| THE FIRES OF POMPEII by James Moran |
| Story 35 Synopsis: Intending to take Donna to Ancient Rome, the Doctor realises they're in Pompeii, on the eve of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The TARDIS is mistakenly sold to a marble maker, Lobus Caecilius, where the Doctor finds a template for a circuit, ordered by the chief augur, Lucius Dextrus. He shows true foresight, identifying the Doctor, and calling Donna a 'daughter of London'. Caecilius' daughter, Evelina, also has foresight, having been chosen by the Sibylline Sisterhood. The Doctor finds that their foresight comes at a cost, arms turning to stone. The correct prophecies began 17 years before, when Vesuvius erupted, and the soothsayers began taking the vapours, ingesting the dust of the mountain. Dextrus is a member of the Cult of Vulcan, and when the Doctor scorns him, sends a giant fire-breathing stone creature after him. Donna is kidnapped by the Sisterhood, but the Doctor rescues her, finding the Sibyl taken over by a Pyrovile creature. They landed a long time before, but the previous eruption awoke them. They plan to forge a new empire, turning the human race into creatures like them. The Doctor and Donna find a way through tunnels into the heart of the mountain, and the alien space pod. The Doctor realises that the reason nobody they asked could predict the eruption they knew would happen, is that it would be caused by destroying the Pyrovile ship - to save the world, he must destroy Pompeii. Donna helps him press the lever. Dashing back to Caecilius' villa, Donna is appalled that she can't save anyone. She implores the Doctor to save someone, so he allows the quaking Caecilian family inside. They later move to Rome, where Caecilius' son, Quintus, is training to become a doctor. |
| Review:- Death comes to time, and the Doctor unwittingly brings Donna into the middle of a religious dust-up with alien overtones, and a terrible choice... Having already covered the eruption of Vesuvius' effect on Pompeii in the feeble The Fires Of Vulcan, the new series tackles it again with a big SFX budget, location shooting in Rome, and a couple of big guest stars. And what do you know? It works. It's of course a in-joke that the Doctor thinks they're in Rome (it was shot there, on sets built for a series called Rome), but Pompeii provides a more visceral and violent tale than might be found in the Senate or the Colosseum. Whilst prophecy and prediction evokes memories of the dire The Shakespeare Code from the previous series, this is presented more credibly, with the competing Sibylline Sisterhood and the Cult of Vulcan being as angrily forceful as each other. Their proof of their powers comes across as worryingly sinister, and their corresponding lack of expectation over a volcanic eruption creates still more mystery. Against these rather forceful characters, we have the lighter side of life with the Caecilian family, led by Lobus, the marble maker, who's working for one side whilst his daughter is going to join the other. Peter Capaldi makes a great job of the head of the family, handling light moments of comedy as deftly as the later tragedy. He's matched by the episode's other guest star Phil Davis, as the devilish Dextrus, unafraid of power or his part in the status quo. He proves a useful spokesman/acolyte for the main monsters, in the mould of previous quislings like Kellman or even the Master. Whilst Donna makes efforts to prevent disaster, the Doctor seems all too keen to shove clean off, which is somewhat more out of character than usual. Or out of character for this incarnation, anyway. Sadly, all her work leads to trouble, and she can't change history however hard she tries. But history has other ideas, and all paths lead to Vesuvius, where the Doctor finds the Pyrovile (rather impressive monsters, actually) busy and ready to extend their frontiers across the world. And it turns out that their foreknowledge means the Doctor and Donna are burdened with having to cause the disaster that Donna, at least, tried so hard to stop. For me, this is a fairly decent twist, although it could easily have been written differently so as not to make it such an all-or-nothing choice, and I can understand that since the eruption was a genuine catastrophe that did kill thousands, to suggest that it was the result of alien interference might be construed as obscene. However, there's not really much else to do if your remit is to write a story set in Pompeii. Either your time travellers try to change history or they don't. Here, they do both. And I feel that the final big scene where the Doctor tells the Caecilians that their sacrifices will not be forgotten is at least an attempt to set the massacre in context. Which is rather more than sometimes happens. So, Donna earns her spurs and the Doctor's respect. She helps him make the tough choices. Bar the occasional slightly juvenile lapse, she's clearly in the shoes of companions like Tegan or Sarah Jane. So far, so good. This is an epic story that starts gently and accelerates to its inevitable big finish. And it's a triumph for all concerned. |
| Disclaimer: I have watched this story. |