Presumably, Janine had told Mary about the security measures protecting Magnusson's office, which allowed her to plan her break-in.

Yea, I like that he wasn't a manic, menacing villain like Moriarty, but just had this creepy disregard for personal space. Being able to dip your fingers in someone else's drinking water is in its own way a chilling demonstration of power.

The revelation that the apparent dummy of Sherlock was not in fact a dummy at all reminds me faintly of 'The Mazarin Stone'.

Aaaaw, but I want it now!

You too, snitchy.

I suspect that what classic Who fans take issue with is the Doctor being portrayed as a conventional romantic, dashing hero, when part of the character's original appeal was probably how atypical a leading man he was, including the way he didn't flirt and get the girl. I don't mind the Doctor being acknowledged as…

I, too, thought that "probably" was qualifying the description "woman" rather than "beautiful", but perhaps it was intended as a joke about the Doctor's ignorance of human sexuality.

My experience of classic Who is limited, but I have seen 'The Hand of Fear', Sarah Jane's last serial, and it's astonishing how perfunctory her departure is. As Alasdair says, most of the story has nothing to do with it, and then the scene where she leaves the TARDIS is mostly played as stilted comedy. In the next…

Alasdair's speculation about the Doctor's intention to take the slow path back to Rose and Mickey had never occurred to me before. It just seem like too impractical a plan. I prefer to imagine a line explaining that Rose knows how to activate the emergency protocol to get her and Mickey home, but that she wants to…

'Midnight' is good, no question, but a large part of its brilliance is the way it shows the Doctor alone and outnumbered, unable to charm or dominate people, and ultimately relying on someone else to save the day. It's a pointed subversion of the show's usual formula. and so doesn't feel like quintessential Doctor Who…

I agree about THAT MUSIC. Murray Gold gets a lot of criticism, but his score for 'The Girl in the Fireplace' is just perfect.

As far as his characterisation is concerned, it could be that his friendship with John is making Sherlock work harder at interacting civilly with other people, or that his persona of cold genius is only a front to cover up social awkwardness : I don't see it as altogether inconsistent.

Yea. Think about it.

One of the things I like about these reviews is that they help me to understand better the how the show changed over time, which is harder to work out if, like me, you've seen these episodes repeated in a random order. These insights into what makes different eras tick are appreciated.

That was a great twist on the established visual approach his to crime-solving. I liked the partly out-of-focus camera work during that sequence, too.

Ah! I somehow read it as 'Mandela', so some of the humour went astray.

Well, it's possible that you won't care for the Moffat/Smith era, but four of those first five episodes are among the best the show has to offer, so it's worth giving them a chance. Also , if you think that everyone here loves the Moffat era, you should read the comments on the reviews of the recent series.

I think season three gets off to a shaky start, but its second half is very strong, I think. Then again, I even like the finale, which I suspect puts me in the minority around here.

As a 'Doctor Who' fan, I have put up with a great deal of silly conclusions to stories, but 'New Earth' is the one that I for some reason just cannot accept. I mean, these zombies are supposed to have every disease in the universe, and turn people to dust with a touch - and then just splashing what is clearly intended…

'Tooth and Claw' has a special place in my heart because , while it wasn't quite the first episode of 'Doctor Who' that I watched (I'd seen 'Rose' the previous year, and had enjoyed it, without feeling compelled to follow the series), it was the episode that made me a fan. Bored one Saturday evening, I decided to see…