The Girl in the Fireplace

Side-by-side 18th-C Versailles & 50th-C derelict spaceship, slow time & fast time -- 'The Girl in the Fireplace' encapsulated 'Doctor Who'. I wholeheartedly enjoyed this one, despite plot holes one could (cough) ride a horse through. For once, I thought the compression of the 45-minute format worked in the story's favour, imparting a fleeting air to the meetings between Reinette & the Doctor. I wasn't, however, 100% convinced by the romance, not helped by a rather wooden performance by Sophia Myles as Madame de Pompadour (sadly outshone by the unknown kid who played the young Reinette) -- it felt to have more to do with a determination to squash fandom's Rose/Doctor OTPness than any real connection between the characters. (And the mind-reading -- did they make that up, or was I missing something about previous Doctors?) I did enjoy the playing with the audience's expectations when Reinette led him into the bedroom after all those dancing references. Oh, and nice tip to Potter with the fireplace communications!

The monsters were both creepy and beautiful, feeling very much in the Old 'Who' spirit, and the Doctor's wonder was much better written than in 'Tooth and Claw'. The line with monsters having nightmares about the Doctor was very cute, and the monster-under-the-bed moment really made me jump; it was perhaps a shame that the horror had to be sidelined to play up the romance.

This, for me, was the episode where Tennant became Ten. I suspect Steven Moffat just writes the Doctor better than RTD, though Tennant's calmed down a few of his more annoying mannerisms. Neither Rose nor Mickey got a lot to do (though Mickey's developing into a great comic chorus), but I for one was entirely happy with an episode that focused squarely on the Doctor.

Not perfect, but my favourite of this season so far.