Doctor Who (BBC1) Strictly Dance Fever (BBC1) The Queen's Castle (BBC1) Fingersmith (BBC1)

Was it entirely necessary for the BBC to follow a half-hour preview of the return of Doctor Who on Saturday evening with a trailer for the same programme?

It did have the advantage of delaying, if only temporarily, Strictly Dance Fever, the talent show that wastes the talent of Graham Norton just as Strictly Come Dancing relegates seasoned entertainer Bruce Forsyth to the role of reading the autocue. With its humiliating public auditions, sour-faced judges and telephone vote, only the threat of legal action stops the BBC calling this Dance Idol.

If you've been time-travelling in the outer reaches of the universe you might not be aware that Doctor Who is back. This time the Time Lord's main threat comes not from Daleks, Cybermen or even Ant and Dec on the other side, but from publicity overkill.

The Doctor faced the impossible task of living up to all the hype. He still did pretty well, thanks to writer Russell T Davies's script recycling all the things fans know and love but with a modern sensibility. Some of the effects were still ropey and I wish episodes weren't self-contained because the weekly cliffhanger was part of the Doctor Who tradition. But this Doctor shows a lot of promise.

Christopher Eccleston, with leather jacket and Northern accent, has a slightly crazed look as though he can't quite believe he's doing this instead of his usual intense, provocative drama series. I reckon an alien force is mesmerising serious actors into appearing in popular TV series. How else do you explain Eccleston's Time Lord and, coming soon, Ian McKellen in Coronation Street?

Billie Piper makes a plucky companion, asking questions that young viewers want answered, including "What's a police call box?". It wasn't even safe hiding behind the sofa, as the severed arm of a dummy was waiting there to throttle you.

"Could have been worse - look at the ears," said the Doctor, examining his regenerated look in the mirror. Exactly my opinion. He's made a good start. Now the BBC should leave him to get on with his work and stop promoting him every five minutes.

The BBC's new Sunday night costume drama Fingersmith got lost amid all the Who-ha. The selling point of the series is that it's based on another book by Sarah Waters, whose Tipping The Velvet was heavy on girl-on-girl action. Viewers of Fingersmith - a Victorian word for thieving - had to wait nearly an hour before Sue and Maud began rummaging around in each other's nightwear.

The story is Dickens with sex. Petty thief Sue is recruited by roguish Richard Rivers to help him marry sheltered Maud and then have her committed to the madhouse, leaving him to enjoy her inheritance.

If only inexperienced Maud hadn't asked what would happen on her wedding night. "Imagine I'm Mr Rivers," said Sue. You can imagine the rest.

How different to life at Windsor Castle, subject of the quaintly old-fashioned documentary series The Queen's Castle. This shows how the other half - those with a 1,500 room country home - live. "It goes on and on and on. Knees hurt, feet hurt, it's all part of the job," someone said. No, it wasn't the Queen complaining about royal duties but a sentry on the hardship of guard duty.

Published: ??/??/2004