The Fires of Pompeii

"This man will prevent the rise of Pompeii."

Writer: James Moran

Format: TV

Broadcast: 12 April 2009

Series: 4.02

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna 

Synopsis

The Doctor intends on taking new companion Donna Noble to Ancient Rome, but they end up visiting Pompeii in AD 79 on the even of the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Nobody knew it was actually a volcano, and the entire city is doomed for destruction.

Verdict

The Fires of Pompeii was a wonderful episode and I was delighted to be able to revisit it for the first time in four years as part of the #VolcanoDay watch-along organised by the tremendous Emily Cook! It's always been one of my very favourite episodes from the modern era and I really do think it's an underrated gem. It's just outstanding from start to finish. It really has everything! History, humour, emotion are all in abundance along with a great twist that puts a different shift on the whole fixed point in time notion. Pompeii has to happen the way it does because of the Doctor. Well, that's a bit harsh but he needs Mount Vesuvius in order to stop the Pyrovile which is just awful. It puts The Fires of Vulcan into perspective as well, giving that a different look knowing that it was the Tenth Doctor, along with Donna, that set off the volcanic eruption. The arrival in what they thought was Ancient Rome was a lot of fun and it was terrific to see Donna on her first venture into the past. She was told all about the translation circuit and then sounded Welsh when she actually tried to speak Latin which was fantastic. Donna really did have one of her very best episodes here. It's always fun to look back on this episode because we have both Karen Gillan and Peter Capaldi making their first appearances in the show before they went on to become Amy Pond and the Twelfth Doctor respectively. Doing the watch-along with Gemma, I was delighted to be able to point out that Karen Gillan starred in the episode and literally as I revealed the fact she appeared on screen! She was really good as the Soothsayer and I thought all of the Priestesses were excellent. I was very intrigued to find through the tweets of writer James Moran that the Pyrovile name was the result of a trimming down process of his original name which was a lot more complex Pyrovillaxians. That's the beauty of the watch-alongs with writers giving insight that you just wouldn't know watching it by yourself! I think trimming down was definitely the right choice. The CGI design of the adult Pyrovile is really good, but just a general look back on 2008 and I find it amazing that I can notice how different the special effects are compared with today's abilities. It's strange and somewhat annoying for my childhood memories! One thing I have to say is that the scene where Evelina and Lucius use their sight gift to reveal their knowledge of the Doctor and Donna's secrets is absolutely incredible. It honestly might be the best of the series. The music and directing that accompanies it is just sublime and I really couldn't do justice how good it was. Superb. The tweets of the actress who played Evelina were also terrific to go alongside the episode and it was interesting to find that she wasn't solely acting ill as at the time of filming she had food poisoning! I thought the end scene in the TARDIS with Donna pleading to just save one family amongst 20,000 victims of the volcanic eruption was further brilliance and it was nice of the Doctor to admit that she was right and he needed somebody sometimes. I was quite annoyed to find that there was a scene cut with Caecillius and his family in the TARDIS cowering in the corner! That must have been great. Them looking on at Pompeii in ruins as everything and everyone they knew burnt and suffocated was such a powerful image. It was nice to end on a positive note though with them six months later in Rome and their household gods being the Doctor and Donna along with the TARDIS. At least he did get to keep some semblance of the art he thought he had purchased! That was fun. As was the earlier reference to The Romans! I am glad that was an intentional inclusion from James Moran. It was also good to get confirmation that there was in fact no word for volcano back in the first century. Did Donna Noble then invent it and enact a paradox? Something to ponder. Overall, such a good episode to revisit and the tweet-along was a great deal of fun

Rating: 10/10