N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
Where’s Lurcio when you need him?
Actually, there is one punning moment crying out for a Frankie Howerd-like interjection when the Doctor says to Lucius: “Don’t get yourselves in a lather. In a lava? No?”
See what I mean? It’s definitely missing a “Suit yerself!”
No? Well, suit yourself!
“You fought her off with a water pistol. I bloody love you.”
Donna, The Fires of Pompeii
Of course, in an episode with actors possessing the comic timing of Catherine Tate and Peter Capaldi, humour isn’t going to be far away and there is a fair amount of playfulness even among all the moral hand-wringing of whether it’s right or wrong for the Doctor not to interfere with human history.
There’s also an epic sooth-off early on when Phil Davis comes roaring into the proceedings as Lucius with his talk of “she is returning” to the Doctor and there being something on Donna’s back. It’s not so much foreshadowing as fore-hammering. It caused my daughter to turn to me and ask what the hell is going on, at least!
“Yeah, you were right. Sometimes I need someone.”
Doctor, The Fires of Pompeii
But I must confess to having a certain amount of ambivalence to those stories where the Doctor is ultimately responsible for a major point in Earth’s history. I’m momentarily in admiration of it (as I was way back in The Visitation), but this quickly gives way to concern that it’s a gimmick that diminishes the real history, which in this case – the eruption of Vesuvius and the subsequent destruction of Pompeii – was particularly awful.
Ambivalence is probably the best description I can give of my overall reaction to The Fires of Pompeii. There’s lot of good bits, lots of meh bits. Peter Capaldi, as Roman marble salesman Caecilius, is the standout of the excellent supporting cast (which also includes a very young Karen Gillan),
And, of course, the Doctor’s saving Caecilius obviously carries a greater impact when you know what the Doctor’s going to look like a couple of regenerations down the line.
