Doctor Who made it’s long anticipated return to Saturday evenings today, with its newly-revamped title music (a slightly rocky, and probably somewhat mis-placed version of the previous series) and the return of Catherine Tate as the Doctor’s new companion.

There has been much controversy surrounding this series, with the early scheduling and the announcement that Catherine Tate will be returning as Donna Noble, the Doctor’s new sidekick. Some Whovians have suggested that she’s not up to the job, others have made the point that the Doctor won’t be changing, regardless.

The BBC have announced that they will be broadcasting the hit show at 1845 BST, instead of it’s première (and indeed series-planned) broadcast time of 1820. They have also announced the series will return to its traditional 1900 BST slot mid-series. The chief producer and writer and the man responsible for the Who revival Russell T. Davies has famously accused the BBC of “cocking up” the Who slot:

It’s not a time slot I agree with, but I know that no-one wants to damage the brand. In the past we’ve got higher figures when it went later, but it will shift later on in the run, around episode five or six, which the BBC was going to do anyway.

Back to the series opener, Partners In Crime, the opening twenty minutes was full of comedy and tense ‘will-they-won’t-they-find-each-other’ when Donna and the Doctor are investigating ADIPOSE Industries independently from each other.

Donna discussed with her granddad, played by the wonderful Bernard Cribbins, who has been in Doctor Who on a number of occasions playing different characters, last playing Wilfred Mott in Voyage Of The Damned, why her life has been turned upside down. She told him that she’s waiting for a man. The Doctor.

She tells him to shout for her when he spots a blue box flying through the air.

Later, Donna finally meets the doctor in a comedic, yet heart-warming situation. They are forced to run from Miss Foster, played by Sarah Lancashire, who has convinced one million Londoners to take the ADIPOSE pill, “the 21st century way to lose weight”.

Unfortunately for that million, the pills are somewhat of a Trojan horse; they turn the fat in peoples’ bodies into the children of the Adiposian family.

The Adipose babies are cute, harmless little blobs of fat about 15 centimetres high. Sadly, if they are discovered, the villainous Miss Foster, the Adipose childrens’ nanny, is forced to transform the entire body of the fat person, killing them.

After the Doctor manages to foil the plans of Miss Foster to kill the entire one-million Londoners who have taken the ADIPOSE Industries fat pill and use their bodies to transform them all into little Adiposian children, Miss Foster is forced to admit defeat and be taken up in the big ‘Nursery Ship’ that’s just appeared over the city, along with the Adiposian children.

Unfortunately for her, though, the Adiposian family have realised what they’ve done, seeded humans for their own children, is against the universal law. They dispose of her by dropping her after picking her up.

While my review may not have been the best, this episode was fantastic. Not only did it have action and heart-warming reunions, it had a unique, Catherine Tate-esque comedy air about it.

Plus there was an early shock at the end. We were expecting the return of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler for a brief stint later in the series, but sure enough there she was at the end of this episode, even meeting Donna without realising just how close she was to her Doctor.

It is my opinion that Rose, the first companion in the more recent series, is still the best. While I liked Martha because she was feisty, she’s no-where near as feisty as our Rose. She is, to date, the best part of Doctor Who apart from the Doctor himself. And maybe the Daleks, but that’s for fear’s sake.

Catch Doctor Who: Partners In Crime on BBC iPlayer now.