The Girl in the Fireplace

Steven Moffat deserves a lot of credit for В‘The Girl in the FireplaceВ’ В– if the new Doctor Who has thus far erred on the side of simplicity (and it has), this story at least isnВ’t afraid to really challenge viewers, and like В‘The Mind Robber,В’ В‘Kinda,В’ В‘Ghost LightВ’ and other experimental stories from the classic series, it succeeds in bringing something fresh and strange to the rollicking sci-fi adventure format.

That said, I didnВ’t actually *like* this story a whole lot. ItВ’s possible that, like many of these 45-min. stories, it might have been improved and clarified by an expanded telling. (I say this in practically every review of the new series, but itВ’s so true.) Still, I actually doubt it would have helped here, since it seems this story is *intended* to have a puzzling, dreamlike quality about it. Although seen through the eyes of the Doctor and his companions, the story retains in its approach some of the mystery and elliptical quality of ReinetteВ’s impression of its events. In fact, it almost feels as if this story might have been conceived to be told from her point of view; the prologue certainly suggests this, but as the story unfolds we get more of an expected my-good-where-are-we-this-time Doctor Who approach.

And perhaps itВ’s that we never *do* really get inside ReinetteВ’s head that makes the story so unsatisfying to me В– rather than seeming fantastic and romantic, her falling instantly in love with a stranger from her childhood bedroom (!) simply seems absurd, because we are asked to accept it without being made (by the writer) to really *understand* it. Now, before people start shooting me hate e-mails, let me join the chorus of I-donВ’t-mind-if-the-Doctor-gets-laid-ers, but my point is it has to be done *believably*, and this Time-Casanova scenario (so to speak) never felt authentic in the least to me. For the all hysterical praise of Kate-Hudson lookalike Sophia MylesВ’s performance in the part, this Madame de Pompadour remains more or less a blank, someone whose actions only seem real if we donВ’t stop to think about them. (And while IВ’m mentioning the famous name, what is this ridiculous hard-on Russell T. Davies has for true historical figures? WeВ’ve already had Charles Dickens, Queen Victoria and Madame de Pompadour, and now Shakespeare himself is apparently waiting in the wings for next season. ItВ’s not nearly as fun as RTD seems to think it is, and the repetition is getting old fast.) Myles canВ’t quite pull off MoffatВ’s cod-Sheridan dialogue either, but at least sheВ’s better than Ben TurnerВ’s rather hopeless Louis in that regard. Both are undeniably soap-opera pretty В– but since when does that impress Doctor Who fans? Since now, I guess.

Well, on to the other actors. David Tennant is not very good here В– as IВ’ve noted before, his yammering goofus seems worlds away from Christopher EcclestonВ’s haunted survivor, and so all the stuff about his epic loneliness doesnВ’t quite ring true. IВ’m not at all sold on TennantВ’s Doctor В– perhaps this was inevitable as we moved into the double digits, but so many of the things he does seem like mere echoes of better Doctors past. He does flop-haired and boyish, but not so well as Davison; he does gabbling and irrepressible, but not so well as Tom Baker; he does clownish, but not so well as Troughton. I have yet to identify anything truly new heВ’s brought to the part. Rose and Mickey are largely sidelined here, of course, but Noel Clarke at least is given some funny lines (В“Even French!В”).

Worst of all, the strange plot, which, as I said, is notable for its originality, is at times surprisingly predictable В– the DoctorВ’s apparent forgetfulness about the time-window delay (and/or about ReinetteВ’s age at the time of her death) is a shameless contrivance to create an awww-factor, and it would take a lobotomy patient not to see it coming. (What other climax could there have been five minutes before the end of the episode?) And as for the big punchline, it doesnВ’t work nearly as well here as MoffatВ’s similar machine/organic gotcha at the end of В‘The Doctor DancesВ’; here itВ’s just a nonsensical gimmick, and doesnВ’t pay off in the least (as others have pointed out).

All in all, a step in the right direction in some ways, but not a real success.