Doctor Who: The Fires Of Pompeii

Well, it was a big improvement on last week’s episode, let’s put it that way. Rather than fighting bits of fat and a slightly strident nanny, this week the Doctor fought violent rock monsters and power hungry soothsayers. Rather than acting like a stalking, strident super chav like last week, this week Donna acted like a strident, super chav with a valid point to make. It wasn’t a classic episode, but at least Doctor Who is back on form after last week’s lacklustre opening shot.

And there was a lot to enjoy. The rock monsters, the conversion of humans into the rock monsters, the performances (particularly Peter Capaldi – a thousand miles away from his performance as The Thick Of It’s Malcolm Tucker) were engaging and the finale, detailing the end of Pompeii were both spectacular and tragic. The whole piece had the air of a Hollywood production – albeit one with much more intelligence than the standard Blockbuster.

See, there were scenes of sheer genius. The moments where the soothsayers were able to speak truths that they could not possibly know about the Doctor and Donna were very strong – not least because they hinted at things that may be happening in the future, including the phrase “she is returning” – a reference perhaps to Rose Tyler.

On top of that, there was the debate about why the Doctor can save some and not others. His answers were wishy-washy to say the least, and I can’t help but think that this issue should be explored further. And the resolution – that Pompeii has to die so the world can live – is a nice twist on the tale as a whole.

Of course, there were problems. The story, whilst having moments of satisfying depth, was actually – on the whole – bland, with characters moving from one scene to the next for no greater purpose than pushing the story to the dénouement. After Lucius's arm was broken off by the Doctor, you could still see… his arm, underneath his toga. And the less said about the Doctor’s water pistol, the better. Convincing monsters should not be taken out a frickin’ water pistol.

But overall, this felt like an adventure. And with the Ood to come next week, series four seems well placed to be as good as the three predecessors. See, I reckon Doctor Who always takes a while to warm up. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances were streets ahead of Rose and The End Of The World, and Smith and Jones and 42 were nowhere near as good as the wonderful run of episodes that started with Human Nature and ended with The Last Of The Time Lords. The precedent is there – fingers crossed that the episodes get even better!