I was overjoyed when the announcement came out that Doctor Who would be making a return to TV. As a long time fan of Who (my favorite doctor is Tom Baker), I was dismayed when the show was originally taken off, and always looked forward when visiting Oz to watching reruns of it on their TV stations. It's been far too long since it was on here, unfortunately though the new episodes were only available on this stupid piddly little Prime station we have here. Most of the frickin country can't receive it, otherwise you have to have a SKY decoder. Arrrrrgh! I've had to wait for the DVD's to come out, which have been wonderful.

The first episode comes with the usual amount of exposition and setup baggage that weighs down firsts of any series. It's not a bad episode, but I think it's probably more enjoyable for people who aren't familiar with the series. I just wanted them to get on with it since I'm already clued up on the Doctor. Still it was fantastic the first time the Doctor appears, and the Tardis tucked away between the buildings was great. I almost missed it the first time.

I really like the redesign of the Tardis, and the production values on this new series are fantastic. Every week is like a mini movie, with no more wobbly sets or props made out of detergent bottles. Rose is quite likeable in an everyman/woman kind of way, and I'm sure for those people that find her stunning that's an attraction. Christopher Ecceleston was a better choice than expected, running the whole gamut of emotions, unpredictable, wild, with a dash of jaded innocence. You can almost see hints of the other Doctors personalities running through his performance.

The Autons were an interesting choice for an opening villain, a nice way to connect to previous continuity, although animated shop window mannequins is probably a bit light-weight by today's standards. Other scarier classic villains are back in subsequent episodes, so that's something to look forward too.

If your a fan of Doctor Who, or just into sci-fi in general, this is definitely a series worth watching. I hope it does well and continues to stay on as long as it did in the first run. My children are already hopelessly addicted to the series, new Who-philes in the making.

Plot Synopsis:

Rose Tyler is a common London girl living on a council housing estate with her single-parent mother. She gets up, goes to work at the department store, has lunch with her boyfriend Mickey and returns to work. Nothing particularly exciting happens, until she is asked to drop off some items to the store manager in the basement. While stumbling around looking for him, she is attacked by plastic mannequins in storage. The Doctor rescues her, and after helping her escape from the building, promptly blows up the department store. Rose fails to notice the blue police box sandwiched between two buildings as she makes her way home.

The next morning, not much point getting up since she doesn't have a job to go to. The Doctor turns up at the Tyler's flat looking for more Autons, and is attacked by the plastic mannequin arm that Rose bought home the previous night. After subduing the arm, Rose's curiosity is peaked, and the Doctor gives her some cryptic information before vanishing in his blue box.

Rose starts to investigate the Doctor on the Internet, and finds the contact information for Clive, a conspiracy theorist who has been tracking the Doctor over the years. Rose meets with Clive and he shows her photos of the Doctor from different time periods, and he warns her that where the Doctor goes death follows. Meanwhile, outside Mickey has been attacked and eaten by a plastic rubbish cart. When Rose returns a plasticized replica of Mickey is waiting for her. They go for a pizza at a restaurant, and Mickey starts harassing Rose for information about the Doctor's wereabouts. The Doctor arrives again to rescue Rose, and Mickey goes on a rampage. The Doctor severs Mickey's head, and escapes back to the police box. Rose follows but can't quite believe her eyes - the innocent blue box contains a huge spaceship on the inside.

The Doctor explains about the Tardis, and uses plastic Mickey's head to guide the Tardis to the location of the Nestene Consciousness controlling the plastic Autons. They arrive near the Millenium Wheel, and the Doctor realises the Nestene is using the wheel as a huge transmitter dish to animate and control the plastic Autons. As the Doctor heads towards a final confrontation with the Nestene, it realises that the Doctor could destroy it, and sets all the plastic Autons on a rampage of destruction through London. The Doctor is restrained by the Autons, leaving Rose and Mickey to dump the vial of anti-plastic that the Doctor bought into the vat containing the Nestene, destroying it.

After the Nestene is destroyed, the Doctor returns Rose and Mickey to the council estates. He offers Rose the opportunity to travel with him, which she initially refuses, until he points out that he can also travel in time. Rose abandons Mickey and leaves with the Doctor.