"Not the whole town...please...just save someone!"

NOT a street in Cardiff

Second episode in and the 4th Series of Doctor Who is shaping up very nicely indeed. James Moran's The Fires of Pompeii sees the Doctor and Donna arrive in Pompeii just as the volcano is about to erupt. A lot has been said about how this is the biggest episode Upper Boat has ever attempted, and to be honest, it did look pretty damned good, so utterly refreshing to see somewhere other than contemporary Earth or a dressed spacestation set back in Cardiff. This, of course was due to the fact that the whole team upped sticks and shot the street scenes at Cinecitta Studios. (where they filmed Rome don'tcha-know...) So, what make I of the episode?

Pans Labyrinth 2 suffers budget cuts

Apart from looking fantastic, the episode mainly focused on the morality of the Doctor's life, does he alert the locals to their fate? How exactly does the Doctor decide who to save? Thankfully we had the utterly wonderful Catherine Tate as Donna to ask those questions. The climax when Donna and the Doctor realise exactly what it is they have to do to save the world from the Pyroville was utterly heart-wrenching, and the scenes in the TARDIS between the two time travellers are some of the most emotional we've had since John Smith realised he wasn't a real boy after all.

The Pyroville were pretty cool, although, again, rather obviously CGI'd. The Sisterhood were pretty good too, slightly menacing and very mysterious. And the Doctor fought them off with a water pistol, don't you just bloody love him?

Quick word goes to the supporting cast of Peter Capaldi and Phil Davis. Davis played soothsayer and traditional Doctor Who human spokesperson for our alien invaders, Lucius. The scene where he identified the Doctor as a man of Gallifrey, and warned him that "She is coming..." (If he's talking about Rose, then he's clearly been watching Secret Diary of a Call Girl. Fnar fnar) There were all sorts of things littered about in the episode that could come back in the series finale, I'm telling you, it was so much easier spotting the blatant Bad wolf, Torchwood and Saxon references. Another reference to a planet disappearing, Donna having "something on her back", another reference to the Medusa Cascade and the Shadow Proclamation.

Apart from a tacked on ending, seeing how the family the Doctor saves have fared a year down the line, (though is that "Household Gods" tablet another pointer?) it was an emotional, gorgeous looking, morality tale about changing history and choosing who to save...and at 6:45 on a Saturday evening? Bloody hell!

Geeky Moments:- Nice references to classic serials The Romans ("That fire had nothing to do with me...well...") and City of Death ("It's Modern Art!")

Next week:- The Ood are back! Donna visits her first alien planet! Tim McInnery's in it! The blue suit is back!