The Fires of Pompeii: Doctor Who Series Four Episode 2

In it the Doctor (played by William Hartnell) displayed his talent for spreading the seeds of destruction by giving Emperor Nero the idea for the great fire of Rome. It will be of great pleasure to fans of continuity to note that the Doctor admits this in his latest adventure, Fires of Pompeii. Of course, back in the sixties it was a purely historical romp with no intrusion from the science fiction element (bar the premise!) and as such the historical stories never gained the type of popularity that those featuring “bug-eyed monsters” did.

Today, historical episodes have been revived but always with the important element of alien threat included and have numbered among the best of the revived series. The sublime “Girl in The Fireplace” was a striking piece of television and “The Shakespeare Code” reproduced Shakespearian England beautifully with a marvelous script and gleeful performances from the guest actors.

So how does the “historical” episode of series four fare when compared to those that have gone before?

The answer is very well indeed, thank you very much. The Doctor and Donna arrive in what they initially believe to be Rome. Due to Donna’s seeming grasp of geography (she must have a few more O Levels than I imagined!) and a few whisps of smoke they soon realize that they are in Pompeii the day before the volcano goes off. Before they can retreat to the safety of the Tardis it is sold off by a street vendor to Caecilius, a local marble merchant who is joyous in his discovery of a new piece of modern art.

The plot then becomes somewhat convoluted to say the least. Needless to say it involves the usual ingredients of a good “Who” yarn. Local sayers have for the last sixteen years been prodigiously correct in their prophecies while mysteriously turning to stone, there are strange rumblings from the depths of the city’s hypercaust system, and a stone-based alien race stranded on earth thousands of years before have been awakened. Plus, in one of the many fine traditions of the show, the Doctor’s companion is kidnapped. But, hey, you saw it, you know the plot!

As ever, everything is sorted out before the end credits roll - or is it? This second outing of the fourth series was a roller-coaster of action and plot. Whereas the series opener, Partners in Crime, was plot-lite this probably had rather too much squeezed in to fifty minutes for the casual viewer to take in. This was not an episode where you could pop to the kitchen and put the kettle on!

This aside, it gave us an insight in to the future dynamics of the relationship between the Doctor and Donna. This lady is going to argue when she feels that he is out of line or making an incorrect judgment. She was initially horrified that the Doctor was willing to let the town’s entire inhabitants perish and felt that they should be warned. As explained to her, the events of Pompeii were fixed in time and the people there were destined to die.

However, they then discovered that Vesuvius was not about to erupt and that the explosion was part of a plot by the aliens to propagate themselves. The two travelers were faced with a dreadful dilemma - the lives of the people of Pompeii or those of the entire planet. When faced with saving the lives of Caecilius and his family the Doctor was much stonier faced - if you forgive the pun. It took Donna to remind him of the quality of mercy.

The Donna Noble character is, as such, shaping up very well. Yes, she did get to scream a lot in this episode in a way which was reminiscent of a few characters from the much loved “The Catherine Tate Show”. However, this was an exceptionally noisy episode and - hey - companions are meant to scream a lot! However, Donna’s character is already demonstrating qualities which Rose and Martha lacked - or at least hadn’t had the time to develop considering their youth. Donna, being more mature and worldly wise (or weary perhaps) than both of them put together has more of the compassion that comes with age and, as such, will be more than a match for the Doctor when he has his more alien moments. She is also much surer of herself than both Rose and Martha. Whereas Rose could simply at times appear willful, Donna seems instead to be strong willed.

It seems almost irrelevant to talk about David Tennant’s performance given that he is the central fixture of the show. Once again, though, he shines from the screen as the “Lord of Time” and runs the gamut of emotions with ferocious speed and goggle-eyed amusement. It would have been good to see him in a toga, perhaps, but (the key note of this episode!) time was against him - and us!

The episode went along with the current trend in historical dramas to give the people of our ancient civilizations a very modern way of talking. It didn’t quite hit the mark here - although it is undesirable to have the actors spouting pseudo-Shakespearian lines I was convinced at times that something funny was going to happen on the way to the forum. The running joke about the locals not understanding “real” Latin and thinking that Donna and the Doctor were Welsh were nice touches. The strong supporting cast did well with their lines, too, and acquitted themselves well.

Gripes? There are a few. The episode itself was way too over ambitious in terms of plot and would have been much better suited as a two parter. Plus, the travelers’ escape from the depths of Vesuvius was rather too “Deus Ex Machina” to be completely believable and I failed to see how they could go through such a pummeling without a broken arm or two - let alone bruise free! Considering, though, how they are eventually perceived by those they rescue, perhaps this is not altogether inappropriate!

The special effects were, as ever, excellent. The volcanic eruption seemed accurate enough, even though (and probably for reasons of plot) the time between the first eruption and the pyroclastic flow bearing down on the city was far too brief. I will have to refer to my copy of Pliny the Younger at some point to see if this is the case or not! Actually I don’t. The first eruption lasted eighteen to twenty hours (with a huge “rain” of pumice) before the pyroclastic flow. This is not a real complaint however - this is drama and concatenation is necessary occasionally.

The scene of the survivors looking down as Pompeii is enveloped was a remarkable piece of work given it was only on screen for a few seconds. The aliens, although they reminded me a little of the trees from Lord Of The Rings, were sufficiently scary - I can imagine a few little feet scurrying behind the settee at their appearance.

Altogether, then, this was an excellent episode. A challenging story line - if only because it demanded full attention be given to follow it - with great special effects and fantastic supporting artists - means that the Ood must deliver something really special next episode to beat this.

As an aside….

During the episode of 5th April 2008 something was spotted by a reader of these reviews, Paul Foz. Did anyone else notice the connection with another TV Series? Which popular comedy character advocated eating a certain “something” to lose weight? For those of you still not in the know, look at the four words behind Nanny Foster’s head! Any connection here with Little Britain? Yeah, but no, but yeah….