Doctor Who: The Fires of Pompeii (4x02)

[fajrdrako]

I really liked James Moran's script for the series 2 Torchwood episode, "Sleeper". I hesitated to have high hopes for something similarly good with Doctor Who - but there were some bits that were exceptionally satisfying, that put that little chill up my back such as Doctor Who does at its best.

1. There is something about seeing characters whose body parts - especially their arms - were turning to stone that gets to me. Because having one's body 'turning to stone' is often the way scleroderma is described - a disease I acquired in childhood. My left arm was affected rather like Evelina's - though I'm happy to say it never turned into real stone, or turned grey, or gave me the curse of prophecy. It just seems weird to see something happening to characters in a fantasy that echoes what happened to me.
   
   
2. I loved it that the Prophecies referred to a future that wasn't going to happen - that was circumvented by the acts of the Doctor and the events of the episode. That really set up the sense of a turning point.
   
   
3. Interesting that Donna thought she could evacuate the city - even if they would listen to her, doesn't she know the old dictum I learned in Superman comics of my childhood, that you can't change the past? But this set up an interesting exploration of what and who the Doctor can save and what and who he cannot. Of course, even when he does 'save' a situation, it can be a disaster - such as the events of "The Long Game" leading to a new Dalek invasion.
   
   Moreover, why should anyone believe her?
   
   Donna's attempts to help the Pompeians seemed both naive and brave.
   
   
4. There are moments when I don't like Donna and moments when I like her very much indeed. But she makes me miss Martha and even Rose.
   
   
5. I loved the visual image of the priestesses putting their hands over their eyes with the eyes painted on their hands.
   
   
6. When the Doctor called it "Volcano Day" I felt a pang of memory for Captain Jack, pulling off his con jobs in Pompeii as "Volcano Day" approaches. He must have just left. Is it true that the Romans did not have the world "volcanus" before Pomepeii erupted? They certainly had the concept; there are all sorts of volcanoes in the Mediterranean. The Greeks called it ηφαίστειο or ifaisteio - I bet the Etruscans had a word for it, too. It always bothers me etymologically when dictionaries act as if language began with Latin.
   
   
7. I loved the visual effect of circuitry mixed up with Roman marbles.
   
   
8. Attempts to explain the TARDIS' translation techniques were fun. I loved it that Doctor kept using Latin phrases and everyone kept thinking he was talking Celtic.
   
   
9. Caecilius reminded me a little of Falco's father in the Lindsey Davis novels. He and his family didn't ring very true as ancient Romans, and where were the family slaves? But the anachronisms made for a certain amusement.
   
   
10. Loved the oracles' references to Gallifrey, the Time Lord, the thing on Donna's back (what?), and the ominous "she is returning".
    
    
11. Medusa Cascade? Should I understand that? There was a significant Medusa theme in The Sarah Jane Adventures> episode "The Eye of the Gorgon".
    
    
12. I liked the Doctor more than I did in "Partners in Crime", I think, though it's still missing something I have come to expect and look for - probably because his rapport with Donna is quite unlike that with Rose or Martha or Astrid. I'm not complaining; I know I just have to live with it.
    
    
13. I liked it Caecilius made the Doctor and Donna his household gods - yet another example of the deification of of our heroes.

I realize as I talk about it that I am more or less expecting not to particularly like series 4 - I'm already missing aspects of Doctor Who that existed in the past few years and are gone now. I'm like some sort of old fogey viewer, and really, it's only my fourth series. But in the first and second episodes of Doctor Who last year, I was just so excited about Martha and how much I loved her. It's quite a contrast in my reactions.

Part of it is that I am assured that the aspect I like most in the show - developing affection between Doctor and companion - cannot and will not happen; it's guaranteed to be static. So all I have left is the development of revelations about the Doctor's character and psychology. Is that enough to hold my interest? If it continues to be as well written as this episode from James Moran, yes, probably it is.

But I still have the sense of "my show" slipping away.

Comments

[gillo]

Attempts to explain the TARDIS' translation techniques were fun. I loved it that Doctor kept using Latin phrases and everyone kept thinking he was talking Celtic.

There were one or two nice Celtic in-jokes too - "There's lovely" is a very South Wales phrase. Though Donna's Latin accent was so vile that anyone could have been excused for not understanding. One lovely touch is that the family - Caecilius etc - were named after the family in the Cambridge Latin course, which is the most widely-used textbook in schools which still teach Latin. In the text-book the family lives in Pompeii too!


There were deliberate references to

Only Fools and Horses

, a long-running, hugely popular comedy drama about a bunch of South London shysters - the street seller who sold the Tardis actually used a catchphrase from the series, "Loverly jubbly". Apparently RTD was very enthusiastic about having Astérix-style jokes and references in it too. Not sure I wholly approve, because of the risk of trivialising the storyline, but it wasn't too intrusive, and did help to emphasise what the Doctor said, that "Ancient Rome" wasn't ancient then - all times are modern to the people living in them.
Caecilius reminded me a little of Falco's father in the Lindsey Davis novels. He and his family didn't ring very true as ancient Romans, and where were the family slaves? But the anachronisms made for a certain amusement.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

"There's lovely" is a very South Wales phrase.

Is it? I missed that one entirely.

hough Donna's Latin accent was so vile that anyone could have been excused for not understanding.

True!

One lovely touch is that the family - Caecilius etc - were named after the family in the Cambridge Latin course, which is the most widely-used textbook in schools which still teach Latin.

Oh, that's perfect! I haven't seen the Cambridge Latin course, though I'm told it's good. I learned Latin with "Latin for Canadian Schools" - would have to scour my brain for the names of the recurring characters. I do have my text book around somewhere.

Apparently RTD was very enthusiastic about having Astérix-style jokes and references in it too. Not sure I wholly approve, because of the risk of trivialising the storyline

Good point: I'm not sure whether the comedy and the action fit well together. Except for some lovely moments of intensity, it had a light tone that didn't lead one to take it seriously - all the worse because of the lava men and circuitry/TARIS 'art'; again I had the feel that this was being plotted for the kids, not the adults of the audience.

But the anachronisms made for a certain amusement.

Overall, the story was fun.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

"There's lovely" is a very South Wales phrase.

Yes - that was one of the Romans translating backwards from something the Doc said in Latin. The other one was when the Doc said "Ipso facto" and Caecilius took a moment to translate in his head, and said "...Look you..." - another Welsh phrase.

Well - there are other possibilities, though those are two biggies. A planetary Rift in space and time?

Possibly, since that's what The Master was referring to at The Medusa Cascade -- that The Doctor had sealed The Rift there.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The other one was when the Doc said "Ipso facto" and Caecilius took a moment to translate in his head, and said "...Look you..." - another Welsh phrase.

I find that most endearing.

That's what The Master was referring to at The Medusa Cascade -- that The Doctor had sealed The Rift there.

Yes. And 'cascade' is an interesting word to use there - implying something that, once set in motion, continues or accelerates its effect. Makes me think of the Doctor flipping the cards so they fly all over the place, back in "Rose".

[gillo]

Is it? I missed that one entirely.

There were two or three Welsh accent asides after Latin tags - there was another after the Doctor said "status quo" too.

Oh, that's perfect! I haven't seen the Cambridge Latin course, though I'm told it's good.

My younger daughter watched it with me this afternoon and got quite excited when she realised Quintus filius Caecilii est!

again I had the feel that this was being plotted for the kids, not the adults of the audience.

Yes, I felt that too. Apart from Donna's insistence that these were real people who were going to die there was rather a lot of flippancy, I felt.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Quintus filius Caecilii est!

I watched it this afternoon with a friend who'd used that text, and she recognized the family right off.

Apart from Donna's insistence that these were real people who were going to die there was rather a lot of flippancy, I felt.

Yes. Of course I liked the serious bits, but so much of it was light in tone - shooting the Lava Men with a water pistol, for example.