Review: Doctor Who Series 4 Episode 2 'The Fires of Pompeii'

[tromana]

Very bitty, some speculation too.

I enjoyed this episode a lot, it had many of the reasons why I enjoy Doctor Who so much in it. The SFX were pretty much outstanding and the storyline was sensitively told. The scene with Donna and the Doctor in the TARDIS and Donna begging him to return was just beautiful. It's not very often Who nearly has me in tears but this episode managed it.

Problems/queries:

- why did the infection start in the arm when the people got turned into Pyrovilians?

The best I can come up with is the fact that they need the gaseous exchange surface to be able to keep 'topping up' with mountain dust and therefore it starts more at the periphery. (Although then, strictly speaking it should be fingers and toes, so maybe I should go back to the drawing board.)

I was also trying to figure out when they had recently had a 'turning to stone' episode - but it was Eye of the Gorgon in SJA.

- The whole last scene just grated on me. Just... no. Sorry. Especially the 'household Gods' thing. 

Speculation, speculation:

- Shadow Proclamation got another mention...
-As did planets going missing...

That is all.

Comments

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Oh of course, I should have remembered that. Damn me and my scientific upbringing.

At least it's less of a quibble than... ooh the whole of The Invisible Enemy which is just so bad it's good.

Haha ! I just watched that - you can tell when DW science is bad when I (a non-scientist) can spot the gaffes !

Serve the Gorgon/Pyrovile/whatever - it'll turn you to stone anyway!

Exactly !!

[tromana.livejournal.com]

Haha ! I just watched that - you can tell when DW science is bad when I (a non-scientist) can spot the gaffes !

Not if it's Physics, I'm 'awful' at physics. Not as good at chemistry either.

[tromana.livejournal.com]

Basically, what I mean is if it's bad it's always the biology that's wrong. I've never noticed a Physics/Chemistry mistake bar a couple of blindingly obvious.

But of course it is SKIENCE.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I'm poor at all the sciences, but I'm knowledgeable enough to know when something's obviously rubbish (eg. transferring DNA via a lightning strike !)

[tromana.livejournal.com]

That's fair enough! I'm hopeless at English I hope I get away with fanfic writing and languages now. I'm only any good at science because I specialised at A Level, and woefully neglected everything else.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Funnily enough I did maths and science based A-levels (to go with the Computing O level I did) - but I'm still pretty rubbish at them !

(Your fanfic is fine !)