He's back, and this time he's not wearing pyjamas. David Tennant has taken full possession of the Tardis keys and he's ready for some serious time-travelling in the second series of Russell T Davies's acclaimed revival of the classic show.
The press screening of the first episode was held in Cardiff this week, and attracted a surprisingly large number of people who usually think they need a visa to travel anywhere west of Ealing Broadway.
Reaction to the first episode, called New Earth, was warm, although Scott Matthewman said it was "good, but not great". I understand what he means, although Davies told me afterwards that he'd started all over again for the second series, and said there would be the mother of all climaxes at the end. Expect major jeopardy.
Tennant is a terrific actor, and he's got a great range. His Doctor is steely when facing down the bad guys; warm and funny when he's relaxing with Rose. Billie Piper, meanwhile, gets to do comedy big time, and she's great at it. As the Sun says today, her body is taken over by Cassandra, the last 100% human from the previous series, and she gets to plant a big smackeroony of a kiss on the Doctor's lips. But it doesn't count, as Rose isn't really Rose at the time, if you follow.
The Times got quite excited about comments by Davies that the next doctor could be a woman. But Davies knows how to get good publicity for his show - and likes to tease suggestible reporters. The man from the Times didn't even know Tennant was Scottish until he started speaking at the post-screening Q&A.
There has been some comment that Davies's Doctor Who has not received as many awards nominations as might have been expected, and we'll have a bit more to say about that in the MediaTalk podcast tomorrow.
