The Girl in the Fireplace

"Why are you in my fireplace?"

Writer: Steven Moffat

Format: TV

Broadcast: 06 May 2006

Series: 2.04

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose, Mickey

Synopsis

Madame de Pompadour finds the court of Versailles under attack from sinister clockwork killers. Her only hope of salvation lies with the man who has haunted her dreams since childhood – a mysterious stranger known only as the Doctor...

Verdict

The Girl in the Fireplace was an outstanding episode to continue my rewatching of the modern era of Doctor Who! Now, this is one of very few episodes that Gemma and I have actually watched together in the past and this of course came last year as part of #DoctorWhoLockdown rewatches. It was a wonderful experience to join the tweet-alongs and it was just brilliant to revisit the episode again here because it really is magnificent. This early batch of episodes in Series 2 serves as an incredible run with the two-parter that follows this but this just might be the best of the bunch. It really is that good. The feeling right from the off is just terrific and it feels so different to any episode that preceded it since the 2005 revival. It's a fantastic first story for Mickey venturing into space and I love how he reacts to seeing space firsthand. I have maintained since the start of this rewatching with Gemma that Rose is actually quite harsh to Mickey and eighteen episodes into the run, she has finally admitted that Rose is giving mixed signals to Mickey. It's something I have picked up on for the first time as we've watched from the start again and I really do feel sorry for him after Rose has pretty much strung him along. Although she wasn't particularly thrilled at the end of School Reunion by the prospect of Mickey coming with her and the Doctor, she seemed happy to have him along and get to introduce him to life with the Doctor. He had quite the eventful start by smelling Sunday roast on a 51st century spaceship! The Doctor is magnificent once again here and his intrigue by the seventeenth century fireplace was great. I love how it leads to the gateway between centuries and time moving differently on the other side makes for such a powerful and emotional episode. The moment where the Doctor deduces that the clock has broken but there is still ticking is sensational and I love how he instantly challenges the Clockwork Droids for their interference in Madame de Pompadour's life. Of course, at this point she was just Reinette and the Doctor serving as her imaginary friend was terrific. The moment where she's an adult and sees him come back and not aged a day is superb. I loved that their relationship builds so quickly and it's clear that there are feelings on both sides. I mean, that snog will certainly do it! The Doctor playing drunk is an incredible scene and Tennant performs it ever so well. The costume design for this episode is nothing short of sublime and that's not often something I pick up on so credit must go to the team there. The Clockwork Droids look incredible and are a magnificent design for a Doctor Who enemy. Their infatuation with Madame de Pompadour was intriguing and I really love how the Doctor, Rose and Mickey don't ever get to know why they were so fascinated with her brain. Rose and Mickey not following the Doctor's orders of staying still was wonderful coupled with his reaction to seeing that they indeed disobeyed. Could he really be surprised? I love the ridiculousness of a horse being on board and the role it played in smashing through the time window and closing it for good to ensure Pompadour's safety was great stuff. Gemma and I do enjoy a bad special effects scene and that mirror smashing certainly hasn't aged well! We remembered that vividly from our lockdown viewing last year. The ending to this is very emotional and it's interesting to see Rose try and console the man she loves about him losing someone who loved him, and he might very well have felt the same way back. Overall, a magnificent episode!

Rating: 10/10