PLOTLINE (Continues from the previous week's episode)

If the threat of invasion from another country was not enough, aliens arrive during the London Blitz of World War II.

Can Britain cope? Will be fall to Nazi Germany or the visitors from another planet?

Who is the mysterious Captain Jack? Is this all too much for the Doctor to sort out?

EPISODE TEN REVIEW Spoilers ahead

After last week's absorbing and spleen-trembling (thank you, Richard Wilson) episode, which was as near perfect as perfect could ever be, could this concluding live up to expectation?

More so.

Unfortunately, the eyeofhorus.org.uk hieroglyphic rating system only goes from 1 to 5. THE DOCTOR DANCES is at least a six, if not a six-and-a-half.

Unlike the previous two-parter, Steven Moffat's crafted story has a concentrated progression of plot, with every word having layered meaning, a cast that honed in their characters and a production excellence unrivalled by any television that I have seen this year (perhaps, only the period drama, NORTH AND SOUTH matched it).

You can probably tell that I loved both episodes. It seemed like a true DOCTOR WHO four-parter, with even more pearls of wit and expertise broadcast throughout.

DOCTOR WHO: Go.to.your.room!
The patients turn away and return to their beds.
DOCTOR WHO (relieved): I'm really glad that worked. Those would have been terrible last words.

And later.

DOCTOR WHO: It's got the power of a god, and I just sent it to its room.

And even later.

DOCTOR WHO (jubilant): Everyone lives, Rose, just this once. Everyone lives.

After such a stunning script, how on earth could Christopher Eccleston leave the role? Could any acting role be as diverse, as moral, and as enchanting as that of the Doctor (or should that be Doctor Who? I not sure what I should call the character now). I believe that Moffat's scripts were Eccleston's favourite, and it easy to know why.

It was the key episode for Florence Hoath's Nancy. The twists and revelation surrounding this Blitz-time Florence Nightingale became eminently watchable, and had the viewer siding with her as she 'turns the (well laden) table' on (dirty dancing') Mr Lloyd. Not surprisingly, Nancy becomes the 'nexus-point' (the focus) for the 'empty child' (she reveals that it is her brother, Jamie). A key scene being the reuniting of Nancy and her 'wards' in the backyard Anderson Shelter. Listen and read between the lines for 'the' revelation.

It is an intriguing episode for the Doctor and Rose Tyler, pushing their friendship (I am still not comfortable about using the phrase 'relationship') into a new realm. Is there a sexual chemistry there, or is Rose just 'messing' with the Doctor's head, in that cheeky teenage way? She admires and loves being with the Time Lord (the last of the Time Lords is another matter I won't get into), but she's not in love with him. A very paternal set-up, in the way that Pertwee and Manning developed throughout the 1970s. It's the first strong male role model that she has had in her life, following the death of her Father.

Her conversations about sexuality and sex (read: the euphemism of 'dancing') were clearly embarrassing ("I'm trying to resonate Concrete!") for the Doctor but she ambushed him into admitting that he, having lived for 900 years, "must have danced" at sometime or other. This encouragement of coming out of the temporally inverted 'closet' (that sex, whilst may not be an everyday occurrence, is not a taboo subject), the Doctor even plays with her mind too (suggesting that he might even like to 'dance' with Captain Jack Harkness).

Fantastic. Subtle and slight, without the brashness of camp banter written by Russell T Davies in previous episodes.

There's little more I can add, without gushing heaped praise and superlatives (I did that in the review of THE EMPTY CHILD ) that would even make Cassandra
(THE END OF THE WORLD ) blush.

Buy, rent or steal (no, don't do that.) the DVD of THE DOCTOR DANCES . Close the curtains, bottle of new world wine, bag of Tortilla Chips, and enjoy.

DOCTOR WHO FOLKLORE The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver has the ability to repair cut barbed wire on Setting 2428-D.

DOCTOR WHO FOLKLORE Is the Doctor Father Christmas? He purports to have given Rose Tyler a red bicycle when she was 12 (in 1999).

DOCTOR WHO FOLKLORE The Doctor has visited the 51st century weapons factories of Villengard. But did he cause the destruction of the factories?

DOCTOR WHO FOLKLORE Captain Jack Harkness reveals that he was a Time Agent but now works against the Time Agency since they wiped his mind of two years worth of memories. Time Agents have been previously mentioned in DOCTOR WHO (CLASSIC SERIES) in the Robert Holmes story, THE TALONS OF WENG-CHIANG (Episode 2, scene 8).

CONTINUTY We're still checking but this episode seems flawless!