DOCTOR WHO returned to our screens on Saturday night with its first full series in three years and a new doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, playing the Time Lord.
Despite the huge expectations, the first episode of the double bill on BBC One was only watched by 2.65million, with 3.19million tuning in for the second.
But does the revamped Doctor Who and its new star deserve our attention?
Here, TV Editor Rod McPhee gives his verdict . . .
IF Doctor Who was launched for the first time today, without the weight of its legacy, would it receive a rapturous welcome as a mould-breaking sci-fi epic?
On the basis of the first new episodes featuring Ncuti Gatwa, the answer might just be “yes.”
With a backdrop of amazing sets dripping with Disney’s dollars, he delivered a natural, hugely energetic performance with tinges of the comic timing he honed in Netflix’s Sex Education.
The ultimate sign of success was that, within minutes, you almost forgot The Doctor had been played by anyone else.
And given the disastrous years under Jodie Whittaker, that was probably for the best.
Thankfully Russell T Davies has binned all the eye-rolling wokery in favour of good old story-telling.
The first episode, Space Babies, featured the obligatory monster who, it turned out, was made of the mucus from a gaggle of babies in a space station trapped in orbit.
Brilliantly the babies came with flame-throwing buggies — and the ability to speak, of course.
And when it came time to make their escape they did it by jettisoning the spacecraft using the methane from their nappies.
Yes, that’s right, they were farted to safety.
Which isn’t the most refined viewing, but at least restored the sense that this was a drama aimed at viewers of ALL ages.
But viewers will wonder if Ncuti, and his sidekick Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) can maintain the interest after this brilliant start?
The second episode in the double bill shown on BBC One on Saturday suggests they could.
In The Devil’s Chord they headed back to the Sixties where they came face-to-face with The Beatles and Jinkx Monsoon, who’s a demon trying to steal music from the world.
All of which is unquestionably simple, funny, clever and typically random.
What it isn’t, thank the Lord, is preachy, lecturing or virtue-signalling.
With Ncuti in the Tardis, Doctor Who could go back to when it was still one of the best shows on TV.
Only time will tell.
