10.33: The Fires of Pompeii
In which Peter Capaldi follows a path laid down by Colin Baker, and Catherine Tate reminds us why they cast her.
Broadcast: April 2008
Watched: September 2021
“I am Spartacus.” “And so am I.”
Imagine a version of The Aztecs where the Doctor personally starts ripping people’s hearts out to keep history on track.
The culture shock stuff is well handled – the joke that Donna speaking Latin sounds like Welsh, the family from the Cambridge Latin course, a good mix of “They’re people just like us!” and “The past was really weird” (household gods, ants in honey). Love the Doctor’s minor freak out that the prophecies are true because he’s used to knowing more than everyone else.
Feels like an odd choice structurally to have both the Sisterhood and Lucius, who seem to be opposing factions, working for the aliens: the only reason to have them both in there seems to be some weird ancient Roman battle of the sexes stuff. Not for the first time, defeating the villains is easy – literally pressing a lever – the story is about whether or not the Doctor can bring himself to press it. (In that, it echoes Parting, and is clearly an influence on Day, too, with the Doctor and Donna doing it together.) He does that – at minute 38 again! – and then it’s all about consequences.
It’s a brilliant watch – Tate is amazing trying to save people in the last reel; the moment I realised quite what an amazing actress she was is her delivery of “Not the whole town” – but again it is slightly falling into the late RTD era trap of thinking the Doctor being sad about his responsibilities to time matters more than all the people who are about to literally die.
Other things:
More more missing planets. No missing bees this week.
Future regulars Peter Capaldi and Karen Gillan (she’s basically a baby here – what, 20?) both make their debuts.
The actress playing Metella also plays Big Finish’s favourite Nazi, Elizabeth Klein. Huh.
LOL that another empire emerging from within Rome and eclipsing it is literally what happened. Looking forward to the sequel about the Pyrovile power behind the Byzantine throne.
Why is Caecilius so convinced the Doctor can save them? Why does the TARDIS start before Donna is even on board? God this Doctor’s a prick sometimes.
Talking of which – the epilogue with the household gods is one of those things that made everyone wonder if the Doctor was in for a humbling that never really arrived, wasn’t it.
The bit where Caecilius coins the word “volcano” in between tears is a really weird tonal mismatch.