Following on from the diabolical "Love and Monsters", "Fear Her" is something of a relief, as at least it doesn't repeatedly insult the audience's intelligence. Well, it does on three occasions, but at least these are spaced out a bit and mixed in with some good bits.

Matthew Graham pens an imaginative storyline, with a Sapphire and Steel-esque storyline given a respectable sci-fi basis so that it is able to work in Doctor Who. The basic idea of a child able to trap people in drawings is both superb and chilling, whiles the scientific premise, that an alien possesses her and these people are transported away, is excellent.

The early atmosphere on the street is very effective due to the careful direction of Euros Lyn, and very reminiscent of "Survival". It plays on contemporary fears of child abduction - though thankfully Graham is more subtle than Russell T. Davies would have been given the same storyline, this is as something quite different early on, and the story avoids any crass parallels to real-life happenings. The show also manages some impressive visuals, such as the creature in the wardrobe, or the marvellous attacking scribble.

The Doctor and Rose work well as a detective pairing, and Tennant is suitably subtle. The scene were he gives a glib response to the father of one missing child and then stops himself, admitting he's being needlessly facetious, is a joy, for once allowing The Doctor to drop the unpleasant super-ego from his persona and treat people like people again. However, both are utterly upstaged by Abisola Agbaje as the chilling Chloe, a superb performance by such a young actress, really convincing us there is someone else in there. The scenes where the alien details Chloe's loneliness and how it loves her are genuinely touching.

Sadly, a few poor moments rather overpower the script. The prime offender is Rose's crass leap of logic, when on the back of absolutely nothing, she guesses Chloe has something to do with the disappearing children having barely set eyes on the young girl, and The Doctor agrees, allowing the protagonists to go and question her. It's pretty clear Graham had point A and point B in his head, and just tried to make the move between as quickly as possible, despite the sheer implausibility of it all. The other particularly illogical moment comes from the revived series' favourite plot device, BBC News 24. Huw Edwards' reaction when fifty thousand people disappear from Wembley Stadium (another implausible plot point - like the thing will be ready by 2012…) isn't one of utter panic. Instead, he calmly carries on with his commentary, concluding that the Olympic torch ceremony (which hasn't been stopped just because everyone else involved in the ceremony has disappeared) is now the only thing that can sort this all out. These moments, together with an unpleasant return to The Doctor's red carpet smug-gittery glanced in "Aliens of London" as he lights the flame himself (a sequence that stands out for its' cheapness) serve to derail much of the good work going on here.

It's a shame, really, as while "Fear Her" doesn't quite reach any level of greatness, it's very nearly an effective minor episode. Sadly, three poor moments are enough to overwhelm the fine ideas at work.

Review written: 21/07/2006