The Hinchcliffe era has begun, and you can truly feel the difference. We are swept into space, but not the kind of spaceship we are used to. This ship is old and out of order, a menacing force has been meddling with its mechanics in the hope of using the remainder of humanity for their own breeding purposes. Humanity's future is presented as dark here - but there is plenty of lightness brought by our wonderful regular cast (surely the best line up the show has ever had!) and the fantastically witty dialogue (also - the best we've ever seen).

Homo sapiens! What an inventive, invincible species! It's only been a few million years since they crawled up out of the mud and learned to walk. Puny, defenseless bipeds. They've survived flood, famine and plague. They've survived cosmic wars and holocausts. And now, here they are, out among the stars, waiting to begin a new life. Ready to outsit eternity. They're indomitable... indomitable.

Doctor Who has always had witty and intriguing dialogue but this story something else. This sits alongside Robert Holmes' finest scripts Spearhead from Space and Carnival of Monsters.

Let's not ignore how well executed the scripts are - the sets are very impressive (again, the best the show has seen!!), the lighting is moody and suspenseful (which is so rare in Doctor Who). Even the often ridiculed bubble wrap is actually fairly well treated for the screen. Obviously I wish a better solution could have been found for Noah's monster prosthetics as it does make it more difficult to show to non-fans. But I don't want to overstate it as an issue, it does not spoil anything.

Harry, Sarah Jane and The Doctor’s roles are crystallised in this episode. The dynamic relationship between characters are as good as any of the characters themselves. I wish that Sarah Jane was less weak, confused and patronised throughout this story (something I praised Robot for) but Elisabeth Sladen plays it very well. Harry and The Doctor are a real treat - especially in Part One where they attempt various solutions for escaping an electrifying robot. "Logical puzzle" scenes in Doctor Who are usually a bit naff and unengaging, but again, the dialogue sells everything, the Fourth Doctor's random props are also hilarious. Myself and my friend fell over laughing when Tom Baker revealed a cricket ball out of his pocket!

Noah and Vira are excellent characters and play off each other very well as complete opposites. One is passionate and possessed, the other has a blank stare and a purely logical mind (at the expense of everything else).

I often say this when a truly special episode comes along (The Green Death may have been the most recent one) but it is stories like this that make me want to watch the show. This is Doctor Who almost at the top of its game. Whilst this is not perfect, its pretty damn close. I'm so excited about delving further into this era - what a treat!