The Stolen Earth

I was wrong. Russell T. Davis IS a great Doctor Who writer. I don't even care what came before it, because "The Stolen Earth" is the most insanely entertaining and epic Doctor Who story since "Remembrance of the Daleks" and really a fine, thrilling piece of writing from Davies. I'd go as far as saying that this is his best work since his New Adventures novel "Damaged Goods".

I didn't love "Doomsday". I hated "Last of the Timelords", and I'm really hoping I won't hate "Journey's End", and chances are I won't because "The Stolen Earth" is beyond just an good setup, it really is half a story, a half so intense and jam-packed that there is literally no time to look away from the episode and, you know, BREATHE. I like the foundation of this story a heck of a lot more than any season finale in the RTD era of Doctor Who, and it would take a LOT to mess this up.

"The Stolen Earth" is absolutely crazy, it's like RTD had a checklist of everything that had appeared in his era and decided to include all of them in this episode. What's surprising is that the story doesn't feel even remotely disjointed! And the best part of this story is that we've got space-Nazi Daleks back! Oh, and Davros. Oh my oh my Davros. How brilliantly-realized was Davros here? THIS is what I've wanted from the Daleks in this new Doctor Who series. THIS is it. THIS is a classic Dalek story updated with fantastic effects and production values. THIS is how they should always be used in Doctor Who.

Absolutely wacky, insanely intense, dramatic, thrilling, and featuring one of the best Doctor Who cliffhangers in all its thirty seasons of existence. What more could a fan ask for?

10/10

This is about as big and bold as it gets, possibly the two parter I remember most vividly

The Doctor and Rose after the Bad wolf warnings return to Earth to discover nothing's wrong, but what a surprise all hell breaks loose and the Earth is moved. We see the effects on Martha and Unit, Torchwood, Sarah Jane and Luke. Rose has returned to Earth, armed. It's apparent that the cause of the planets in the sky and the earth being moved is down to the Daleks. A message is heard and the attacks start. The theme of missing planets that has run throughout the series is unveiled, the missing planets form some sort of engine. The Doctor locates the Earth, discovering that Davros is still alive. Dalek Caan prophecises death.

When you compare Catherine Tate now to her earlier episodes the character has matured so much, it's been a fantastic series performance from her. Once again I find myself more captivated by her then anyone else.

I love the expression of doom on Sarah Jane's face when she hears the 'Exterminate,' her reaction is so much better then anyone else's.

The effects are sensational, everything is done on such a big scale, the attacks on earth look so good.

How exciting was it to see the return of Davros, last seen in the finale of Remembrance of the Daleks. Julian Bleach puts in a great performance, hopefully he'll return one day. I love his seeing Sarah Jane scene.

The Supreme Dalek just needs a Swarowski crystal studded eye stalk and glittered hat, a really garish, awful creation, way to over designed. Bring the black Supreme Dalek back!! The order of the Daleks is very well realised, Davros, Caan etc.

The story is so incredibly clever, to have combined the Show with it's spin offs Torchwood and Sarah Jane adventures was incredible. They cram so much into it, but it works, to even bring the Judoon and Harriet Jones in, was so clever.

Some fantastic humour, I wish we'd got more of Wilf and Sylvia throughout the series they are truly funny.

All in all it is absolutely insane how good this episode is, and boasts a truly devastating cliffhanger, 10/10

Finally the sense not the give the conclusion away in the trailer.

"The Stolen Earth" is an important milestone in "Doctor Who" mythology. Here we have the largest gathering of "Who" characters since "The Five Doctors"....companions old and new are faced with not just the dreaded Daleks but also their creator.

It's been a long wait for Davros but this has made his appearance all the better. As Davies has commented, he wanted the character to remain the same - there's no re-imagining like the "new" Cybermen here.

This is an ambitious tale and it's in safe hands with Graeme Harper. The tale builds to a very memorable cliffhanger. It's an agonising wait for next week's episode and there's no teaser present to put viewers out of their misery.

10 out of 10. Great continuity, beautiful effects and a smörgåsbord of "Who" characters - what more could anybody ask for?

Stolen Earth is an excellent first part for the Series 4 finale, which was designed to tie up all loose ends set up throughout the Russell T. Davies era. It brilliantly weaves in a huge number of characters - including Martha, Rose returning from another dimension, Captain Jack, Torchwood, U. N. I. T, the Daleks, Davros, Sarah Jane, and, of course, the Judoon - to create a truly epic adventure, one never surpassed in scope in both character and location since.

I love the ambition on display here in every aspect - The huge, mega-sized CGI effects are complemented with character momments 3 years in the making. I espically like the reunion between Rose and the Doctor, cut short before the tragic cliffhanger. The Daleks are on full evil mode here, and Davros is given such a great return in here and Journey's End.

There's not more to say, it's just a huge, emotion-packed adventure that's a must watch for all fans of the new show - and part 2 is possibly even better. 10/10, one of the best series finales.

Wow. What a set-up for what looks like being a storming finale. I was on the edge of my seat for the whole of this episode, right up until the enormous shock at the end and its subsequent cliffhanger. Quite often the plots of the finale are quite hard to keep up with, but that's certainly not the case here.

Russell T Davies, with his script for this episode, has somehow managed to intertwine his entire "Whoniverse" together. Not just with the characters - all the favourites are back (Jack, Martha, Sarah Jane, and of course, Rose - and even Harriet Jones makes an important cameo) along with the two spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures (with Gwen and Ianto from the former and Luke from the latter playing large parts), but also, just like with The Sound of Drums last year, all the seemingly insignificant events from earlier episodes that you dismissed as part of those story lines alone have become massive plot developments. It's obvious just how much careful planning Davies has put into this entire series on the first watch of this. On top of this, we finally discover what the Medusa Cascade and the Shadow Proclamation (complete with random Judoon cameo) are - things that have been talked about ever since Christopher Eccleston's first episode.

Even things that I would normally criticise serve this episode very well. The main thing being Murray Gold's repetitive music - he's borrowed music from all over the rest of the series for this episode and yet it still works really well.

As for the acting, I don't think there was a single bad performance. John Barrowman and Elisabeth Sladen in particular are on top form, Tennant is excellent as always, and Julian Bleach's Davros is frighteningly reminiscent of Star Wars' Emperor Palpatine. And from the trailer that has just appeared on the BBC website, it's only going to get better.

Again, what an amazing setup for next week's finale, and a very convincing episode in its own right. And so begins the anticipation...