Doctor Who 2x04 - "The Girl in the Fireplace"

[Danny Stewart]

Plot Summary
Madame De Pompadour finds the court at Versailles under attack from sinister clockwork killers, and her only hope of salvation lies with the man who has haunted her dreams since childhood – a mysterious stranger known only as the Doctor. Can a broken clock summon the Lord of Time?

Danny's Review
I'll had high hopes about this episode, coming from Steven Moffat. He wrote the genius last year known only as "The Empty Child" and "The Doctor Dances" and he had a lot to live up to for his episode this season. I'll be honest -- he didn't disappoint. This was an awesome, if a bit different, episode. It had everything in all the right places. David Tennant was funny throughout the episode, and had me in stitches when he returned from France in party mode. In addition to humor, this episode also had its share of scary moments. The clockwork robots were terribly well done -- their costumes, their movement, the sounds they made, and even their voices combined perfectly to make a pretty scary monster overall, and there were a couple times in the episode that I jumped due to sudden movements that they made. Even on top of all that, the episode had a pretty heartfelt emotional component. Madame De Pompadour was clearly a very special woman and I don't blame the Doctor for feeling a connection with her... but even as he decided he could take her with him, he was too late, and the time window deposited him years later, just after she died. The ending was very sad, even as the Doctor insisted that he was "always alright." Everything in this episode came together splendidly, and it's the mark of a damn good writer to have two episodes so different and yet of equally high quality. Well done, Steven Moffat... I think you are the first writer of this series to have well and truly earned a 10 out of 10 on my new scale.

Note About This and Future Episode Polls
Also new this week is our episode rating scale. I felt that the five-point scale gave these episodes a chance to be unfairly grouped into the same category when they should be spread out more (i.e. when an episode has to get a 5/5 even through it more rightly deserves a 9/10, or 4.5, which couldn't be given before). I have now increased it to a ten-point scale. Enjoy!

Next Week
The Cybermen return in "Rise of the Cybermen" -- airing Saturday May 13!

[Ross Hendrie]

I liked it as well, great episode. Finally they've got their act together. W00t!

Oh and I got a sonic screwdriver today.

[Chris Britton]

That was the best episode yet, things are really picking up, it was terribly well done. the Doctor Drunk was so funny, and when he announced he he got a free snog, and it was so sad at the end when she died, i was really upset, i thought it was well written, scary and with a lot of plot twists which kept me guessing, I am really impressed now it is picking up.

[Danny Stewart]

Woohoo! Sonic screwdrivers are awesome.

[Chris Britton]

I confess to crying when The Doctor came back and realised she was dead, ti was so sad.

[Danny Stewart]

Oops! Sorry -- you must have just posted, Chris. Anyway, yes, I agree with you on all points. An excellent episode this week!