|
The Girl in the Fireplace Format Reviewed: TV Review This episode was another that I was greatly looking forward to. Firstly, it is written by Steven Moffat who wrote the excellent The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances two part story for the previous series, and also the comedy Coupling that I really like. The episode also features Versailles, where I spent a very enjoyable day last year with the wife wandering around every available corner. This story also marks the transferal of Mickey Smith from a recurring to a regular cast member as he joined the Tardis crew at the end of the end of School Reunion. The story is basically one that the Tardis has landed on a space ship that requires the brain of Madame du Pompadour when she is 37, and vaious time windows have been opened up from the ship to times in Reinette's (Madame du Pompadour) life trying to find the point at which she will be 37. The aggressors are clockwork robots who are merely trying to repair their ship which was 80% damaged with whatever material they can find, including human body parts as they are not programmed to see humans as sacresanct and integrate human body parts into the ships circuits. What is surprising here is that the episode is more of a love story between the Doctor and Reinette, something that has not really been part of the Doctors makeup previously. The Doctor is the main focus here of the story, and Rose and Mickey are largely irrellevant to the story. The whole thing could have been accomplished without them appearing at all, and while I can appreciate it is difficult to keep telling stories giving all of the regular cast a real part of the plot, the fact that Rose and Mickey are redundant is a minus here. Tennant does put in another sparkling performance though, and has really become accustomed to the world of Doctor Who quickly. His performances have been excellent throughout and he has dealt with everything the scripts have thrown at him well. While not given a chance to shine here, the performances of Noel Clarke and Billie Piper do not detract from the plot at all, and I might even venture that Clarke's portrayal of Mickey is actually one of his better performances. The only really notable members of the guest cast are Reinette played first as a girl by Jessica Atkins and later as a woman by Sophia Myles, and Ben Turner as King Louis XV. Particularly impressive for me though is the performance of Sophia Myles. This is probably somewhat aided by the fact that she is the real life girlfriend of David Tennant, but nevertheless there is real on screen chemistry between the two. Real life partners acting together often does not produce real chemistry, so there performances against each other should be commended. Another aspect of the story that should be commended is that it is partly what the BBC does best, period dramas, but it has been given a Doctor Who twist. All of the guest cast, although sparce in their importance, behave and are dressed appropriately. Given the nature of the story, this works excellently. The only thing that detracts slightly is the much debated special effect of the horse jumping through the mirror, which for me doesn't really work. The glass falling to the floor just doesn't look right and detracts totally from the scene. Overall, The Girl in the Fireplace is a good effort and certainly will stand up to a lot of scruitiny and repeated viewing. There are issues, such as I am rather 50-50 about whether I can live with the idea of the Doctor in a love story, and I still believe that most stories should be 2 parts, this one included. This would give the chance for Mickey and Rose to actually do something rather than hanging around like spare parts. Rating:  |