New Who Review for "The Fires of Pompeii
May. 3rd, 2008 08:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puppetmakerBut first a Public Service Announcement
And the winner in the Why Caroline is Sick is...
Virus.
So I am giving her Tylenol and Motrin alternating every two hours until the fever breaks. Which is has not really done yet. But her energy is better so I take that as a positive. Now if I could get her to eat something substantial.
Now back to the review. Of course there will be spoilers below the cut and in the comments.
Short version, not the best episode but better than most. The acting is solid. I am still not sure the name of the villain of the piece even though the Sibiline (sp?) were chanting it. It was a nice twist on a classic ancient monster and the science of the hot springs was something that was done at the time of the Romans.
How many more moral decisions is the Doctor going to have to make? I swear this is shaping up to be the theme this year.
Donna has officially become my favorite companion for all of New Who (Sorry Jack) and is rapidly going up the charts in all of Doctor Who.
And I understand why the cut was made but considering the number and volume of commercials, they could have cut three of the loch ness promos and shown the last scene that was shown in England. Which is why I watch both versions. More about that behind the cut.
Next week the Ood are back.
I am grateful to the mysterious folks who make sure I see the whole episode rather than having to wait for the DVDs to come out to see them uncut.
OK here is what they cut. There is a scene that takes place in Rome after the last scene with the Doctor and Donna. The son comes in and his mother fawns over the fact that he has straightened out his life and is now going to become a Doctor. The son corrects his mother and says he is going to become a physician not a Doctor. She chides him for correcting her and tells him to go honor the household gods. Son goes in front of the altar and does a quick thank you. He gets up and the camera turns to show the carving of the household gods which is the Doctor on the left; the TARDIS in the middle; Donna on the right. Didn't add anything but it made a really good punch line to the story.
Interesting use of the Medusa or the idea of people turning to stone in this one. I though that worked really well.
What did you think of the sooth-off about the Doctor and Donna? I was laughing at the "my vision is better than your vision" one-upmanship that was going on. And I think they dropped a couple of clues about the season in there.
And what about Donna? She is asking the questions that I am sure a lot of us have pondered for years like what if you spoke in the language of the place to someone while under the TARDIS translation circuit. Also Donna putting her hands on top of the Doctor's and throwing that switch with him. She has a lot of gumption. I also loved that while being threatened with being sacrificed, she didn't scream but got mad. And how she convinced the Doctor to save the family that they had gotten to know, that was just brilliantly played.
I couldn't tell if they were trying to parallel what the Doctor did to Gallifrey with what he did here. I do think we are going to find out more about that this year.
Tennant and Tate did just wonderfully through out the whole episode. They have a good chemistry between them.
And the winner in the Why Caroline is Sick is...
Virus.
So I am giving her Tylenol and Motrin alternating every two hours until the fever breaks. Which is has not really done yet. But her energy is better so I take that as a positive. Now if I could get her to eat something substantial.
Now back to the review. Of course there will be spoilers below the cut and in the comments.
Short version, not the best episode but better than most. The acting is solid. I am still not sure the name of the villain of the piece even though the Sibiline (sp?) were chanting it. It was a nice twist on a classic ancient monster and the science of the hot springs was something that was done at the time of the Romans.
How many more moral decisions is the Doctor going to have to make? I swear this is shaping up to be the theme this year.
Donna has officially become my favorite companion for all of New Who (Sorry Jack) and is rapidly going up the charts in all of Doctor Who.
And I understand why the cut was made but considering the number and volume of commercials, they could have cut three of the loch ness promos and shown the last scene that was shown in England. Which is why I watch both versions. More about that behind the cut.
Next week the Ood are back.
I am grateful to the mysterious folks who make sure I see the whole episode rather than having to wait for the DVDs to come out to see them uncut.
OK here is what they cut. There is a scene that takes place in Rome after the last scene with the Doctor and Donna. The son comes in and his mother fawns over the fact that he has straightened out his life and is now going to become a Doctor. The son corrects his mother and says he is going to become a physician not a Doctor. She chides him for correcting her and tells him to go honor the household gods. Son goes in front of the altar and does a quick thank you. He gets up and the camera turns to show the carving of the household gods which is the Doctor on the left; the TARDIS in the middle; Donna on the right. Didn't add anything but it made a really good punch line to the story.
Interesting use of the Medusa or the idea of people turning to stone in this one. I though that worked really well.
What did you think of the sooth-off about the Doctor and Donna? I was laughing at the "my vision is better than your vision" one-upmanship that was going on. And I think they dropped a couple of clues about the season in there.
And what about Donna? She is asking the questions that I am sure a lot of us have pondered for years like what if you spoke in the language of the place to someone while under the TARDIS translation circuit. Also Donna putting her hands on top of the Doctor's and throwing that switch with him. She has a lot of gumption. I also loved that while being threatened with being sacrificed, she didn't scream but got mad. And how she convinced the Doctor to save the family that they had gotten to know, that was just brilliantly played.
I couldn't tell if they were trying to parallel what the Doctor did to Gallifrey with what he did here. I do think we are going to find out more about that this year.
Tennant and Tate did just wonderfully through out the whole episode. They have a good chemistry between them.
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-03 02:08 pm (UTC)Had me rolling on the floor.
I absolutely love the interaction between Tate and Tennant. They come across as siblings at times, and she doesn't mind giving him a piece of her mind. She's lion-hearted, that's for sure.
Sooth-off! LOL
no subject
Date: 2008-05-03 02:09 pm (UTC)Have you seen the Sarah Jane Adventures, by the way?
no subject
Date: 2008-05-03 02:49 pm (UTC)I like have a series that reminds me of the scare factor of Goosebumps.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 11:54 am (UTC)Back to the Doctor and Donna...I love Donna. It's good to see a relationship that's really got room to develop. It's nice to go back to "someone that keeps the Doctor a bit more human". Yes.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-03 10:37 pm (UTC)Are all the episodes being cut down for US screening? That must be a pain for the writers, having to wrap everything up in 40 minutes instead of 45.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-03 10:51 pm (UTC)For Partners in Crime, they took out the scene with Donna and her grandfather talking about what she was seeking which made the final shot of the episode with Donna waving at her grandfather a little odd.
The loss of who the household gods were is doesn't really add to the story as a whole but I thought it was a nice ending to the piece.
Which is why I watch the feeds that Peter's mysterious minions provide.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-04 10:12 am (UTC)I totally agree about Donna and the acting, by the way-- which is odd, because I found Tate's comedy show a bit irritating, but as Donna she's ace.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-04 03:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-04 04:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 11:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-05 03:47 pm (UTC)