It must be great to be a Time Lord – travelling anywhere in time and space, to any planet, to any point in history or the future, with the power to change and influence what happens.  However, just because you have this power, doesn’t always mean that you can, or should, use it.  So far, we have only witnessed a handful of occasions where the Doctor is ultimately powerless, and in this episode we are reminded that, for all his intelligence and knowledge, he can’t save everyone, and no matter how much he wants to help, sometimes he has to stand back and let events unfold, regardless of the death and destruction.

 

The consequences of altering past events were memorably depicted in the episode Father’s Day, where the Ninth Doctor took Rose back in time to see her father before he was killed in a road accident.  Despite his repeated warnings to her that she couldn’t interfere to save her father, the temptation was too great for Rose, which then caused a rift in time and released the Reapers (in my opinion one of the most horrific monsters in the history of the programme), who embarked on a reign of terror, killing everyone that crossed their path because the one person who was meant to die was still alive.  The Ninth Doctor showed an amazing lack of sympathy for Rose’s predicament, bearing in mind what had happened to his own race, and since then I wondered whether there would ever be a similar episode for the Tenth Doctor, as I wanted to see how he would deal with that situation.

 

The Doctor seems to be following a pattern of late – whenever he is joined by a new companion, he always takes them to a point in the past for their first trip, followed by a point in the future.  When Martha first boarded the TARDIS, he took her to Shakespearean London, followed by New New York, and now he and Donna travel to Pompeii , followed by the Ood Sphere.  They had originally thought that they were in Rome, so this begs the question as to whether the TARDIS had gone to the wrong place because it is drawn to trouble spots, or whether it is merely a very old time machine and prone to taking a wrong turning. 

 

Once the Doctor and Donna realise where they are, the Doctor is adamant that they should leave immediately, condemning the people to their fate, whilst Donna is equally adamant that they should warn the townsfolk and take them away to safety.  This shows just how far Donna’s character has progressed since The Runaway Bride (and also the positive influence that the Doctor has on those that he meets) – originally very shallow and selfish, she repeatedly challenges the Doctor as to why he refuses to help, even commenting that Rose and Martha would have simply gone along with him because they were much younger, but because she has had more life experience, she’s not going to back down so easily.  In Smith And Jones, when Martha asks the Doctor why, if he knew in advance about the events that followed, did he let her go to work as normal, he calmly explains, in one sentence, that “crossing over into established events is strictly forbidden – except for cheap tricks”.  Martha never questions this, but Donna seems to have trouble grasping the concept that the Doctor is not choosing to ignore the people’s plight; in fact he has no choice at all.  Indeed, the Doctor’s frustration at this is clear throughout the episode, particularly when he is reminded about the fate of his own race.  This is probably why he chooses to be called ‘the Doctor’ – he couldn’t save Gallifrey, so he tries to save everyone else, wherever possible. 

 

For an episode set in the past, the future is the main preoccupation – the city of Pompeii is rife with soothsayers and augurs, all offering their prophecies of what is to come.  In fact, one of the most intriguing aspects is the predictions they made about the Doctor and Donna – correctly guessing their true identities, they also made some worrying predictions of events to come.  The Doctor is told that “she is returning”, which surely must refer to Rose, although whether he realises this is not clear (but she is probably one of the first people that he thinks about).  As for Donna, she is told that “there is something on your back”, which is far more disturbing – is this in a literal, or metaphorical sense?  As last week’s shock reappearance of Rose demonstrated, it looks like this series is going to feature a lot of hints and clues about what is going to happen in the finale.  Of course, it is later revealed that the powers of prophecy are actually caused by inhalation of the volcanic dust of the Pyroviles, which raises the question of how they are able to make these predictions – in the case of the events that were due to befall the citizens of Pompeii, they would have already known these because they, like the Doctor and Donna, had come from the future, but it doesn’t explain how they were able to make the predictions about the Doctor and Donna themselves, unless they had come from a point in the very distant future – perhaps they already know what lies ahead in the episodes to come?

 

Another interesting point to note is the mention of the Shadow Proclamation – this is the second consecutive episode in which a character has referred to it (Miss Foster in Partners In Crime, and now the Doctor – previously Rose quoted it to the Sycorax in The Christmas Invasion), so this may also mean that it will be revisited in detail in future episodes.  Little is known about it, but it appears to be some sort of intergalactic code of conduct or peace treaty – certainly one that all the alien races are aware of and must obey.

 

As is often the case, the Doctor finds himself at the centre of some domestic conflict – having befriended Caecillius and his family, he observes that, because Evelina apparently has the gift of prophecy, and has therefore been promised to the Sybelline Sisterhood when she comes of age, she is favoured by both parents over Quintus, which has prompted him to go out socialising with friends rather than finding some gainful employment.  When he helps the Doctor to defeat the Pyroviles, the Doctor has to remind his parents to thank him.  This is quite unusual, as traditionally the son (as the heir) was favoured over the daughter, especially so in Roman times.  Later we see that, once again, the Doctor’s influence has had a positive effect, as Quintus decides to train to become a doctor himself (albeit in the conventional sense).

 

At the climax of the episode, the Doctor faces one of the most difficult decisions he’s ever had to make – should he save the people of Pompeii, allowing the Pyroviles to rise and enslave the rest of the planet, or stop the Pyroviles, freeing Vesuvius to erupt and sacrificing Pompeii (and possibly even himself and Donna)?  In despair at not being able to save everyone, he eventually knows that he has to ultimately save the planet at the expense of Pompeii , as this is already a fixed point in history.  Right up until the last, Donna tries desperately to save someone, and when she tearfully pleads with the Doctor to at least save Caecillius and his family, he finally relents and takes them away to a hillside overlooking the city.  This was the one part of the story that I’m still confused about – if, as in Father’s Day, saving the life of just one person who was supposed to die causes a rift, then how was the Doctor able to save the family without any apparent consequences whatsoever?  The only explanation I can think of is that, if the Doctor is able to see the whole of time and space – what has happened, is going to happen, who will die and who will live – then perhaps he knew that they would have survived anyway (although that wouldn’t account for his reluctance to save them in the first instance).  The simple explanation is that Donna was able to humanise him, reminding him that the disaster happened to real people, not just anonymous faces in the crowd, and in doing so, officially earned her place as one of the TARDIS crew. 

 

Now that we’re two episodes into the series, we can start to form an opinion of how Donna will eventually compare to previous companions.  The early signs are that she is already becoming a very different companion to those that the Doctor is used to – so far no-one has ever challenged his decisions like this, and she is more than ready to go her own way if he disagrees with what she thinks is right.  Even when captured and about to be sacrificed by the Sybelline Sisterhood, Donna doesn’t show any fear, and you get the impression that if the Doctor hadn’t arrived to rescue her, she would probably have been able to save herself without him – she’s certainly not prepared to be the damsel in distress.  Once again, Catherine Tate gave a great performance, and more facets of her personality are being revealed each week.

 

Once again, we got to feel the Doctor’s despair and frustration at his powerlessness, and David brilliantly demonstrated the agonising decision that he ultimately faced.  His on-screen partnership with Catherine is already going from strength to strength – the scenes where Donna challenged the Doctor never once descended in to mere argument, and the moment where, after explaining that sacrificing the people of Pompeii meant that the same fate might befall them too, Donna gently placed her hands over his (without any indication that this meant anything more than friendship), was extremely poignant.  As is rapidly becoming the case in this series, there were lighter moments – the Doctor’s use of a water pistol against the Pyroviles and the pun about lava were highlights, and you can see that David enjoys these chances for comedy, especially when you have a comedienne standing next to you to banter with.

 

The high calibre of guest stars also continued, with Peter Capaldi’s excellent performance as Caecillius reminding us of the consequences of the disaster at a more human and personal level.  Phil Davis was also very good as Lucius, but sadly didn’t have a great deal of screen time – having particularly enjoyed watching him in Bleak House and The Curse Of Steptoe,  I would have liked to have seen more of his character before he came under the influence of the Pyroviles.

 

I enjoyed the episode, but felt that, as last week, the main storyline of the alien/monster threat largely took a back seat, this time to focus on the Doctor’s wider dilemma of changing past events.  The attention to detail was stunning, and being able to film part of the episode in Italy itself had clearly made a huge difference, but, as with Voyage Of The Damned, I came away feeling slightly downhearted because the episode hadn’t ended on a more positive note.  Then again, you can’t really take away anything positive from such a terrible tragedy, but use everything at your disposal to try, as Donna did, to give as much warning as possible.

 

 

Zoë’s Rating:     7/10

 

 

Name: Alex Werra | Age: 15

 

The historical episodes of Doctor Who are always, in my opinion the best executed. For example, “The Shakespeare Code” of last series and “Family of Blood” which were both set at poignant moments in our past, were arguably two of the best episodes in the series. These kinds of episodes give a writer such vast options, and allow them to put their own spin on history, how unbelievably fun!

“The Fires of Pompeii” was probably one of the most emotional episodes of Doctor Who to date. Of course it still had its action and fantastic comedic aspects, but the sombre reality of the story was never taken away, which really shows the quality of writing on the programme.

General overview of the plot: The Doctor and Donna travel back to Pompeii, and its Volcano day.  As the two travellers locate the missing Tardis they become involved with a slightly dysfunctional family, the Father is a marble merchant, and the daughter can see the future. Throw in a bit of evil stone creatures trying to take over the planet and the Doctor having to make a decision that could change history as we know it, whilst armed with a water pistol, and basically you’ve got “The Fires of Pompeii”.

Next week, I think I’m just going to sit with my box of tissues already next to me, and invest in some waterproof mascara, because I was absolutely bawling my eyes out at the end of this episode! Firstly it was the realisation that all of the people were going to die, and the uncertainty of the safety of the central family. Then it was Catherine Tate’s fantastic performance towards the end of the episode.  Her pleading with the Doctor to just save someone just choked me up completely; I suppose I just wasn’t expecting that amount of believability and depth. Her ability to stand up to the Doctor is a really admirable quality in her character, and it’s quite unique as well. It really shows that she is a woman. What I mean by that is, sure, Rose and Martha stood up to him a bit when necessary, but Donna is her own person, who I think considers herself an equal to the Doctor. Rose and Martha, were in love with him, and younger, but Donna argues for what she thinks is right and is more mature.

The vulnerable admissions made by the Doctor were also quite powerful, his whole “burden of the Timelord” speech and when he talked about how he couldn’t save Gallifrey made me fill up a bit. I know I have a problem, okay!

What I really admire about all the scripts for Doctor Who is the balance between humour, serious drama, and action, it is always spot on, so full credit to Tim Moran for this one, because the story was quite captivating, in the sense that, he has put a completely new spin on Vesuvius.  I loved the aspect of aliens being behind some people turning to stone, and that the Doctor actually made the eruption happen, it was such an intriguing idea.

The one liners in this particular episode were really funny. One of my favourites of this episode being, “do you hang about the shops, you know, TK Maximus. “  And of course when the Doctor produced his water pistol and said “I warn you, I’m armed”.

Once again I feel that the monsters could have been developed a bit more, but if you are taking on the story of Pompeii, it seems only right that you keep the focus on the true reality of the thousands of people that died. I wonder how a small child feels after watching “The Fires of Pompeii” though, and whether they understand the significance and need of the Doctors actions. Because if I was a five year old watching the episode, I think I’d have been traumatised by the idea that my hero had just killed twenty thousand people.

My favourite line: “You just fought her off with a water pistol, I bloody love you!”

Nonetheless, I thought the episode was absolutely “brilliant”.  So I’m going to give it a 9/10.

 

Name: Emma Shepherd | Age: 35

This episode was incredible.    How do you make a sci-fi story about a truly cataclysmic event, the eruption of Vesuvius in AD79 and the resulting destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum without making it insensitive to actual events and not seem ridiculous or kitsch.  Easy, give it to the Doctor Who team.   I noted the comment of when they realised they were in Pompeii the Doctor stating "it's Volcano Day" a Captain Jack comment.   This could have given a kitsch feeling to the script in a "how many in house jokes can we refer to" but it really did not do this it was funny.  The writers of Doctor Who have a wonderful ability to pull such jokes into scripts and re-introduce characters to the series, like K9 and Sarah Jane without making it look demeaning or cheap.  It must be a really hard thing for writer's to achieve the ability to make references to previous comments or stories etc., and not cheapen the script.  It takes real talent.

The script was beautifully written and was I think a real test for Donna's character.  In the first episode I don't think it really hit home the pitfalls of time travel.   It was just an exciting prospect but this episode showed the real downside  an actual horrific event costing thousands of lives and you cannot and must not change the outcome.   In fact as it turned out the Doctor actually started the eruption of Vesuvius.

The sci-fi twist came from aliens living in the actual Volcano that were devising to take over the world.  They were using soothsayers as way of manipulating the people.   The aliens plans would have meant the entire Planet's population was turned to stone forever.   The Doctor was given a dreadful choice reverse the Aliens plans by sacrificing Pompeii and Herculaneum or refuse to act and risk the entire planet.    All through the story Donna was pleading with the Doctor to save the residents of the cities but when faced with this dilemma she assisted in pulling the lever to initiate the eruption.    It was a marvellously acted moving and also very moving.   It brought a reality to the moment.

However there were some really funny moments too mostly to do with the rapport between the Doctor and Donna and the dodgy market holder played by Phil Cornwell who sold the Tardis to the local marble merchant as modern art.   (Not the first time the Tardis has been referred to as art - the art world  was lampooned in a Tom Baker episode when it was displayed in the Louvre gallery in Paris.)

Although the episode was fun I really think this episode was about Donna's change in perception about time travel and the stengthening of her relationship with the Doctor.   He has more than met his match in her and she does question his choices a lot and is very feisty.  She did persuade him to save the marbel merchant and his family.  The change in perception really came with the realisation by her that stark choices have to be made which will feel completely wrong and hard to justify even if there are the correct ones.  It was really genuinely touching and the scene of the eruption at the end was impressive work from the special effects department but it did have  a completely natural feel and the pyroclastic flow was incredible.  It really did have a large scale feel about it.

I just really thought this episode was excellent in all areas, script, direction, acting, costume - the complete package.

9 out of 10 (why 9 and not 10 because although excellent it was just shy of the absolute gold standard of human nature and blink - but I'm just being picky - I could not write a decent Doctor Who script that's for sure!)

Name: Emily Cook | Age: 14

‘She is returning’

’do you go shopping with your mates? Tk Maximus’

‘you fought it off with a water pistol. I bloody love you’