The Girl in the Fireplace

A beautifully packaged episode, you can see the money in every single shot, every department has worked in harmony to produce one of the most lavish and sumptuous pieces of television I have seen this year. Colours bled from my television set, opulence shone, costume glittered, sets sparkled…. my sense went into critical overload…

…and yet I’m not entirely satisfied. I think I’m a bit ungrateful to complain when this is clearly a superior slice of television but something niggled at me during this episode, just like it did during Father’s Day, something that wasn’t quite right.

I think I was expecting a bit more fantasy romance and less science fiction. I wanted to see fabulous balls and emmerse myself in the culture of France in the 1700’s rather than hopping back to that drab old spaceship every five minutes. The glimpses of historical accuracy we saw were fantastic, scenes such as Pompadour and friend taking in the grounds, filmed with a sense of romance that quite took my breath away. Another problem was Mickey and Rose who were entirely superfluous to the episode, especially Mickey whose first trip in the TARDIS is skipped over in favour of the Doctor’s romance. Rose was okay but she is getting a little generic this year, devolving into a standard companion rather than the unique and feisty piece of work she was last year. Lets hope we see her step back into the limelight in the next episode. It seems to me as though the writers got this script and School Reunion the wrong way round, with Rose acting like a jealous girlfriend and getting awfully bitchy towards the fabulous Sarah Jane and yet all she does in this episode when the Doctor has a genuine romance is throw a worried glance his way when he goes scuttling off after Madame Pompadour. Hmm, consistency people, consistency.

Clockwork soldiers, what a fine idea and pulled off with magnificent style, the terrifying ticking and those nasty grinning faces, combining the Soldiers (from the Mind Robber) and the Robots (from Robots of Death) to superb visual effect. Unfortunately looking scary is all they can do because we are pre watershed and thus all we witness is them stalking about brandishing cutting tools. We hear of them to cutting open people and adding them to the processes of the spaceship but that is no where near as scary as seeing it. And for those who moan that we can’t see this sort of thing as it is too scary for the kiddies I say I bet they wont be as squeamish next week with the Cybermen, I expect we’ll see some of or all of a Cyber conversion which is just as frightening. Clockwork killers is not a new idea in Doctor Who, unfortunately we have also had their appearance in this months Big Finish. Alas neither of the audio or the visual attempts hold a candle to the Jonathan Morris’ Anachrophobia, which was brave enough to take the idea to its limit, having a character attempt suicide by slashing open her wrists to find cogs and wheels grinding inside and later having a character have his chest ripped open to discover a pendulum swinging inside a glass case rather than his heart beating. That is scary. What we see here is pretty.

Whilst I’m whinging the idea of the Doctor visiting a person at separate moments in their life has also been done before and (dare I say it) it was even more touching than it was here. Justin Richards’ Glass Princess from the Big Finish Short Trips: The Muses featured a story where the Doctor visited a princess throughout her entire life, a different incarnation for each visit until the eighth Doctor visits and takes her outside her home for the first time and tells her a story of a beautiful Princess and kisses her as she dies in his arms. So originality is not this episodes strong point either.

Oh my word what a total absolute moaning, miserable Tegan-wanabee git I have been! An entire page complaining and griping at a piece of television I really enjoyed! Summing up (and it’s the last negative thing I will say) I will just say that I am disappointed that the series can’t push its horror angle further (never stopped them in the past) and the show isn’t quite as boundary pushing as I had hoped, I guess plunging the audience into a romantic drama without any SF elements would be a little too alienating. But I really miss the pure historical and I thought this might be the first since Black Orchid.

What about the amazing chemistry between David Tennant and Sophia Myles (and I should hope so too considering what they get up to behind the scenes). I for one have absolutely no trouble with the Doctor having a romance and a good snog and however snide it might sound Doctor Who has evolved out of the fans hands these days and the show demands a romance for its loyal female (and soppy male) population. Just because those anal fans of the old series could never get a girl, no reason why the Doctor shouldn’t, especially not somebody as shaggable as David Tennant. Cor, if he materialised in my bedroom like he did Pompadour’s the Doctor wouldn’t have stood a chance! And whilst it was a borrowed idea, the thought of the Doctor progressing through this amazing woman’s life is agonisingly poignant, not ageing a day whilst she grows in leaps and bounds (beautifully capitalising on his tender admission in School Reunion), psychically and emotionally. Her devotion to him through the years, her willingness to take ‘the slow road’ to meeting him again is lovely and it is worth watching just to see her face when he promises to show her the stars. The final ten minutes are a total change of pace for the series, not climaxing with the Doctor saving the ball from the sinister soldiers but concentrating instead on the Doctor’s relationship with this amazing woman and how much he is affected by her beauty and intelligence. The last scene is achingly sad (although I have to say I wept more at the end of the School Reunion…sentimental attachment to Sarah Jane!) where the Doctor stands alone in the console room, again following up his admission that he is always alone (even when his friends are in the next room). Reading a farewell letter from the one woman he let into his head, revealed his secrets too, had my choking back the tears.

Sophia Myles is just the sort of big name star the show needs to keep attracting, not just because she is stunningly beautiful (almost enough to turn a guys head from his chosen lifestyle!) but because she brings so much to the episode she stars in. It is a textured, sensitive portrayal, one which stands out because clearly the writer was as invested in the character as the actress and together they have created a memorable and striking figure to reveal much about the Doctor. It is the side of him that comes out around Pompadour that makes her so special. To Myles’ credit it is not a part I can imagine anybody else playing, so distinctive is she in the part.

It is an amazing showcase for David Tennant’s range too, allowing him to express all manner of emotions throughout. He shifts mood in this episode more times than Eccleston did in an entire season. I wasn’t crazy about the mock drunk scene but that is just because I know far too many people who act like total dickheads when they’ve had one too many but it was certainly a clever ploy to finish off one of those clockwork nasties. His reaction Pompadour reading his mind was priceless, horror, shock and then slow admittance and enjoyment…its all their in Tennant’s face. His performance throughout the episode enhances the climax because after his manic energy earlier on (including that spine tingling moment when he bursts through the mirror on horseback) his eerie quietness in the TARDIS as he pilots the ship and reads her farewell letter is magnificently portrayed. This is an amazing actor we have at the helm of our show, lets never forget that.

I think the biggest credit for this episode however deserves to go to Euros Lyn who, after Tooth and Claw and this has now proven himself as the best director on the show. Frankly it is assembled by genius, the storytelling his sharp and bold but it means nothing if the director doesn’t stamp his mark and this piece was dramatic, funny, romantic, exciting, tear jerking and visually mouth watering. He cuts scenes back and forth brilliantly, never letting the audience get bored, dazzling us with special FX, gorgeous costumes and sets but still remembering it is the actors that we need to connect with and driving some phenomenal performances from them. I wouldn’t say the direction here was better than Tooth and Claw, but it was easily as good and so stylish that it is noticed.

The Girl in the Fireplace is an odd beast, clearly better than anything else that will be aired on TV this week, mixing horror, SF and history with effortless ease (in a way only Doctor Who can) and looking as though it had five times its budget and yet my niggly problems leave it inferior to the last two episodes. Keep up the excellent work but a little advice, don’t worry about scaring the kids (they love it) and remember you are supposed to be the boldest show on television, trust the audience if you want to dive in a dish up a pure historical.