The Romans
Previous: The Rescue
The Romans
Wait. Something is moving the TARDIS model. And I think it's about to become part of the plot.
they fell off a cliff and now they're in rome and dressed in period clothes and ian has grapes and one has plants and WHAT I DON'T EVEN
They've been in the same place for "nearly a MONTH"? That's gotta be a record (not counting their time in 1963 originally).
Did that kid in the bushes just KILL AN OLD MAN?
"I didn't I know I was under any obligation to report all my movements to you, Chesterfield."
"ChesterTON."
"Oh, Barbara's calling you."
Vicki just squeed. I don't think I've ever heard a Classic companion SQUEE before.
Yes, fear Barbara with that mysterious comb, Ian. Fear her.
The second I saw Ian get up and pose like that, somehow I knew that he was going to go into the Julius Caesar "lend me your ears" speech.
Vase-smashing on heads usually tends to only work when you hit your target and not your friend accidentally.
Doctor impersonating the dead lyre player? Suspicious guard is suspicious.
Geez, all the slave traders have evil laughs. Who knew that business could be such a cackle-inducer?
"Oh, so you want a fight, do you?" ONE WHEN DID YOU BECOME SO BADASS. YOU'RE EVEN LAUGHING AS YOU PWN.
"I'm so constantly outwitting the opposition, I tend to forget the delights and satisfaction of the art, the gentle art, of fisticuffs."
I can't describe how strangely delighted it makes me to see One making so light a situation out of somebody trying to kill him.
An opening shot of a sprawling city and the word "Roma" zooms out at us. We're in Rome? I never would've guessed.
Oh wow. Ian's been reduced to ship-rowing. HOW is he surviving that? I didn't think he was built for that kind of thing.
SHIPWRECK! REVOLT! SHIPWRECK! REVOLT!
One, you JUST missed Barbara at the slave auction. BAH.
Hey, it's Mysterious Helpful Bald Guy from earlier!
I can't help wondering if Barbara and Ian's plights in this story are some of the harshest that companions've had to deal with on their own.
"Nero! I'm gonna see Nero!" Vicki is truly a Knight Who Says Squee.
Alrighty, One, Nero is insisting that you play the lyre. Let's see how you get out of this one.
"Try this one."
"That's Your Excellency would be an imposi-bisil-aty."
The Doctor: Talking his way out of everything since ever.
So they've heavily implying that we'll get to see Ian fight in the Colosseum. I wonder how much that will actually come to fruition.
"I've decided for my own sake, I must get to the bottom of it. The more I...the sooner I do it, the better."
Nero appears to be a comedy character in this story. I like the running visual gag they have in this scene with the servant and the crown.
"My husband, Caesar Nero, seemed quite taken with you."
"Oh, did he, madam?"
"I LIKE being Empress, and I intend to remain so."
By the way, I know this is the wrong time to be mentioning it, but nice hair, Barbara.
OH JESUS. NERO. YOU ARE A GRADE-A CREEPER. PLEASE STEP AWAY FROM THE BARBARA.
I'm assuming what @armyofwomack meant by "the All Roads Lead to Rome plot" was "everyone's in the same place and keep missing each other."
Granted, I've finished "All Roads Lead to Rome" already, but this is taking shenanigans to some new extremes.
ONE. THAT WAS BARBARA. PLEASE START NOTICING THIS.
Wait, this woman's JOB is concocting poisons for the court? Sounds like one helluva lucrative career.
Hah! Even when decked out in ancient Roman garb, One still loves clutching his lapels.
Wait why are Nero and One sleeping on slabs next to each other WHY DID THAT SERVANT JUST POOR HOT WATER ON NERO'S CROTCH.
Okay, this is probably the Roman bath.
This is ever so slightly more of One than I needed to see.
Oh crap. I think they're going to try and poison Barbara.
Ah, but mischievous Vicki is mischievous!
"Oh something else I forgot to tell you: I think I've poisoned Nero."
"Really...WHAT?"
Well, that's one way to get rid of a bothersome manservant.
Here we go, the concert. Who's on first.
"The music is so soft, so delicate, that only those with keen perceptive hearing will be able to distinguish this melodious charm of music."
The Doctor then proceeds to mime playing the lyre. In total silence. And everyone loves it. There truly are no words.
Nero, One just Emperor's New Clothes'd your ass. Also, Ian and his friend being made to fight each other in the arena? The plot. Thickening.
IAN AND BARBARA FINALLY FIND EACH OTHER! But...is fighting tiems nao.
Wow. Ian can fight. BUT WILL IT TAKE OFF?
Oh wow. His friend won't kill him, he'll try to kill Nero instead. EVERYONE IN ANCIENT ROME IS TRYING TO KILL EVERYONE ELSE.
So I'm assuming the upcoming events are going to be of the "while Rome burned, Nero played his fiddle" nature?
Somehow I've only JUST realized that One and Vicki have been going through this whole thing thinking Ian and Barbara are back at the villa.
Wait a sec, is One DELIBERATELY using his glasses to burn the map?
Nero = kind of insane.
And that fire on the table is STILL burning.
Ian and Barbara together again! Now to find One and Vicki...
"Good luck, my child. Good luck." And we zoom in on a cross around his neck. History fails me, so I'm blanking on the significance of this.
And as Rome burned, the Doctor and Vicki looked on and smiled. What.
Guys, this is kinda creepy. One giggling at the idea that he indirectly burned down Rome transitions to Nero with the "fiddle" (lyre).
Ian and Barbara have been through a pretty serious ordeal, but they seem to be making light of it now. Companions: stronger than steel.
They are so married I can't even explain.
Oh wait never mind I think Ian was about to shove Barbara's head in the fountain out of rage for the vase-accident earlier o_o
"Where will we go next? Has the Doctor told you yet?"
"Oh no, he never does that."
"You mean it's a surprise?"
"Erm, yes. To EVERYBODY."
So One and Vicki DID go through that entire serial having NO idea that Ian and Barbara were in mortal peril. Wow. WOW.
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