User reviews

Series 4 kicks off in rather quirky style, a fat fighting conglomerate are using a telephone sales company to push its pills. They seemingly have flawless results until the fat turns into cute little figures. Head of the corporation is a very spiky humourless Miss Foster, played by the tremendous Sarah Lancashire. The Doctor is battling loneliness and seems ready for a new companion.

I know it has a slight CBBC feel to it with regards the Adispose, they are so damn cute, i'd still love to have one.

As likable as Martin Ball is playing Roger Davey, could they not have got a chunkier actor, he's tiny :-)

Love Donna's insults towards Martha, who fancied the Doctor, mad Martha, charity Martha...... Martha suffered from the Rose hangover, that would not be Donna's fate. I love how she bamboozles him.

OK so it's not the best story, and there are some elements that belong to the Mr Tumble show, but the characterisations are superb, Sarah Lancashire is great, Sylvia Noble is fun and Bernard Cribbins is an absolute joy, but I will forever love Partners in Crime for giving us Donna, to this day my all time favourite companion, I long for her return still!! She proved so many people wrong, she had the lot.

That little glimpse of Rose made my heart sink, it changed the mood, what a clever shift in gears, and how pretty does she look!!!!

Flawed but tremendous fun 8/10

Despite serious misgivings concerning the return of Catherine Tate's Donna Noble to the Tardis, I found myself eating humble pie as this episode gained momentum.

"Partners in Crime" brings a whole new dynamism to the series, demonstrating what fans have always known...that "Doctor Who" is capable of changing every few years. From the pleasingly re-energised starting sequence which harks back to the time-tunnel of earlier Doctors to the climax, every scene in this episode was a delight.

Providing welcome comic relief to the series after the doom-and-gloom of the last few tales, this opening to "Series 4" has fantastic chemistry between Tennant and Tate, another appearance from the television legend that is Bernard Cribbins, and a wonderfully comic turn from Sarah Lancashire.

Tennant reminds me a little of Bruce Campbell, with his energetic, enthusiastic and wide-eyed portrayal of the Time Lord. He's clearly extremely comfortable in the role and I dearly hope he decides to stay around for quite some time, no pun intended.

The effects in "Partners in Crime" are largely first class and the latest alien creation, the Andipose, are the cutest beings yet to appear in the long history of the series.

9 out of 10. I haven't had so much fun watching an episode of "Doctor Who" for quite some time. Marvellous family entertainment.

There's a pill that can make you all thin, removes doubles from your chinny chin chin, one or two side effects, with a slight circumflex, as the fat walks away through your skin.

The Doctor and Donna recombine (novel idea), albeit after blindly chasing each other's tail, to investigate the effects of the Adipose Diet which consists of a pill and pendant. It's not long before punters are losing a lifetime on the hips, and several other lard and not so lard laden parts of themselves too, as the kindergarten becomes stuffed with flying Telethubbies - but where are all the bees going?

I loved this episode, I've seen it several times now and it's really an episode to listen too. It's very well written, a comedic plot line that's also touching and insights character development. I love Catherine tate. This probably isn't for you if you don't like her in any capacity. Luckily for me I like her comedy and I think she's a brilliant actress when she's given the right material. David tennant, always good. Sarah Lancashire, excellent. Bernard Cribins, love him. This series started around the time I started watching it as a kid, this has always been a favourite with its persistent naughties (2000's) nostalgia. Tennant and Tate are By far my favourite doctor/companion duo, there first episode together was hilarious and still is ! As are all this seasons episodes. What I enjoy is that they are JUST friends, for once he isn't in love, she isn't in love, they don't do any of that because there friendship grows instead. I wish they did more. Loved it. 10/10.

Ahh! The return of Donna Noble. I love this character and the comedy she brought to the show! So, obviously I'm excited when I hear she's returned to who! Sadly, this episode wasn't a great restart for Miss Tate. The plot seemed to be just thrown in there. An idea that the writers said about: "wouldn't it be funny if..." But eventually they had to use it. So, though the plot was just plain silly, the acting was top notch. Though the villain didn't really have a huge role, her acting made her slightly villain like. At least compared to chunks of baby fat! But Tate and Tennat really showed the comedy in this episode. In their first encounter in PIC they really had me rolling! So, while this episodes plot is quite sickening, watch just for a laugh! Because Tennant and Tate are quite the duo!

Doctor who has always been a part of my life. And after a long wait which seems like an eternity Doctor who is back on the BBC. At the start of a new doctor who season you always worry that it might be a disappointment but as usual the Doctir who crew managed to start on a bang and as "that" theme tune comes on the excitement gets bigger.

The openers of the series are usually poor in Doctor who because they tend to focus more on the character development than the storyline of the monsters. But enough said, this was the best opener since Rose and I am pleased the 4th series has gotten off to a good start.

There were many goods in Partners in crime. For me the the best of those goods was Catherine Tate and David Tennant. I found Donna a total pain in the runaway bride but she was absolutely fine in this opener. Her interaction with Tennant was good to watch and her comic timing definitely boosted some of the duller scenes in the episode.

The comedy can sometimes be to childish on Doctor who, but there were some great moments of comedy in this episode, my favourite when Gramps misses the spaceship behind him and the doctor and Donnas near-misses.

The submission of Rose in the series was known long ago since the crew find it hard keeping secrets but no one knew she would be in the first episode!

Now for the bad. As usual the doctor overuses his sonic screwdriver any plot dead-ends and tight spots. The story worked well, but I heyt the sillier plots in Doctor who, I know it needs to appeal to 7 year olds as well as 70 year olds, but I think plots about fat based aliens growing out of peoples bodies would be best suited on one of the more childish Doctor who spin-offs. And whenever Russel T Davies writes a story himself there is always a basic template that he refuses to budge from, which makes the scene with the adipose and miss foster feel too much like the evil company.

Overall this was an episode which has created a great lot of story lines for more episodes and I give it a 7/10.

This episode is a lot of fun.

This is a bit like 'New Earth' or 'Partner's in Crime' in the sense that the plot is a little thinner than usual as it's being used as a way to reintroduce David Tennant's wonderful version of The Doctor, and establishing Catherine Tate's Donna as an official companion.

I enjoy this episode whenever I see it.

Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) who was introduced in an earlier Christmas Special The Runaway Bride becomes the Doctor's new regular companion in this story and what a fantastic companion she turned out to be. One of the best in my opinion.

We also get the great Bernard Cribbins as Donna's grandad, Wilf. He had previously appeared in a different Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned, preceding this series and in this story we learn he is Donna's grandfather.

Here, Donna is investigating Adipose Industries who claim to have invented miracle diet pills and has been hoping to meet up with the Doctor again to join him on his travels. The Doctor also arrives to investigate the same thing and the two initially keep missing each other before they finally meet up again. All of this is done to hugely enjoyable comic effect.

The witty humour, amusing dialogue and comedy interplay between the wonderful Tennant and Tate is joyous. The chemistry is there right from the start and would go on to be a magical partnership, helped by the fact Donna is so clearly not attracted to the Doctor. They are friends with edge and they would go on to not only continue to be very funny together but also to be a fabulous pairing for many dramatic, thoughtful scenes too.

This story works perfectly as comedy. The alien Adipose when they appear are only really effective as comedy or light family fun, they do not pose a menacing threat as they are simply very cute little blobs but their creation does cause deaths and so there is a bit of edge to the story.

It is all fun and nothing about it is bad. It is hard for me to rate this as a really great episode when it has such a tongue in cheek presentation of the aliens which is kind of cheesy but it is a good, solid comedic filler that works in its aims of family entertainment and establishing the new companion.

(Incidentally, I feel this episode was very influential on the 11th Doctor story The Bells of Saint John.)

Adding some real value on top of the fun and comedy this also has a great performance from the wonderful Sarah Lancashire as Foster and some beautiful emotional scenes with Donna and Wilf plus an intriguing appearance of Rose near the end that hints towards the series arc. This follows the solid Christmas secial and begins my favourite series of the modern era of Who very well.

My rating - 8/10.

Season four starts in earnest with the return of Donna Noble, in an episode that, for me, was a bit comedy heavy, with some terrible CGI and secretive return of another former companion.

Unable to return to civilian life following her adventure with The Doctor (David Tennant), Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) is investigating mysterious anomalies, hoping that it will provide a route back to her friend. She begins investigating Adipose Industries, a company offering weight loss pills but with a much more sinister motive. Fortunately for her, The Doctor is also interested in the inner workings of the company and it's not long before they return to a familiar routine.

Though I'm not always wild about the way that Catherine Tate plays her, I do like the dynamic of Donna with this Doctor. It shouldn't always be an unrequited love affair and having done that twice, it was time for a change. Her extended family are welcome additions too with Jacqueline King playing her mother and the great Bernard Cribbins stepping back in to replace an unfortunately ailing Howard Attfield and repurposing the character we'd seen in the Christmas special. This episode also has a small role for Jessica Gunning and casts Sarah Lancashire as the villain, riffing on the slightly dominatrixy super nanny vibe.

Whilst I want my episodes of "Doctor Who" to be funny, I felt like this one crossed the line a little too often and too far for my taste. The "a mate/to mate" line didn't really work, neither did the Wily-E-Coyote moment at the episode's resolution. The CGI on the Adipose wasn't up to scratch, nor in the window washing platform sequence and the bit of business with the twisting of the capsules didn't make much logical sense to the plot. I liked the early seeding of the season plot though, that was something that Davies' era always got right.

It's not awful, but it's a relatively unremarkable start to season four.

Partners in Crime, the opener to the fourth series of Doctor Who, is a fun and colourful adventure, through a highly forgettable one at that. We are reintroduce to Catherine Tate's loveable Donna Noble, and when she and David Tennant's Doctor are reunited, the episode truly shines with their hilarious banter. But the first half, which exists to get the two characters together, is a little sluggish, with the lack of a plot being fairly noticeable.

I actually quite like the alien fat people, the Antiope, I think they're genuinely quite cute and funny, certainly more than the rubbish Pting from the Tsuranga Conundrum. Sarah Lancashire as the villian is really fun, although her character is a little... one-note. But still, she's a really entertaining foil.

Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred, Donna's grandfather, is great and likeable, even though he only appears in 2 or so scenes. It is a fairly funny episode, although it is pretty throw-away. Overall, a fun start to the season, but it just doesn't have much of a plot. 6/10, mabye a little harsh, but it's just not massively memorable.

The Fourth season opens with the reintroducing of one of the most annoying characters in recent Doctor Who memory, (no not the Slitheen, let's hopefully NEVER see them again, knock on wood) Catherine Tate as reprising her role of Donna Noble from 'the Runaway Bride'. She and the Doctor are both separately looking into Adipose industries and their testing of a new weight-loss product that has some strange side effects.

OK, first the good news Tate isn't nearly as grating as she was on the Christmas special she was on, that in itself is cause to celebrate. But that celebration is sort lived when one realizes that the story is lacking at it's core and has nothing to show for it than miniature Staypuft Marshmellow man made of body fat. Way too silly to be taken at all seriously. The only thing going for the episode is a small cameo near the end.

My Grade: C-