N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

The cast of The Vampires of Venice is graced by the late Helen McCrory and she is unsurprisingly rather wonderful as the Saturnyne Sister of the Water Rosanna Calvierri.

“They’re not vampires; they’re aliens.”

Amy, The Vampires of Venice

Lucian Msamati as Isabella’s concerned father Guido is similarly excellent, although I did wonder why he didn’t question the photorealism of Rory’s T-shirt print. Perhaps there’s a 16th century Venetian artist worth of Vermeer-like acclaim of whom I am unaware. (My art history is, admittedly, a bit limited in scope.)

And how come Isabella couldn’t face the sunlight during the escape, yet is fine to face the music immediately afterwards?

Elsewhere, Francesco’s fight with Rory is a bit cringeworthy — and do we really need to see the Doctor and Rory comparing the size of their … erm, lights? — but there is a lot to like in The Vampires of Venice (not just the afore-mentioned Ms McCrory and Mr Msamati).

There’s some sharp dialogue, for one. Amusingly so in the Doctor’s observations of Rosanna’s acolytes as “pale, creepy girls who don’t like the sunlight” and that “fish from space have never been so buxom” and enigmatic in Rosanna’s descriptions of why they fled to Earth in the first place: “We ran from the silence” and “There were cracks”.

I like how 11’s righteous indignation is not quite as bombastic as 10’s, but is there nevertheless; it’s also clear Francesco has a somewhat complicated relationship with his mother; and, perhaps best of all, Rory’s comment that the Doctor is a danger to people around him is bang-on.

“You know what’s dangerous about you? It’s not that you make people take risks; it’s that you make them want to impress you. You make it so they don’t want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you’re around.”

Smart fella, that Mr Williams.