ONE episode in and already southern-based critics are being sniffy about the fact that the new Doctor Who has an accent emanating from that 'alien' territory north of Watford.

All I can say is that the Manc in the leather jacket might prove to be the best Doctor of them all eventually - even if he does only stay for one series!

Christopher Eccleston may have big, flappy ears and a nose as long as the Ship Canal, but he has charisma by the bucketload. In Saturday's launch episode on BBC1 he brought a new vitality to the role that was all but destroyed by the incarnation as performed by Sylvester McCoy.

Now we have an actor with the range to make this iconic character truly come to life. Eccleston can do intense, enigmatic, sinister and authoritative - but he also has the comic timing to do justice to the tension-relieving one-liners in Russell T. Davies' fast-moving script.

As someone who finds dolls that have moving eyes and can talk unsettling, the sight of shop dummies coming to life and running amok in a mall in the first episode was enough to spook me. But this is, at heart, a children's programme and fantasy-loving kids everywhere must have loved the man-eating wheelie bin!

Billie Piper's Rose has the makings of a feisty young assistant to compare with the best of her forerunners, but she should really have noticed that her boyfriend had turned into a plastic carbon copy after he'd been 'eaten' by the wheelie bin - but then he was a teenage boy so maybe it wasn't so obvious.

As the former Mrs Evans decided to opt for the adventure of a lifetime with the dashing Doctor, however, surely the new Chris in her life should have ended the first episode with that classic line "Don't forget your toothbrush!"

EASTER TV EGG-STRAS:

TALKING of reincarnations, it was no surprise that the Elvis impersonator won the 'Stars In Their Eyes Live Final' (ITV1, Saturday). But, however hard she tries, Cat Deeley will never 'be' Matthew. Come back, Kelly, this is your show.

Over at 'The Games' (Channel 4, all week), Geordie irritant Jayne Middlemiss has been doing her best to stop me from watching this crazy but compulsive competition with her abysmal attempts at interviewing the contestants, who all appear to be trying to avoid her as she swoops in with the microphone and a couple of totally pointless questions.

The girls' group includes Kirsty 'Little Ms Perfect' Gallagher (I know, envy is a terrible thing) and a minor royal called Princess Tamara (Celebrity? You have to have heard of someone at least once for them to be that surely!).

The 'one and only' Chesney Hawkes has thrown his nine stone frame into the fray in the men's contest, but he never stood a chance. On the evidence of the first few days, Brookie's Tinhead (Philip Olivier) seemed determined to prove that his soap 'wife' Jennifer Ellison isn't the only Scouser who can win a reality show.

SOAP POSER:

AFTER all its good work in boosting its ratings, 'Emmerdale' is on the verge of blowing it. Viv and Paddy? No-o-o-o!!!