…. has not convinced me, I’m afraid.

For me Smith doesn’t embody the role the way previous Doctors have. (As far as the new Who is concerned I was never taken by Christopher Eccleston, either, come to that.)

The character of Amy Pond, however, makes for a cracking companion, not merely an adjunct but substantially more pro-active than those who have accompanied the Doctor before (including Rose Tyler) and capable of carrying a sub-plot without reference back to the Doctor but in this sense she was underused.

And once again, a la Russell T, we had her friendships and relationships as a focus of the stories.

Can we have a bit more universe spanning please and stop relying on entanglements such as these to create a sense of empathy and emotional impact?

Another quibble was that I wasn’t entirely happy with the story arc of the series. What with all the “will never have existed” malarky, it skirted dangerously close to “it was all a dream.”

I know it’s all fiction, but fiction requires rather more substantial backing than this, otherwise it’s not worthwhile people investing their time in consuming it.

Okay. Charges of gingerism dropped for the moment since no new mention of it was made. Plus the latest companion (like Catherine Tate before her) is a redhead.

Except… The child she was when she first met the doctor was not redheaded. Now how is that exactly? I know this is loosely Science Fiction but usually hair colour diminishes on ageing.

As a setter-upper the episode was passable but no more. A bit harum-scarum. And what is it with Who and creatures with fangs?

I’m not yet convinced by Matt Smith in the role. Full marks for the new assistant’s Scottishness, though.

The acting of the wee lass playing the young Amelia was excellent. Don’t suppose the doctor could have such a callow companion, though. Not nowadays anyway. (The original Doctor had his granddaughter, Susan, An Unearthly Child, with him, of course. She was supposedly of school age but was played by someone much older than that.)

The BBC has been showing trailers for the series – some scenes appeared before the end credits of Episode 1. I was tickled by the khaki Dalek (complete with canvas webbing belt) emerging from the sandbag enclosure.

Pity it can’t carry a swagger stick. That would have been even funnier.