The Fires of Pompeii

Doctorwhobox
number = 194
serial_name = The Fires of Pompeii


caption = An adult Pyrovile bears down on the Doctor and Donna inside Mount Vesuvius.
show = DW
type = episode
doctor = David Tennant (Tenth Doctor)
companion = Catherine Tate (Donna Noble)
guests =
* Peter Capaldi – Caecilius
* Tracey Childs – Metella
* Phil Davis – Lucius
* Sasha Behar – Spurrina
* Francesca Fowler – Evelina
* Lorraine Burroughs – Thalina
* Victoria Wicks – High Priestess
* Francois Pandolfo – Quintus
* Karen Gillan – Soothsayer
* Phil Cornwell – Stallholder
writer = James Moran
director = Colin Teague
script_editor = Brian Minchin
producer = Phil Collinson
executive_producer = Russell T Davies
Julie Gardner
production_code = 4.3
date = 12 April 2008
length = 50 minutes
preceding = "Partners in Crime"
following = "Planet of the Ood"
imdb_id = 1173173
series = Series 4
series_link = Series 4 (2008)"The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series "Doctor Who". It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008.

The episode takes place during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. In the episode, the Doctor is faced with a moral dilemma: whether to save any of the population of Pompeii. The Doctor's activities in Pompeii are impeded by the rock-like Pyrovile, and their allies, the Sybilline Sisterhood, who are using the volcano to convert the humans to Pyroviles.

The episode was filmed in Rome's Cinecittà studios, and was the first time the "Doctor Who" production team took cast abroad for filming since its revival.cite journal |year=2008 |month=April |title=Doctor Who Watch|journal=Radio Times |issue=12-18 April 2008 |pages=pp 10–15|accessdate=2008-04-06 |publisher=BBC ] The production of the episode was impeded by a fire near the sets several weeks before filming and problems crossing into Europe.

Critics' opinion regarding the episode were mixed. The premise of the episode—the moral dilemma the Doctor faces—and Donna's insistence that he save a family from Pompeii were universally praised. However, the episode's writing was criticised, in particular, the characterisation of the supporting cast: the dialogue was described as "one-dimensional" and Peter Capaldi and Phil Davis's dialogue as "whimpering and scowling".

Plot

ynopsis

The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) arrive in what the Doctor believes to be first century Rome. After an earthquake, he realises he has materialised in Pompeii on 23 August 79, one day before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. When he returns to the TARDIS' location, he is told it was sold to a Lucius Caecilius Iucundus (Peter Capaldi), a marble sculptor.

The episode's antagonists are the Pyrovile, giant rock-like creatures resembling golems whose home planet was "lost". They operate secretly; the Sybilline Sisterhood act as their proxies. They use the Sisterhood, which incorporates a high priestess (Victoria Wicks), Spurrina (Sasha Behar), and Thalina (Lorraine Burroughs), to make prophecies while converting them to stone. The Sisterhood is inducting Caecilius' daughter Evelina (Francesca Fowler) and is allied to the local augur Lucius (Phil Davis). The Doctor is disturbed by their knowledge of his and Donna's personal lives, and by Lucius' latest commission, a marble circuit board.

The Doctor breaks into Lucius' home and discovers that he is creating an energy converter. He is accosted by Lucius, who sends a Pyrovile to kill the Doctor. The confusion allows the Sisterhood to kidnap Donna briefly; the Doctor follows them and frees Donna. They escape into the Sisterhood's hypocaust system and travel into the centre of Mount Vesuvius.

Mount Vesuvius is being used by the Pyrovile to convert the human race to Pyroviles, in an effort to conquer Earth. The Doctor realises the volcano will not erupt if the energy converter is running, and with Donna's encouragement, subsequently switches it off, triggering the eruption of Vesuvius, considering Pompeii's destruction and the death of its population the lesser of two evils. The Doctor attempts to leave, but Donna convinces him to save Caecilius and his family, whom he then takes on board the Tardis. The family, The Doctor, and Donna then watch Pompeii's destruction from a vantage point. The Doctor assures the family that Pompeii is never forgotten before leaving with Donna.

The last scene takes place six months later in Rome. Caecilius' family are shown to be successful: Caecilius is running a profiting business, Evelina has a social life in comparison to her seclusion in Pompeii, and his son Quintus (Francois Pandolfo) is training to become a doctor. Before Quintus leaves, he pays tribute to the family's household gods, whose statues are in the form of the Doctor, Donna and the TARDIS.

Continuity

The Doctor refers to the eruption as "volcano day", a phrase used to refer to the eruption by Jack Harkness and the Ninth Doctor in "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances".cite journal|last=Pixley|first=Andrew|date=2008-08-14|title=The Fires of Popeii|journal=Doctor Who Magazine|publisher=Panini Comics|location=Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent|volume=The Doctor Who Companion: Series Four|issue=Special Edition 20|pages=38-47|accessdate=2008-08-20] [cite episode | title = The Empty Child | series = Doctor Who | credits = Writer Steven Moffat, Director James Hawes, Producer Phil Collinson | network = BBC | station = BBC One | city = Cardiff | airdate = 2005-05-21] [cite episode | title = The Doctor Dances | series = Doctor Who | credits = Writer Steven Moffat, Director James Hawes, Producer Phil Collinson | network = BBC | station = BBC One | city = Cardiff | airdate = 2005-05-28] The Shadow Proclamation, an intergalactic code invoked in "Rose", "The Christmas Invasion", "Fear Her" and "Partners in Crime" is used by the Doctor when speaking to the Pyrovile. [cite episode | title = The Christmas Invasion | series = Doctor Who | credits = Writer Russell T Davies, Director James Hawes, Producer Phil Collinson | network = BBC | station = BBC One | city = Cardiff | airdate = 2005-12-25] [cite episode | title = Fear Her | series = Doctor Who | credits = Writer Matthew Graham, Director Euros Lyn, Producer Phil Collinson | network = BBC | station = BBC One | city = Cardiff | airdate = 2006-06-24] [cite episode | title = Partners in Crime | series = Doctor Who | credits = Writer Russell T Davies, Director James Strong, Producer Phil Collinson | network = BBC | station = BBC One | city = Cardiff | airdate = 2008-04-05] [cite episode | title = Rose | series = Doctor Who | credits = Writer Russell T Davies, Director Keith Boak, Producer Phil Collinson | network = BBC | station = BBC One | city = Cardiff | airdate = 2005-03-26] The Medusa Cascade, first mentioned by the Master in "Last of the Time Lords", is referenced; [cite episode | title = Last of the Time Lords | series = Doctor Who | credits = Writer Russell T Davies, Director Colin Teague, Producer Phil Collinson | network = BBC | station = BBC One | city = Cardiff | airdate = 2007-06-30] executive producer Russell T Davies stated that the Cascade would "come back to haunt us".cite journal|last=Spilsbury|first=Tom|date=April 2008|title=The Gallifrey Guardian: Series Four Episode 1: Partners in Crime: Back in Business!|journal=Doctor Who Magazine|publisher=Panini Publishing Ltd|location=Tunbridge Wells, Kent|issue=394|pages=6–7|accessdate=2008-04-10] Both the Shadow Proclamation and the Medusa Cascade make appearances later in the series. The Doctor also alludes to the events of the 1965 serial "The Romans", admitting a little responsibility for the Great Fire of Rome, which was depicted at the end of that story; [cite serial | title = The Romans | episode = Inferno | series = Doctor Who | credits = Writer Dennis Spooner, Director Christopher Barry, Producers Verity Lambert, Mervyn Pinfield | network = BBC | station = BBC1 | city = London | airdate = 1965-02-06] Writer James Moran deliberately included the reference as a "fun continuity thing". The sale of the TARDIS as modern art was also included as a reference to Moran's favourite serial, "City of Death", which includes a scene in which the TARDIS is appraised in a similar fashion.cite web
url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/episodes/?episode=s4_02&action=factfile
title = The Fires of Pompeii - Fact File
date = 2008-04-12
accessdate = 2008-04-12
publisher = BBC]

Production

Writing

Executive producer Russell T Davies originally planned to include a serial set in Pompeii in the first new series of "Doctor Who", after seeing the documentary "".citation|last=Sullivan|first=Shannon Patrick|year=2006|title=The Lost Stories (M-Q)|series=A Brief History of Time (Travel)|publisher=ShannonSullivan.com|location=St. John's|url=http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/lostmq.html|publication-date=2006-11-25 |accessdate=2007-02-27] That episode's position was given to "Boom Town" and the idea was shelved for three years.

The episode was written by James Moran, who previously wrote the film "Severance" and the "Torchwood" episode "Sleeper"; Moran was requested to write the episode as a consequence of the latter.cite journal|last=Hugo|first=Simon|coauthors=Moran, James|date=March 2008|title=Slash Fiction|journal=Torchwood Magazine|publisher=Titan Magazines|location=London|issue=2|pages=49-51|accessdate=2008-08-17] Moran had difficulty writing the episode, and had to rewrite the Doctor's opening line over twenty times. The Pyrovile were also edited during writing: they were previously called Pyrovillaxians and Pyrovellians.

Moran worked closely with Davies because of the constraints imposed by filming. Davies encouraged Moran to insert linguistic jokes similar to those in the comic book series "Asterix", such as "Lucius Petrus Dextrus" ("Lucius Stone Right Arm"), TK Maxximus, and Spartacus; the use of the phrase "I'm Spartacus!" refers to the 1960 film. Moran based the ancillary characters of Metalla (Tracey Childs) and Quintus from Caecilius's family in the Cambridge Latin Course; the character of Evelina was the only member of the family created by Moran.cite episode |title=The Italian Job |series=Doctor Who Confidential |serieslink=Doctor Who Confidential |network=BBC |station=BBC Three |airdate=2008-04-12 |season=4 |number=2 ] The line "You must excuse my friend, she's from Barcelona" was a reference to an apologetic catchphrase from "Fawlty Towers", attributed by the production team to Sybil Fawlty.

The episode was heavily based on a moral question posed to the Doctor by Donna: whether to warn the population of Pompeii, or to recuse from the situation. Moran also had to deal with the intensity and sensitivity required when writing about the eruption. Davies and Moran both appreciated Catherine Tate's performance, and cited Donna's ability to humanise the Doctor and help him deal with "lose-lose situations" as the reason the Doctor travels with companions.

Filming

The episode was filmed at the Cinecittà studios in Rome in September 2007. Other locations suggested were in Malta and Wales, but the size of the project, the biggest since the show's revival, resulted in production taking place in Italy. This was the first time the majority of the episode was filmed abroad and the first time the cast had filmed abroad since 1996; the television movie was filmed in Vancouver [cite web|url=http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/serials/tvm.html|title=Doctor Who (1996)|last=Sullivan|first=Shannon|work=A Brief History of Time (Travel)|accessdate=2008-04-19] and pick-up shots had previously been made in New York City for "Daleks in Manhattan".cite episode |title=A New York Story |series=Doctor Who Confidential |serieslink=Doctor Who Confidential |network=BBC |station=BBC Three |airdate=2008-04-21 |season=3 |number=4 ] Cinecittà had accepted the BBC's request in order to promote the studios, despite the show's small budget.

Filming an episode abroad had been suggested in 2004, but the episode was the first such occasion. Planning began in April 2007, before Moran had written the script, and continued until the production team travelled to Italy. Several weeks before filming started, a fire disrupted the production team.cite news
url = http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/a71008/doctor-who-rome-set-hit-by-fire.html
title = 'Doctor Who' Rome set hit by fire
date = 2007-08-11
accessdate = 2007-08-11
publisher = Digital Spy] [citation |last=Cook |first=Benjamin |date=2007-11-14 (cover date) |title= International Playboy|periodical=Doctor Who Magazine |issue=388 |page=p. 54] Moving to Rome caused problems for the production team: the equipment truck was delayed for several hours at the Swiss border; the special effects team were delayed for twenty-four hours at Customs in Calais. The production team only had 48 hours to film on location. The aftermath of the eruption was filmed on the same night as the location shots. To create the falling ash, the special effects team used a large mass of cork, with a "constant supply of debris raining down".

Broadcast and reception

Overnight figures estimated the episode was watched by 8.1 million viewers, with a peak of 8.5 million viewers. The consolidated figure was 9.04 million. The episode was the second most watched programme on 12 April; "Britain's Got Talent" was viewed by 9.44 million people. The episode was the tenth most-watched programme of the week and received an Appreciation Index score of 87 (considered Excellent).cite web|url=http://www.gallifreyone.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?id=EkplEyAVEAIRKVpIsO&tmpl=newsrss&style=feedstyle|date=2008-04-14|accessdate=2008-04-14|author=Marcus|publisher=Outpost Gallifrey|title=Fires of Pompeii - AI and Digital ratings] cite web|url=http://www.gallifreyone.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?id=EkplpZyyFuhAfyWeNg&tmpl=newsrss&style=feedstyle|date=2008-04-14|accessdate=2008-04-14|author=Marcus|publisher=Outpost Gallifrey|title=Fires of Pompeii - Overnight Ratings] [cite web|url=http://www.gallifreyone.com/news.php#newsitemEkpApZlFpEZvOqDoYY=newsrss&style=feedstyle|date=2008-04-14|accessdate=2008-04-28|author=Marcus|publisher=Outpost Gallifrey|title=Fires of Pompeii - Final Ratings]

The episode received several mixed and positive reviews. Ian Hyland, writing for "News of the World", said that Tate "was almost bearable this week". He also complimented the "TK Maxximus" joke. He was ambivalent to Donna's reaction to the Doctor leaving Caecilius's family to die: he criticised her acting, comparing her to "The Catherine Tate Show" character Joannie "Nan" Taylor, but said "top again if that was intentional". He closed saying "this week was a hundred times better than that lame opening episode. Scarier aliens, stronger guest stars and a proper adult-friendly storyline involving sisterhoods and soothsayers." [cite web|url=http://blogs.notw.co.uk/hyland/2008/04/britains-grot-t.html#more|title=Britain's Grot Talent|last=Hyland|first=Ian|date=2008-04-13|publisher=News of the World|accessdate=2008-04-14]

Scott Matthewman of "The Stage" said that Donna's insistence to change the past "formed the emotional backbone of this episode, producing some truly heartbreaking performances". He liked the joke about the TARDIS's translating the Doctor's and Donna's Latin phrases to Celtic, saying it was "subtly played throughout the episode [...] in a way that builds the joke without trampling it into the ground". His favourite part was Donna's attempts to divert the population of Pompeii away from the beach; the scene was "the emotional highpoint of a series of heart rendering scenes". However, he criticised Moran's writing, specifically, Quintus's and Metalla's dialogue, saying the former "remained pretty much one-dimensional throughout".cite web|url=http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/tvtoday/2008/04/doctor-who-42-the-fires-of-pompeii/|title=Doctor Who 4.2: The Fires of Pompeii|last=Matthewman|first=Scott|date=2008-04-13|publisher=The Stage|accessdate=2008-04-14] Alan Stanley Blair of SyFy Portal also gave a positive review. He was highly appreciative of Tate, saying " [she] moved even further away from her "Runaway" character that initially joined the show." The phrase "TK Maxximus" and the Doctor's use of a water pistol to subdue the Pyrovile was complimented, as was the special effects used to animate the Pyrovile. However, he disapproved of the use of Cockney colloquialisms in the episode, most notably the Stallholder (Phil Cornwell) saying "lovely jubbly". [cite web|url=http://www.syfyportal.com/news424928.html|title=Review: 'Doctor Who' - Fires Of Pompeii|last=Blair|first=Alan Stanley|publisher=SyFy Portal|date=2008-04-14|accessdate=2008-04-14]

Ben Rawson-Jones of Digital Spy gave the episode three stars out of five. His opening said "Fantastic effects and a well developed moral dilemma bolster 'The Fires Of Pompeii', although the episode fails to erupt." Rawson-Jones felt that Moran's script took "too long to actively engage the viewer and tap into the compelling premise of the time travellers arriving in the doomed city shortly before 'volcano day'." and that "the subplots are unsatisfyingly muddled for the majority of the narrative." He also complained about the characterisation of the supporting cast, saying that "Peter Capaldi and Phil Davis [deserved] better". However, he said the moral dilemma the Doctor faced was "compelling" and the Doctor's use of the water pistol "adds a pleasing sense of fun to counterbalance the impending stench of death and harks nicely back to the Tom Baker era of the show." Overall, he appreciated the premise of the episode, but thought the episode "deserved better writing".cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/a93671/s04e02-the-fires-of-pompeii.html|title= S04E02: 'The Fires Of Pompeii'|last=Rawson-Jones|first=Ben|publisher=Digital Spy|date=2008-04-12|accessdate=2008-04-14]

References

External links

*BBCDWnew | year=2008 | id=S4_02 | title=The Fires of Pompeii
*Brief|id=2008b|title=The Fires of Pompeii |quotes=y
*Doctor Who RG|id=who_tv34|title=The Fires of Pompeii|quotes=y