DW 506: The Vampires of Venice

That was a lot better than I thought it would be. Matt Smith should get an award for the opening teaser alone!

The very, very basic plot is as standard as it gets. Someone's relative is in a school/institution and now they are getting worried, and something else is going on behind the closed doors. I was struck by that when we saw the father (name escapes me) asking for Isabella and the Doctor saw this, and I thought "that's as basic a hook as you get".

Aside from that, vampires that aren't vampires. Does make it more interesting! Vampires have been overdone, in Doctor Who and elsewhere, so bit of a twist added that extra hint of freshness. As for Venice, kept flashing back to Stones of..., especially when she wanted to sink it. Is there something about Venice that suggests to people that it should become overly waterlogged?

But the plot doesn't matter, 'cos the characters were great, especially the Doctor, Amy and Rory. I wonder how much of this was Toby, and how much was a Moffat polish. It does seem like Rory being a "typical male companion", ie useless. Although the Doctor was more keen that usual to keep him around (how much of that is so Amy would affectinate up Rory and not the Doctor...). Haven't read up, but I suspect that Rory is only going to be in a few episodes, so not sure how the whole wedding plotline will be resolved (beyond going badly).

(BTW, I'm assuming most British viewers are going "Woo! Helen McCrory is Rosanna Calvierri!" I have no idea who she is, so I'm not.)

Anyway, good episode! And longer than normal! Yay!


Next week: They are inside the TARDIS. Or are they? To be honest, I'd like the trailers shorter. Just a hint, don't give anything away.

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