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.

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.

Steven Moffat, writer of the wonderful Series One story В“The Empty Child/The Doctor DancesВ”, returns with a new tale for Series Two. Once again we have a story woven together with the finest elements of history, time and future concepts. This episode however, is quite different from MoffatВ’s previous tale and in fact, from past Doctor Who altogether.

If В“School ReunionВ” was played out to indulge the fans, В“The Girl in the FireplaceВ” will challenge them. This is a pity really, as it shouldnВ’t have to. For this is a Doctor focused romance and as some fans will tell you, it was proven by the 1996 Paul McGann movie that you simply donВ’t attempt such blasphemy.

Well, unless itВ’s done very well - like В“The Girl in the FireplaceВ”.

В“The Girl in the FireplaceВ” continues Series TwoВ’s central character evolution. This story offers a very different crew dynamic to previous outings in this season. This is not just because we have a new TARDIS crew member, RoseВ’s beau Mickey Smith, but because we are seeing a radically different relationship between the Doctor and Rose herself. Compared to the earlier episode, В“New EarthВ”, the Doctor and RoseВ’s relationship is decidedly different. Viewers who were put off by their sachrine sweet friendship in the season premiere will probably be pleased to see such a dynamic shift. Whether those same people will be thrilled by the Doctor falling in love with a famous historical figure.. well, that is another matter.

The story is fairly complex: Upon landing on a spaceship in the far future, the Doctor is caught in a technological intrigue which sends back and forth through 18th Century France. While Rose and Mickey battle to escape the clutches of the spaceshipВ’s robotic occupants, the Doctor must stop the same robots from taking one of FranceВ’s greatest women; Madame de Pompadour.

The production values remain consistent with the season so far. A lot of care has gone into contrasting the two centuries in which this story is set. The plot jumps between time zones thick and fast and both zones have their own unique aesthetic.

Fans of MoffatВ’s Series One contribution will see some similar themes popping up. Beyond the aforementioned plot elements, we have some more Moffatesque references; the Doctor dances once more; we have more references to companions off on a wander and this time; more future technology running amok and most importantly, the flirtatious interplay of Rose and Captain Jack has been replaced by The DoctorВ’s romantic intrigue with a certain Madame de Pompadour.

As with Queen Victoria in В“Tooth And ClawВ”, I cannot attest to historical accuracy, but the character is certainly well scripted and well acted - she feels real even if she is for the most part, ficticious. She is delivered as a character with integrity, depth and oddles of colour. Such rich interpretations of history can only make the subject more interesting for the kids. IВ’m sure there are children - who are as I type - are doing some background reading on Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson. Actress Sophia Myles plays her with grace and presence. SheВ’s a perfect bit of casting and her chemistry with Tennant sparkles.

Once again, Tennant takes centre stage in this adventure which is very welcome. Rose is a wonderfully crafted character, but she does lack that ability to regenerate her character. So while Rose remains Rose, the ninth Doctor has become the tenth and IВ’m sure all the audience - new and old - are still very keen to see some exploration of this new man. As with В“School ReunionВ”, Tennant is flawless. Certainly, TennantВ’s Doctor is a little more eccentric than Eccleston's and almost definitely more human, nevertheless, that lonely man is still present.

В“The Girl in the FireplaceВ” takes us through a relationship touched with gentle beauty that resolves a romance before it can even begin. Following the DoctorВ’s remarks in В“School ReunionВ” about not wanting to watch those he loves wither and die, this seems even more pertinent when put alongside this episode.

While the Doctor engages in his attempts to unravel the mysterious clockwork plot to take Madame de Pompadour, Mickey and Rose work together to find more pieces to the puzzle in the far future. The companion story is fairly muted and for this episode it has good reason to be so as this is very much the DoctorВ’s story. The companion role is this episode is fairly Old School Doctor Who; they hunt for clues, get captured and ask В“whatВ’s happening Doctor?В” on more than one occasion. Despite over thirty years of similar Doctor/companion formula, this actually feels rather refreshing. This is probably because the new series has had some very companion intense stories. Mickey Smith makes a solid third companion to the TARDIS crew and helps give RoseВ’s character some decent interaction while the Doctor plays Romeo. He adds a little comic value to the team without being too contrived. He and the Doctor play off some refreshing and glib dialogue in regards to some of the more technological story plot points.

Something I found particularly interesting in regards to character interaction, was an element the story made no actual narrative reference to: the DoctorВ’s lack of interest in Rose. ItВ’s curious how quickly the Doctor forgets Rose, being how important she is to him. While this isnВ’t directly mentioned, there are some nice beats within the tale where itВ’s evident that Rose is noticing the lack of intensity as well. The Doctor truely is in love with Madame de Pompadour and if the relationship between himself and Rose felt deep before this, it will be interesting to see how his deep affections for Jeanne-Antoinette will challenge the Rose/Doctor interplay in later episodes. As with Series One, there is a clear character arc going on throughout Series Two and it helps keep the show from feeling stale or formulaic.

In regards to the episode construction, we are seeing a different narrative approach to В“The Girl in the FireplaceВ” compared to the past three stories. The teaser is set in the 18th Century, the first act opens in the far future. We leap from time zone to time zone faster than Alice can make it through the looking glass and my crass analogy certainly pertinent; watch out for one of Doctor WhoВ’s most ambitious effect shots later in the story. The scene is very non-Doctor Who and satisfyingly welcome.

With a thirty year old series, boundaries have to be pushed. To stop a show going stale it has to evolve. Not just to fit in with a new generation of viewers, but to give the concept itself momentum. The Doctor/Madame de Pompadour romance will irritate some fans as there is no ambiguity here; Tennant plays a Doctor in love. It took me a second to get into gear for this concept, but it makes sense. The Doctor can love. Time Lords can love. That has been established within the Doctor Who universe - no matter how much it irks some fans. As each regeneration conveys different facets of the DoctorВ’s character, it seems totally rational that some facets may be more affectionate than others. On top of that, the Doctor is now a great deal older and as the last of his kind, company will be far more attractive. So there you go, IВ’ve given some reasons as to why enraged fans should simply embrace this move within the show. You can either go with the flow and enjoy the show or fester in a corner. I would hope youВ’ll all find the former more rewarding.

As a romantic interest, Madame de Pompadour. is certainly more the kind of lady IВ’d expect the Doctor to fall for. Even at the end, when she knows she could keep the Doctor in her time, she gives him an outlet. Far less self absorbed than Rose. Madame certainly comes across as an enchanting lady that even a Time Lord would be hard pressed not to adore.

Should the Doctor be a romantic character? He already is to some extent. The lonely wanderer. The champion of time. The homeless man with a bucket of mystery. I think as with all shows, romance can be a story danger. If the chemistry, writing and pacing isnВ’t there, romance can seem forced resulting in disaster. There is no fear in this episode of that happening and of course, as with all the best love stories, В“The Girl in the FireplaceВ“ is tainted with tragedy. The last ten minutes are some of the most touching and evocative moments IВ’ve seen in Doctor Who. Yes, more than В“School ReunionВ”. Well, maybe.

Any quibbles? Those against the 45 minute format may have a reason to grumble, It does feel uncomfortably mixed on occasions with there being so much to do in so little time. We race from time zone to time zone and sometimes it feels as if those periods want to breathe a little more than they do.

The Clockwork robots were wonderfully designed and their introduction is a wonderful В“behind the sofaВ” moment. However, they do lose their menace fairly quick which is a pity and drift too far into the plot to really stand out.

Perhaps my only other quibble would be the music which was a little thick and intrusive in some of the comedy moments.

Overall a very different type of Doctor Who. YouВ’ll leave it feeling you know the Doctor slightly better than you did when you started. Older fans may need to give it a couple of watches to appreciate the formula and character dynamics. It certainly is a romance, but it is beautifully handled, and if you find THE kiss a little too much at the start, keep watching because IВ’m sure the end will certainly move you.

I wondered if this episode could top В“School ReunionВ”, and yes, maybe it has. So again I must pose the question for a second week running: Next episode - can you top this?

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.