I found episode 2 a bit hit and miss...
I'd be a bit more hopeful about the next one if we hadn't seen the Daleks so much in RTD's Who episodes.
I watched a few older episodes over easter, and despite their rather poor special effects and costumes, the stories and dialogue were superior in some respects to these modern ones.

I'm a Dalek fan but I agree they have been a bit overused. Once per season (twice if you count a two-parter) is sufficient. The problem is that Davies turned them into this unstoppable force that only a miracle can defeat... but fortunately the Doctor seems to have a miracle in his pocket ready to be deployed at just the right moment. That basically takes away any significance or gravity they have as an enemy and requires multiple episodes per season to explain how they're back after seemingly being totally defeated forever... for the umpteenth time. In short: bad writing.

Ok, so I just watched the 2nd episode again and for some reason it was better the second time around. I loved the setting and still wish it could have been given a bit more time, the mystery was over far to quickly for me. It was very well put together and the dialog was very tight almost every word had meaning even when it appeared to be just a throwaway line. I suppose Stephen Moffat can't be blamed for the format this relaunched Dr Who is stuck with. All in all it was a very good old style story but all wrapped up in one 45 minute episode instead of spread over a few 30 minutes episodes. It's a shame put it can't be helped.
Also I'm glad I watched it again because I missed the bloody crack, I think I was so distracted thinking that it looked very much like the discworld to notice the big fucking crack down the side of the ship.
Something tells me we'll be seeing a lot more cracks before the end of the season.

I have a feeling that the recurring theme for the season isn't all that it's....cracked up to be.

Torrenting new episode that promises Daleks. Yay.

Dalek Power Rangers. Can't wait to see their Zord.

That's precisely what the episode made me think. I thought it was pretty meh, although I'm not really a Dalek fan..

Best Doctors :
Tom "Mad Eyes" Baker;
Peter "Tristan" Davison;
Jon "Worzel Gummidge" Pertwee.
Abominations :
Sylvester McCoy;
Paul McGann.
I'm really tempted to throw Colin Baker into "Abominations", but I guess he was more bland than outright horrible.
Ecclestone did a good enough job to bring the show back after so many years and the crap of McGann's American revival attempt.
Might have been nicer for him to do another series, but at least he didn't bomb.
Tennant....well, IMO, this is where the show started getting far too much American influence - glitz, no substance... Not really his fault, BBC really want the American market to buy the show for funding and other projects. Quite a lot of unwatchable episodes crept in, especially towards the end of his run. Swapped out assistants far too often for my tastes too.
Smith ... well, early days yet. Time will tell.
Is it me, or does his face look "unfinished"? O_o
Not really hooked on his assistant either. I've got broomsticks with more meat on them than she has.

I half expected the new Daleks to say
"Merch-En-Dise"
rather than their traditional phrase.
really, no other reason to change them than that.

Good one! I wouldn't have gotten that till much later. I love a story arc--so far this one has not amounted to much though (on the other hand, only three episodes).

And thank god for that! She's the hottest assistant the doctor ever had!
I find it funny that in this last episode the doctor assumed that the representative feeling for the human race was pain when trying to "convert" the android instead of love. Somewhat different from what I would of expected from the doctors of old.
As for the coloured Daleks, well, they've been colourful before, but only those in the high council from what I remember. Either way, don't really care there too much.
It's also important to note that this episode wasn't written by Moffat. The nice part is that we're going to have a two parter for the next two weeks with The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone.

I didn't know who doctor who was. All I knew about the series was that there was a police box in fallout and that this somehow was a reference to the show. I just watched the first new episode.
...
It's.. so.. AWESOME. Personally I *love* Matt Smith's performance, but of course I have nothing to compare it to.
So, since I already feel my soul spiraling down the black hole, which of the seasons should I watch first? A rough ranking in awesomeness? Is there a reason to watch them chronologically? GIVE ME MORE DOCTOR WHO NOW.

Start with the new incarnation (the new Doctor Who series from 2005) then you can go back and see if you can watch the series from the beginning.
The reason for which I say watch it from the new series is that you get a feeling and some backstory on the Daleks and other enemies that will make a reappearance in this series without having to hunt for old episodes. In my opinion they managed to bring all the necessary info from the old series into the new one so as to be up to date.
It would also take long to watch everything from the start and also hard to find all the episodes from the old series. Remember, this is a show that started in 1964 and we're not at the 11th doctor.

<nods> thanks for the advice. And yeah, seems I'll be entertained for quite a while :D
How are the spin-offs?

I for one didn't enjoy them that much but others seem to have. I'd say that it's a "look and judge by yourself" situation.