The thing about the new WHO, and the reason I know it's good, is that I've watched it with other people, non-long-time WHO nuts, and they love it too. So I'm not just kidding myself or riding along on a crest of hype.
This week, more stupid flatulence gags, balanced with a deep respect for the traditions of the show, more great acting and writing (even if I'm unconvinced about Russ's ability to write action, the guy still writes cracking dialogue). And I'm totally convinced now by Billie Piper. She is Rose, she inhabits her completely. Even when I sometimes find myself thinking of SHALLOW GRAVE, or THE SECOND COMING, when I'm watching Eccleston (or specifically this week, his turn as a deranged military man in Danny Boyle's 28 DAYS LATER), I can now watch Piper and not think of her dire pop career, or her past as tabloid fodder. More worryingly, I'm starting to find her simian features quite attractive.