This post is bigger on the inside...

So it has begun..........again.

Saturday April 3rd marked the return of Doctor who, and after a year without regular episodes it was needless to say highly anticipated. Before i sat down to watch it i had the same reservations as many others, almost all of which were to do with the many changes that had come about since David Tennant and Russell T Davies signalled their intent to leave after the 4 specials shown throughout 2009.

I'm happy to report however that at least in my eyes, almost all of the changes that have been made are for the better.

When Russell T Davies announced he was leaving Doctor Who some wondered if that signalled the coming to an end of the Who Revival. Luckily Davies had already spotted in Steven Moffat somebody who could lead the series to the same heights that he had himself.

Moffat is no stranger to the series either, having written some extremely tense and dramatic scripts for Tennants' Who, including my personal favourite "Blink". An episode so tightly written and superbly acted that the statues never actually moved and were still just as chilling as a Dalek or Cyberman bearing down on you. It was also an episode that showed that the Doctor doesn't even have to be on screen for a story to be a classic, something that "Love and Mosters" also proved to great effect.

RTD's Who-niverse was a camp one to say the least, he expanded it with characters like Captain Jack Harkness, entire spin off series like Torchwood and even brought back favourites like Emma Jane and K-9.

The last of the four 2009 specials showed Tennants Doctor saying goodbye to many of the elements that RTD had introduced during his run in charge. It was widely thought at the time that the new Who would choose to leave many of these elements behind and start over. That decision is for the best, because with this new series Moffat will start to write his own chapter in the story of the last Time Lord. Over time i don't doubt that many of the elements that Davies brought to the party will return but for the time being it's good that Moffat is striking out on his own.

Karen Gillen really impressed me in her series debut, as did her real life cousin and on-screen younger self Caitlin Blackwood. It's another sign of good writing that when another doctors assistant is brought in, she is poles apart from any of the others that have come before her in the new era. Billy Piper, Freema Agyeman and Catherine Tate all brought very different attitudes to the role, somehow Gillens character has managed to take all the best qualities of her predecessors combine them and not come off as a copy of any of them.

Gillen's acting was superb throughout the season opener, and it certainly didn't hurt that for the majority of the episode she was wearing a rather fetching police woman kiss-o-gram outfit. it's early days but i have a feeling that this actress might have a great career ahead of her.

One more point to touch on, and obviously the biggest of the lot. The new Doctor. When i heard that Matt Smith had been cast i had plenty of doubts. "He's too young", "He looks too weird", "I've never heard of him". We probably all thought at least one of those things when he was announced. I'm glad that they stuck with him though, because his performance in the series premier was extremely impressive. He was wacky, zany, confident, charming, exuded charisma whenever he was on screen and most importantly he felt like the Doctor.

It's very early to judge him yet, one episode does not make a season after all, but there's certainly enough evidence here to say in some confidence that Doctor Who is in good hands.

There's on last thing that needs touching on and this will be a brief point. The new T.A.R.D.I.S interior feels confused and cluttered. I may grow to like it but at the moment it doesn't seem to be any improvement over the old design. Out with the old though...

Robinho