The Curse of the Black Spot

"What kind of rubbish pirates are you?"

Writer: Steve Thompson

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 7th May 2013

Series: 6.03

Synopsis 

The Doctor, Amy and Rory stumble aboard a 16th century pirate ship. But there's a mystery occurring as the enigmatic Siren hunts the wounded and diseased, the crew are getting smaller and it's not long before the Doctor has to walk the plank..

Verdict 

The Curse of the Black Spot is a very good episode to continue along series six nicely after an incredibly spectacular opening double episode. The setting is terrific on paper with a 17th century pirate ship stranded at sea. I liked the minimal similarities to The Pirate Planet at the start with the Doctor being forced to walk the plank after a humorous introduction. I really loved the prequel to this episode and I think it set up the suspense immediately! The Doctor noticing the small crew compared with the size of the ship was wonderful - it's little things like that and the way Smith delivers them that makes him my favourite Doctor by quite a way to be honest. Amy's attire for this episode was sensational. She really did look staggering! The sword scenes were excellent and I loved how the touch of a sword was feared considerably more than a bullet from a gun. The first appearance of the Siren was intriguing as she looked so beautiful and elegant in the green limelight only to then blast the holder of the black spot into nothingness, or so we thought. Her numerous arrivals though were tremendous. Captain Avery was the standout guest character by quite some distance and I love how this story is the take on his mysterious disappearance after his treasure quest in India. The fact that the story acts as a somewhat loose prequel to The Smugglers is just stunning! The fact that its inadvertent somehow makes it better I think! From 1966 to 2011, the much earlier produced serial now acts as a loose sequel to an a Eleventh Doctor serial. Wondrrful. Just wonderful. The plot itself was good and despite it being patchy in places I thought it largely worked well. The fear of the Siren was magnificent and it was almost confusing that someone so bright and beautiful could be the villain, but of course that was eventually disproved when the truth was revealed. The toeing of the TARDIS was quite funny and the idea of the Doctor, Amy and Rory being trapped on a pirate ship in the 16th century was great! Of course, we knew the TARDIS was going to come back but now we had something extra to aim towards which was good. The discovery of Toby was good and I really liked his character. Being the son of Avery, I loved his shock and disgust at the fact his father was sailing under the black flag. I was intrigued by him even more when it was discovered he had the cursed black spot too. The revelation that the Siren used reflections, not water, as a portal was terrific and I loved how once the TARDIS was gone and then Rory was drowning that the Doctor, Amy and Avery took a huge risk. They too cut their hands slightly so the Siren would come for them. And that risk paid off. They'd been transported across planes. Same place but a different universe right on the point of collision with the one as we know it. I loved how the Siren turned out to be a doctor rather than a killer. She tended for the sick. The abandoned spaceship was intriguing and I loved how she was like the TARDIS team - lost but couldn't help but help. (That's a mouthful!). After the excellent scenes in the TARDIS with Avery, I loved how he would stay in this universe with his dying son who would be protected under the help of the Siren. But it wasn't just his son he'd stay with, it was also the rest of the crew! Nobody died! The climax with Amy saving Rory was emotional excellence and I think this was certainly one of Rory's better episodes. He was at the centre after getting the black spot and then being saved. The series arcs of the Amy pregnancy and Eye-Patch Lady were nicely implanted too. Overall, very good with some flaws in places - the main one being the sonic working on wood! But all in all, brilliant.

Rating: 8/10