On Thursday 18th March in Cardiff, the BBC screened the virtually finished cut of Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour. We were lucky enough to get a seat, and here’s our spoiler-free reaction to what we saw. A full, proper review will follow once the episode has been screened…

It’s probably best that we get one thing out of the way up front. And it’s this: if you’re looking for a major tonal shift from the Russell T Davies era of Doctor Who, you’re not getting it with The Eleventh Hour.

The episode picks up immediately after the cliffhanger from The End Of Time Part Two, with the Tardis heading into a crash landing. Then you get the same title sequence, just with a slightly different font and a new logo. The sonic screwdriver is still present and correct. And Matt Smith’s Doctor is the same man who was screaming “Geronimo” when we saw him last, and he says it again here.

The tonal similarities are hardly a massive surprise, given that it’s all in line with what Steven Moffat has been saying pretty much since he got the showrunner job. But we felt it worth pointing out nonetheless, in case anyone out there thinks this is a top to bottom overhaul of the series. It’s not, and let’s face it, it hardly needed it.