 Dave Golder of science @-@ fiction magazine SFX gave the episode four stars out of five . He noted that after two experimental and " edgy " scripts , " The Stolen Earth " used Davies ' regular style of " crowd pleasing script pyrotechnics " . He positively reviewed the special effects in the episode , Bleach 's acting , the pace of the episode , and the cliffhanger , but criticised the Shadow Proclamation for being " a severe disappointment after all the foreshadowing " , and some character moments for being " dropped into the action like little ' emotion bombs ' " , such as Jack and Sarah 's " melodramatic response " to the Dalek transmission . He closed his review by saying " there 's no denying [ the episode is ] all huge fun , like a tipsy romp on a bouncy castle with all the people you ’ ve ever loved . " 
