Doctor Who 4.2: The Fires of Pompeii
It’s a moral dilemma that has haunted Doctor Who since its earliest days. While the Doctor has always meddled in the affairs of other planets and present day Earth, our planet’s history has always been treated differently. Ever since strong-headed schoolteacher Barbara Wright failed to stop the Aztecs from performing human sacrifices, the message has been clear: you cannot change the past.
Trust Donna — brash, loud, intelligent Donna — to ask the question, “Why not?” and refuse to give up until she got a satisfactory answer. It was that process that formed the emotional backbone of this episode, producing some truly heartbreaking performances from both David Tennant and Catherine Tate.
Review By Scott Matthewman
Save to say... yup. Donna completely won me over this episode. I enjoyed the cute silly little language jokes (T. J. Maxximus) - they got the balance between comedy and tragedy/drama just right. I hope they can keep it up throughout the rest of the series. In the commentary for 'Voyage of the Damned' in upcoming episode 11 RTD says "Catherine Tate gave the finest bit of acting I've ever been associated with" executive producer Julie Gardner says 'devastating'. I can believe it - I've re-watched Pompeii a couple of times now and I've been in near tears every time.
Now that prophecy pis*ing contest between Lucius and Evelina.
So - we already know Rose is returning. (But 'she' could as easily be Martha, Sarah Jane -etc. But we all know - it's Rose.)
"There's something on your back" - this is a big part of the arc. I'm surprised the Doctor didn't pick up on it and gave Donna a once-over with his sonic screwdriver [fnoar-fnoar] once they'd finished all their good deeds for the day and got back to the Tardis... but then it took the 9th Doctor - how many times before he and Rose noticed 'Bad Wolf'?
The Medusa Cascade has been mentioned before - in "Last of the Time Lords" -I think.
I give this ep 10 out of 10.
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