"Hello Dad..."

But before all that, let's talk about the concluding part to Series 4's cracking Sontaran 2 parter.

Pretty damned obvious cliffhanger solution to open with, as Donna's mum does what the Doctor and Donna fail to do...smash the bloody window! After that though, this story just had it's balls out all the way in a delirious mix of action sequences, some quality CGI, references to both old and new Who and...well, I'll come to that cheeky little foreshadowing in a minute.

Mmmmartha

Glad to see that Helen Raynor is a far better writer than I gave her credit for, opting to have the Doctor realise Evil-Martha was a clone right from the get-go. It was really nice to see Freema get quite a lot to do this week, playing up the now standard 24 role of the insider feeding information to the villains...I kept expecting Colonel Mace to yell; "UNIT has been compromised, initiate a lockdown!"

Tennant was on top form tonight, and his scenes with Colonel Mace reminded me a little of Pertwee and Courtney, echoing that idea that both men admire each other very much even though they don't necessarily agree with their actions. And it was nice to see the world genuinely in peril, with shots of Sydney and New York covered in the same fog. Though to be honest, we could've done without the now traditional news coverage scenes...and since when did Kirsty Wark host News 24?

The reason behind the Sontarans poison gas plot was a pretty neat one, even if the Doctors solution to it was a little rushed, and the eventual sacrifice more than a little bloody obvious. The battle scenes and rising death toll were, again, pretty brutal for Saturday tea-times but you wont hear me complaining. A quick word to how utterly brilliant Christopher Ryan was, his voice, his mannerisms, the brilliant prosthetics job completely made you believe he was General Staal.

Once again, Catherine Tate was on top form, and her scenes with Bernard Cribbins are utterly brilliant and move me to tears every bloody time. The final one with him sending her off to have adventures amongst the stars on his behalf left me with a lump in my throat. Can we have Cribbins get a credit in the title sequence? Speaking of Donna, she had another brief encounter with a certain blonde girl trapped in another universe, as Rose appeared on the TARDIS monitor.

Again, well done to Rusty for keeping schtum on this one. Are we gonna get more Rose appearances before Episode 11? And what exactly are they building to?

Overall, it was typical second part stuff, lots of action, a surprisingly well realised resolution and a surprise cliffhanger at the end, as Martha, Donna and the Doctor were all transported somewhere for a meeting with...The Doctors Daughter. Is that the sound of an internet messageboard in meltdown?

The Geeky:- Finally the new series acknowledges one of my favourite ever characters; The Brigadier! "Sir Alistair is a wonderful man, but unfortunately he's detained in Peru." Not for too long I hope!

Rather hilarious reference to The Empty Child when the Doctor put on his gas mask.

The Valiant from last years season finale made a welcome return.