An Hour of Who a Day: March 15: "The Fires of Pompeii"

March 15: "The Fires of Pompeii"

There's a part of me that hoped, just for a minute, that this would be a straight historical about the destruction of Pompeii, à la the Big Finish audio The Fires of Vulcan. Alas, it wasn't to be; the aliens (rock creatures who live in Mount Vesuvius) show up pretty quickly. Still, shouldn't blame episodes for not being something they're not trying to be. And there are some nice jokes scattered about, like the recurring "I don't speak Celtic" bit, or the reference back to "The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances": "We're in Pompeii. And it's volcano day." Oh, and an offhand reference to The Romans: "Before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with me. Well, a little bit."

But what's up with the cast of this episode? I don't mean the performances -- they're generally rather good (even if the efforts to make Caecilius's family seem "just like us" feel a little strange and out of place -- it's like they don't think we can relate to a family unless they behave like a modern one¹⁹⁵). No, there must have been something in the air, as we get not just a future companion (Karen Gillan, who will be Amy Pond, is the first of the Sibylline Sisterhood that we see), but also a future Doctor, as Caecilius is played by Peter Capaldi. It's initially a bit difficult to get past that, actually, as you notice mannerisms that will become more familiar as twelfth Doctor ones, but you get used to it soon enough. Oh, and as long as we're discussing production things... Look! It's our first overseas filming of the 21st century (well, except for some brief background plates shot in New York for "Daleks in Manhattan"), and it's really wonderfully impressive to see what the team did in Italy. There are some shots that were definitely not taken in Cardiff, and the episode is better for it.

As far as the actual content, though, there are some minor problems. The discussions between the Doctor and Donna about whether or not the people of Pompeii can be saved are really nice, and we get some small insight into what it's like for the Doctor as he travels: "Some things are fixed, some things are in flux. Pompeii is fixed." "How do you know which is which?" Donna asks. "Because that's how I see the universe," the Doctor replies. "Every waking second, I can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not." (This also seems to be the episode where the term "fixed point" really gains traction as a convenient way to wave away the problems with changing history (or not).) Donna just wants him to save the people, even though the Doctor knows he can't. I do like how it turns out that it's the Doctor's actions that cause established history -- it's a good move that doesn't happen often enough (except as a quick joke/reveal, frequently at the end of an episode -- see, for instance, The Romans or The Visitation). It's a bit odd, the "everyone has to die" dilemma though, as the fatality rate for Pompeii, while high, wasn't 100%. (Oh, and while we're quibbling: the Romans had seen volcanoes before Vesuvius erupted, so the word wasn't created on 24 August 79.) Still, it gives us a nice dilemma that shows that Donna does have an effect on the Doctor. "You were right," he tells her afterwards. "Sometimes I need someone."

But when you take out the main "condemning everyone to die" part, the rest is rather weak. I've mentioned the concerns with Caecilius's family, but the stuff with the Pyroviles also feels awkward, as if we need a monster in this story just for the sake of having an alien monster. There's only the thinnest veneer of motivations given, in order to force the Doctor to doom Pompeii -- and the reasoning behind the accuracy of the Sibylline prophecies is also just technobabble and unsatisfying as a result.

Still, there's not much actually wrong with the episode -- much that could have probably been done better, but few actual missteps. There's enough that's right with "The Fires of Pompeii" to maintain your interest, even if it's not likely to be one of your favorite episodes of the show (or even of series 4). And it's fun to watch Capaldi in Doctor Who before he became the Doctor, so there's that at least.

¹⁹⁵ The family comes from the Cambridge Latin Course -- although in that Caecilius and Metella die in the eruption, and only Quintus survives. (Evelina is a new creation for this episode.)