Doctor Who 4.2: The Fires of Pompeii
I love having new Doctor Who back and this was a great episode. Things to love:
- The exploding Vesuvius sequence. It looked absolutely amazing.
- Catherine Tate did a wonderful job as Donna, from her amazement at being in Ancient Rome (er, Pompeii) to her pain at the death of people she had grown to know and care about.
- The reference to The Runaway Bride when Donna says, "I was right, you need someone".
- The Doctor's "Welcome aboard" now that Donna has proved why he needs her.
- The relationship between the Doctor and Donna. I love that she challenges him, isn't soppy-eyed over him and obviously is building up a good mates affection for him.
- Some of the Asterix-style gags were actually funny (not all of them, but some).
- "I am Spartacus. So am I."
- Peter Capaldi.
- The plot of the episode was good and actually worked (unlike some plots last week's).
- Fun episode, yet it had a deeper side to it that really worked this time (see previous comment).
This week they got the two elements - the Doctor and Donna's story and the actual plot - to work well together and I loved it. No, it wasn't perfect. Mostly because RTD went a little overboard with the Asterix humour. But it was a great episode and the final ten minutes were absolutely perfect. Donna's pain and fury at being unable to stop what was happening was incredibly moving and very well acted by CT. The Doctor's pain at being unable to help the people - and his comparison to his own situation with Gallifrey - worked so well and I loved that he eventually agreed to help one family, even if he couldn't help everyone.
There are some intriguing elements to this story. For example, this is the second week in a row when the Shadow Proclamation has been mentioned. Is that this year's Bad Wolf? And if so, what does this mean for later episodes? Curious minds want to know! Curious minds are also spoiler-phobic so please don't give me actual spoilers in the comments.
The pyrotechnics in this episode were excellent. Sometimes despite their best efforts, the effects are very definitely TV-budget effect (*cough* Adiposians *cough*). At other times, though, the effects are so good they're almost film-worthy. This was one of those times. I know this means they'll be paying for it with an effects-lite episode later, but when you're writing about the destruction of Pompeii you really need to make it look good.
The quality of the guest stars is also staying high. Phil Davies plays bad guys so incredibly well, managing to make them thoroughly repulsive and unsympathetic but in a way that the audience has to respond to. Of course, when he plays good guys he really makes you like his character and forget the bad guys because he's that kind of great actor. This week was definitely a bad guy week. Peter Capaldi was also brilliant and I was actually smiling when Donna persuaded the Doctor to go back for him and his family. He even had the advantage of kind of looking Roman-esque so he totally worked.
The sequence with the family trying to protect their artwork from the earthquakes reminds me of something - an old film possibly? - but I honestly can't place it. Huh.
Overall, this was a great episode and confirmation that Doctor Who is still great TV.
ETA: HTML fixed so the full review now displays rather than chopping a random section out of the middle. Oops.