It's a jaunty day when your grandmother rings you up after an episode of "Doctor Who" and says how good it was. But we live in funny times.

I can't help but feel there is something missing in Who this year. It's possibly nothing to do with the series itself (though four out of six episodes before this one being set in a historical period I'm not keen on might shed some light), rather that we've got so USED to it. There's no longer any novelty or newness. Thus, I'm getting unreasonable tired of CGI monsters, especially the beast unveiled in "The Lazarus Experiment" (smell the toy!). The trouble, I'm afraid, with CGI monsters, is that they somehow lack realness - they are like cartoons in a way, without texture or presence. I long for a Yeti or an Ice Warrior the Doctor can reach out and touch.

But let's be fair - this was a great "thrill" episode, one for the bums on the edges of seats, rather than for the brain or the heart. It contained everything you'd expect a 'scare the kiddos'-fest to contain - a great rampaging monster (I wish I was eight), a superbly played and enigmatic villain, and a big chase in a Church. This is the sort of story I would probably write - a mad scientist, a DNA changing machine and nothing especially clever going on. Structurally, it was a bit duff, appearing to finish half an hour in then get going again for a second ending, and Thelma Barlow put on a great performance until she was pointlessly killed just as she got going. But what does structure matter to kids? This was Doctor Who for a modern generation of tots, and that'll do nicely thanks.

This years arc, the Saxon thing, is slightly more complex than last seasons "bung a mention of Torchood into every episode" (why, fictionally, does no-one mention them anymore?) and thus is a little more intriguing, and a little less standalone. One could be forgiven for thinking that the 'mysterious man' that kept whispering to Martha's Mum was Mr Saxon. But apparently he wasn't, despite Martha's Mum relaying a message from him at the end. It's all a little bit vague, at the moment at least.

That's all I really have to say about "The Lazarus Experiment" - it was inevitable that one story in the history of Doctor Who would feature Mark Gatiss, so it might as well be this one. Elsewhere, Martha is still feeling a little sidelined, we're still awaiting the first True Classic of the year and things are still threatening to hot up. Soon, perhaps, but not quite yet.