Doctor Who S30E02: The Fires Of Pompeii [Spoilers]

[Crazedwraith]

Next week's episode looks a smidgen ood, though.

....

....

I see what you did there.

[El Moose Monstero]

I generally enjoyed that; the ending certainly. The start felt a bit rushed and I didn't much care for the crow-barred 'ZOMG, teenage angst just like modern day' thing, but once they'd got that set up, it was all quite good.

Was half expecting to see the family killed at the end in the flash back to Rome; sort of a fixed point thing, time line preservation or something.

[Admiral Valdemar]

I thought the end was great, although they do seem to have nicked the CGI from Super Volcano.

How? Supervolcano concerned Yellowstone, which is subterranean. Vesuvius is a peaked volcano. They must've used the same model, but it certainly wasn't the same footage.

Next week's episode looks a smidgen ood, though.

Very clever, Mister Bond.

[El Moose Monstero]

Anyone willing to lock up Barrowmen in a garage for a year or so? The bugger is everywhere these days, heh.

Was Barrowman in this episode? Did I blink and miss him? Or was that a reference to something else. Would have been a nice touch to see him in passing, since he had referred to using it as a point for scamming time agents.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Was Barrowman in this episode? Did I blink and miss him? Or was that a reference to something else. Would have been a nice touch to see him in passing, since he had referred to using it as a point for scamming time agents.

Before DW. Check the schedule.

[Lost Soal]

Anyone willing to lock up Barrowmen in a garage for a year or so? The bugger is everywhere these days, heh.

Was Barrowman in this episode? Did I blink and miss him? Or was that a reference to something else. Would have been a nice touch to see him in passing, since he had referred to using it as a point for scamming time agents.

He was hosting the previous show

[Crazedwraith]

Phil Davis seems to be popping up a lot lately for me. Ashes to Ashes, Curse of Steptoe and now Doctor Who.

[Crazy_Vasey]

That was fantastic. Now, I just wonder if that marble carving of the Doctor, Donna, and the TARDIS will show up again. It'd give an archaeologist the absolute shits if they dug it up.

[Admiral Valdemar]

That was fantastic. Now, I just wonder if that marble carving of the Doctor, Donna, and the TARDIS will show up again. It'd give an archaeologist the absolute shits if they dug it up.

What're you betting Torchwood has it in a vault somewhere?

[Bedlam]

I think I liked this weeks episode slightly less than last weeks but it was still good.

I was sort of hoping for a pure historical rather than Sci-Fi factors being important. I guess that just wouldn't go down well with the current audience now that the series has lost its to educate banner.

Interesting how the TARDIS translation system works unlike the Star Trek version it doesn't seem to know when to stop translating or when it does it picks welsh for some unknown reason (unknown in universe anyway).

I though the Roman family just like a modern day family thing was going to get annoying but I think it was pulled off. Probably helped that there life wasn't that much of the story.

Kathrine Tate is growing on me, I liked the bit when she was going to be sacrificed, the setting the mountain to explode bit and the TARDIS scene when she asked the Doctor to go back to save the family.

[NecronLord]

Interesting how the TARDIS translation system works unlike the Star Trek version it doesn't seem to know when to stop translating or when it does it picks welsh for some unknown reason (unknown in universe anyway).

Could just be because it amuses the old girl.

I though the Roman family just like a modern day family thing was going to get annoying but I think it was pulled off. Probably helped that there life wasn't that much of the story.

I think they did that about right.

Kathrine Tate is growing on me, I liked the bit when she was going to be sacrificed, the setting the mountain to explode bit and the TARDIS scene when she asked the Doctor to go back to save the family.

Likewise.

[Crazy_Vasey]

I liked the way they neatly paralleled the decision Nine was faced with during the whole bit on the space-station. The lives of 20,000 against all of humanity as opposed to the billions on Earth versus the the entire universe. And even with the whole 'rar, no second chances, I'll wipe you out just like that' bit he's had going on at times he still struggled to push that lever.

[Big Orange]

With the Time Lords and Daleks out of the picture, I imagine all sorts of other races have started flourishing to fill in the void.

This was a very good episode that struck a good balance between good acting, impressive production values, and decent writing; the ending nearly moved me to real tears, as highly naff as it sounds.

I'm getting the impression that the Shadow Proclamation is now one of the big kids on the block after the Dalek Empire and Time Lords both blew each other up (I mean two Type IV civilizations annihilating each other overnight would leave one hell of a vacuum), while this season's Big Bad (that is vanishing planets & perhaps connected to Rose) is hopefully something very inscrutable, cosmically vast, and HP Lovecraft alien (more so than Satan or the Weeping Angels). Let's hope the Shadow Proclamation doesn't turn into crap like the Torchwood Institute did in it's too slowly improving spin-off.

Admiral Valdemar are you fearful about RTD's last two episodes like professional whinger Stark is? While he often tears into stuff that is not especially bad or objectively good, I share his concern that Davies could ruin the last episode of S4 like he ruined the potentially classic "Last of the Time Lords" (with Jesus-Christ-Super-Doctor coupled with the almost arbitary erasing of the Master's year of terror and genocide, but the rest of "LotTL" was a mostly entertaining and relatively well written romp).

[Stark]

Being terrified of Davies' insanity and hokey writing is clearly restricted to me, you professional stupid fucking idea spouter.

If I was a complete retard like Orange, I would say that to tie all the themes together in a stupid way you'd have to make the Doctor's perception of time mean that he's referring the the shadow proclamation 'before' he creates it, and that it's actually organised in response to the (get this) 'inscrutable, cosmically vast, and HP Lovecraft alien', which is probably just Rose destroying the universe to come back as she is now evil because she turned into Hyde.

Sadly, my brain doesn't work in that way. It's called 'error correction'.

[Vympel]

Caecilius est in Metella! Quintus est in via!

Ah. Year 7 Latin.

(for those who don't know anything about Latin, that particular Roman family actually existed. In reality they died.)

[NecronLord]

(for those who don't know anything about Latin, that particular Roman family actually existed. In reality they died.)

Nonsense. Obviously they just went to Rome, and we don't happen to have any preserved records of their later life. Duh.

[NecronLord]

I'm getting the impression that the Shadow Proclamation is now one of the big kids on the block after the Dalek Empire and Time Lords both blew each other up (I mean two Type IV civilizations annihilating each other overnight would leave one hell of a vacuum), while this season's Big Bad (that is vanishing planets & perhaps connected to Rose) is hopefully something very inscrutable, cosmically vast, and HP Lovecraft alien (more so than Satan or the Weeping Angels). Let's hope the Shadow Proclamation doesn't turn into crap like the Torchwood Institute did in it's too slowly improving spin-off.

... Why do you want the guys whose authority the Doctor invokes to be villainous and alien? They're pretty much by default good guys you know... Frankly, I'd think the clue is in the name, no one knows who actually Proclaimed it but it being such a good framework for interstellar disputes that people use it and enforce it anyway.

[Rye]

I thought it was pretty good, though I felt the "I have to kill these to save the world" was a bit rushed or something. Generally entertaining overall, though, and I liked the idea if not fully the execution. Also, Tate is really not growing on me, I hate her squawky accent and it reminds me of the old "Britain's only characters come from within the M25" tradition.

[Teebs]

Caecilius est in Metella! Quintus est in via!

Ah. Year 7 Latin.

(for those who don't know anything about Latin, that particular Roman family actually existed. In reality they died.)

Damn someone got there first. The whole high school Latin course that's most commonly used in the UK is based around following Caecilius and Metalla's family until they die in eruption.

[Crazedwraith]

I thought it was pretty good, though I felt the "I have to kill these to save the world" was a bit rushed or something. Generally entertaining overall, though, and I liked the idea if not fully the execution. Also, Tate is really not growing on me, I hate her squawky accent and it reminds me of the old "Britain's only characters come from within the M25" tradition.

Unless you're a Timelord...

[Rye]

Yes, the alien doctor had a northern accent for one season, not Laaaaaahndan like 100% of the companions in all the recent series.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Yes, the alien doctor had a northern accent for one season, not Laaaaaahndan like 100% of the companions in all the recent series.

I agree. This London wankfest in TV is getting positively lame. I wouldn't mind so much if Tennant used his native accent, but he only does that when out of character, like Christian Bale. Quite why I should accept London as being the only place to find acting talent and characters I don't know. They don't even bloody film in London because of the rates, preferring to use Cardiff when on Earth.

Tate may not be the annoyance I was half-expecting, but she is still a Cockney geezer, and I'm hoping the last companion from the Thames locale for a while. Why not go for a foreigner even for one season?

[Chardok]

Is it me or did they steal the models for the pyro-whatchacallits from Oblivion? (Atronach, anyone?)

This ep COULD have been awesome, but they spent FAR too much time on irrelevant horse manure. 3/5

[Chardok]

Annnnd I'm a moron. Hit 2. Meant 3.

[Bounty]

I felt the pacing was a bit off. By the midpoint I was checking the time and then bam, the ending switches gears and crams about half a dozen interesting ideas in way too short a timespan. Overall though, I was surprised how moving the episode turned out to be; for a second there I really thought they were going to abandon that family. Say what you want about Tate, but she emotes "despair" really well.

The FX looked like they were at least in part recycled from that big "Pompeii" series the BBC did a few years back. Not that that matters, this looked better than it had any right to.

I'm really warming to the idea of the Shadow Proclamation being the thread for this series. Galactic politics can make for an interesting arc, and after three series of what was essentially anarchy there's lots of potential for re-introducing some sort of overarching authority.

The main thing I wasn't sold on was how they haphazardly tied in the precognition theme and the people-turning-to-stone thing. The concept itself is sound, but I can't help but feel it needed one more rewrite to make it feel less disjointed.

Overall, great stuff - easily a 4.