Gareth Roberts’ latest attempt to write a decent Doctor Who episode after several disappointments was a genuinely off-beat effort. So was this budget-saver a Midnight or a Fear her?

Caves

Matt Smith – Pulls off another great performance, despite characterisation that seemed a little off.

Corden Bleu – James Corden was fairly understated and sympathetic – a well-judged performance from a frequently-annoying character.

Silent Not Golden – Murray Gold seemed either on holiday or extremely understated. I never noticed any intrusive sub-Harry Potter tripe this week, which was nice.

Day-to-day Doctor – The Doctor struggling to come to terms with everyday living was amusing, if a little overstated

Twins

Diminished Doctor- Subverting the Doctor’s character in an everyday setting was generally well done, but a little overdone and tiresome in places.

The Power of RTD – The plot was secondary, so it seems churlish to complain about it, but fixing the spaceship via the power of love was rather twee. Reeked of bad Tennant-era Who.

Empty Pond – Amy got rather lost in the mix, both insofar as the plot left her alone in the TARDIS, but poor old Pond seemed returned to a generic companion-in-distress cipher.

Overall it was an enjoyable little episode, and it was good to see Gareth Roberts finally locating his mojo, after previous episodes that ranged from underwhelming to bloody awful.

• Caves and Twins? What are you dribbling on about?

Go here: Caves and Twins