The Doctor and Donna accidentally land in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. And their timing couldn't have been worse. It's the day before a huge volcano is due to erupt and bury the city killing everybody there.

The Doctor just wants to leave, but Donna thinks he should try and save the city. And that's when things take an even more mysterious turn.

People living in Pompeii are talking about a prophecy involving a blue box, and some even seem to know exactly who The Doctor and Donna are.

This is an episode that's everything an episode of Doctor Who should be.

Not only is there a baffling mystery to be solved, but there's amazing tension because a huge argument is brewing between The Doctor and Donna about whether they should leave or not. Each of them is convinced they're doing the right thing.

That alone would make this a standout episode, but there are also some of the best special effects yet seen on the show.

As well as a few more tantalising hints about what might be coming later in the series.

All in all, one of the very best episodes the show has produced.

Five out of five.

Forgive me if I seem dense, but I'm new to this universe/fandom.

On Friday, the Sci-Fi Channel here in the US is going to start showing something called "The Sara Jane Chronicles" which they describe as being "from the producers of 'Dr, Who'".

What is this series and is it worthwhile to watch it?

I really enjoyed it too. Watching DW in the '70s, Sarah Jane is my companion, alongside Tom Baker. I think it's unbeliable that she's just turned 60!

SLW - I know you'll hate this but Donna tells the Doctor she loves him!!

Oooooh dear. The Ood are back, and they're not happy.

Which is odd, because they're famous throughout the galaxy as peaceful, helpful servants who are eager to serve.

But when the Doctor and Donna arrive on the Ood's home planet, they discover a few are fighting back. And spurred on by Donna, The Doctor is determined to find out why the Ood are the way they are.

This episode is both beautiful and horrifying. And in the same way that last year's Gridlock was about faith and believing in something, this story is about choices. And what's right and what's wrong.

It's filled with creepy moments, and is definitely the most chilling episode so far this series. And, again, the special effects are some of the best we've seen so far.

The only slight criticism is a big action sequence involving The Doctor inside a giant warehouse, which feels as if it was stuck there, to just to have a big action sequence. Because the real action in the story is all emotional, as we see how the Doctor and Donna react to the events around them.

Not only that, just as important is the way that we see the Ood, which gradually changes throughout the episode. By the end they seem a million miles from the creatures we first met two years ago in The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit.

The very best episodes of Doctor Who are the ones which not only entertain you, but which also leave you thinking about them after they've finished. And this is definitely one of those.

Four and a half out of five.

Donna: She just may be the most "human" of the doctor's companions. She is still making me laugh. I get the feeling watching her see all these wonders and horrors around her that she is the first one to really see the things and places she is going. Rose and Martha were too busy looking at the Doctor to see the wonders around them.

Scriptwriter Steven Moffat was today named lead writer and executive producer on hit BBC1 drama Doctor Who.

Moffat, who has written a number of episodes of the show - including the acclaimed Blink episode which won him the writer prize at this year's Bafta Craft Awards - will replace Russell T Davies.

Davies, the key creative figure behind the Doctor Who revival in 2005, stands down next year.

The appointment makes Moffat Doctor Who's showrunner - the key creative force behind the programme - on the fifth series, which will be broadcast on BBC1 in 2010.

As well as Blink, his previous work on Doctor Who includes The Girl in the Fireplace for series two which earned him his second Hugo Award. His first was for the series one two-parter The Empty Child.

Davies said: "It's been a delight and an honour working with Steven, and I can't wait to see where his extraordinary imagination takes the Doctor. Best of all, I get to be a viewer again, watching on a Saturday night!"

For the current series, Moffat has written Silence in the Library, a two-parter starring Alex Kingston that transmits later this month on BBC1.

Moffat said: "My entire career has been a secret plan to get this job. I applied before but I got knocked back because the BBC wanted someone else. Also I was seven. Anyway, I'm glad the BBC has finally seen the light, and it's a huge honour to be following Russell into the best - and the toughest - job in television."

Davies and Julie Gardner, the BBC Wales head of drama, have worked on the fourth series of Doctor Who and are working on four specials for broadcast in 2009.

In 2009 BBC Wales, which makes Doctor Who, will also have a new head of drama when producer Piers Wenger takes over from Gardner.

The BBC fiction controller, Jane Tranter, said: "The Tardis couldn't be in safer hands. Steven's talents on both Doctor Who and beyond are well known. He is a writer of glittering brilliance, comedy and depth, with an extraordinary imagination and a unique voice. Steven has a wonderful mix of being a committed Doctor Who fan and a true artist, and his plans for the next series are totally thrilling."

Moffat's career began with the ITV children's drama Press Gang in 1989 and he also wrote the sitcom Coupling for BBC2 that ran for four series from 2000. Moffat also wrote the six-part BBC1 series Jekyll starring James Nesbitt and Michelle Ryan that screened last year.

Moffatt will continue as one of the directors on the board of Hartswood Films which produced Coupling and Jekyll, and for which he is also developing a new comedy Adam & Eve.

The Doctor and Donna land in the biggest library in the universe - so large it fills an entire planet. It's also a place where something terrible happened in the past, and it's now completely deserted. That is until a team of explorers arrive. And soon they're all in danger, because there's something lurking in the shadows.

This is easily the best episode so far this series.

It does the same thing as many Doctor Who stories, by taking something very ordinary, and making it terrifying.

Last year, this was done fabulously well with the scary statues in Blink. And this comes from the same writer, Steve Moffat, who's also soon to take over as the Head Writer of the show. So fans should be happy that the programme's in safe hands.

In many ways, this is even better than Blink, because the story has more layers to it. There's not only the threat in the shadows, but there's also the Doctor's mysterious connection to one of the explorers. As well as a storyline about an ordinary girl who somehow is dreaming about events happening in the Library.

There are some great performances too. Eve Newton is superb as the Girl, as is Alex Kingston as Professor River Song. And Talulah Riley is fantastic as the not too bright Miss Evangelista - she'd make a wonderful and very different companion to the Doctor.

But the real star of this episode is the writing. Steven Moffat has cleverly put together an episode that fits together like a jigsaw, lots of things don't yet make sense, but we know they will when we can finally see the whole picture. He knows how to keep the pacing just right too. It starts off creepy and intriguing. By the end it had me huddled on my sofa with my hands over my mouth in terror. But there's some humour too, just the right amount to release the tension that builds up slowly in waves throughout.

It's a two-part story, so lots of things are left unexplained by the end.

So the huge challenge is to make the second part, Forest of the Dead, as good as the first. Because Silence in the Library is just about as good as Doctor Who gets.

Five out of five

Are you still about, SLW? You've not posted in a while.

RTD is a big Dalek fan