Girl in the Fireplace
Making a few things clear upfront:
I adore Reinette. I love Ten/Reinette. And this is my second favourite episode, hands-down.
I'm still stunned that any of these positions are considered controversial (and kinda hurt, in the case of the first and third, cos I was so looking forward to discussing this ep, and now I'm really not), but if anyone wants to skip, I promise not to drench you in anti-oil.
The couple of things that do bother me about this ep are in here somewhere, though.
Ah, the historical opening, I love this bit. Though maybe you should take as read that I'll be saying that all episode, and then I don't have to type it out every time.
Pan down from the night sky onto the palace of Versailles, and people screaming. Shadows and whirring from the clockwork men, and Louis comes to get Reinette. "There are creatures - I don't even think they're human, we can't stop them."
But she already knows what's going on, because "The clock is broken."
And he doesn't know what that means, he thinks she's just weirdly obsessing over a broken clock.
"Listen to me. There is a man coming to Versailles. He has watched over me my whole life, he will not desert me tonight." Oh, Reinette. So much faith in him. And this is sort of River-ish, this bit, isn't it? "You've been a soldier too long to believe there are gods watching over us. There is, however, a man."
Louis asks what man, and he's not prepared for the response.
"The only man, save you, I have ever loved." *snuggles Reinette* And he loves you too, never doubt it. Louis looks kinda like Rose would at this development, though. "No, don't look like that, there's no time. You have your duties. I am your mistress. Go to your queen."
And then she goes to the fireplace and calls for the Doctor, leaving all the first-time viewers going "WTF fireplace?"
"Girl in the Fireplace", in which the Doctor finds out what happens to persistent imaginary friends, Rose Tyler is patient, and Mickey Smith learns a few things about perspective
3000 years later - I love these "spread out over aeons" stories Moffat does.
Night sky again, and pan up to the ship.
And then team TARDIS come out, looking around, the Doctor looking somehow apprehensive, but Mickey's delighted. "I got a spaceship on my first go." So did Amy. XP And this is Rose's first, too, isn't it?
Rose notes signs of a battle. "Anyone on board?"
"Nah, nothing here. Well, nothing dangerous. Well, not that dangerous... know what? I'll just have a quick scan. In case there's anything dangerous." This ep is full of favourite Ten moments for me. This is the first of them, I love his attempt to reassure her falling flat cos he can't help correcting himself.
And they're in the Dagmar Cluster, 51st century - Moffat really likes the 51st and 52nd centuries...
And Mickey's enthralled by the view out the window, and Rose is laughing at him, cos she's a seasoned traveller by now. "Mickey Smith, meet the universe. See anything you like?"
"It's so realistic!" It should be, Mickey, it's... real.
Except, okay, it's actually a backdrop in front of a window but it's better than 60s graphics, eh? I remember seeing a bit in The Daleks (I think) where we got a view down a corridor, and the shot was so obviously a photo of the corridor and it took me years to be able to think about it without laughing.
But the Doctor's more interested in the state of the ship. "They've had some cowboys in 'ere." Ooh, nice setup, I didn't even catch it the first time. "There's enough power running through this ship to punch a hole in the universe!" I love it when his voice goes up at the end of the sentence like that. And, funny you should say that, Ten... "But we're not moving." Oh, and look, following on from the Turn of the Earth speech, cos you know Rose and Mickey can't feel that the ship's drifting.
Smell of someone cooking - not Sunday roast, though, guys, try again.
And he immediately goes for the thing that doesn't fit - the fireplace. And the impossible room on the other side.
LIttle Reinette is so cute. XD And so nonplussed by the bloke in her fireplace - oh, OH. They're talking through a fireplace! Wait, let me say that again. Ten's a Harry Potter fan, and THEY'RE TALKING THROUGH A FIREPLACE!!!!! How much has he gotta be lovin' that? XDDD
"August is rubbish. Stay indoors." Yeah. For those who've not gone and looked up the background, in August of that year a volcano erupted in Iceland - volcanic ash covered the whole of Western Europe, would have been really nasty. Remember the eruption earlier this year? Planes couldn't fly, GDL had to stay in Melbourne a bit longer after Supanova cos they couldn't fly him back to Britain? Same sort of situation.
Moffat's research isn't so great, though - Reinette's seven here, but her family didn't start calIing her Reinette till she was nine and her mum went to the fortuneteller who told her she'd capture the heart of a king. (Hence "Reinette", "little queen".) Bet she didn't tell her she''d capture the hearts of a Time Lord as well, that's even better. XP
"What does that mean?" "No idea, made it up. Didn't wanna say 'magic door'." The 'dressing mysterious stuff up in spontaneous technobabble to sound better' thing? Also <3.
And the translation thing, the fact that he hears her speaking French, which I love. Simultaneous TARDIS translation is handy, but it's much easier to understand all the connotations of what people are really saying if you can hear the actual words as well.... That's probably how it's designed, actually, to layer the translation over the raw speech, so that the brain can process both simultaneously - it's not the old girl's fault humans have smaller brains and can only pick up one at a time. *pats her*
"Even French?" ...what, and that's hard? Vous etes un idiot, Mickey, c'est vrai.
I love the way the fireplace spins... and you can hear the ticking as soon as he steps off the mantle, but we're left to assume it's just the clock.
I really like that shot of Ten looking out the window. And then Reinette panics because she'd probably half-forgotten about her Fireplace Man, decided he was a dream, AND THEN HE'S IN HER ROOM. And of course he's confused and doesn't get why she's afraid, cos he's the Doctor, he's perfectly harmless to little girls, unless they have red balloons. ...I dunno, he doesn't like red balloons or something.
"Must be a loose connection, you need to get a man in." And hello, Chekhov's Fireplace. You can sit over here with Chekhov's Barbecue Smell for a bit.
And then he sees the clock. "Okay, that's scary."
"You're scared of a broken clock?"
"Just a bit scared, yeah, just a little tiny bit. Cause you see, if this clock's broken, and it's the only clock in the room..." And the ticking gets louder. "Then what's that? Cos you see, that's not a clock. Can tell by the resonance. Too big. Six feet, I'd say, size of a man."
Reinette's REALLY scared now, but not panicking anymore, good girl. "What is it?"
"Now let's think." And he seems like he already knows, but it's less scary to take her through the process. "If you were a thing that ticked, and you were hiding in someone's bedroom, first thing you'd do, breeak the clock, no one'd ever notice the sound of one clock ticking" - not true, I would, it creeps me out to no end, add that to my Uncanny Valley squick and guess how much this episode scares me... "but two... you might start to wonder if you're really alone."
Oh, the worst thing ever for a kid - to be told there really IS a monster under the bed. She listens, though, stays calm, trusts him, oh, she's brave. *snuggles her*
And he's scared too, until he picks up its telepathic scan, and then he gets angry - well, why not? Look at how the new series portray Gallifreyan telepathy, both here and in EoT, it's very intimate and private, and the droid is just trampling all over a little girl's brain, tracking mud on the carpet, without so much as by-your-leave!
"You are incomplete." And it'll talk to Reinette, but not the Doctor. Which is a nice touch... and the standoff, droid's blade vs the sonic - he can probably do more damage, but he looks more scared, too. Have I mentioned, DT is very very pretty when he looks scared?
But he still tries to reassure her, and oh, he moves like a fencer when he backs away from it, I love that, they remember that he knows his way round sword. XD "Everyone has nightmares, Reinette. Even monsters have nightmares, don't you, monster?" And that wink as he gets it stuck in the mantle.
"What do monsters have nightmares about?"
"Me!" And he looks so smug, and I love it.
Fire extinguisher! XDDD
Squeeing over the droid, I love it!
"It would be a crime, it would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you. But that won't stop me." Maybe "public menace" is right. XD
Rose teaching Mickey how not to listen the Doctor. There is something sort of cute about it.
And the Doctor goes back to check on Reinette and he still hasn't figured out the time differential. He will really soon though, cos here comes grown-up Reinette, stunned to see he hasn't aged a day. Because, of course, from his perspective, he's only known her for a few minutes.
And, oh, the quick taking off of the glasses, and apparently there were long conversations about this and whether they shoud do it, and whether the oldschool fans would kill them for the rather explicit implication that the Doctor fancied Reinette, but I'm glad they went with it. It's cute, and to be honest, I'd be tempted to do the same, and I wouldn't even have dared flirt with her, so...
And I love how she doesn't say a word to him directly until he figures it out. Oh, she's so a match for him... And his look when he does! Why I've not dug up an icon of that....
I feel like I should be saying something about every expression he makes in this whole ep, actually, cos I love them all so much, but that would take days to do - probably literally - trying to capture every single second. So just assume, every time you're loving a DT expression, that I am too. Okay?
"It is customary, I think, to have an imaginary friend only during one's childhood. You are to be congratulated on your persistence."
"Reinette.. . goodness how you've grown." This is filler - what do you say to a beautiful young woman who was a little girl a few seconds ago and you're suddenly finding you're developing a crush on? But he's got to answer her, so banalities it is.
"And you do not appear to have aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you."
"Right, yes, sorry..." And he's still struggling.
"How could you be a stranger to me, I've known you since I was seven years old."
"I suppose you have. I came the quick route."
"Oh, you never wanna listen to reason." Course not, that's part of growing up, and you never wanna do that. *loves Moff's Peter Pan theme*
And the kiss! I love the kiss so much. And then she just runs off, leaving him to babble at the confused footman as he works it out. "I'm the Doctor. And I just snogged Madame de Pompadour!" And she looks like a good kisser, too.
"There could be anything on this ship!" Yep. Case in point, Chekhov's Horse in the corridor.
And the eye and the heart are so creepy...
The horse likes him too much. XD There's a deleted scene here that explains why he keeps it, actually - he went through into the gardens looking for its owner, had this bit of background with Reinette being snarky about the king's former mistress, then the owner showed up looking for his horse. So Ten's all set to say, "Oh yeah, I found it", till he finds out the guy's going to beat it, at which point he moans "I wish you hadn't said that", and the next bit is him telling Arthur, "Rule one - don't wander off."
And they've found Louis through the mirror. I love how the Doctor sums up his day...
And he's figured out the time windows, only 15 minutes in, but not why yet.
Discussion of French sexual politics and a bit more background.
"Queen must have loved her." Rose, being sarcastic. Seeing herself in the queen's position, maybe - it'll be a stronger identification later.
"Oh, she did, they got on very well." Wellll... they didn't, really. I mean, they didn't fight, it was - well, like he says, different planet (can tell how British this show is, can't you? XP), it was just kind of understood that kings had mistresses, cos marriage was a political thing more than love, so for love you went elsewhere, and the queen understood that well enough, even if she didn't like it very much, and Reinette was always careful not to offend her or make herself too obnoxious, but... the queen didn't get on well with anyone much, really. She was very pious and straightlaced and kept to herself, unlike Reinette who was the life of the court. (Yes, I have been doing research. Yes, it might have been for fic...)
And she's lucky they're spying on her right now because, hello, clockwork man.
"Then it kills everyone in the room. Focusses the mind wonderfully, doesn't it?"
And Reinette makes it talk to him this time.
"We did not have the parts."
"What's happened to the crew? Where are they?"
"We did not have the parts."
"There should have been over 50 people on your ship, where did they go?"
"We did not have the parts."
"50 people don't just disappear, they - ohh." I love it when he realises the answer halfway through a question. "You didn't have the parts, so you used the crew."
And Rose tells him about the eye and the heart.
"It's just doing what it was programmed to. Repairing the ship with whatever it can find. No one told it the crew weren't on the menu." He's so sad now. Not angry anymore, just sad.
"Flesh plus heat. Barbecue."
And Reinette isn't "ready", and now he's getting annoyed again. And, no, Reinette, don't tell it to leave! Oh, well. They all make mistakes...
"No, you're not keepin' the horse."
"I let you keep Mickey, now go!"
Nice couple-y moment there.
And the mindmeld! I don't have time to stop and grab all of this, or I would, I love it so much.
And the Doctor knows Cleopatra - might have to go look that up.
"So impertinent a question so early in the conversation. How promising." I love that she opens her eyes here... best bit is, David didn't know she had - he had his eyes closed right through every take and assumed Sophia did, too, so when they watched it to do the commentary track, he's all "I didn't know you had your eyes open!" and it's rather cute.
And then she starts to pick up his memories - and I like that he's so focussed on hers that it takes him a few seconds to realise she used his name. "When did you start calling me Doctor?"
"Such a lonely little boy, lonely then and lonelier now. How do you bear it?" By picking up random strangers and looking for trouble, how else?
And he hadn't expected a human to think of stepping through the other way and poking into his head... I like that he underestimates them so badly sometimes.
And she's trying to hit on him and now he won't have it cos he doesn't want to mess up history.
"Doctor who? It's more than just a secret, isn't it?" Commentary also has a cute little bit about how Sophia thought she was just saying his name, and David had to tell her, "No, no, it's a question!" XD I need to get through more of DT's commentaries.
"What did you see?" And he's actually worried about what she might have picked up.
"That there comes a time, Time Lord, when every lonely little boy must learn how to dance." And she leads him off and he lets her! Even he has to accept the offered comfort sometimes... *snuggles them both* (Oh, should probably mention, while I do love the Ten/Reinette ship, I think the only dancing that went on that night was literal. Can't really see the Doctor going for a one-night stand, which is what he was still expecting this to be - just figure out the problem, save her and leave. Asking her aboard was a much later thought.)
Rose tries to scare off the droids with the Doctor's reputation, and then, haah, the drunken singing.
"Oh, look what the cat dragged in, the Oncoming Storm!"
"Ooh, you sound like your mother!"
I guess the honeymoon stage is over then.
I agree, though, bananas are good. Always take them to cons, too.
Love the "drunken" exposition. "And for some reason, god knows why, only the brain of Madame de Pompadour will do." And he'll never know why. And it kills me that it was such a simple answer, and he'll never ever know.
"Multigrain anti-oil. If it moves, it doesn't." Love the sudden switch from drunk to sober here. At least he gets Mickey and Rose free before the droids wake up again. "Many things about this are not good." Too true...
And now they've found the right window, and Rose has to sneak through and warn her at 32 - oh, it's so sweet how Rose tries so hard to help her. Reinette's summing up feels a bit awkward, though. Probably looked good on the page, but "I, weary traveller" sounds really bad actually coming out of someone's mouth.
"The monsters and the Doctor. Seems you cannot have one without the other." Absolutely. That's how his life goes.
"Supposed to happen, what does that mean? It happened, child, and I would not have it any other way. One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel." Oh, I love it. She loves him so much...
And she runs through into the ship, and she hates it. It must look so grey and dead and awful... if she could only see the TARDIS...
And the look on Rose's face... must be painful for her to feel so much for the competition... but she understands now. "Different planet." Maybe not so different. "And you and I both know, don't we, Rose? The Doctor is worth the monsters." Oh, Reinette. At least you don't have to know how he loses Rose...
And we're back at the beginning, Reinette pleading at the fireplace.
And the droids have caught her and blocked off the windows so the Doctor's stuck on the ship, frantic.
"We can't use the TARDIS, we're part of events now." Handwavy, but better than nothing.
"Smash the glass, smash the time windows, there'll be no way back." Part of him knows already that's the only way, he just doesn't want to admit it.
Reinette being all inspirational! *hugs her*
And defies the droids, only to be told, "We do not require your feet." They're so literal, it just adds to the creepiness.
"If my nightmare can return to plague me, then rest assured, so will yours." And immediately we hear the galloping. And here he comes, smashing through the window on a white horse.
Her introduction's so coy. "This is my lover, the king of France."
And he's unimpressed. "Yeah? Well, I'm the Lord of Time."
And it's starting to hit him what he's done. "It's over. For you and for me. You've heard of seven years bad luck, try 3000."
And Mickey worries out loud, while Rose is silent and broods cos she knows exactly what this means.
And the Doctor talking the droids into giving up. "How many ticks in that clockwork heart? A day? An hour? It's over. Accept that. I'm not winding you up." And it's a terrible pun, but it doesn't have to be funny, he's not trying to be, and it's not just them he's talking to.
"They've stopped. They have no purpose now." Oh, Ten...
And Rose staring up at the sky, and Ten doing the same. "You know all their names, don't you?"
And she wants to see them... "By saving me, you trapped yourself. Did you know that would happen?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Yet still you came."
"Yeah, I didn't, didn't I?" Oh, that grin. "Catch me doing that again." Oh, but he would, every time.
And he's so lost and awkward, and she knows what she has to do. She knows she has to give him that chance. "It's a pity. I think I would have enjoyed the slow path." Oh, Reinette...
He doesn't quite dare to hope the fireplace will work.
"One never quite knows when one will need one's Doctor." *snuggles Reinette*
And, haha, loose connection! But she's so sad.
"Wish me luck!" "No." And oh, the way the smile vanishes when he realises why.
Two minutes. Oh, that's too long, and you know it, that'll be years, and you know her so well, you must know what age she died at...
I can't talk about this scene. (Well, except to point out again how Moffat can't count, she died at 42. Or maybe he just thought the very mention of the number would kill the mood.) I just... oh, Louis. And oh, Ten, as he realises where she is...
Rose asks the remaining question, but she won't get an answer, none of them will.
"I'm always alright." No, he's not. And Mickey gets triple points for understanding he needs to be alone.
Reinette's letter breaks my heart. And the slowness of his movements throughout these last two scenes breaks it even harder.
And of course they were never gonna know, because he landed the TARDIS in front of Reinette's picture... and there's the name on the back of the ship, and it's...
...why am I not crying? I always finish this ep in tears...
Next up: Rise of the Cybermen, featuring Barty Crouch Senior and some OLD, old enemies...
Couple of other things, which shouldn't be too sensitive - there is a bit that was cut, explaining that the Doctor set up the fast-return switch to take Rose home if needed, so she and Mickey could have left whenever they wanted. They weren't actually stranded, Rose chose to wait those five and a half hours for him, so no wonder she gets so much more of her way in the second half of the season... though it would have been nice to have it onscreen. Which also explains the "wish me luck", just thought of that - cos he already knows the time window's open, what he's wishing is to find the TARDIS still there... oh, I love that. Yeah, definitely should have stayed in.
And the other thing, the Lonely Angel bit, and she says "lonely" so many times... doesn't the Doctor call the Weeping Angels the "loneliest beings in the universe"? *adds to pile of theory-evidence and sneaks away*
I adore Reinette. I love Ten/Reinette. And this is my second favourite episode, hands-down.
I'm still stunned that any of these positions are considered controversial (and kinda hurt, in the case of the first and third, cos I was so looking forward to discussing this ep, and now I'm really not), but if anyone wants to skip, I promise not to drench you in anti-oil.
The couple of things that do bother me about this ep are in here somewhere, though.
Ah, the historical opening, I love this bit. Though maybe you should take as read that I'll be saying that all episode, and then I don't have to type it out every time.
Pan down from the night sky onto the palace of Versailles, and people screaming. Shadows and whirring from the clockwork men, and Louis comes to get Reinette. "There are creatures - I don't even think they're human, we can't stop them."
But she already knows what's going on, because "The clock is broken."
And he doesn't know what that means, he thinks she's just weirdly obsessing over a broken clock.
"Listen to me. There is a man coming to Versailles. He has watched over me my whole life, he will not desert me tonight." Oh, Reinette. So much faith in him. And this is sort of River-ish, this bit, isn't it? "You've been a soldier too long to believe there are gods watching over us. There is, however, a man."
Louis asks what man, and he's not prepared for the response.
"The only man, save you, I have ever loved." *snuggles Reinette* And he loves you too, never doubt it. Louis looks kinda like Rose would at this development, though. "No, don't look like that, there's no time. You have your duties. I am your mistress. Go to your queen."
And then she goes to the fireplace and calls for the Doctor, leaving all the first-time viewers going "WTF fireplace?"
"Girl in the Fireplace", in which the Doctor finds out what happens to persistent imaginary friends, Rose Tyler is patient, and Mickey Smith learns a few things about perspective
3000 years later - I love these "spread out over aeons" stories Moffat does.
Night sky again, and pan up to the ship.
And then team TARDIS come out, looking around, the Doctor looking somehow apprehensive, but Mickey's delighted. "I got a spaceship on my first go." So did Amy. XP And this is Rose's first, too, isn't it?
Rose notes signs of a battle. "Anyone on board?"
"Nah, nothing here. Well, nothing dangerous. Well, not that dangerous... know what? I'll just have a quick scan. In case there's anything dangerous." This ep is full of favourite Ten moments for me. This is the first of them, I love his attempt to reassure her falling flat cos he can't help correcting himself.
And they're in the Dagmar Cluster, 51st century - Moffat really likes the 51st and 52nd centuries...
And Mickey's enthralled by the view out the window, and Rose is laughing at him, cos she's a seasoned traveller by now. "Mickey Smith, meet the universe. See anything you like?"
"It's so realistic!" It should be, Mickey, it's... real.
Except, okay, it's actually a backdrop in front of a window but it's better than 60s graphics, eh? I remember seeing a bit in The Daleks (I think) where we got a view down a corridor, and the shot was so obviously a photo of the corridor and it took me years to be able to think about it without laughing.
But the Doctor's more interested in the state of the ship. "They've had some cowboys in 'ere." Ooh, nice setup, I didn't even catch it the first time. "There's enough power running through this ship to punch a hole in the universe!" I love it when his voice goes up at the end of the sentence like that. And, funny you should say that, Ten... "But we're not moving." Oh, and look, following on from the Turn of the Earth speech, cos you know Rose and Mickey can't feel that the ship's drifting.
Smell of someone cooking - not Sunday roast, though, guys, try again.
And he immediately goes for the thing that doesn't fit - the fireplace. And the impossible room on the other side.
LIttle Reinette is so cute. XD And so nonplussed by the bloke in her fireplace - oh, OH. They're talking through a fireplace! Wait, let me say that again. Ten's a Harry Potter fan, and THEY'RE TALKING THROUGH A FIREPLACE!!!!! How much has he gotta be lovin' that? XDDD
"August is rubbish. Stay indoors." Yeah. For those who've not gone and looked up the background, in August of that year a volcano erupted in Iceland - volcanic ash covered the whole of Western Europe, would have been really nasty. Remember the eruption earlier this year? Planes couldn't fly, GDL had to stay in Melbourne a bit longer after Supanova cos they couldn't fly him back to Britain? Same sort of situation.
Moffat's research isn't so great, though - Reinette's seven here, but her family didn't start calIing her Reinette till she was nine and her mum went to the fortuneteller who told her she'd capture the heart of a king. (Hence "Reinette", "little queen".) Bet she didn't tell her she''d capture the hearts of a Time Lord as well, that's even better. XP
"What does that mean?" "No idea, made it up. Didn't wanna say 'magic door'." The 'dressing mysterious stuff up in spontaneous technobabble to sound better' thing? Also <3.
And the translation thing, the fact that he hears her speaking French, which I love. Simultaneous TARDIS translation is handy, but it's much easier to understand all the connotations of what people are really saying if you can hear the actual words as well.... That's probably how it's designed, actually, to layer the translation over the raw speech, so that the brain can process both simultaneously - it's not the old girl's fault humans have smaller brains and can only pick up one at a time. *pats her*
"Even French?" ...what, and that's hard? Vous etes un idiot, Mickey, c'est vrai.
I love the way the fireplace spins... and you can hear the ticking as soon as he steps off the mantle, but we're left to assume it's just the clock.
I really like that shot of Ten looking out the window. And then Reinette panics because she'd probably half-forgotten about her Fireplace Man, decided he was a dream, AND THEN HE'S IN HER ROOM. And of course he's confused and doesn't get why she's afraid, cos he's the Doctor, he's perfectly harmless to little girls, unless they have red balloons. ...I dunno, he doesn't like red balloons or something.
"Must be a loose connection, you need to get a man in." And hello, Chekhov's Fireplace. You can sit over here with Chekhov's Barbecue Smell for a bit.
And then he sees the clock. "Okay, that's scary."
"You're scared of a broken clock?"
"Just a bit scared, yeah, just a little tiny bit. Cause you see, if this clock's broken, and it's the only clock in the room..." And the ticking gets louder. "Then what's that? Cos you see, that's not a clock. Can tell by the resonance. Too big. Six feet, I'd say, size of a man."
Reinette's REALLY scared now, but not panicking anymore, good girl. "What is it?"
"Now let's think." And he seems like he already knows, but it's less scary to take her through the process. "If you were a thing that ticked, and you were hiding in someone's bedroom, first thing you'd do, breeak the clock, no one'd ever notice the sound of one clock ticking" - not true, I would, it creeps me out to no end, add that to my Uncanny Valley squick and guess how much this episode scares me... "but two... you might start to wonder if you're really alone."
Oh, the worst thing ever for a kid - to be told there really IS a monster under the bed. She listens, though, stays calm, trusts him, oh, she's brave. *snuggles her*
And he's scared too, until he picks up its telepathic scan, and then he gets angry - well, why not? Look at how the new series portray Gallifreyan telepathy, both here and in EoT, it's very intimate and private, and the droid is just trampling all over a little girl's brain, tracking mud on the carpet, without so much as by-your-leave!
"You are incomplete." And it'll talk to Reinette, but not the Doctor. Which is a nice touch... and the standoff, droid's blade vs the sonic - he can probably do more damage, but he looks more scared, too. Have I mentioned, DT is very very pretty when he looks scared?
But he still tries to reassure her, and oh, he moves like a fencer when he backs away from it, I love that, they remember that he knows his way round sword. XD "Everyone has nightmares, Reinette. Even monsters have nightmares, don't you, monster?" And that wink as he gets it stuck in the mantle.
"What do monsters have nightmares about?"
"Me!" And he looks so smug, and I love it.
Fire extinguisher! XDDD
Squeeing over the droid, I love it!
"It would be a crime, it would be an act of vandalism to disassemble you. But that won't stop me." Maybe "public menace" is right. XD
Rose teaching Mickey how not to listen the Doctor. There is something sort of cute about it.
And the Doctor goes back to check on Reinette and he still hasn't figured out the time differential. He will really soon though, cos here comes grown-up Reinette, stunned to see he hasn't aged a day. Because, of course, from his perspective, he's only known her for a few minutes.
And, oh, the quick taking off of the glasses, and apparently there were long conversations about this and whether they shoud do it, and whether the oldschool fans would kill them for the rather explicit implication that the Doctor fancied Reinette, but I'm glad they went with it. It's cute, and to be honest, I'd be tempted to do the same, and I wouldn't even have dared flirt with her, so...
And I love how she doesn't say a word to him directly until he figures it out. Oh, she's so a match for him... And his look when he does! Why I've not dug up an icon of that....
I feel like I should be saying something about every expression he makes in this whole ep, actually, cos I love them all so much, but that would take days to do - probably literally - trying to capture every single second. So just assume, every time you're loving a DT expression, that I am too. Okay?
"It is customary, I think, to have an imaginary friend only during one's childhood. You are to be congratulated on your persistence."
"Reinette.. . goodness how you've grown." This is filler - what do you say to a beautiful young woman who was a little girl a few seconds ago and you're suddenly finding you're developing a crush on? But he's got to answer her, so banalities it is.
"And you do not appear to have aged a single day. That is tremendously impolite of you."
"Right, yes, sorry..." And he's still struggling.
"How could you be a stranger to me, I've known you since I was seven years old."
"I suppose you have. I came the quick route."
"Oh, you never wanna listen to reason." Course not, that's part of growing up, and you never wanna do that. *loves Moff's Peter Pan theme*
And the kiss! I love the kiss so much. And then she just runs off, leaving him to babble at the confused footman as he works it out. "I'm the Doctor. And I just snogged Madame de Pompadour!" And she looks like a good kisser, too.
"There could be anything on this ship!" Yep. Case in point, Chekhov's Horse in the corridor.
And the eye and the heart are so creepy...
The horse likes him too much. XD There's a deleted scene here that explains why he keeps it, actually - he went through into the gardens looking for its owner, had this bit of background with Reinette being snarky about the king's former mistress, then the owner showed up looking for his horse. So Ten's all set to say, "Oh yeah, I found it", till he finds out the guy's going to beat it, at which point he moans "I wish you hadn't said that", and the next bit is him telling Arthur, "Rule one - don't wander off."
And they've found Louis through the mirror. I love how the Doctor sums up his day...
And he's figured out the time windows, only 15 minutes in, but not why yet.
Discussion of French sexual politics and a bit more background.
"Queen must have loved her." Rose, being sarcastic. Seeing herself in the queen's position, maybe - it'll be a stronger identification later.
"Oh, she did, they got on very well." Wellll... they didn't, really. I mean, they didn't fight, it was - well, like he says, different planet (can tell how British this show is, can't you? XP), it was just kind of understood that kings had mistresses, cos marriage was a political thing more than love, so for love you went elsewhere, and the queen understood that well enough, even if she didn't like it very much, and Reinette was always careful not to offend her or make herself too obnoxious, but... the queen didn't get on well with anyone much, really. She was very pious and straightlaced and kept to herself, unlike Reinette who was the life of the court. (Yes, I have been doing research. Yes, it might have been for fic...)
And she's lucky they're spying on her right now because, hello, clockwork man.
"Then it kills everyone in the room. Focusses the mind wonderfully, doesn't it?"
And Reinette makes it talk to him this time.
"We did not have the parts."
"What's happened to the crew? Where are they?"
"We did not have the parts."
"There should have been over 50 people on your ship, where did they go?"
"We did not have the parts."
"50 people don't just disappear, they - ohh." I love it when he realises the answer halfway through a question. "You didn't have the parts, so you used the crew."
And Rose tells him about the eye and the heart.
"It's just doing what it was programmed to. Repairing the ship with whatever it can find. No one told it the crew weren't on the menu." He's so sad now. Not angry anymore, just sad.
"Flesh plus heat. Barbecue."
And Reinette isn't "ready", and now he's getting annoyed again. And, no, Reinette, don't tell it to leave! Oh, well. They all make mistakes...
"No, you're not keepin' the horse."
"I let you keep Mickey, now go!"
Nice couple-y moment there.
And the mindmeld! I don't have time to stop and grab all of this, or I would, I love it so much.
And the Doctor knows Cleopatra - might have to go look that up.
"So impertinent a question so early in the conversation. How promising." I love that she opens her eyes here... best bit is, David didn't know she had - he had his eyes closed right through every take and assumed Sophia did, too, so when they watched it to do the commentary track, he's all "I didn't know you had your eyes open!" and it's rather cute.
And then she starts to pick up his memories - and I like that he's so focussed on hers that it takes him a few seconds to realise she used his name. "When did you start calling me Doctor?"
"Such a lonely little boy, lonely then and lonelier now. How do you bear it?" By picking up random strangers and looking for trouble, how else?
And he hadn't expected a human to think of stepping through the other way and poking into his head... I like that he underestimates them so badly sometimes.
And she's trying to hit on him and now he won't have it cos he doesn't want to mess up history.
"Doctor who? It's more than just a secret, isn't it?" Commentary also has a cute little bit about how Sophia thought she was just saying his name, and David had to tell her, "No, no, it's a question!" XD I need to get through more of DT's commentaries.
"What did you see?" And he's actually worried about what she might have picked up.
"That there comes a time, Time Lord, when every lonely little boy must learn how to dance." And she leads him off and he lets her! Even he has to accept the offered comfort sometimes... *snuggles them both* (Oh, should probably mention, while I do love the Ten/Reinette ship, I think the only dancing that went on that night was literal. Can't really see the Doctor going for a one-night stand, which is what he was still expecting this to be - just figure out the problem, save her and leave. Asking her aboard was a much later thought.)
Rose tries to scare off the droids with the Doctor's reputation, and then, haah, the drunken singing.
"Oh, look what the cat dragged in, the Oncoming Storm!"
"Ooh, you sound like your mother!"
I guess the honeymoon stage is over then.
I agree, though, bananas are good. Always take them to cons, too.
Love the "drunken" exposition. "And for some reason, god knows why, only the brain of Madame de Pompadour will do." And he'll never know why. And it kills me that it was such a simple answer, and he'll never ever know.
"Multigrain anti-oil. If it moves, it doesn't." Love the sudden switch from drunk to sober here. At least he gets Mickey and Rose free before the droids wake up again. "Many things about this are not good." Too true...
And now they've found the right window, and Rose has to sneak through and warn her at 32 - oh, it's so sweet how Rose tries so hard to help her. Reinette's summing up feels a bit awkward, though. Probably looked good on the page, but "I, weary traveller" sounds really bad actually coming out of someone's mouth.
"The monsters and the Doctor. Seems you cannot have one without the other." Absolutely. That's how his life goes.
"Supposed to happen, what does that mean? It happened, child, and I would not have it any other way. One may tolerate a world of demons for the sake of an angel." Oh, I love it. She loves him so much...
And she runs through into the ship, and she hates it. It must look so grey and dead and awful... if she could only see the TARDIS...
And the look on Rose's face... must be painful for her to feel so much for the competition... but she understands now. "Different planet." Maybe not so different. "And you and I both know, don't we, Rose? The Doctor is worth the monsters." Oh, Reinette. At least you don't have to know how he loses Rose...
And we're back at the beginning, Reinette pleading at the fireplace.
And the droids have caught her and blocked off the windows so the Doctor's stuck on the ship, frantic.
"We can't use the TARDIS, we're part of events now." Handwavy, but better than nothing.
"Smash the glass, smash the time windows, there'll be no way back." Part of him knows already that's the only way, he just doesn't want to admit it.
Reinette being all inspirational! *hugs her*
And defies the droids, only to be told, "We do not require your feet." They're so literal, it just adds to the creepiness.
"If my nightmare can return to plague me, then rest assured, so will yours." And immediately we hear the galloping. And here he comes, smashing through the window on a white horse.
Her introduction's so coy. "This is my lover, the king of France."
And he's unimpressed. "Yeah? Well, I'm the Lord of Time."
And it's starting to hit him what he's done. "It's over. For you and for me. You've heard of seven years bad luck, try 3000."
And Mickey worries out loud, while Rose is silent and broods cos she knows exactly what this means.
And the Doctor talking the droids into giving up. "How many ticks in that clockwork heart? A day? An hour? It's over. Accept that. I'm not winding you up." And it's a terrible pun, but it doesn't have to be funny, he's not trying to be, and it's not just them he's talking to.
"They've stopped. They have no purpose now." Oh, Ten...
And Rose staring up at the sky, and Ten doing the same. "You know all their names, don't you?"
And she wants to see them... "By saving me, you trapped yourself. Did you know that would happen?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Yet still you came."
"Yeah, I didn't, didn't I?" Oh, that grin. "Catch me doing that again." Oh, but he would, every time.
And he's so lost and awkward, and she knows what she has to do. She knows she has to give him that chance. "It's a pity. I think I would have enjoyed the slow path." Oh, Reinette...
He doesn't quite dare to hope the fireplace will work.
"One never quite knows when one will need one's Doctor." *snuggles Reinette*
And, haha, loose connection! But she's so sad.
"Wish me luck!" "No." And oh, the way the smile vanishes when he realises why.
Two minutes. Oh, that's too long, and you know it, that'll be years, and you know her so well, you must know what age she died at...
I can't talk about this scene. (Well, except to point out again how Moffat can't count, she died at 42. Or maybe he just thought the very mention of the number would kill the mood.) I just... oh, Louis. And oh, Ten, as he realises where she is...
Rose asks the remaining question, but she won't get an answer, none of them will.
"I'm always alright." No, he's not. And Mickey gets triple points for understanding he needs to be alone.
Reinette's letter breaks my heart. And the slowness of his movements throughout these last two scenes breaks it even harder.
And of course they were never gonna know, because he landed the TARDIS in front of Reinette's picture... and there's the name on the back of the ship, and it's...
...why am I not crying? I always finish this ep in tears...
Next up: Rise of the Cybermen, featuring Barty Crouch Senior and some OLD, old enemies...
Couple of other things, which shouldn't be too sensitive - there is a bit that was cut, explaining that the Doctor set up the fast-return switch to take Rose home if needed, so she and Mickey could have left whenever they wanted. They weren't actually stranded, Rose chose to wait those five and a half hours for him, so no wonder she gets so much more of her way in the second half of the season... though it would have been nice to have it onscreen. Which also explains the "wish me luck", just thought of that - cos he already knows the time window's open, what he's wishing is to find the TARDIS still there... oh, I love that. Yeah, definitely should have stayed in.
And the other thing, the Lonely Angel bit, and she says "lonely" so many times... doesn't the Doctor call the Weeping Angels the "loneliest beings in the universe"? *adds to pile of theory-evidence and sneaks away*