The Fires of Pompeii

Just someone. Please. Not the whole town. Just save someone!

If A Town Called Mercy took the easy way out of a no-win scenario, The Fires of Pompeii embraced the full darkness of it and it is so much better because of it.

There is a great deal to like in this episode, not the least is the fact that there is a future companion actress (Karen Gillian) and a future Doctor (Peter Capaldi). The Tenth Doctor and Donna land in Pompeii and fall in with a local Roman household. They investigate strange happenings where the daughter of the household is being turned to stone and uncover a plot by a volcanic alien race to burn the Earth and turn it into their new homeworld. The Doctor's only choice to stop them is to shut down their machinery, overloading the system and triggering the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The Doctor and Donna flee as the town is overcome by the explosion, but Donna pleads with the Doctor to save someone. They go back and rescue Caecilius and his family, who had housed and helped them while investigating. They are taken to a far point from Pompeii where they then relate the news back to Rome.

If you are going to do a no-win scenario drama, this is how you do it. In many ways, this episode starts as a bit of a comedy romp. Caecilius is a bit of a good-hearted fool. He is interested in social climbing but genuinely thinks it will bring better things for his family. He is optimistic and good-natured. A bit like a slightly smarter Roman Homer Simpson. The Sibylline Sisterhood is threatening but not in an overly grim way. Even when Donna is captured and threatened with sacrifice, she is making witty remarks and generally keeping the tone of the episode up. Even the Doctor running around threatening people with a squirt gun, although a legitimate threat when dealing with fire and hot stone, is still rather comical in appearance.

The episode would have been successful if it had stayed a comedy romp, but probably would have dimmed as somewhat forgettable. But then comes the Kobayashi Maru. The Pyroviles can only be stopped if their machinery is destroyed. If their machinery is destroyed, the energy stored will be released and Vesuvius will erupt, destroying Pompeii. No alternative presents itself. No other being steps forward to sacrifice itself so that others can live. In the end, the Doctor decides that the lives of the planet do outweigh the lives of a single city. But it is the scene after that really sells the episode. The Doctor has gone back mentally to the Time War and can only run, hating himself for what he feels he can't do. Donna pleads with him to go back. He can't save everyone but to at least save someone; to make that small difference that is in his power. That moment delivers on emotion and reinforces that even when there is the unwinnable scenario, the ability to have some good come out of it is of paramount importance.

There are a few small knocks to the episode too. Most of them come in the form of the acting. Because the majority of it is presented as a comedy romp, many of the characters go a bit over-the-top in their silliness. The performance of the villains can be a bit hammy and the Doctor has his "overly dramatic peril" face on few times in the episode. I also think the director lingered on a few shots too long. When the Doctor is leaving Caecilius and his family behind despite their pleas for help and Donna is just standing there incredulous, there scene plays a bit too slowly. I understand that there was an attempt to play up their fear and the darkness of the Doctor leaving them behind to die, but the length of lingering just made the actors look uncomfortable. The length of the shot also makes me wonder why the family just stayed huddled there when the Doctor ran in to the TARDIS. If the man you just asked for help ran into his box, why would you not run up to either the blue box or to Donna (who was still outside) and cling to them for help. Being paralyzed by fear is probably the explanation there, but the long shot just gives it that overly long feel.

Definitely a good episode and one that I would happily watch again. A good punch at the end to make it stick as well.

Overall personal score: 4 out of 5