Being a Doctor Who fan can be something of a double edged sword, on the one hand one shares a more intimate involvement with the show and its characters than the casual viewer, on the other such an involvement often means that one has greater foreknowledge of each episode than is sometimes healthy. From hearing a story title, to seeing stills from the set, previews and finally the next time trailer, one tends to build up a mental picture of the story, one that will very rarely if ever be much like the transmitted program.

In building up that mental picture one often builds the image of the perfect episode one would like to see, crafted from the information available. Seeing the final transmitted episode nearly always leads to a slight sense of deflation as one realises that it wasn’t that perfect image and in reality could never hope to be. And that is the curse of being a fan, no matter how much we try to leave our hopes, anticipations and fears outside the door, we always carry them through, we will never have that sense of detatchment that the casual viewer has. Being a fan however inevitably leads to the compulsion to rewatch an episode no matter how good or bad it maybe, and it is on that second viewing that I think the Girl in the Fireplace holds much of its appeal. Much like Ghost Light used to be cited as a story which improved on repeated viewing, so I think Girl in the Fireplace will join its ranks.

If I am honest I really didn’t know what to make of this episode on first viewing. It was so different from the last 3 stories and to most tv drama as we know it, that I wasn’t really sure whether it worked or not. On the surface it shares some very close similarities to Steven Moffat’s story from last year which attempted to mesh a more cerebral concept within the Russell T Davies template. For this viewer the Empty Child didn’t quite gell, with the first episode feeling a bit leaden and the story only really coming to life towards the end. With Girl in the Fireplace the new Doctor Who seems to be maturing, realising that it doesn’t have to be thrill or joke a minute, that it can have an intelligent story which keeps the viewer guessing and doesn’t lay all plot developments on with a trowel. The pace at times felt totally at odds with the first 3 episodes and that was a little disconcerting on first viewing, but I think it is good that every once in a while the new series can be comfortable with its success and not be afraid to try a quieter more contemplative episode.

The clockwork droids were probably the best old Doctor Who monster there never was, the idea and execution were so classically Doctor Who, that you cant believe the idea hadn’t been thought of before. Unlike some of the other writers Steven Moffatt seems perfectly in tune with that surreal creepiness which writers like Robert Homes excelled at, if anything I think this new series should be creating a whole new generation of bed wetters. The robots were only let down only by the fact that it was never explained what they really were or who created them.

The episode really though belonged to the Doctor, and perhaps out of all Doctor Who ever, provided the most intimate portrayal of the character. A Doctor Who romance is always going to be a bone of contention for fans, and I must admit a few years ago I would have been aghast at the idea. The Paul McGann movie had a romance angle which was very poorly shoehorned in, and would have made many a producer very wary of attempting the idea again. But rightly or wrongly Russell T Davies has introduced the fact that the Doctor is seemingly not as asexual as we may have thought and indeed does long for phyical intimacy whether that be female, male, alien or whatever. The fact that the Doctor has always been assumed to be asexual could be looked upon as an unwritten assumption which was misinterpreted by various production teams over the years and quickly became fact. In 1963 the stern professor like character portrayed by William Hartnell was not likely to set many pulses racing, so such issues were neatly sidestepped, and when the Doctor regenerated into Patrick Troughton the reality of a Saturday afternoon childrens adventure series meant that there was no pressing need to even address the issue. Lets face it relationships per se were barely touched upon in the original series at all, so the general assumption reached by Joe public was that if the Doctor wasn’t getting his leg over, he couldn’t be too bothered about that sort of thing. So I suppose Russell T Davies had to ask the question: why in the 21st century would it be so unthinkable? and the fact that this has so far been handled in a fairly subtle manner, has not detracted too much from the mystique of the character.

Girl in the Fireplace didn’t really have enough screen time to suggest why the Doctor and Renette formed such a bond, but within those constraints feasibly recreated the Doctor as a romantic hero. The new series has always played slightly on the fact that rather than being an intrepid adventurer, the Doctor’s lifestyle is born partly out of necessity. He is an alien nomad destined to never really belong in a time and place, he must always move on, and this episode much as Father’s Day did, suggests that perhaps deep down he hankers for a mundane normal existence. This is somewhat at odds with previous incarnations, Pertwee would have been off into space in two minutes flat and away from the cosy cofines of Unit given half the chance, but once again distanced from the old series this approach offers a much deeper motivation for the character, even if he does become a little more human in the process.

Rose took a slightly back seat in this episode and following School Reunion, we got the impression that the character is on a gradual journey of realisation that she is not the centre of the Doctor’s universe she had assumed herself to be. Noel Clarke made a worthy addition to the Tardis crew, but wasn’t really given a great deal to do on his first galactic outing.

Despite the plot occasionally seeming to drift off at tangents at some moments, creating a rather uneven pace, the story managed to maintain its momentum and ably enhanced by Murray Golds nearly always superb incidental music and Euros Lyns direction, by the end the story had taken on a lyrical almost fairy tale quality. The ending was both poignant and perhaps the saddest so far in the new series. Fortunately avoiding the gross sentimentality of Cassandra’s death in New Earth, the fact that the Doctor didn’t use the Tardis to go back made the ending all the more stronger. Much as with Sarah Jane in the previous episode, we find that the Doctor has missed the moment and must move on once again, popping in and out of lives but always as Renette put it, unable to take the slow path.

I didn’t see the ending coming and I must admit it was a pleasant surprise, but unfortunately shared the same problem as many new series episodes in that it raised more questions than it answered. Exactly why did these supposedly advanced droids think that the head of Madame de Pompadour would repair the ship just because it had the same name? The plot device is pretty much the same that Mofatt used on his earlier story, the idea that highly advanced technology can make a huge glaring error based on following simple logic, but the revelation was not enough to quell all questions raised, and much like Ghost light, one feels we will probably have to wait for a DVD commentary to gain a full insight into the logic of the plot.

Beautifully shot, a good central performance from Sophia Myles as Madame Pompadour and some rather weird but wonderful ideas made this an episode which will I think always be a neglected gem. Straddled in the middle of werewolves, K9 and Cybermen it was unlikely ever to be a huge crowd pleaser, but will always be an episode for which each new viewing holds something new.

В“The monsters and the Doctor. It seems you cannot have one without the other.В”

In the build-up to series two, I found myself getting very excited about early episodes like “School Reunion” and “Rise of the Cybermen.” Others, such as “Tooth and Claw” and “The Girl In The Fireplace” I didn’t know all that much about and thus didn’t have great expectations of them. Nevertheless, the superb trailer for “Tooth and Claw” literally had me salivating yet when I came to see “The Girl In The Fireplace”’s rather bland trailer (combined with writer Steven Moffat’s “guarantee” that it would not be as good as “The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances”) I sat down on Saturday evening expecting little more than a witty little filler episode. How wrong I was…

В“The clock on the mantle is broken. It is time. Doctor! Doctor!В”

The pre-credit sequence was all that it took to engage my interest. The creepy noise of the clockwork robots; the brilliant period music and costumes; the beautiful cinematography; the mysterious woman that В“lovesВ” the Doctor! Who is she? How does she know him? How does she know heВ’ll come? Moffat had me hooked from the start.

В“IВ’m not the tin dog. I wanna see whatВ’s out there.В”

3000 years later, Mickey Smith strolls out of the TARDIS onto a derelict spaceship. В“ItВ’s so realistic!В” he says, God love him! After В“School ReunionВ” I was really looking forward to seeing Mickey join the TARDIS crew proper, and although he (and Rose) are often neglected in this very Doctor-centric episode he still manages to entertain. His action-man roll had me in hysterics as did the scene with the eye - В“Are you lookinВ’ at me?В” В– brilliant! HeВ’s still scared of his own shadow, but at least heВ’s starting to cut the mustard. IВ’m really looking forward to seeing what he gets up to on the parallel Earth next week; hopefully a two-parter will allocate him a bit more of the action.

Speaking to my sister after watching the episode, she told me that she enjoyed В“The Girl In The FireplaceВ” but found it slow. After the frenetic В“School ReunionВ” I can see where she is coming from, but I found MoffatВ’s quite complicated, more contemplative story every bit as compelling as any other story this season and I certainly do not think it lacked pace. The science-fiction idea behind the episode is fascinating; a 51st century spaceship contains several В“time windowsВ”, each leading directly into various times in one particular 18th century womanВ’s life. For some unknown reason, clockwork robots are constantly harassing this woman, scanning her to see if she is В“completeВ” so they can nick her brain and use it to run their space ship! And just in case that isnВ’t enough for you, Moffat chucks in a horse!

В“YouВ’re not keeping the horse,В” says Rose, scalding the Doctor.
В“I let you keep Mickey!В”

At heart though, “The Girl In The Fireplace” is a love story that pushes fantasy romance to its limits. A Fireplace…“a magic door”… call it what you will; it brings together a lonely Time Lord and a French aristocrat in the most intense, surreal set of circumstances. The first meeting of the Doctor and Reinette (Sophia Myles… David Tennant’s bird) is lifted straight out of a fairytale and then turned on its head. A little girl sleeps with a monster under her bed, and then the man that the “…monsters have nightmares about” comes to her rescue. The ‘monster’ as it were really is the stuff of nightmares. The clockwork robot under Reinette’s bad combines the creepy, relentless tick / tock of a unstoppable machine with a nightmarish masque that plays on all those terrible fears about what lies beneath - these robots are how “The Robots of Death” should have looked; art-deco monstrosities. I also found its voice extremely unsettling – I can’t be sure (though with hindsight it would make sense) but it sounds like Sophia Myles’ voice put through a modulator. What lies beneath the masque, ironically, is actually a thing of beauty to the Doctor’s eyes – a piece of “…space age clockwork.”

В“Reason tells me you cannot be real.В”
В“You donВ’t want to listen to reason.В”

The DoctorВ’s third meeting with Reinette is the pivotal one. Now all grown up, the Madame de Pompadour is a ferociously intelligent, sexy and formidable woman. When she leapt upon the man she had dismissed as an В“imaginary friendВ” I was completely taken aback В– I really didnВ’t see it coming. Even more surprisingly, it worked beautifully. The Doctor clearly enjoyed the kiss; afterwards he was running around like a kid on Christmas Day yelling В“IВ’m the Doctor, and I just snogged the Madame de Pompadour!В” Moreover, ReinetteВ’s forwardness shocked me. Her regal, almost austere countenance sort of tricked me into thinking that she would be prim and proper В– I guess what they say about posh birds is true, even in the 18th century!

В“There comes a time, Time Lord, when every little boy must learn how to dance.В”

It is quite refreshing to see an episode of Doctor Who where the Doctor is genuinely smitten with a woman; he may have had, what, 3 snogs in the millennium before this episode but each and every one of those had some kind of get-out clause. В“Oh, she kissed himВ… Oh, he was only sucking the time vortex out of herВ… Oh, she kissed him, and she was possessed anywayВ…В” Moving from such puritanical abstinence to having the Doctor hiding behind a wall spying on his fancy piece is an absolute joy to watch; giving the Doctor a heart (no, not a third one, IВ’m talking figuratively!) opens up so many storytelling possibilities and most interestingly, it really throws open the whole В“what actually is going on with the Doctor and Rose?В” story. The DoctorВ’s mind-meld of sorts with Reinette is another terrific scene as she surprises him by being able to look into his memories. Does this mean she knows who the Doctor is? Is this why he develops such feelings for her? В“ItВ’s more than just a secret isnВ’t it.. В“

I can see why the Doctor would fall for such a woman; after forty-four minutes I was in love with her! Not only is she brilliant, sexy and quite naughty but also sheВ’s a brave woman with some quite romantic ideals. She barges past Mickey through a time window, stepping straight from a palatial room 1752 Versailles into a 51st century spaceship in one beautiful shot. This other world that she sees frightens her, but that only strengthens her resolve В– В“The Doctor is worth the monsters.В” On top of that, she manages to not only grasp the difficult concept that the days of her life are В“pressed togetherВ” from the DoctorВ’s purview, but she accepts it that it is her fate В– her duty В– to walk the В“slower path.В” Her speech in the ballroom when she is assailed my clockwork killers really shows her mettle; even when it appears that the Doctor has forsaken her, she shows nothing but strength. Of course, the Doctor hasnВ’t forsaken herВ…

In any other TV show would you see ever someone come flying through a mirror on a horse? В“WOWВ” simply doesnВ’t do it justice. Fair enough, the clockwork men suddenly ceasing to function because they are suddenly cut off from their ship is a bit rushed and a bit rubbish, but quite frankly it doesnВ’t matter. A horse went through a mirror! The Doctor deliberately marooned himself in 18th century Earth to save Reinette. More to the point, he doesnВ’t seem to care; nor does he seem to spare a though for Rose and Mickey, stuck on that space ship in their far future. The Doctor even seems quite pleased with his fate, even if he is a tad concerned as to where heВ’ll get money from. В“HereВ’s to the slow path!В” He really is getting oldВ…

I thought that maybe Moffat was going to doing something completely madcap like have the Doctor live out the next 3000 years on Earth, and then suddenly show up on the space ship not looking a day older, but thankfully the Doctor managed to use the one surviving time window to get back to the future. He promised that he would come back for Reinette; he promised her that he would show her the starsВ… obviously Time Lords have no concept of monogamy! When the Doctor went back for Reinette, six years had passed and she had died. For the second week in a row, we have a tearjerker ending; this one perhaps even more powerful than the last. As fantastic as the endings to В“School ReunionВ” and В“The Girl In The FireplaceВ” are, IВ’m aching for a good olВ’ fashioned cliffhanger!

And so the Doctor has loved and lost. Rose and Mickey can tell heВ’s upset but they arenВ’t sure why, and so Mickey prudently makes an excuse to leave the Time Lord alone with his thoughts and the letter that Reinette wrote to him. That look on David TennantВ’s face as he extinguishes the time windowВ… Brilliantly written; brilliantly acted; brilliantly shot and produced. The Doctor В– the real weary traveller В– goes on. As the TARDIS dematerialises it all comes together В– the space ship was the SS Madame de PompadourВ… that is why the clockwork repair droids thought only her brain would be compatible. Absurd. Fantastic.

One final note - I donВ’t know whether it was deliberate or not but I think that the placing of this episode in the season is an absolute masterstroke. The clockwork repair droids using the body parts of their crew to repair the ship wonderfully foreshadows В“The Rise of the CybermenВ” В– the amalgamation of flesh and machine.

В“We did not have the partsВ…В”

Firstly this is one of the more imaginative titles to come out of new Who and as such for me promised a much-needed potential slice of more baroque scriptural cake. Unlike the majority of reviewers, I was not a massive fan of Steve MoffattВ’s highly rated The Empty Child/Doctor Dance, mainly because for all the intrigue and creepiness of the first episode, the gas-masked child and so on, and the later transformation scenes, twist of the young single mother, and final highly imaginative and satisfying resolution to the story, I felt overall the production was undermined by the Titanic-style cod-romance between Rose and Jack В– cue the nauseatingly Hollywood-esque Big Ben champagne scene В–, the intrinsically Brit-centric aspects, and the completely irrelevant and inappropriate bisexual subtexts. Not to mention the frankly ludicrous dance scene at the end В– Rock around the Console and all that. I did appreciate MoffattВ’s genuinely unusual concepts and ideas, but, in anticipating his second stab at the series, was mindful of this writerВ’s somewhat juvenile preoccupation with sexuality and flirtation (as distilled in his singularly puerile comedy series Coupling). That and the fact that extensive coverage pre-transmission hinted worryingly at the pivotal В‘romanceВ’ aspect to the approaching episode, unforgivably, involving the Doctor himself.

On all surface levels this extremely innovative and very un-Who-like episode was certainly highly impressive and intriguing. The sets and especially costume designs cannot be faulted at all. In particular, the beautifully crafted baroque masks of the robots, replete with creepily ambivalent painted smiles and cascading wigs В– a hybrid between the stunning art deco Kaldor Vocs in Robots of Death and the eerie clowns in Greatest Show in the Galaxy В– stood out as Who design classics, instantly gratifying to the eye, lusciously painted and tangibly affecting; the design team deserve a huge thumbs up for such brilliantly realized creations, no less disappointing when unmasked to reveal intricate clockwork mechanics within. The robotsВ’ voices too are uncannily similar to those from Robots of Death, metallic yet soft and strangely soothing, beautifully spoken. For these creations alone, this episode brands itself into the retina indelibly. Overall, its production standards could only be described as sumptuous; an immediately timeless addition to the many varied scenarios and historical/futuristic depictions of the seriesВ’ long colourful history. Some inevitable comparisons have already been made between these robots and В– as previously mentioned В– those of Robots of Death (still on a par with these design-wise) and the clockwork soldiers of The Mind Robber. Girl in the Fireplace, being essentially a fantasy piece, also harks back to other classic seriesВ’ oddballs such as The Celestial Toymaker, in its sheer eccentricity of realization. But the story for me which it most resembles is the Season 20 classic Enlightenment, both in terms of disorientating and incongruous juxtapositions of baroque historicism and futuristic sci-fi and in the narrative threads of love and romance: in Enlightenment, the Eternal Marriner is infatuated with the Ephemeral Tegan (who, it is hinted, and controversially we thought at the time, to be possibly smitten with the Doctor В– В‘The picture of him in your mind is quite intriguingВ’ (Wrack)), while in the Girl in the Fireplace, the ephemeral Madame de Pompadour is in love with the В‘eternalВ’ (seeing as the 13th regeneration business seems to be have been forgotten for the time being) Doctor. So the themes of time and love, originally unique to the beautifully written, Romantic story Enlightenment, have now been revisited far less subtly in The Girl in the Fireplace, with the inevitable new-Who progression of involving the central character of the show.

I have to say that despite the В– equally В‘inevitableВ’ В– В‘snogВ’ scene between the two literally star-crossed protagonists, which was executed with all the subtlety of a farting Slitheen, this highly precarious plot thread was not as far-stretched (excuse pun) as I had timorously anticipated it might be. The fact remains, however, that this latest stylistic revelation regarding the emotional nature of the Doctor was rather unnecessary and, though not injurious to the plot itself, potentially injurious to the character of the programme, and largely superfluous. The plot itself could have easily been sustained without this romantic element; or it might have been simply toned down a little, so that the romance aspect was completely one-sided, i.e. Madame de PompadourВ’s unrequited infatuation with her В‘angelВ’. Instead we have it hinted that on some level the Doctor requites this В‘romanceВ’; having said this, I do give Moffatt credit for not over-magnifying this implication and leaving it open to speculation. However, on a second viewing, I found the snog scene even more excruciating than on the first viewing, striking me all the more as irritating and unwelcome due to its completely unnecessary inclusion in what is otherwise a fairly affecting and thought-provoking episode.

But the real bugbear of this story is the shambolic and even more unnecessary scene in which the Doctor stumbles back into the spaceship apparently drunk after having В‘dancedВ’ (the grating return of MoffattВ’s less-than-subtle sexual euphemism from The Doctor Dances) with de Pompadour. This scene has to rate alongside such timeless atrocities as Tom BakerВ’s В‘O my everything!В’ cavorting with Mandrels in Nightmare of Eden and Sylvester McCoyВ’s absurd pratfalls in the early scenes of Time and the Rani, as one of the most mis-directed and pointless moments in the seriesВ’ history. Why o why undermine the hitherto affecting atmosphere of this essentially imaginative episode with such a pointlessly camp moment? The Doctor feigning inebriation is one thing, but why over egg the pudding with his tie-bandana and inexplicably donned sunglasses? At best this was a feeble impersonation of Dennis Hopper from Apocalypse Now, with a bit of plagiarized third-rate Blackadder scripting thrown in: В‘Mr thicky from ThickaniaВ’! What on earth did Moffatt think he was playing at? This was diabolical scripting all the more painful for the fact that its vicissitude came in the middle of a reasonably well written episode. Gimmicks like this scene do nothing to enhance the credibility either of the new series or of its central character, so why do it? It simply isnВ’t amusing. Not to mention the fact that it is woefully derivative of the writings of Messrs Curtis and Elton, and not of their best efforts at that. Cut out the gimmickry and concentrate on the substance of the storyline and the characters (such as they are). And the line В‘IВ’m the Doctor, and I just snogged Madame de PompadourВ’ is unforgivably crass.

If Troughton was the Cosmic Hobo, Pertwee the Dandy, and Tom Baker the bohemian, surely Tennant is the Galactic Peter Pan? His youthfulness and manic naivety (В‘I could have danced all nightВ…В’) clearly enchants those around him in much the same manner as JM BarrieВ’s ageless hero, and in the Girl in the Fireplace, he is certainly perceived by the young de Pompadour as some sort of magical sprite who keeps appearing to her throughout her life, never ageing, just like Peter Pan. This conception of the central character is a fairly nice slant and might very well work in the long run. But I am still yet to be convinced by TennantВ’s Doctor, whose rasping tones and manic exhibitionism lack the gravitas of previous incarnations.

Onto the characters. In this episode we have a refreshingly muted contribution from the DoctorВ’s companions, putting Rose thankfully more in the background for a change В– bar her oddly placed scene later on explaining the time ramifications to de Pompadour В– and pitting her and Mickey in a limited sideline of wandering around very quiet corridors, reminiscent of Tegan and TurloughВ’s ponderous input in Terminus. This is very much the DoctorВ’s episode, but his persona comes across as rather impulsive and impressionable throughout, a bit like a cosmic Kenneth Williams in search of his true sexuality. Tennant has some reasonable moments, but overall this came across as a more lightweight and unaffecting treatment of his incarnation than the previous two episodes. He is genuinely very funny in the opening scenes when he chats very casually to the girl in the fireplace, concluding with a light В‘ok, enjoy the rest of the fireВ…В’ The imagery of the little girl talking from the other side of the fireplace is very intriguing, as is the scene in which the Doctor confronts the beautifully creepy masked robot in her bedroom. These scenes provide splatterings of genuine magic.

Less affecting are the romance scenes between the Doctor and the grown up Madame de Pompadour. Though Sophia Myles plays the role perfectly well, her lines are rather limited and pedestrian overall, and the scripting of her character in no way puts across the real historical figureВ’s hinted-at uniqueness of character. This is rather disappointing. For me her inclusion seems rather superficial and we are not, in my opinion, gifted as interesting an insight into a historical figure here as we are in The Unquiet Dead and Tooth and Claw. This Madame de Pompadour is a comparatively flat creation, used as a feed for lines intended simply to ruffle the feathers of classic Who fans regarding the emotional and sexual makeup of the Doctor. She seems to serve little purpose otherwise, except for injecting a facile ingredient of historical celebrity into the scenario. The days of Who subtlety certainly died out with the likes of Robert Holmes. No more the suggested or alluded-to, now the blatantly stated and clumsily depicted.

While the concept of time windows is quite interesting and imaginative, and the juxtaposition of historical with futuristic settings likewise, the rather pantomime means of flitting between these two time periods is little ludicrous to say the least: the Doctor spends the episode sliding back and forth through a physical double-sided fireplace В‘setВ’ in a manner reminiscent of Indiana Jones. But in this scenario we are supposed to believe these are time portals. It might have been an easy option for the production team but it simply doesnВ’t convince as a fantastical means of time-travel. Something akin to the mirrors of WarriorsВ’ Gate would have been more convincing В– partially emulated in the DoctorВ’s rather over-blown grate-crashing of the 18th c. masque via a white stallion through a wall mirror. Presumably the horse had escaped from the 18th c. time zone onto the spaceshipВ… I donВ’t knowВ…

The plot itself is both bizarre and original, with the robots using the body parts of the В‘crewВ’ to keep the ship operative. By the end it is hinted that these body parts are in fact those of Madame de Pompadour, but the final shot of the spaceshipВ’s name doesnВ’t really explain things properly, and one is left at the end thinking В‘nice concept, but what exactly did it all mean?В’ The Doctor seems equally clueless at the end of the episode, muttering vaguaries about the robots getting confused and fixated on the correlation between de PompadourВ’s age and that of the spaceshipВ’s: 37 years. It did all rather come across as if Moffatt, with the brief from RTD, В‘do this and this, add in Madame de Pompadour for no particular reason, use as an excuse for romantic focus on Doctor to annoy older fans, somehow tie it all together and justify her inclusion by end of episodeВ’, did indeed have to end up blagging it by the end in the script itself in order to come even near to justifying all the oddities of the episode. He didnВ’t really succeed did he? The scene in which de Pompadour escorts the Doctor into her bedroom and talks of В‘itВ’ being a perfect replica in every detail while the viewer could see only a bed, was a very clever way of teasing the traditional fan with the ultimate horror: the Doctor having sex! Of course we soon discovered she was referring to the fireplace, and thank God the script was to resort to the essential storyline in an attempt to finally wrap up a fairly beguiling scenario. This was fairly well done, but as I say, with no real explanations for anything that had transpired.

The Girl in the Fireplace is a true Doctor Who fairy story, reminiscent in some ways of the far superior Enlightenment, but still a refreshingly imaginative addition to the Who cannon, and a generally thought-provoking and affecting distraction from the formulaic mediocrity of RTDВ’s new Who vision. Its visuals cannot be faulted; the robots are beautifully realized and the set pieces are excellent. Some of the shots, especially of a snowy night through de PompadourВ’s bedroom window, are breathtaking. The only thing is, none of it really makes that much sense and future re-visiting requires fast forwarding through the В‘snogВ’ and В‘bandanaВ’ scenes in order for one not to be distracted from the episodeВ’s true merits. More than any other one-episode in new Who so far, The Girl in the Fireplace needed two in order to do it full justice. With two episodes it may very well have been a classic story; but as it stands, it is more of a glimpse than a full exposition of something truly lasting.

7/10.

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!