The Fires of Pompeii

[owl]

I had the feeling all the way through this episode that it was set in Asterix-land instead of AD 79, so I was not surprised to hear that in the Confidential. It made it hard to care about the family when they were set up as caricatures.

I did like the running gag about 'Celtic'. And the stall owner flogging the TARDIS.

"I am Spartacus" GROAN.

Oh, I did like the prophecy being right, especially the Doctor's reaction to 'man from Gallifrey'. So what does Donna have on her back? I seem to remember a set report mentioning a line like that in a later episode...

The alien plot was complex enough to be distracting from what was going on at whatever point in the episode, but not complex enough to be worth the work of working it out. It may improve on a second viewing, thank-you iPlayer.

Oh, they've lost their planet. Three guesses how that happened. Or perhaps who.

Ooh, I liked the water pistol. And the doctor's spiel about being able to see everything that was and is and could be and must be. Poor emo Time Lord.

The part I liked best was Donna screaming at the Doctor to go back and save the family, and he listened. And said that she was right, he needed someone (to slap his head). Poor Donna, there goes her faith in the Doctor being able to save everybody. Ah, well, only for the best when you're travelling with the depressed genocidal alien.

Annnnd Ten, Donna and the TARDIS are the family's new household gods. Enough with Ten = god already.

Comments

[crazy-vasey.livejournal.com]

The whole Lonely God thing has always struck me as being a bit ridiculous, but in this case it makes some sense, I think. For someone of that era, it's probably how they would end up understanding things. And Romans/Greeks pretty much expect their gods to jerk them around so it all works out.

And I did enjoy this episode. It was entertaining, if not particularly deep, and I'm beginning to acquire a liking for the character of Donna (she did irritate me in the Christmas Special, but she's growing on me).

[owl]

Yeah, by itself it would have been okay, but coming on top of all the Lonely God rubbish we've already had...

[crazystairs.livejournal.com]

It looks to me like they're trying to setup a story line with the Doctor=God. We've obviously heard this before, all the way back to season 1 of the new series. And the Doctor seems to be on a particular power trip this season. I'd like to see a little bit of a destruction of his hubris, if this is where they're going. Or perhaps Donna will serve to have more of an impact on him than his previous two companions did.

[owl]

I keep hoping that the hubris is going to bite him in the rear, but it never does *sigh*