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.

I approached В‘The Girl in the FireplaceВ’ with some caution; billed in advance as an attempt to do romance in Doctor Who, I was rather concerned after the В“companion as groupieВ” debacle that marred В‘School ReunionВ’, and writer Steven MoffatВ’s provocative comments about В“asexualВ” fans in recent interviews didnВ’t inspire confidence. On the other hand, Moffat penned what remains by far my favourite story of series one, and I suspected that if anyone could pull off such a story, then he would be a likely candidate. And as things turned out, В‘The Girl in the FireplaceВ’ works remarkably well.

A note first, about the plot: the premise that drives В‘The Girl in the FireplaceВ’ is ludicrous. IВ’m not sure whether Moffat himself decided to write a story that linked a fifty-first century spaceship with Renaissance France, or whether Russell T. Davies requested it, but if the latter is true then itВ’s akin to John Nathan-Turner securing the use of Concorde and then getting some poor bastard to try and write a script around it landing on prehistoric Earth. I donВ’t know who programmed the Repair Droids on the SS Madame de Pompadour, but I would imagine than when building such robots it might be an idea to, for example, ensure that if the ship is damaged they a) make sure that the crew is safe, and b) use the apparently phenomenal amount of power available to either evacuate the ship using the space/time corridors they know who to build or to pilot the ship somewhere safe. Rather than, say, dismembering the crew for parts, and deciding to travel back in time to steal the brain of the historical figure after whom the ship is named, which is beyond insane. Either the robotВ’s programmer was mad or he was on powerful mind-expanding drugs. Unless of course the Droids have malfunctioned, but if so thatВ’s one hell of a malfunction. The Doctor asks them at one point, В“Why come here, you could have gone to your repair yard?В” and it remains a pertinent, but unanswered, question. On top of this there are other lapses in logic and the odd irritating contrivance; the Repair DroidsВ’ assumption that they need to wait until Madame de Pompadour is the same age is the ship is just as bonkers as their belief that they need her at all, and the significance of the broken clock, besides being a general image of something wrong with time, is never explained. Then there is the DoctorВ’s explanation, when he needs to rescue Madame de Pompadour once she reaches the right age, that В“We canВ’t use the TARDIS, weВ’re part of events nowВ”. This doesnВ’t stand up to scrutiny since it shouldnВ’t matter whether he travels back to Renaissance France in the TARDIS or through the time windows, and is blatantly just a convenient way to have the Doctor abandon Rose and Mickey and sacrifice his freedom to heroically come to PompadourВ’s rescue whilst sacrificing his freedom in the process. ItВ’s also suspiciously easy all of a sudden for the Doctor to telepathically make contact with humans, which is also a contrivance to allow the Doctor and Madame de Pompadour to get closer within the limited time available.

And yet despite all of these seeming flaws, В‘The Girl in the FireplaceВ’ works. It works because this is Doctor Who as a modern fairytale, and has a magical quality not seen in the series for some time. The episode brims with ideas that fit perfectly into the series format but which wouldnВ’t work (or would work less well) in any other science fiction series. The juxtaposition of the fifty-first century spaceship and Renaissance France, with doorways from one the other disguised as mirrors and fireplaces and tapestries draws instant comparisons with The Chronicles of Narnia, and the romance between the Doctor and Madame de Pompadour is handled like that between Aragorn and Arwen in The Lord of the Rings, the DoctorВ’s near-immortality forever distancing him from her. This latter point builds on the DoctorВ’s comments about the pain of watching the humans he cares about wither and die in В‘School ReunionВ’, but in a far subtler way than in that episode. And there are many other fine ideas and images on display here, which feel uniquely like Doctor Who, from the macabre use of human flesh in the workings of a spaceship, to the grotesquely beauty of the clockwork Droids, and the bizarre sight of a horse on board the craft, which leads in turn to the unforgettable spectacle of the Doctor riding it through the mirror to save the day. В‘The Girl in the FireplaceВ’ gives us a monster under the bed in the vein of classic childrenВ’s storytelling, but when we get to see it is an elegant and striking automaton. The Doctor defeats the monsters by talking them into self-destruction, and although weВ’ve seen that before at the end of В‘Remembrance of the DaleksВ’, here it feels like the only logical way to end the threat, whereas there it was a later replacement for him pulling out a gun.

Just as important as the imagery though is the characterisation. The romance between the Doctor and Madame de Pompadour works because in doing so it still manages to stay true to the spirit of the series. When the Doctor accidentally proposed to Cameca in В‘The AztecsВ’, he exploited their relationship to gain knowledge of the workings of the tomb in which the TARDIS was trapped, but he also came to appreciate her company and pocketed the brooch she gave him at the end of the story. This works in much the same way; he only spends about an hour with her in total, but the chemistry between them suggests his appreciation for her as a person. Tennant might look lecherously at her heaving bosoms when the Doctor finds that sheВ’s all grown up, but the Doctor only gets really excited not when heВ’s snogged her, but when he realises that heВ’s snogged Madame de Pompadour and happily lists her achievements. Even the kiss in question, the sort of thing that might have made legions of long-time fans gnash their teeth, because Tennant makes it look as though the Doctor has just tried something new and enjoyable for the first time, which ultimately is perfectly in keeping with his approach to everything he does. On first viewing I felt that the plot ran out two-thirds of the way through, but after watching it again the last fifteen minutes, as the Doctor finds himself trapped with Madame de Pompadour only for her to restore his freedom at great personal cost and then fails to return to her before her death, is perfect. The ending is predictable, but with a sense of tragic inevitability.

The casting of Sophia Myles, whom David Tennant is apparently dating in real life, helps the episode enormously, as the two actors have palpable chemistry. And Madame de Pompadour is wonderfully written, making it easy to accept that she could fall in love with a man she has only known for fleetingly short periods of time throughout her life, because he takes on the role of a mythical, almost magical protector who appears to her in times of need. She is a strong character handled well, dealing level-headedly with the trials she faces. She quickly grasps the concepts of what Rose is telling her, even if she dresses them up in her own language (В“There is a vessel in your world where the days of my life are pressed together like a book?В”) and she puts the safety of others before her own, such as when she tells Louis, В“You have your duties. I am your mistress, go to your Queen.В”

Tennant also puts in a generally fine performance, although his В“drunkВ” acting is an embarrassment. He looks wide-eyed when Pompadour tells the Doctor, В“There comes a time, Time Lord, when every lonely little boy must learn how to danceВ” (a line which, as in В‘The Empty ChildВ’/В‘The Doctor DancesВ’ sees Moffat making the word В“danceВ” almost a double entendre). The DoctorВ’s sudden concerns about obtaining money, and lack of idea how to do so, is quite amusing, but above all his heroic rescue of Pompadour on horseback is a reminder that days of the Ninth Doctor standing around uselessly whilst Rose saves the day is well and truly in the past.

As for the others, RoseВ’s jealously and bitching at Sarah Jane in В‘School ReunionВ’ are mercifully not repeated here, and the most she does is look a bit sad and lonely when the Doctor shows Madame de Pompadour any attention. She also, despite her sulky look at the end of the previous episode, seems to be enjoying MickeyВ’s presence, and they spend a lot of time apparently having fun together. With both Rose and Mickey rather sidelined here, Mickey himself gets little to do and seems to have been relegated to the role of comic relief once more, although the episode does show how far heВ’s come since he gibbered in terror at the Autons in В‘RoseВ’, as he takes on robots with a fire extinguisher. He also seems to be enjoying himself, Noel Clarke seemingly as enthusiastic as the character heВ’s playing when he cries out, В“I got a spaceship on my first go!В” The only other character of note here is Ben TurnerВ’s King Louis, and he too works well, coming across as noble and accepting his rival the DoctorВ’s presence, which is an extremely unusual and adult way for Moffat to script the situation. And this after Madame de Pompadour says of him, В“This is my lover, the King of FranceВ” and the Doctor petulantly replies, В“Yeah? Well IВ’m the Lord of TimeВ”, which in retrospect is exactly the way that the Doctor used to treat Mickey when he first met Rose.

MoffatВ’s comedy pedigree means that В‘The Girl in the FireplaceВ’ has some great lines, including the DoctorВ’s earnestly delivered pun to the Repair Droids, В“ItВ’s over, accept that. IВ’m not winding you upВ”, and his response to RoseВ’s protestation, В“YouВ’re not keeping the horse!В” with В“Well, you keep Mickey.В” Even the Droids gets some good lines, most notably responding to Madame de PompadourВ’s В“I shall not set foot there againВ” with В“We do not require your feet.В”

Finally, the production of В‘The Girl in the FireplaceВ’ is quite splendid. Director Euros Lyn has proved his ability to direct period episodes, and this benefits from his talents enormously. The sets help, since both they, and the location filming, effortlessly convey the period in magnificent detail. The Repair Droids, as the Doctor notes, look beautiful, both with and without their masks, the designers making the clockwork whirring in their heads as intricate and delicate as the script requires. Even Murray GoldВ’s orchestral noodlings work for about five minutes before they start to become provocative, which makes a unusual change. Overall, В‘The Girl in the FireplaceВ’ does what Doctor Who used to do well, papering over the holes in the plot with so much style and wit that they donВ’t really matter. Hopefully, it wonВ’t be MoffatВ’s last script for the series.

French Kissing in the Tardis? Who would have thought it? Two snogs and it's only the fourth episode!!!

This was an excellent Who episode which had classic ingredients of what makes a great story. French history, clockwork robots, a spaceship, and plenty of heart. This episode really excelled itself in so many spectacular ways. The fantastic entry of the Doctor on horseback when the clockwork robots launch their attack was thrilling and funny at the same time! Loved the horse in the spaceship following the Doctor.

Mickey and Rose may have only had bit parts but both certainly enjoyed some great lines. There were some terrifying bits as well and the androids were particularly gruesome. Sophia Myles was delightful in her role and the love interest with the Doctor certainly gave the whole episode another emotional pull which is something we have rarely seen in Doctor Who but again it was handled very delicately and it was first class. She was pretty eye-catching too. David Tennant certainly knows his ladies!

The sense of loss of the Doctor for Rose at the end as the time lines were closed was another dramatic point. Of course, we knew it couldn't be, but it gave a real shock to the system for this seasoned Who watcher and reminded me to an extent of the end of Father's Day.

The Doctor turning up seemingly drunk and fooling the androids was another very well handled scene and you really did think that he had partied too much!!!

This was an exceptional episode with time changes, the sense of the Doctor being a mysterious person, and some links back to the very last episode of the Doctor being the oncoming storm as Rose desperately hopes for some help as the Androids looked set to attack. The Androids themselves were excellent and it reminded me a wee bit of Black Orchid/Visitation - like a historic combination of two Peter Davison episodes which I remember when I first watched Who when I was a youngster.

David Tennant also deserves praise and I think this episode is where he definitely finds his feet and can be considered established. Top marks for one of the finest episodes yet since Who came back to our screens. Par excellence!

Ah, young 'uns with yer Daniel Radcliffe as Doctor Who, you don't know you're born, I tell yer. When I was a lad, we had proper under-the-bed-chills like in the one with the Clockwork robots. My God, that got me all jiffultey that did as a nipper. I couldn't sleep for a week, I couldn't, thinking one of them robot things was under me bed, all tick, tock, tick, tock... We 'ad one of them old fireplaces too ( a 1960s one mind) and I was forever looking through it shouting Doctor! Doctor! Are you there? ,expecting some sort of Sapphire and Steel Father Christmas.

Yes my darlings, they were the golden days of Doctor Who alright, with David Tennant bouncing around all grinning and mad starey eyes and Billie whassername going all gooey eyed over him (who'd've thought she'd become an ambassador for the UN?) and Mickey the Tin Dog. My goodness me how David Tennant could act his socks off being drunk (first Doctor to do it, so as I'm told) and falling in love with Madame Da Pompadour and she him. Now, now, I know what you're saying but this was the first proper time he did it, it was - and long before his successor had a romance with the Contessa Di Tempus too (he likes his posh birds, see).

Oh how I thrilled at the sight of the spaceship and the Doctor riding the horse right through the mirror into the ballroom! You'd do worse than watch them Labrynth flicks if you like stuff like that. Pre-CGI mind, but worth a look its out now on DVD. Do you still use DVDs? No? Oh... You see in them days there was sheer imagination and enthusiasm for the programme. By 'eck, I'm lucky to 'ave seen the heydays of Doctor Who when I was a nipper. If only they hadn't cast Ozzy Osbourne as the Master in Series Three...

Russell Davies continues his quest to make his viewers blub with every episode, and succeeds royally with The Girl In The Fireplace.

School Reunion was an excellent character episode draped over a fairly cursory and not particularly original plot. This episode, by contrast, hit the mark on both counts, and presented an absorbing story as well as great character work. Even the pacing glitches, which have effected all the New Doctor Who stories so far, with the possible exception of FatherВ’s Day, were finally ironed out, with the story fitting comfortably into the 45 minute timeframe.

And weВ’re also back to vintage Doctor Who in many ways В– weВ’re on board a spaceship (at last! Hurrah!), thereВ’s proper body-horror (the barbecue smell is especially effective, and pretty hardcore for 7pm on a Saturday tea time) and a healthy dollop of unselfconscious surrealismВ… perhaps the best Who surrealism since Enlightenment, maybe even The Mind Robber. I remember vividly the strange dreams that followed the Enlightenment cliffhanger when it was on originally, and I have no doubt that there will be swathes of youngsters, and adults too, with some heady dreams of their own tonight.

I wouldnВ’t like to say this was the best ever Doctor Who story В– though I was certainly thinking it from about five minutes in В– but it has to be up there. The clockwork robots were brilliantly realised, especially in the bedroom scene towards the start, and wonderfully scary. The Narnia-esque time portals worked well too, a rare use of time as a plot point in a programme apparently about time travel (off the top of my head, the last one was Mawdryn Undead).

Mickey worked well, injecting the common touch into proceedings (Rose was oddly subdued today), and David Tennant gave his best performance yet, playing the mania and tragedy with much more subtlety than Chris Eccleston. His portrayal of a devastated and heartbroken Doctor putting on a brave face at the end was spot on.

And Sophie Myles was great too. The pair have a real chemistry В– one should hope so В– and she really brought this historical character to life. That she was ultimately stood up by the Doctor carried with it real tragedy В– didnВ’t it seem too good to be true that she would get a spin in the TARDIS? В– and I like the suggestion that her health declined as a result of that: he saved her life and killed her at the same moment. Though, couldnВ’t he just fly back in the TARDIS and pick her up himself, being a bona fide time traveler and all? I was hoping for a last minute reprieve in the manner of Captain Jack in The Doctor Dances. And I know who IВ’d rather have around the TARDIS.

There have only been a few times when sci-fi series have come close to perfection. The train station story in Sapphire and Steel is one, last seasons В“The Empty Child/The Doctor DancesВ” was another. Who would have thought that Steven Moffat could strike gold once more?

From the trailer last week, I was not ready for the intelligence and emotion that was contained in this story. What is more, to neatly contain it within the 45 minutes without feeling rushed makes this a classic. While there have been many who have slated RTDВ’s recent work (and really, В“Tooth and ClawВ” was damn good Saturday evening viewing, whatВ’s wrong with you?) you can still see where he fails and writers like Moffat excel.

For some, having the Doctor in a romantic lead is sacrilegious. The kiss in the TV movie had fans baying for blood. But I hope that in this instance, they can forgive the love story because it is so believable. That may be in some part because the leading lady was none other than the Doctors real life girlfriend, and boy did they have chemistry.

I dare critics to find problem with this story. It may not be for the kids, but hey, they got farting monsters last year, itВ’s the turn of the adult fans to feel that the Doctor is not only alive, but better than ever! "The Girl in the Fireplace" will stand aside all of the classic Who stories. Welcome to the Hall of Fame! Three cheers to the BBC for making Saturday evenings worth staying in for.