The Fires of Pompeii

Dear Gary—

“We’re in Pompeii . . . and it’s volcano day.”

The First Doctor and his companions could take this statement and turn it into a meaningful and heartfelt historical adventure with sci fi overtones. But this is the Tenth Doctor; and “it’s not just history.” This is all about the Doctor and his made up history. (“It’s me. I make it happen.”)

At this point I have accepted New Who and its pretensions. I therefore accept The Fires of Pompeii for what it is—a make believe world set forth for my enjoyment. It’s not as ambitious; but it tries.

And it is admirable in its attempt.

There are shades of the past present in this historical remix. These hints come courtesy of Donna. (Some day, Gary, when New Who has run its course and I am free of this slow path, I will revisit this present Pompeii with a backward eye on the past that is The Aztecs.)

The Doctor takes Donna into the past; her past; the Earth’s past. She is set down in the middle of a street bustling with life; people living and working and trading and laughing and running and scraping by in the day to day world of their ordinary lives. Except that she knows their future; she knows that they have no future. It is volcano day. She sees the human tragedy ebbing and flowing around her.

The Doctor, however, is fixated.

“Pompeii is a fixed point in time. What happens happens. There is no stopping it.”

Former Doctors have continually made the point that tampering with history is forbidden. However, as far as I know this is the first time that the Doctor makes this definitive statement: “Some things are fixed; some things are in flux.” Actually, that isn’t so much definitive as wibbly wobbly; the Doctor just says it in such an authoritative way. And then he continues: “Because that’s how I see the universe. Every waking second I can see what is, what was, what could be, what must not. That’s the burden of a Time Lord.” He’s letting his omniscience show; except that week after week he happens upon an event of which he has no prior knowledge. I suppose those are the flux moments. Or he is simply making things up as he goes along. (Kind of like his age.)

The skewed reality into which the Doctor and Donna land is a Pompeii in which the volcano is never going to erupt, because of course there are giant rock/fire aliens living underground and planning on draining all of the volcano’s energy in order to convert it into power enough for them to take over the world. In the meantime they are converting the citizens of Pompeii little by little into stone people who can see the future and read minds. Not your standard textbook history, but so much more conducive to weaving the Doctor’s wibbly wobbly narrative.

(I sometimes wonder, Gary, if the Doctor, when crossing back and forth between parallel worlds a few seasons ago, accidentally ended up in some obscure universe that he doesn’t realize is not his own.)

It is an amusing enough tale; and the sets, costumes, and effects are well done as usual. The guest cast is adequate to their stock roles. The most interesting are the Syballine, however they are just an excuse to let prophecies fly and to add a small amount of menace and the obligatory threat of a human sacrifice that can be easily undone by a bit of banter and a water pistol. (What the Sisterhood of Karn is doing with a sister sect on ancient Earth I don’t know, unless this goes to prove my parallel universe theory; but really it only goes to show how Classic Who had much the better idea in setting at least some of these alien story lines on actual alien planets.) It seems redundant to have both the Sisterhood and Lucius Petrus Dextrus; they act as though they are at odds with one another and yet they are independently working for the same side. Given the shorter scripts I think Doctor Who would be better served with some economy of character. However the one-upmanship between Lucius and Evelina is as good a way as any to slip in those ominous New Who hints and teasers for the coming season.

The family group is pleasant enough and serves its purpose of providing a human face to the story. I can live with the 6 months later epilogue but it is unnecessary. I suppose it’s nice to see the family prospering, Evelina enjoying her youth, and Quintus getting respect. It has a bit of a sitcom feel to it, though, with its eye-rolling ‘Oh Dad’ attitude. And then comes the household gods punch line and I want to do more than roll my eyes.

However, the Doctor/Donna seed at the core of The Fires of Pompeii makes it all worthwhile; they are the beating heart of the episode. Without them it is a bit of a silly mess.

I like the opening sequence establishing the running Celtic gag, and it is nice to see that the TARDIS still can get it wrong, in this instance landing in Pompeii instead of the anticipated Rome. These first moments with the Doctor and Donna remind me of the rapport that existed between the Second Doctor and Jamie. There is a comfortable feel to the relationship; best friends who won’t hesitate to challenge each other; and Donna finds lots to challenge the Doctor on in this tale.

Forget the outlandish alien angle; the tug of war between the Doctor and Donna over the fate of Pompeii is the real story. “You’re the Doctor; you save people,” Donna reasons. I can hardly blame her; the Doctor projects himself as hero. But not in this case; with volcano day looming he plays his Time Lord card. It’s a tricky business being a Time Lord. Most weeks the Doctor invokes his heritage as a Caveat Preemptor; other times he hides behind it as an excuse to absolve himself of all responsibility. Sometimes it is fixed; sometimes it is in flux; this is a flux time. And it is really in flux here because he says he can’t get involved when Donna asks him to, yet when his curiosity is peaked he insinuates himself right into the middle of the action.

I give Donna credit for continuing to question the Doctor every step of the way. I would too. Why is it again, Doctor, that we can’t warn people about the volcano or at least advise them to head for the hills, but you can head off into the very heart of the mountain in order to find out what the aliens are up to?

Ultimately the Doctor traps himself in his own argument. There is no escape; he is problem and solution in this Escher drawing of a dilemma. He is both fixed and flux. He is shaping history by preventing the Pyroviles from altering history and thus preserving history. I think.

Good thing he has Donna steadfast by his side. He has a simple choice before him: “It’s Pompeii or the world.” That is what the convoluted, wibbly wobbly plot comes down to; and when he can finally state this in no uncertain terms, Donna sees the magnitude of the decision weighing on him and she comes to his aid. He is not alone; they are in this together.

I don’t understand, however, why the Doctor continues in his stubborn policy of non-interference once the deed is done. Pompeii is still Pompeii; the volcano has erupted; history is intact. How does directing people to safety change any of this? “History’s back in place and everyone dies,” the Doctor says in his own defense as Donna pleads the case for the family unit. Turns out he is just having a Time Lord snit. He can’t go back and save Gallifrey so why should he trouble himself over four little people? Donna prevails and the Doctor realizes: “You were right. Sometimes I need someone.”

The Doctor needs Donna. Doctor Who needs Donna.

“Welcome aboard.”

Overall a diverting 50 minutes, Gary. A bit of Pompeian history echoed back into the Doctor Who alternative.