There seems to be a lot of Tom Baker’s influence in what Eccleston gets up to in this two-parter, namely the sequence following the cliffhanger’s resolution, where he allows Margaret to continue chasing Rose and Harriet while standing nonchalantly in a lift, juxtaposed with the seriousness of “I could save the world but lose you.” Doctor Who is sometimes at its best when it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and this episode does a good job of balancing the serious threat of nuclear fallout and the comedic almost-incompetence of the Slitheen.

It’s a great plan and it would’ve worked, if not for those meddling kids.

Running down corridors, narrowly avoiding being chased by men in costumes in one shot, and pure CGI in another, is a little jarring but entirely understandable - those costumes don’t look easy to run in.

When did Mickey get so good with computers? Or manage to be so calm in a crisis? Perhaps that year of being under suspicion of murder gave him plenty of time to hone his skills? Still, it would’ve been nice to see hints of said skills in earlier episodes so it didn’t feel so completely out of the blue. At least we (but mainly Rose) are reminded that Mickey isn’t all that special compared to the Doctor a bit later on… Gherkins, pickled onions, pickled eggs, all being readily available in his kitchen, prompt the Doctor to wonder “YoU kIsS tHiS mAn!?” (I’d like to point out that Mickey had no idea where they were but Rose knew exactly what cupboard they were in, so maybe it’s not Mickey with the vinegary breath…)

I digress. There’s a lot of serious stuff going on amidst the farts and the vinegar, the discussion of blowing up Downing Street is some of the best character-centric stuff in the revival so far. The Doctor’s reluctance to cause more death, Rose’s blasé attitude to her own life/death, Jackie’s concern for her daughter, Mickey’s willingness to do whatever it takes- all these things come back later in the series, some more than others, but it’s a brilliant little scene to capture all their motivations in one go. Yet the star moment is Harriet’s- the only democratically elected person in the room. It rips the decision out of the Doctor’s hands and he is so relieved by it, and her statesmanship finally reminds him why he recognises her name.

It’s a little bit of a rushed conclusion to the threat- every single Slitheen in Britain being in one specific room right at the end so they can push the big red button together and out of their human-disguises because victory should be naked feels a bit convenient, but the shot of them all standing around looking gormless is fab.

The tone changes right at the end- Rose assuring her mum that they’ll be back in ten seconds, and Jackie counting those seconds hopefully, knowing deep down that they won’t be back, and very quickly being proven right- is a more sombre note than much of the rest of the episode, but it’s a wonderful (if short) exploration on what it’s like to be left behind like that.

Aliens of London is a great first instalment of the first multi-episode story of the revival, starting strong and continuing to hit each story beat dead centre. Yes, the farting is a bit much, and yes some of the acting could do with a bit of work, and there’s a hell of a lot going on that isn’t explored fully… but I can’t in good conscience call this anything other than fantastic.

A smooth TARDIS landing should set Rose on edge after this- a whole year late home, and the Doctor, despite setting the coordinates, completely oblivious until he’s already put his foot in it. We get some wonderful acting from Camille Coduri, the worried mum turning protective, slapping Nine across the face in the first of an ongoing series of angry mothers and whiplash.

The majority of the episode is so human, despite the plot revolving around aliens. There are so many little parts of everyday life captured by RTD - Harriet Jones continuing to push for her meeting about Cottage Hospitals despite a national emergency, people gathering in Jackie’s flat to welcome Rose home and watch the telly - like Rose says, it’s what everyone does in that sort of situation…

Life doesn’t stop for these people, just because something new and alien is happening a few miles away, even the Doctor comments on it:

• It's just a bit human in there for me. History just happened and they're talking about where you can buy dodgy top-up cards for half price.

It just feels so real, I know that sort of National Situation, it’s exactly how we’d respond to a First Contact scenario. Pop the kettle on, gather round the TV, but don’t let it completely stop whatever you had planned for the day.

Albion Hospital plays a key part of the episode - and it’ll come back in a few episodes time. We get our first glimpse of a modern UNIT, see that they’re still a bit trigger happy but not much else. It’s a little odd that they follow the Doctor’s orders without even knowing who he is, just because he knows what defence pattern delta is, but it’s a nice sequence - running down corridors to save not-Tosh from a not-really-an-alien-just-a-terrified-pig. (And the Doctor’s empathy with such a creature, the only one of its kind, confused and lost in this strange environment…)

Annette Badland hasn’t got much time to shine here, most of the alien action comes from the male Slitheen, but she does brilliantly with what she’s got. (I don’t want to talk about “I’m shaking my booty”).

I’m not sure if it’s just because the previous episode was so gloomy, but the early scenes of the Doctor and Rose seem so saturated, Rose’s pink shirt (style icon) seems so bright, and the Doctor’s eyes are so vividly blue for some reason.

The cliffhanger is great, splitting the main characters into three, giving each of them a different Slitheen (or two) to face off against… and it’s made all the better by iPlayer’s subtitles: ‘Really Evil Guffaws’ and ‘Slithery Squelching’ - they make the tense cliffhanger a little less climactic, but they really fit the tone of the episode.

I absolutely hated this one as a child, I think it was the first ‘behind the sofa’ moment I had. As such, I usually skip it when I rewatch series one, but it’s still a good episode. Being scared by Doctor Who is good (sometimes)! It also marks Mark Gatiss’s first writing for the revival series, and it’s definitely a highlight of his nine-episode credits.

It’s our first of three RTD era episodes where the Doctor meets an author and drops references to their works into conversation, and Dickens at Christmas with ghosts, in a distinctly Bleak House, is a wonderfully silly-yet-spooky concept. Though that’s about as far as silliness goes. The whole episode, pre-TARDIS-landing aside, is far more serious than the previous two- the tone is darker, and even the sets are gloomier. There’s still plenty of lightness to the plot- the Doctor’s fanboying over Dickens, Rose and Gwyneth’s conversation about boys- any more than that would feel out of place.

This episode once again puts the characters at the forefront and develops the side characters wonderfully- Dickens gets his own little moment of heroism, and whilst Gwyneth having ‘the sight’ seems a little convenient, it gives the Doctor and Rose a perfect opportunity to clash heads.

The Doctor, in his post-war mind, feels that saving the Gelth is worth having a few zombies around, but Rose is concerned only with Gwyneth having a real choice, and is disturbed by the thought of the dead walking around. It’s an interesting argument, and the audience is left to make up their own mind despite the Doctor being proved wrong with his clouded judgement - if the Gelth really were few and good, would a few lively corpses be a worthy sacrifice? We don’t get that answer.

Instead, we get an explosion! Set ten years before Torchwood is even founded, Eve Myles is already making her mark on Cardiff’s infrastructure.

I can’t say I won’t skip it again in future, but it’s not awful, and certainly better than I remembered from the original broadcast.

Following on from a great opening episode is tough, but this episode manages it pretty well. It’s never been a favourite of mine, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. From the opening scene, the dynamic between the Doctor and Rose is further solidified- ‘you think you’re so impressive’ ‘I am so impressive’- they’re having fun together, even though neither really knows the other. That lack of knowing forms the basis for most of the character-based conflict, which takes a more important role for the majority of the episode than the metal spiders running around in the background do. It’s a way of showing Rose’s impulsivity- rushing off with a stranger- and then the culture shock of suddenly being dropped into this alien situation- ‘the aliens, they’re so alien. I mean you look at them, and they’re alien’.

Why would the Doctor bring Rose to watch her planet explode on her first proper trip with him? It makes no sense, except, right there at the end we learn his planet has exploded too. That tells us more about the Doctor, his want for connection, the need to have someone somewhere understand what it’s like to be the last one, and Rose says it herself when confronting Cassandra- if anyone onboard Platform One is the Last Human then it’s Rose, not the bitchy flap of skin.

The darkness Nine shows after saving the day, (everything has its time and everything dies) is the first real hint of the Doctor being dangerous that we get in the revival - obviously the previous episode had danger, but that wasn’t him, it was the aliens, yet here, that darkness comes to the fore and shows another side to the Doctor that I think Nine portrays fantastically throughout his short run.

As with the previous episode and a lot of series one, the side characters here feel developed- with such a large cast this time, it’s less-so here, but Cassandra and Jabe are used very well to show that a connection to Earth isn’t simply a human-thing, and that not all humans have the best in mind for the Earth. Jabe, the beautiful tree lady, spends most of her time flirting with the Doctor which makes for some great lines. Knowing what we know from future series’, I wish the Face of Boe had had more to do, though it is his dodgy plumbing that allows more of the world to be explored- Raffalo’s conversation with Rose is short, but it gives an insight into the post-Earth future. We also get the first Bad Wolf namedrop here from the Moxx of Balhoon, who I can only assume is Doctor Who’s answer to Star Wars’ Max Rebo, in a blink and you’ll miss it comment that even BBC iPlayer’s subtitles get wrong.

Overall, I think The End of the World is a solid second episode, and throws a lot of information out to a new audience without being overwhelming, whilst exploring these new characters and their dynamic. Having the early episodes be so character-centric is, as Nine would say, fantastic.

What can I say? This is a truly great opener to the 2005 revival, and when I was a child it got me hooked in minutes. Rose will always hold a special place for me- it was my first ever episode, and a wonderful introduction to the world of Doctor Who, which is exactly what it was supposed to be.

Setting up the episode through Rose’s eyes to allow a slower build up to an alien threat worked brilliantly, letting the show feel updated and as though it had a place in (what was then) the present. Those new to Who went on that first journey with her, got to know the Doctor as she did, and as such the exposition present isn’t too much. Watching it now, explaining the TARDIS, (what she is, what TARDIS stands for) all feels a little long winded- purely because I already know all that from the past almost-20-years of watching. As a child, the threat felt very real, and- call me silly- but I still eye shop window dummies suspiciously on occasion, just in case.

In terms of character, Rose does a great job too. You meet Rose, of course, and she feels like an everyday person- she’s real and normal and this is all happening to her completely by chance, but she rolls with all the strangeness with a level of composure I could only dream of. The Doctor, too, within seconds of meeting, grabs her by the hand and pulls her out of danger, and the conversation in the lift is a perfectly condensed look at their whole dynamic. ‘What makes you say that?’ ‘It’s gotta be students’ ‘good thinking.’ He knows from that moment that she’s not just a stupid ape but someone worth having around, and despite walking away after blowing up her job, it’s clear that he’ll want her to come with him, and that she’ll want to go.

• I can feel it. The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go.

Who are you, Doctor? This brilliant alien who says things like this, blows stuff up, and… laughs about death and the invasion of Earth? He’s camp, he’s butch, he’s got PTSD and a chip on his shoulder the size of the London Eye, and, speaking of that ‘giant round thing slap bang in the centre of London’, he’s so wonderfully dense sometimes too. Who wouldn’t want to get in a box and fly off with him?

Jackie and Mickey, too, feel just as real as our main pair (plastic doppelganger aside), and it’s something I love about RTD’s era(s)- the companion always has a clear tie to Earth, they always have some solidified reason to come back home despite running off for an adventure. Even Clive has a life and a place in the world despite his limited screen time (RIP, you would’ve gotten on so well with LINDA).

Rewatching recently, I was struck by the 88 seconds long shot of the Doctor and Rose talking - it’s not a tense moment, it’s just a conversation, but it’s a wonderful way to bring the audience along. It’s not quick, few-second cuts between them. It lets the eye look at them both, between them both, see them within their environment and really get a feel for Rose’s World in the background. It’s just two people walking along and it looks like an everyday conversation, except… it’s most definitely not. He came along and turned it all on its head.

There are, of course, some imperfections with the episode. The CGI now is naturally dated, but that can’t really be helped, and that photoshop of Nine at JFK’s assassination always gives me the giggles. Also I simply refused to believe that Rose didn’t notice something was wrong with ‘Mickey’ after he was eaten by the bin. It’s so unnatural and unsettling and she didn’t even blink… Though perhaps that says more about her character than anything else, so focused on the Doctor that everything else is blurring into the background already?