"Doctor Who" The Fires of Pompeii (2008)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Colin Teague

Writer:

James Moran (written by)

TV Series:

"Doctor Who" (2005)

Original Air Date:

12 April 2008 (Season 4, Episode 2)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Doctor and Donna visit Pompeii in AD 79, on the eve of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. |

Plot Keywords:

Pompeii | Volcano Eruption | Water Pistol | Volcano | Alien

Cast

David Tennant	...	The Doctor
Catherine Tate	...	Donna Noble
Phil Cornwell	...	Stallholder
Karen Gillan	...	Soothsayer
Sasha Behar	...	Spurrina
Lorraine Burroughs	...	Thalina
Peter Capaldi	...	Caecillius
Tracey Childs	...	Metella
Francesca Fowler	...	Evelina
François Pandolfo	...	Quintus
Victoria Wicks	...	High Priestess
Gerard Bell	...	Major Domo
Philip Davis	...	Lucius (as Phil Davis)

Runtime:

45 min (50 episodes)

Certification:

UK:PG (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

BBC Wales

Trivia:

Whenever The Doctor and his companions visit a non-English speaking locale, the TARDIS translates speech and text for them. Curious about this, Donna tries speaking Latin in pre-volcano Pompeii; this sounds to the Pompeiians as Celtic. Throughout the show, when they utter a trivial Latin phrase, someone comments that they must be Celtic. And when The Doctor mentions San Francisco (from Spanish), Caecillius thinks it's a new restaurant in Naples.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the earthquakes in Caecillius' house before the eruption, despite the walls, statues and other ornaments shaking, the water in the pond remained perfectly still.

Quotes:

Donna Noble: What time does Vesuvius erupt? When's it due?
The Doctor: It's 79 A.D. 23rd of August; which makes Volcano day-tomorrow.
Donna Noble: Plenty of time. We can get everyone out, easy.
The Doctor: Yeah, except we're not going to.
Donna Noble: But that's what you do. You're the Doctor. You save people.
The Doctor: Not this time. Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens. There's no stopping it.
Donna Noble: Says who?
The Doctor: Says me.
Donna Noble: What, and you're in charge?
The Doctor: TARDIS, Time Lord-yeah!
[...]

Movie Connections:

References "Only Fools and Horses" (1981)

MUCH better than cutesy fat marshmallow men

Donna and the Doctor wanting to visit ancient Rome, instead wind up in Pompeii on the eve of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This causes a wee bit of a clash between the two as to who can and can not be saved. This is a much better episode then the silly premiere or the Christmas episode simply because this time the tale is given the backbone of something interesting, a nice moral dilemma and shows the truly tragic weight that lays on the Doctor's shoulders all the time. Donna is actually quite likable in this episode, not as annoying as when she first appeared (although she does have a few moments) All in all a fairly good episode.

My Grade: B