Your webmaster's inability to set up his Sky box correctly meant he had to watch The Parting of the Ways with “This programme is about to start” plastered across the bottom of his video recording.
That minor quibble aside, it was, as the Ninth Doctor would probably say, “fantastic!”
A couple of wonky episodes aside, the BBC’s revival of Doctor Who has been nothing short of a triumph. I can’t really comment on how it compares to the original, but as a programme in its own right, it has been a real breath of fresh air in an era of cynical, vacuous programming.
It's also proved that science fiction in the UK can still reach beyond the stereotypical “nerd” audience and become a genuine mainstream success on primetime Saturday night telly, and, perhaps even more remarkably, a talking point in the tabloids (until Big Brother started again anyway… sigh).
While waiting for the special edition DVD box set later this year, I’m tempted to order myself a copy of Earthshock off Amazon.