The Girl in the Fireplace

The Girl In The Fireplace is the first really great episode of the second series, but unfortunately one of the only ones. ItВ’s certainly one of the only ones to justify Charlie BrookerВ’s comment that Doctor Who is В“a populist drama driven by ideasВ”, presenting a period setting and a science-fiction one, a generally tasteful romance, some interesting monsters and an innovative spin on time travel. Since this is a rare opportunity to sing the praises of the new series IВ’ll try not to dwell on the deficiencies of other episodes, but unfortunately I canВ’t go completely crazy as this episode isnВ’t quite classic material. The elements are there В– but thereВ’s so much to get through that The Girl In The Fireplace comes out feelingВ…embryonic.

IВ’m not sure about the pre-titles sequence myself, and I remember being a bit bewildered on first viewing. ThereВ’s little thatВ’s explicitly wrong with it, and everything gets explained, but on first viewing itВ’s just dizzying and doesnВ’t really work on its own. As I said thereВ’s nothing bad, exactly, but there has to be something wrong with a pre-titles sequence that only works once youВ’ve seen the rest of the episode.

From the get-go though, itВ’s clear that The Girl In The Fireplace is going to be much more interesting and imaginative than most other new series episodes and that Stephen Moffat is going to make good on the promise he showed with The Empty Child. The derelict ship is an atmospheric location and leads to some evocative questions, like what happened to the crew; the presence of the fireplace also showcases the eccentricity that makes MoffatВ’s episodes so interesting. What stands out the most though is the characterisation of the regulars В– Mickey was always likeable, but Rose is a real pleasant surprise here.

Tooth And Claw and School Reunion saw the beginning of a decline from a likeable and energetic girl into a self-obsessed and spiteful brat, and while future episodes would take this further there is at least a respite here as she shows a degree of emotional maturity. If I was going to nitpick I could say that the characterisation is hardly consistent В– sheВ’s all smiles towards Madame de Pompadour but nasty towards an innocent waitress next episode? В– but since the inconsistency is in this case better IВ’ll not be churlish about it. The dialogue is crisp and witty В– the jokes are actually funny as Moffat structures them as naturalistic dialogue rather than the heavy-handed set-ups and punchlines that Russell T. Davies goes in for. ItВ’s just a pity that they picked a little girl whoВ’s the spitting image of Johnny Winter.

The scene in the young ReinetteВ’s bedroom is possibly one of the three best the new series has ever done, demonstrating an expert knowledge of how to structure a scare (the sudden cut to the clockwork robot in the background is chilling), and even Euros LynВ’s normally empty-headed direction is above average. The crucial flaw is in the music. Murray Gold is certainly above average in this episode too (funny how quality in one area can bring out the best in others), but the problem is in having music at all. It seems that a requisite feature of the new series is to have ubiquitous strings in just about every scene, but here is a case where a key part of the atmosphere is in an ambient sound effect that the viewer doesnВ’t notice until the revelation that something is wrong. Yet instead of listening to the stark ticking, we have to listen to that plus a music score. This is an unnecessary distraction that all but cripples the scene В– itВ’s still a great moment, but less than it should be.

The clockwork robots are introduced now, and embody everything thatВ’s great about the episode as well as everything that holds it back. The concept of a robot powered by clockwork is wonderfully imaginative and evocative, and the on-screen realisation is absolutely brilliant. The trouble is that the idea, while good, is essentially left at surface level and never really explained. This means that the robots, while brilliant looking, make very little logical sense and hit the episodeВ’s plausibility very hard. The trailers for the episode suggested they could have been a product of the 18th Century setting and this would have made much more sense than having repair droids from the 51st Century driven by clockwork. If you wanted to buy a drill, would you buy one powered by electricity or by rubber bands?

ItВ’s slightly troubling to see the Doctor getting off with Madame de Pompadour since the sequence takes place more or less in real time from the DoctorВ’s point-of-view, which means that less than three minutes earlier he was talking to her as a little child. There are other problems too В– while the romance angle is generally well handled lines like В“IВ’m the Doctor, and I just snogged Madame de Pompadour!В”, delivered by David Tennant as if his mouth is full, show that even such a strong episode as this canВ’t quite escape the appalling smugness that blights the new series. In interviews Moffat seems actively aggressive to such areas of fandom that would rather not see romance in Doctor Who В– itВ’s as if heВ’s so terrified of the conservative or reactionary label thrown at some corners of fandom that heВ’s gone to the opposite extreme to try to avoid it. While I think that romance should not be a central element of the programme I donВ’t have a problem with odd moments like this episode В– were it not for certain elements like the unsubtle В“dancingВ” metaphor that come across as just baiting people. If you set out to annoy someone, you will В– not necessarily because of what you do, but the attitude with which you do it.

The sight of body parts wired into the ship are another blow to plausibility В– not because of the idea that the confused robots would harvest organs, but because they actually work. So the ship is now almost fully operationalВ…because livers and kidneys have been plugged into it? ItВ’s not that there isnВ’t a conceivable explanation to this that could make it more credible, itВ’s that the audience doesnВ’t get one and that makes the episode feel at times like magic realism. Since this is the central plot thread of the story, the entire episode is hurt. This is such a shame, as the idea of the robots stalking a woman through history is at face value a terrific one.

The mind-melding scene is annoying, as is any scene that gives the Doctor blatant superpowers, but it does at least demonstrate that plot and characterisation donВ’t necessarily have to be mutually exclusive which is another common problem of new Who. ItВ’s followed by some really terrible moments though, with the lame В“Doctor Who?В” line trotted out yet again and TennantВ’s В“drunkВ” acting, which is painful to watch В– it seems that every episode of the second series, without exception, as had some sort of cringe-moment. ItВ’s so hard to watch that the excuse that heВ’s just faking it really doesnВ’t cut much ice. All is redeemed though by a nice, quite moment for Rose and a dynamite scene where Reinette hears her own future onboard the ship.

There are some seriously ropey special effects as the Doctor smashes through the mirror and his wink is an annoying cheesy moment, but it leads to a delightfully poignant scene as the robots deactivate (funny how I feel more sympathy for them than the DoctorВ…)

Having ReinetteВ’s final message to the Doctor delivered in a letter helps a potentially mawkish scene no end; since the conversation is by definition one-way it forces the scene to be introspective, whereas if it was done in person weВ’d have to sit through the Doctor and Reinette blubbing away declaring their love for each other. The final twist, where we finally get to see why the robots were stalking her in the first place, is a great moment and itВ’s unusual for the audience to end the episode knowing more than the Doctor does.

I really, really like this episode, but on the other hand itВ’s hard to think of one thatВ’s more frustrating. All the pieces are there to make The Girl In The Fireplace one of the new seriesВ’s best episodes, but it only achieves this in the default sense of being better than most of the others. ItВ’s crucially flawed, so I have to hold back from calling it the classic I want it to be. But donВ’t let that put you off.