The Girl in the Fireplace

Tonight’s episode by Steven Moffat was another masterpiece. The opening of Reinette calling out for the Doctor in her time of need through a fire place, opened this piece with intrepidation of how does she know to call the Doctor?

Enter the titles and we are now in 51st century in a space ship, on investigation the new crew wander around while Rose wants to know where when why, Mickey is gob smacked that his first journey is on a space ship. The whole design is great and the CGI of the space craft and outside through windows is fantastic. The crew find a fireplace, eighteenth century at that, and a girl Reinette who says that it is France in 1871. The Doctor finds a way of opening the magic door which is a spin of the fireplace. I loved that especially the way that the Doctor now has some adventure on his own. David is fantastic in this scene making it all very frightening and dark. He finds the clockwork man under the bed, what a creation really spooky and the weapon is very menacing but again using items that children can identify with. Having the young Reinette setting the journey is good for the children too as the fact that Reinette controls the danger is a good plot, the clockwork men need her for something but what. The eerie Tick Tock in the back ground and the music behind is subtle but so important and really adds to the overall tension and the darkness that is being created. The Doctor saves Reinette by taking the clockwork man to the spaceship.

The Doctor attacks the clockwork man and then unmasks. This is a wonderful creation, clockwork mechanics a great design concept that works so well. The Doctor revisits Reinette who is now a woman. Wow did anyone see the kiss coming; I thought this moment was shocking but yet surprisingly likable. This Doctor is so charasmatic and a flirt that it certainly goes with this Doctor that kissing would happen. David’s Doctor is tender, passionate and emotional and I think this makes David’s intepretation fascinating to watch.

In this episode we have another powerful women’s part in Sophia Myles taking on the part of Reinette. This is a great portrayal and Sophia has made good work of all lines emotion and drama that she has been given. You can see why she was cast and it is lovely to see so many women getting decent parts in science fiction. This series has been delivering these strong roles and Reinette is a character that is instantly likeable; wish I could say the same about Mickey.

Back on the spacecraft and Rose is teaching Mickey about time travel and getting on with it. Rose is a strong character but is being limited by Mickey. Fortunately Rose is so well written and acted by Billie that she is able to shine even in limited time. Rose’s emotional journey continues in this adventure, the heart being wired disgusted Rose, the jealousy she shows at why did you pick this woman to the clockwork man shows that she doesn’t want to share the Doctor with a beautiful woman like Reinette, who is clearly gaining the Doctor’s attention. Rose also benefits with a lovely scene with Reinette on her being ready when she is 37 and demonstrating how difficult it is for her to explain the concept of how Reinette’s life is being viewed by portals in Mirrors, Tapestry’s and Fire’s. The scene where Reinette walks through the tapestry onto the spaceship is simple but clever. Reinette after seeing into the Doctor’s mind while the Doctor searches for the answer, she sees and understand the Doctor’s loneliness that comes from his travelling and long life. The line to Rose about we understand that the Doctor is worth the monsters don’t we Rose, again illustrates to Rose there is more than one person who knows why she travels with the Doctor. Mickey sees this to and implies to Rose that the Doctor surrounds himself by women a point Rose chooses to ignore.

The relationship between the Doctor and Reinette is superbly played and this journey is why the adults will stay interested as it is a beautiful and emotional ride. Each time portal window showing another layer of the relationship and even though time is limited between them the time is enough to show a love story.

The story climaxes with the Doctor penetrating the window riding on a horse. Genius where else would you see this moment anywhere else but in Doctor Who. The visual effect was strong and well worth the tremendous efforts of all the production team involved and Steven’s ability to write without budget constraints in mind. This scene is definitely a fantastic achievement. Saying that though all departments are equally as good, the visual effects and set pieces are really strong. The location of Ragley Hall fits beautifully and the costumes are a real highlight of the episode in my eyes. The clockwork men and women look visually fantastic and I love the contrast of the regular cast members against the back drop of the eighteenth century costume. This episode is definitely going to very re watchable as you soak in all the elements that have gone into this episode, there is too much to take in on one showing.

So the Doctor heroically saves Reinette and leaves Rose on the spaceship. With the Doctor trapped Rose cries over the loss which is another Billie beautiful moment and so subtably done. We then move to David whose portrayal over the loss of Reinette at the end of the episode is so compelling. The Doctor showing this emotion is very bold stuff but it all works so well. Words don’t always say it all and it is to David’s credit that he can command the scene even when saying nothing is what makes him in my eyes the best Doctor there has been so far. I know that many people will be saying that we just move on to the new but I believe that it will be difficult to emulate David when he decides to go. I’m hoping that this isn’t for years.

For me the only element not working in this series is Mickey, he didn’t do anything for me last year and I find his character so unmoving, you can see Noel is giving his best but it not holding my attention. I only hope that with continuing episodes this does change as this element may spoil a weaker episode but as we haven’t had one yet I’m not worrying about it.