THE new Doctor Who was not entirely bad. The production values (widescreen format, CGI, new lenses) delivered convincing slick visuals.

The Radio Times has been on a massive offensive supporting the new Doctor, but this development will not save the flagging global franchise.

In the enormity of the known Universe, the Yorkshire Doctor lands in Sheffield with the same dialect as the inhabitants. She talks of "respecting the past", but there is a lack of any interest in the show's heritage.

We are told that it is okay that the Doctor appears as a woman, as she is an alien from Gallifrey; yet she refers to her previous incarnation as "a white-haired Scotsman".

Jokes fall flat as the humour is badly timed, and there is uneven pacing throughout. It is a trip too far from the familiar. Jodie Whittaker is such a talented, likeable actress but she comes across as irritatingly childlike, and so jolly and friendly that it makes subsequent dramatic tension more difficult. She has not nailed the character like Peter Capaldi, David Tennant or Matt Smith. Even BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz, brought in to give gravitas to their media blitz, has gone wonderfully off message by endorsing that opinion.

With her unconvincing tick-box multicultural companions, and underwhelming opposition, it was far too sober for a family show; and having wilfully jettisoned the core audience, looks unlikely to enlist a new one.

John V Lloyd,

Flat 44, The Maltings, Keith Place, Inverkeithing, Fife.