Pompeii is Burning

Doctor Who Arrives in Time for Pompeii to Burn

The second episode of the new season of Doctor Who finds our hero and his companion, played by David Tennant and Catherine Tate, arriving in Ancient Rome. Of course, true to The Doctor's track record, they arrive not in Rome but in Pompeii the day before the volcano is to erupt. This episode, The Fires of Pompeii, is a great way to start off the adventures of The Doctor and Donna Noble. Written by James Moran and directed by Colin Teague, this episode shows why the show is a hit with fans and critics alike.

After explaining why the locals talk in English and why the signs are in English, the TARDIS translates any language for The Doctor and whomever is riding along with him, the two time and space travelers discover they are in Pompeii. The Doctor is ready to leave but Donna is taken aback. Why leave? Isn't this what The Doctor does? Save people. Why won't he save the people of Pompeii?

This is a wonderful episode that explains to not only his newest companion, but the viewers who are uninitiated what the curse of a Time Lord is. The Doctor explains to Donna that certain events in Time are set. They cannot and should not be changed and other events, like the invasion by the Adipose in the season opener, are in flux and can be, or rather should be, changed.

Their exit is hampered however by a trader selling the TARDIS, the space and time machine that The Doctor uses. The two adventurers find the TARDIS in the home of Lucius Caecillius Iucundus (Peter Capaldi), a marble maker who has purchased the blue wooden box as a piece of modern art. Introducing themselves as "Spartucus" both The Doctor and Donna are at first mistaken for husband and wife, and then brother and sister. Caecillius introduces them to his wife, Metella (Tracey Childs), their son Quintus (Francois Pandolfo) and their daughter Evelina (Frances Fowler), who has been promised to the Sibylline sisterhood, a group of female seers.