April 30: "Meanwhile in the TARDIS" [Additional Scene #2] / "The Vampires of Venice"

When we last saw Amy and the Doctor, Amy had some serious misunderstandings about the relationship between her and the Doctor.  This bonus scene takes place immediately after that, as the Doctor tries to explain to Amy why he takes companions along with him, which leads to Amy's accusations that, despite the Doctor's claims that he's like a "space Gandalf", he generally seems to take pretty girls along with him.  This is a better scene than the other series 5 bonus scene, because not only does it actually provide a smoother transition between the end of "Flesh and Stone" and the start of "The Vampires of Venice", but they also get a chance to flash a whole bunch of previous female companions on the screen.  "Thanks, dear," the Doctor says to the TARDIS.  "Miss out the metal dog, why don't you?"  It's a quick, charming scene.

"The Vampires of Venice" introduces a new angle for the show: it starts questioning the Doctor's actions and whether the good he does outweighs the bad that he leaves in his wake.  This is sort of new thinking; the 20th-century version never even considered the question (not even during Andrew Cartmel's script-editorship)²¹⁷, but it's the sort of subject the novels during the Wilderness Years -- especially Virgin's New Adventures -- grappled with quite a bit.  Russell T Davies chose to ignore this particular line of questioning, and when it was brought up, the answer was generally "of course he's worth it."  (Indeed, it's worth noting that the only story during Davies' era to dispute this position is "Human Nature" / "The Family of Blood" -- as exemplified in Joan's last question to the Doctor: "If the Doctor had never visited us, if he'd never chosen this place on a whim, would anybody here have died?" -- which is a New Adventure adapted for the screen.)  But now Steven Moffat's at the helm, and so the rules have changed a bit.

It's going to get a bit tedious in series 6, but here the question is far more interesting.  Writer Toby Whithouse starts with Rory, having seen a bit of what the Doctor's life is like and heard about more of it from Amy, laying an accusation against the Doctor: "You know what's dangerous about you?" he says.  "It's not that you make people take risks, it's that you make them want to impress you.  You make it so they don't want to let you down.  You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around."  It's a valid point and it's easy to see Rory's point of view here.  What's more, the Doctor seems to see it too, so he orders Amy back to the TARDIS ("We don't discuss this.  I tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it.  Huh?") for Rory's benefit.  But then after Amy and Rory's fight with the unmasked Francesco (and we should pause a moment to ask how, exactly, Amy was able to turn him into dust with a beam of sunlight -- even setting aside the fact that it appears to be a dreary, overcast day in Venice, hasn't Rosanna just switched on her storm machine and filled Venice's sky with clouds anyway?), we see that Rory has changed his mind:

DOCTOR: Get out.  I need to stabilise the storm.
RORY: We're not leaving you.
DOCTOR: Right, so one minute it's all "you make people a danger to themselves", and the next it's "we're not leaving you".

(from The Doctor Who Transcripts - The Vampires of Venice)

It's a satisfying resolution to the question, because not only does it provide an internal answer for Rory, but one for the audience as well: yes, the Doctor might be dangerous, but he's doing the right thing, and so his companions are doing the right thing too, even if it's dangerous for them as well.

Saturnyn sisters in human form. ("The Vampires of Venice") ©BBC

That's the deeper question at the heart of "The Vampires of Venice", but it's wrapped in a really smashing layer of excitement and fun.  One thing that stands out is how much fun this episode is.  From the opening gag of the Doctor bursting out of a cake at Rory's stag party and then telling Rory that Rory's lucky because Amy's a good kisser ("Funny how you can say something in your head and it sounds fine..."), to the various one-liners scattered throughout the script ("Tell me the whole plan. (pause) One day that will work"; "Yours is bigger than mine."  "Let's not go there"; "I saw her; they're not vampires, they're aliens." "That's good news?  What is wrong with you people?"; and many more), to the great sight gag of Guido wearing Rory's stag shirt so that Rory can wear his clothes, "The Vampires of Venice" is simply bursting with energy and wit.  There's also some cleverness on display: the Doctor can't see the girls' reflections in the mirror because the perception filters the girls are using "manipulates the brainwaves of the person looking at you.  But seeing one of you for the first time in, say, a mirror, the brain doesn't know what to fill the gap with, so leaves it blank, hence no reflection."  It's a nice little spin on the old "vampires don't have reflections" bit.  Ooh, and a little in-joke, as the Doctor flashes his psychic paper at the girls and we see it's William Hartnell's face on the card.  It's also gorgeous to look at (even if the weather is overcast) -- they've gone overseas to Croatia in order to recreate 16th century Venice, and the result is really nice, with lots of old stone buildings and squares for the camera to take in. 

It may occasionally feel derivative, with more displaced aliens (although this time because of the Cracks in Time and something called the Silence -- although the moment at the very end where it's suddenly silent in Venice doesn't seem to match with what we later learn about the Silence) and more aliens in human guise (Whithouse did this in his last Who script ("School Reunion") as well as his Torchwood script "Greeks Bearing Gifts")), but that's hardly the worst of sins.  What is clear is that "The Vampires of Venice" is a fun time with a thoughtful question at its heart, and that's just fine by me.







²¹⁷ You want proof?  Take a look at The Trial of a Time Lord, which actually does seem to pose this question -- except that it's clear from the beginning that the Valeyard (who's the one asking the questions) is meant to be a villain and thus we shouldn't take his view of events remotely seriously.  That the story ends with the Valeyard revealed to have engineered the whole trial for his own nefarious ends (rather than because he thought the question had serious merit) and the Doctor completely exonerated reinforces this.