DW: Episode 4.2

Pompeii, Pompeii, Pompeii... what more can we say? It couldn't stay. But it was revived the Doctor way...


James Moran (or RTD rewriting...) does try a few interesting things. The language issue is addressed again, with an interesting take on the idea of speaking Latin, although the Celtic gag goes on a little too long. And when the Doctor said it's just like SoHo, he really wasn't kidding. Fortunately the night life of Pompeii isn't up to much.

But it's all a very quick romp through the imminent volcaning of Pompeii (so quick night seems to pass in a matter of about an hour) which is lovely and light-hearted (yeah, the sooth/counter-sooth scene was amusing) until the last ten minutes when there's is whiplash change of mood and suddenly everyone can't get morose enough. (Frankly, I do prefer the Big Finish version... which isn't contradicted by this, interestingly enough.) The destruction of Pompeii is made a crucial story point, and is a very harsh lesson for Donna on the intricacies of time travel. The ending, while dark in an abstract way, does manage to avoid being dark in a more concrete way, but I never doubted the Doctor would go back to save them as otherwise it's too bleak a message for the kiddies.

Donna is less brash in this episode, but note that this is the first time we've seen someone else write her, so I'm not sure how much input RTD had into her. At the moment, she can be broadly summarised as "argumentative", but hopefully we'll see her character fill out (and from the looks of it, her dress might full out more and all too) as the stories continue.

It is a very NuWho take on Pompeii, and we see they are sticking with the "Human vs Aliens" plot of every episode. Come on new pastures...


Next week: Everyone ready for a really Ood time? Oh dear, they're making the Doctor/Donna marriage into a running gag...

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