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A good, solid episode with lots of action, several portents of the future and the Doctor overreaching himself. After a long wait, it was good to have him back on TV.

The episode begins with the Doctor apparently doing a bit of sightseeing on Mars. He discovers a base (from Earth) and is promptly captured. All is normal until the Doctor discovers he knows about this particular base, its crew and that they all died on the very day he has arrived. (This is just a little too much of a coincidence for mine.)

Their coming death forms the crux of the show. The Doctor believes this event (although it's not clear how he knows) to be one of the fixed moments in time (like Pompeii) and that he must not interfere. As the situation gets out of hand - the waters of Mars infect the crew one by one - he is torn between leaving (as he should) and helping (which he wants to).

In the end he decides he can intervene. As the last Time Lord, the laws of time are his to define. He rescues the last three astronauts and returns them to Earth. He declares himself Time Lord Victorious. The key astronaut, Adelaide Brooke, whose journey to Mars inspires her grand-daughter, who makes the first FTL flight and takes Earthlings to the stars, is appalled. Aware that she should have died on Mars, she commits suicide. In the end the Doctor barely changes history at all.

There are several portents in this episode. An infected astronaut knocks three times. The Doctor kills him before he can knock four times (as foretold in the previous episode). Ood Sigma (from Planet of the Ood) appears briefly when the Doctor realises he has gone too far. The Doctor asks him if this is his death, but Sigma does not reply and vanishes. The Doctor re-enters the TARDIS and the cloister bell starts to ring. Then the Doctor exclaims "No" and takes off.

We know there are only a couple of episodes left for David Tennant and we are clearly building up to his regeneration.

One nice touch: the first base on Mars is called Bowie Base One - delightful - quite possibly a reference to the excellent Life on Mars (another BBC show) - or maybe just another bit of homage to David Bowie.