably burdened with people shaking heads and saying doom. So, when Matt Smith was announced - there was a great deal of clucking about him being a mere 27, the youngest Doctor ever.

Needless to say, the first episode Eleventh Hour has silenced many critics because Matt Smith and new head writer/executive producer Stephen Moffat kicked the living daylights out of everything that fanfic writing loser RTD ever did. He's energetic but not like a child sans ritalin (Tennant) and expressive but not gurning (Eccleston) and while it's just the first episode, there is no sense he's going to spend his whole time moaning about how he killed all the Timelords or how he's "so sorry" about absolutely EVERYTHING.

The episode starts right where The End Of Time left off, with the new Doctor, trying to stop the TARDIS crashing into Big Ben... amazingly, instead of crashing into slum council estate to a Billy Piper wannabe, we get him going into a village. A village that is not London... OR CARDIFF. Admittedly, the series has gradually moved away from the extreme constrictions of the first RTD season but this seems a a good fresh start and the Doctor running through a village is distinctly old school Who...

There's no pointless referencing of pop culture, gratuitous injection of homosexuality and no horrible cheesiness that makes you cringe... not to mention that technobabble and ridiculous fixes for problem are nowhere to be seen. In fact, the Doctor himself observes that he saves the day with no TARDIS and no sonic screwdriver. Which is a nice touch - a far more innovative solution to the problem presented than the Doctor simply babbling wildly while jumping around like a jack in the box with ADHD.

There's a great deal more subtlety to both the Doctor and his new companion, Amelia Pond. They are much more understate... the show does not feel as if it is going to lapse into slapstick or schmaltz and the second episode had a chance for both. It's the kind of subtlety that you'd never see in an RTD script and generally struggled to emerge under his auspices and the Doctor has yet to be venerated as some incredible and infallible person - one of the primary flaws of RTD's writing of the Doctor was that in all of three seconds, everyone would think he was the best thing since sliced bread... things with Amelia have been a little different as the Doctor kind of dicked her around a bit... and she's apparently running away from her wedding.

So, thinks are looking interesting.

So... the first half of RTD's Doctor Who finale of finales has graced our screens... As one would expect, when a much loved character is about to be offed... it's fairly serious in tone but even that can't stop RTD from pushing in some totally inappropriate, unfunny comic relief - including flaming homosexual... As with a lot of two parters, it seems likely that come part the second, it's going to be obvious that a lot of the first part is filler.

John Simms is again wasted as an actor. He's a GOOD actor, whether it's RTD's script or the direction he received... or he's just hamming it up... it's all a bit much... of course, that said - given the visual effects used - it seems likely that most of it is down to RTD... so, it seems fair to give Simms credit for working with what he had.

If precedent is anything to go by, it seems likely that this will have an unsatisfactory resolution though...

The Water Of Mars... Well, if you want to be an uber fan and put that into an anagram generator... Do so. Anyway, the spacing of these specials has been pretty piss poor but then, that's probably not RTD's fault. You'll probably know he wrote this script by the "OHAI I HAVE THE BROTHER WITH THE HUSBAND!" bit... but we get "YES, THE ENVIRONMENT HAS BEEN BAD DUE TO POLLUTION!" so there's an environmental message... one of the events being subtly dubbed the "Oil Apocalypse"... actually, as far as environmental messages go - that IS subtle but that's more a result of them being generally anvilicious.

So, we don't really hang around in this adventure, Doctor Who turns up on the Mars base and says hi - for reasons of plot that will become apparently later, he materialises his TARDIS for about the first time ever - not in a cupboard but on the surface of Mars... which means he's mincing across the surface in a space suit. Anyway, in short order, the Doctor realises that this is a DOOMED expedition and that it's one of those fixed points in space etc. For some reason, this is related by the Doctor flashing back to the BBC news website or something - showing the obituaries of those on the base... which is a little strange but saves exposition.

Naturally, problems arise almost immediately in the form of WATER SPEWING ZOMBIES. Who were apparently trapped under the ice or something and now a SINGLE drop of their water will infect someone faster than you can say "28 Days Later". The twist is of course, these zombies are smart and can make water... so, they're kind of fucked. In fact, the Doctor ELABORATES to them just how fucked they are. Or rather, how their fate is inevitable.

They went on - at length -before this episode came out, that it would be the scariest ever (they seem to say that a lot)... but really, it's far more action than anything. The situation is fairly hopeless... but that doesn't equal a scare factor. Just a lot of heroic self-sacrifice etc. etc. It's really just an enjoyable yarn... which probably means RTD is saving himself up for his final episodes.

A lot better than Planet of the Dead and The Next Doctor... but that's not exactly saying much, is it? Also... why were these specials SO badly spaced? There were supposed to be four in 2009 but it seems there will only be 3... as the Christmas Special is going to be a two-parter that finishes in early 2010. Still, that means there are going to be specials in TWO months. Poorly planned.

Christmas has now come to mean the Doctor Who Christmas Special - amongst other things.

This year saw the Doctor - somewhat inexplicably - have the TARDIS crash into the Titanic... Not THE Titanic, A Titanic... which is in SPACE. So despite managing to plough into the interior of the TARDIS (which seems rather silly), it seems to be OK. Naturally the Doctor starts to schmooze and nose around on this space bound Titanic... as it turns out, said Titanic is in orbit around the Earth and filled with aliens... most of whom are indistinguishable from normal humans... but then, so is the Doctor...

After the mandatory foreshadowing of the - let's face it, inevitable - disaster to come, the Doctor meets Kylie Minogue (who is a serving wench). She doesn't burst into song... which - given RTD - one might have expected at some point but no, she does a solid job of acting the part, nothing to wow... but hey, this is Doctor Who... you can't ever expect any really stellar performances because the format practically necessitates hamming up.

Anyway, tis Christmas eve and people want to go visit Earth. The Doctor takes Kylie along for the ride. Meanwhile, Captain Birdseye has gone a bit bonkers - which is what we were all waiting for. The ol' cliche of someone condemning a whole load of people to death - just so their family is looked after. We should probably be glad that a giant space iceberg wasn't what struck the ship, I suppose... not that a comet would have been so out of place...

Naturally, big rocks vs. space ship = bang! Of course, while most of the people are killed the Doctor and Kylie are fine. Along with them are two space Scousers (also, space working class - they won a contest) man and wife... Then there's space jerk... the kind of arrogant high flyer that everyone hates. The space tour guide - who knows the square root of bugger all about Earth and got his diploma from the same place as "Dr" Gillan McKeith... and of course, what voyage in space would be complete without a space alien. In this case, a red midget cyborg space alien... who is some kin of bastardisation of Darth Maul, Mini-me and a gay Satan.

As if being stuck on a damaged ship - sans TARDIS - wasn't enough... the creepy looking angels - fittingly called "The Host" - that populate the ship have gone from mildly unhelpful to straight forward murderin'... with their halos, no less... Oddjob would be pleased. It's not too long before Darth Midget has used his cybernetic bits to generate an EMP to take down some of the Host... quite how a piece of equipment designed to keep him alive can generate an EMP pulse isn't explained... or how it only takes down the Host... Best not to get hung up on these details - especially given the fact the Sonic Screwdriver can do anything from open doors to make a cup of tea.

So, obese space Scouse heroically sacrifices himself by falling into the engine... then Darth Mini-me... then the other space Scouse can't bear to go on living without the other space Scouse and tosses herself into the giant reactor too... what is it with health and safety in the future? Is there such a massive backlash that you're just allowed to have a giant open reactor? With regulations like that, it seems unlikely you'd need meteors to crash into you for a serious accident to happen.

By this point the Doctor has - naturally - twigged that there is more going on here than just a nasty accident... because it's not just the ship that's going to go down... for some reason, the ship crashing into the planet will kill EVERYONE on the planet (that's probably also down to a lack of health and safety regulations... who'd have thought they were ever useful?).

The Doctor being the Doctor - and everyone else being relatively safe for the time being - goes off to get to the bottom of the matter. He does this by just asking the Host some questions. It seems pretty silly, really. You've got your robots set to kill... but if someone says a magic phrase, they stop killing and answer your questions... even aliens are sloppy coders, it seems.

Nevertheless, he manages to get there and finds out Max Capricorn - the same Max Capricorn who owns the company - is hiding out on the ship, in an "impact chamber" that will allow him to destroy the ship and Earth and hence ruin the board that spurned him and land them in jail and then let him quietly sneak off to retire... I suppose we should be glad... at least it wasn't the old insurance scam.

Anyway, Kylie tagged along after the Doctor and appears just after his spiel has run its course. Quite why the Host ignored their order to kill the Doctor and gawked at Kylie driving a forklift at their boss is a mystery... as is why he doesn't ask for help - he's stuff in a life support unit the size of a big fridge/freezer combo. In any respect, enter heroic sacrifice the third.

For some reason, having just killed their boss - the Host decide to help the Doctor who then sets about stopping the ship plummet into Buckingham Palace... with a real cameo from the Queen... didn't the BBC get in trouble for that earlier? Naturally, the Doctor averts crisis for the third year running... Not that a giant ship crashing into London could really make it any more of an urban death maze than it already is... Also, best not to think too much about how the Doctor was able to violate the second law of thermodynamics.

The Doctor then realises he can save Kylie! For obvious reasons of real life practicality - the attempt to revive her fails. Which is a crying shame. Kylie "dies" and Catherine Tate didn't even get horribly mutilated. Well, no one can say the show doesn't make life unfair. So, the day is saved... the Doctor cringes when he realises that the self-serving douchebag survived but a girl he could have had sex with - died. Well, who wouldn't be crushed... Kylie may need to stand on a box to kiss... but she's a fine filly. Much of the nation would have paid for Catherine Tate to fall in an actual nuclear furnace... where was your quality destroying populism then, eh RTD?

The Doctor and the doddering space tour guide abscond via teleportation - whatever happened to TRANSMAT? - to the TARDIS's landing place on Earth where it's snowing. In keeping with previous years, the snow is actually from the spaceship rather than being real. Space tour guide has a credit card with a million pounds on it... how does that work? Regardless, the Doctor says "I travel alone" - a bigger lie than his Scottish accent - and waves goodbye to the senile coot, who is babbling about a house. The blithering space idiot doesn't know a million pounds wouldn't buy you a potting shed in central London.

It worked quite well as a bit of Christmas fun... it felt like it was aiming for a send up of the Poseidon Adventure... but in truth, probably ended up being more of a parody of itself... the overly dramatic music (even the intro and outro). Repeated heroic sacrifices (clearly more is more), the cheesy villain, all the clumsy editing/directing, the stereotype characters, the cliches... OH, the cliches. Still, passes the time... and as Doctor Who goes, it's pretty passable.

So, the third season (or series, if you prefer) of the "new" Doctor Who has finished, amid persisting rumours that effectively the entire creative team is to quit, along with Tennent himself... of course, that's the beauty of the format.

Everyone - even the Doctor - is replaceable, or at least... he's replaceable in the sense that the actor that portrays him can be replaced. Which is the important thing. One thing that can't be denied is that RTD has left his mark on this incarnation of Who... which I suppose you could take as a blessing or a curse, depending on how you feel about the show as it is.

Tennent has settled into the role far better than Ecceleston ever did and his new companion is infinitely less irritating. Not only that but we managed to escape Earth - especially circa 21st century - more than we had before, which can only be a good thing. It's really rather embarrassing that a being capable of travelling to any point in space and time tends to get stuck in present day London.

The season arc - although really, I think it's an exaggeration to call it an arc when it's maybe one little hint at the finale every couple of episodes - was somewhat spoiled by the fact it was an all but inevitable occurrence. Not to mention that said finale was written by RTD and hence was rather over the top. A change of creative staff would be interesting, it's unlikely that the mostly one episode stories will alter but maybe we can see some more innovation. At least Billie Piper has gone.

Ever notice that sci-fi shows will introduce an enemy - either an individual or a race - who are pretty awesome. Obvious examples would be Star Trek's Borg and Species 8472, SG-1's Replicators and probably the Daleks...

Species 8472 and the Replicators were BOTH notable for something that made them immensely unique in terms of televisual science fiction. They weren't humanoid! Actually, neither were the Daleks but they're not relevant to this particular point. Both 8472 and Replicators were hard ass mofos, hell 8472 blew solar systems apart for kicks... and the Replicators were usually only a few episodes away from galactic domination.

Both of them were of the strong and silent variety - generally not saying anything, just being relentless in their pursuit of the enemy... beyond reason and the like. Which, naturally put them above the average bad guys... the Borg were somewhat similar but let's leave them for a minute. 8472 were no prominent in Voyager but they fell prey to the bad guy budget effect. That means that if you have a cool race of bad guys - but they're kind of expensive (as CGI effects lik 8472 and Replicator) you want to have them but not the expense. So, what do you do? HUMANISE THEM!

Even BSG did it - albeit for somewhat better founded reasons. In Stargate and Star Trek though, the reason was abundantly clear, they wanted to have their cake and eat it. What they seem to have failed to appreciate is that when the Replicators went from evil mechano to the generic SG-1 bad guys... they just lost their appeal. Species 8472 went from being all conquering and evil to being just misunderstood... Aww!

The Replicators clearly proved such a good idea that the immensely original Stargate writers decided to interject a (very slightly different) version of them into Stargate: Atlantis... guess what! They were human too and much like the human form Replicators from SG-1, they proved to be little more than t-1000 clones, albeit with the mincing bad guy Stargate cliché. There was something sinister about evil Mechano, having Five go all emo over Carter was just laughable and played more like the kind of drama you'd except from Internet social sites than anything... and to add insult to injury, they essentially became whipping boys once they got anti-Replicator guns...

Which brings us to the Borg... anyone that has seen their introduction to the Star Trek universe "Q Who" or the seminal "Best Of Both Worlds" from TNG will probably remembering thinking the Borg were immensely powerful. A juggernaut that was as unstoppable as it was relentless. In fact, writers remarked that they would have liked to use the Borg more but they found it hard to think up ways to beat them... what with them being so bad ass and all.

This changed around the time of First Contact. Presumably for reasons of scripting - it might have been hard to play against mute drones or "resistance is futile" for 90+ minutes - we had the introduction of the Borg Queen, who was essentially an arch-villain in the James Bond cat-stroking tradition that Stargate so keenly emulates/parodies. Far be it from Star Trek to let sleeping dogs lie... but we had the obligatory resurrection of the Borg Queen in Voyager.

Where she ostensibly took part in some manner of interstellar lesbian love triangle with Janeway and 7 of 9. Sounds like something out of a badly written slash fic? There can't really have been any other logical explanation for the lengths she went to in attempts to reclaim Jeri Ryan. She was one level below slavering, con attending, mace resistant, can't tell the difference between TV and real life fanboy in her devotion. Which is presumably the explanation for how the Borg went from hardcore to Voyager's whipping boy. Did people writing those episodes know about Wolf 359? An entire fleet wiped out by a single cube. Seemed like a single Voyager could wipe out a fleet of cubes (even without future tech).

It's the inherent danger, you create an enemy so powerful that you want to have them back again but the only way you can have them back is to nerf their power, which of course all but invalidates the reason for having them back in the first place. One notable exception to this nerf rule seems to be the Daleks... once upon a time, all you needed to do was run up so stairs, or to tip them over. Now they're tin pot titans that can fly, suck your face off and take a casual stroll in laser cross fire. That and they came back from being - apparently - erased from time... three times.