The first half of this story is much better than my memory (or fan wisdom) would have had me believe. The Doctor and Rose as detectives making house calls is a treat - its the first time that I feel their chemistry is quite as good as reputation would have you believe. It feels like Billie and David have at this point had a chance to truly get to know each other and get comfortable with each other's performances after being thrown into portraying a loving relationship between characters who already know each other deeply.

The show's defence of the mother and child who are victims of a horrible husband / father is pure Doctor Who. It feels inspiring as they are exactly the kind of voiceless people The Doctor was invented to defend. I also love the setting and costumes for Rose and The Doctor. When I was a young boy I remember being quite taken with Rose's pink dress and matching headband...!

The visual of missing faces and the concept behind the villain work well. However, The Wire unfortunately becomes relentlessly one note once her “HUNGRY” dialogue begins, randomly switching away from her established eloquent way of speaking. Once she enters this mode the episode veers into a black hole of forgettable-ness.