Doctor Who review: Power-crazed aliens, cosmic cops … this show is back to its best, writes ROLAND WHITE

Doctor Who

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The Year The Thames Flooded

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Ferocious giant insects with red eyes, a power-crazed cuddly toy set on the destruction of London, Catherine Tate’s head bursting into flames, with David Tennant and his anti-gravity Tintin hairdo coming to the rescue.

Yes, Doctor Who (BBC1) is back — and it was magnificent.

The Star Beast was the first of three episodes written to celebrate 60 years since the Doctor first arrived on our screens.

There are fans who feel the series has lost its way in recent times. It stands accused of lecturing us on the social issues of the day, and — worse — just being a bit dull.

This episode, written by Russell T. Davies, was Doctor Who back to its uproarious, eccentric, action-packed best. There was hardly a moment’s peace.

The Star Beast was the first of three episodes written to celebrate 60 years since Doctor Who first arrived on our screens

It’s true that The Meep, a deceptively ferocious furry gonk voiced by Miriam Margolyes, took a moment to explain its pronouns (not he or she, but The) but I think that was a joke.

The Poplar Choice

Nathanael Griffiths, 20, won the final of Handmade: Britain’s Best Woodworker (Ch4) with a stunning kitchen island. Even more impressive, he admitted: ‘I’ve never made drawers or cupboards before. The closest I’ve ever done is assembling a piece of Ikea furniture.’ There’s hope for us all.

The gonk started off as the goodie, hunted across the universe for its fur. It turned up — all simpering and cuddly — at the home of Donna Noble, once the Doctor’s companion but now married to a taxi driver.

She can’t remember her time-travelling days because the Doctor wiped her memory. If she does remember, she will die. With me so far?

When the insect people came looking for the fluffy little beast, all hell broke loose at Donna Towers. Goodness knows what the neighbours will say. The Doctor led everybody to safety — of course he did — but realised something wasn’t quite right.

Reverse ferret, as we say in journalism. It turned out that the heavily armed insect creatures were kindly cosmic policemen, while The Meep made the Daleks look like Labrador puppies.

The Doctor and Donna had to save the day. Donna got her memory back but survived — even when her head went up in flames — and they stepped into the Tardis for just one more trip. And if you’ll believe that, you’ll believe anything.

By the way, watching the Doctor frantically flicking switches on the alien ship’s control panel, I realised why he’s been mostly male. It’s because the Doc presses buttons straight away and never reads the instruction manual.

This episode, written by Russell T. Davies, was Doctor Who back to its uproarious, eccentric, action-packed best. There was hardly a moment’s peace, writes ROLAND WHITE

There’s been grim viewing for Londoners over the past few days. On Thursday, Channel 5 revisited the Great Smog Of 1952, which killed around 4,000 people. The Year The Thames Flooded (Ch5) went back to 1928 when the river burst its banks, killing 14 people and sweeping away thousands of homes.

The flood followed a white Christmas. Snowdrifts in London were up to 17ft deep, and food was delivered on sledges.

It was even deeper in the Cotswolds, the source of the Thames. When that snow melted, water poured into the river and headed for London. Coming the other way was a tidal surge from the North Sea which bowled up the Thames estuary and headed for the centre of the city.

The two waves collided in the capital on the night of January 6th as people slept, unaware of the danger.

Four girls from the Harding family were in a basement room in Westminster, where the force of the water meant their father, Arthur, couldn’t reach them. He heard cries of ‘Dad! Save me!’ before it all went quiet. Heartbreaking.

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