AT THE risk of receiving death-threats from DOCTOR WHO (Saturday, BBC1) extremists, I'd like to say that David Tennant is the best Tardis captain in the history of the universe. Or at least the last few decades.
He's funny, quirky and mischievous - and the atmosphere between him and sidekick Rose (Billie Piper) just fizzes with the clever chemistry of a 1930s screwball comedy. But nothing they wrote in the Thirties could have boasted an evil flap of skin called Cassandra, a million-year-old head in a giant jam-jar and a secretive order of nuns with cats' faces.
It was the ideal opener for the new series - some whacky costumes, a whiff of danger from an army of diseased clones and a thinly-disguised lecture about the wickedness of experimenting on animals.
To be honest, I don't remember the Doctor Who of the Seventies having such a well-developed moral conscience. But ever since the 2005 re-launch, it seems like every episode comes complete with a gentle sermon about global pollution or the evils of capitalism. But maybe there was just as much preaching going on 30 years ago - we were just too busy hiding behind the sofa to notice.
What we did notice this time round was the powerful benefit of a behind-the-scenes reshuffle.
There was quite a palaver when the last Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, backed out of the role after just one series. The splendid new Who only proved what a waste of time it had been hiring the sour, moody, sexless Eccleston in the first place.
Additional keywords: New Earth
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