The Doctor Is Back

Attention old Dr. Who fans - the BBC series is back after a 15-year hiatus, but for many critics, the results are less-than-spectacular:

It is unfair to review a restaurant on opening night, but an event as important as the return of Doctor Who after a hiatus of 15 years (not counting the ill-fated 1996 US TV movie co-production, to which BBC executives have the same regard Stalin had for Trotsky) is of such importance to millions of fans around the world that instant judgments are required.

The good Doctor is most definitely back... and many traditionalists are going to greet this radical new version with utter dismay.

Let's start with the negatives - and there are many. This is Who for the attention deficit disorder generation. The wonderfully slow build-up of tension that was a hallmark of the series at its finest - think of the Hand of Fear creeping towards Sarah Jane! - was entirely absent from episode one, entitled Rose.