TV BIZ was invited to a sneak preview of the new Doctor Who last night - and we went along with only one question.

Is the new kid on the Doc any good?

Well yes, thank goodness.

About Time, Lord ... first episode

The Time Lord as played by youthful Matt Smith, 27, is still bonkers - but much less so than the version of predecessor David Tennant.

His jokes are less laboured. And Matt's Doctor is definitely more "street" than any of the time travellers of the past.

At one point in the first episode he declares "Who da man?" - proving his slang is up-to-date, even if his clothes are from 100 years ago.

Amazingly, he already feels comfortable in the role - so much so that you get the strange feeling that the new Doctor IS Matt Smith.

The actor attended last night's screening of episode one alongside co-star Karen Gillan, 22, who plays new sidekick Amy Pond.

A crashed Tardis was set up outside the Cardiff venue to get the atmosphere right.

New show boss Steven Moffat ensured the first episode introduced the new star with fireworks.

Matt starts out as the 11th Doctor by pranging a burning Tardis into a suburban back garden - narrowly avoiding impaling himself on Big Ben - sometime in the 1990s.

He then comes face to face with a little girl called Amelia Pond.

She asks: "Who are you?", hoping he's come to fix the crack in her wall.

He replies: "I'm the Doctor. Don't ask stupid questions and do everything I tell you."

But his priority turns out to be filling his face with an assortment of food, none of which the Doc seems to like.

Amelia, we soon learn, turns out to be the infant edition of his soon-to-be new sidekick, Amy.

Fast forward 12 years and the Doc is back at the house with Amy now apparently a copper.

Well, she's not - we learn she is a KISSOGRAM.

But there's no time for flirting.

It turns out that the crack Amelia (now Amy) was worried about was a door to a prison holding a man whose escape leads the scary Atraxi to declare they will incinerate all human life.

Cue a mad dash to save the world... in just 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, trashing the Tardis in Tennant's last episode has meant the blue box has got a makeover.

It is now THREE times larger inside.

All in all it is a strong - if at times baffling - opening story that rattles along at breakneck speed.

It won't let down the fans, or casual viewers looking for something more challenging than another Saturday night gameshow.

Future episodes will see the Doc take on a whole new bunch of terrifying enemies including the Smilers, left.

The episode will be shown on BBC1 at Easter.