caz963 | DW Rewatch - 4x02, The Fires of Pompeii (Reply)

As usual, the TARDIS hasn’t quite ended up where it should have done. This is yet another of those always-unanswered questions in Who – how come the TARDIS will sometimes end up in the right place at the right time, but other times, it’s way off? Not that I’m complaining – I’m not that much of a stickler – it’s just something I ponder from time to time.

So here we are -

Ancient Rome!

One of the perks of being the Doctor (!) must be to see the reactions of his companions the first time they arrive somewhere like this.

You can tell he’s getting as much of a kick out of Donna’s reaction as he is from actually being there himself.

Finally!

Are we in Epcot?

I think this is a wonderful episode. Apart from the (as usual) fabulous interaction between Donna and the Doctor, he has to face an incredible moral dilemma. I’ve said elsewhere in these recaps that the show is usually about the decisions that the Doctor has to make on his travels; some of them are more difficult than others and this one definitely falls into that category.

There were moans, I think, at the time about the language used by the ‘Romans’ in the episode, in that it was too colloquial or something like that.

Well, okay, so having Phil Cornwell as a classical version of Del Boy might have been pushing it, but the bit about Donna speaking Welsh was funny.

Volcano day

Although James Moran is credited as the writer for this episode, it appears that Rusty did in fact write a fair amount of it, because Moran's script wasn't ready in time. In The Writer's Tale RTD reprints (with Moran's permission) both his and Moran's version of the opening scene, together with Moran's reaction to the rewrite. It must be so hard, as a writer to have that happen, but Moran is very complimentary - and Rusty's version is about ten times better. The dialogue is snappier and the Doctor and Donna are completely them from the outset. As EP and head writer, it's not uncommon for RTD to have 'polished' scripts; it's just interesting to find out that some of them received more than a mere surface veneer. Also - the water pistol was completely his idea!

DONNA
You're kidding. Don't tell me the TARDIS is gone.

THE DOCTOR
Okay.

DONNA
Where is it then?

THE DOCTOR
You told me not to tell you.

DONNA
Don't get clever in Latin.

Such an old joke, but they work it wonderfully

The interaction between the members of the Caecilius family may have been a bit ‘modern’, but hey, this is Doctor Who, not I, Claudius.

This bit - Positions! always reminds me of Glynis Johns in Mary Poppins!!

Something lurks below…

Donna’s looking for a bell to ring. I’m sure there’s a dirty joke in there somewhere…

You want a what?

THE DOCTOR
Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens happens. There is no stopping it.

DONNA
Says who?

THE DOCTOR
Says me.

DONNA
What, and you're in charge?

TARDIS, Time Lord... yeah.

Donna, human... no! I don't need your permission. I'll tell them myself.

Love the way they mirror each others’ actions there

Typical bloke. Flounces off in the middle of a domestic. Is it any wonder people think they’re married?

Meanwhile, at the temple, the members of the Gene Simmons fan club are genning up on the blue box and its inhabitants

Mr and Mrs Spartacus

Brother and sister? Eeew… (worse than being married!)

The marble inspector

Caveat emptor

Oh, you're Celtic. There's lovely. The way Peter Capaldi says that (complete with Welsh accent) always cracks me up!

The Doctor is all for buggering off as fast as possible - but Donna thinks he should prescribe a holiday for everyone

Uh-oh. The eye-rub. He’s getting annoyed

But it’s still his fault. (Oh, Donna…)

Time for some pretty. Just ‘cause.

But here’s the local soothsayer. Come to… er… say some sooths.

We’ll be off then

Ooh – shiny!

This is a really great scene that flips from being, well, flippant to spooky at the same speed as one of Ten's mood changes.

She’s from Barcelona :-P

They’re laughing at us. Those two, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us.

And now it’s a case of one-up-soothsaying- er... manship

EVELINA
Doctor. That's your name.

THE DOCTOR
How did you know that?

Man from… Gallifrey

And you, daughter of London… there is something on your back

Even the word "Doctor" is false. Your real name is hidden. It burns in the stars of the cascade of Medusa herself. You are a lord, sir. A lord... of time...

Poor Evelina. She should get some ointment for that.

What’s up with the central heating? (Also - pretty)

Our hero is all for heading over to Lucius’ to find out what’s going on.

And he’s not above a bit of bribery

A bit of girl-talk. TK Maximus. Heh.

Donna tries to tell Evelina about Vesuvius, but the sisters get to hear all of it as well. They’re not pleased.

The Doctor makes a discovery

He just has to work out what exactly he's discovered

Busted

THE DOCTOR
What have you got?

LUCIUS
Enlighten me.

THE DOCTOR
What? The soothsayer doesn't know?

LUCIUS
The seed may float on the breeze in any direction.

THE DOCTOR
Yeah, I knew you were gonna say that. But... it's an energy converter.

LUCIUS
An energy converter of what?

THE DOCTOR
I don't know. Isn't that brilliant? I love not knowing, keeps me on my toes.
It must be awful, being a prophet. Waking up every morning, "Is it raining? Yes, it is. I said so." Takes all the fun out of life. But who designed this, Lucius? Hmm?

Yeah. The armless gag. We all knew it was coming :-)

Suspicious rumblings underground

Get out!

Nobody listens to him. Again.

Talk to me!

While the Doctor is distracted…

Quintus to the rescue!

Just as well they hung around…

Where’s Donna?

As you’d expect, she’s giving her captors what for - This prattling will cease

That’ll be the day

To my mind, this little exchange is quintessential Ten and Donna. They’ve been together for what, a day or two at this point? – and they’re already comfortable enough with each other to joke around in a situation like this.

You alright, love?

Yeah, yeah... what time d'you call this?

*shrug* Bloody traffic

The high priestess

The whys and wherefores – but despite the newfound gift of prophecy, the sisters still can’t see tomorrow’s eruption.

I’m armed! Look at Donna’s face :-)

He’s armed… but not dangerous (well, not with the water pistol, anyway)

Best line of the episode. You fought her off with a water pistol. I bloody love you.

A choice. Someone must make a choice. The most terrible choice.

Donna still wants to know why they can’t evacuate Pompeii

THE DOCTOR
Some things are fixed, some things are in flux. Pompeii is fixed.

DONNA
How do you know which is which?

THE DOCTOR
Because that's how I see the universe. Every waking second, I can see what is, what was... what could be, what must not. That's the burden of the Time Lord, Donna. I'm the only one left.

*wibble*

Even after that, she still can’t let it go.

Rocky IV. Heh.

He can’t resist a bad joke, can he?

Then the whole planet is at stake. Thank you, that's all I needed to know.

THE DOCTOR
There is no volcano. Vesuvius is never going to erupt. The Pyrovile are stealing all its power. They're gonna use it to take over the world.

DONNA
But you can change it back.

THE DOCTOR
Well, I can avert the system, so the volcano will blow them up, yes, but... that's the choice, Donna. It's Pompeii or the world.

And there we have it. The terrible choice. This scene is the highlight of the episode, the emotional centre. It really brings home to Donna – and to us – that nothing is ever black and white and that everything is a tradeoff. The bigger picture.

Oh my God.

If Pompeii is destroyed, then it's not just history, it's me. I make it happen.

His face as the realisation hits kills me

This bit gets me every time. After all the arguing, Donna steps up to the plate wonderfully. She doesn’t moan, she doesn’t give him any more grief. She thinks they’re about to die, but she knows what’s at stake and she knows what they have to do.

But even more importantly – she’s not going to let the Doctor shoulder the burden on his own.

(The FX shots here of the smoke and ash rolling through the skies are pretty damn awesome.)

Our heroes have escaped the blast -

- but they’re not out of the woods yet.

You’d think that having just survived the equivalent of a nuclear explosion, Donna would want to get the hell out of there

But after all that, she wants to help. She’s panicked, bewildered, shocked… but she’s not thinking about herself.

Back at the villa

This scene makes the Doctor look like an utter bastard. I think it’s meant to to an extent – to remind us that he’s not human, and of course to draw such a stark contrast with Donna’s compassion, empathy and humanity. But I think there’s a bit more to it. He’s still obeying the rules, even though he hates them; he’s seen so much death, he’s caused so many deaths – not just today, but throughout his life – that he just wants to get away and not see any more of them. There’s another twenty thousand people on his conscience as it is, and he just wants to get the hell out.

I can’t think that there was anyone in doubt of Catherine Tate’s abilities as a “serious” actress after this. I remember being totally stunned. She’s amazing.