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Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii
by Brad Trechak, posted May 3rd 2008 7:00AM
(S04E03) The Doctor and Donna land in ancient Pompeii, and it's Volcano Day (a phrase used by Christopher Eccleston a few seasons ago to describe when Mount Vesuvius erupted). As usual with Doctor Who, a race of aliens are involved and this time they're called the Pyrovile. They are trying to harness the power of the volcano for their own nefarious needs and are turning local humans into creatures like them as a side-effect.This was a very enjoyable episode. The plot was pretty standard for Doctor Who, but the pacing was solid and the characters were well-done. What really made it stand out was Donna's behavior. Would any other companion have reacted the way that she did when she was tied to a table and about to be stabbed in the chest by a dagger?
I enjoyed the subtle winks to the classic series (as well as other television series) sprinkled through the episode. The Doctor confessed to involvement in Great Fire of Rome, which is reference to the William Hartnell 1965 episode "The Romans" which involved the Doctor leaving just as the fire was starting. The group of female psychics called the Sybilline Sisterhood was reminiscent of the Sisterhood of Karn from the Tom Baker era of the show (remember him? The one with the scarf?). The TARDIS is, at one point, appraised as a piece of art similar to the Tom Baker episode "City of Death".
David Tennant uses the line "she's from Barcelona" straight out of Fawlty Towers (and John Cleese, who played Basil Fawlty, was the art appraiser from "City of Death"). Of course, they also quote the famous movie line "I am Spartacus".
The theme of disappearing planets comes back into play as the viewer learns that the Pyrovile home planet was destroyed. The Medusa Cascade, which has been referenced in previous episodes of the new series, was also mentioned. The pattern for the season slowly emerges.
Wasn't that a flattering dress that Catherine Tate wore later in the episode? I haven't seen that much cleavage on Doctor Who since Nicola Bryant.
The sets for this episode were fantastic. It was helpful that Doctor Who was able to use some of the sets from the HBO series Rome. Thankfully, the set fire that held up production for a little while didn't stop things entirely.
It was quite amusing to learn how translation works when traveling with the Doctor. When Donna intentionally tried to speak Latin, it came across to the natives as Celtic. If memory serves, that was the language spoken in England at the time. In effect, the ancient Romans (or Pompeiians, or whatever they're called) are saying that she's English.
It was the little touches for this episode that made for such great entertainment. The golem-like Pyrovile who attacked the Doctor and the family of the sculptor Lucius was wearing a stone Roman centurion helmet.
In the end, the episode was about making moral choices. The Doctor had to sacrifice Pompeii to save the world. He was prepared to let everyone in the city die until Donna became his conscience and convinced him to save Lucius and his family. If you ever watch the early episodes of Doctor Who, the Doctor is presented as cold and inhuman (a theme that has been returned to on several occasions including last year's "Human Nature" two-parter). It is obvious that traveling with humans serves the dual purpose of alleviating his sense of loneliness and having a "humanizing" effect on him.
| Yes, it shows their feminine independence | |
|---|---|
| No, it's sexist. |
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