Rate & Discuss 4.2: The Fires of Pompeii

[Jon Masters]

Doesn't he deny responsibility for starting a fire in Rome ?

[Andrew Curnow]

Isn't that all part of the same spiel? "I've been to Rome before, and before you ask that fire was nothing to do with me..."

[Pip Madeley]

I'll make it clear

Reference 1: The Doctor mentions the aforementioned fire...

DONNA: "You've been here before then?"
DOCTOR: "Mmm, ages ago. Before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with me... well, a little bit..."

Reference 2: Caecilius' family are established in a new home in Rome - the implication is that this villa is the same one that Barbara, Ian, the Doctor and Vicki stayed in...

CAECILIUS: Atella my love, have you seen that clasp? The beetle one..."

[Jason Thompson]

There was apparently a Mary Poppins bit in saturdays episode.

Yup. The moments when the family run to their stations to stop things falling over with the rumblings from the mountain are lifted straight from Mary Poppins, in which the family has to do that every hour because the mad admiral Boom a few doors down fires a whacking great cannon on the hour.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Reference 2: Caecilius' family are established in a new home in Rome - the implication is that this villa is the same one that Barbara, Ian, the Doctor and Vicki stayed in...

I spotted this one, not by virtue of particularly remembering The Romans, but by virtue of the fact that the beetle clasp line stuck out like such a big sore thumb that it just HAD to be some anal reference.

[Milky Tears]

That is all.

I thought it was her gran in Saturday's episode!

[Andrew Curnow]

I missed the beetle reference entirely, thanks Pip.

[Lord President]

I quite enjoyed this one. Very well produced, well acted, scary and heatbreaking, but did they really need to go to Rome to film it? I really can't see what they got out of their holiday!

[Logo Polish]

Reference 2: Caecilius' family are established in a new home in Rome - the implication is that this villa is the same one that Barbara, Ian, the Doctor and Vicki stayed in...

Forgive me for being stupid, is there a beetle clasp mentioned or seen in The Romans?

I thought the villa, in the Hartnell story, was supposed to be several days' journey from Rome, rather than being in the city? Unless they're conflating it.

[Jason Thompson]

I quite enjoyed this one. Very well produced, well acted, scary and heatbreaking, but did they really need to go to Rome to film it? I really can't see what they got out of their holiday!

Is that sarcasm? Did you not see the scenery? The exterior shots? The sets? Do you really think they could have done all that in Cardiff? What they got from their 'holiday' was access to a pre-built standing set of a Roman town, complete with interiors.

[SiHart]

I agree with Jason. This was money well spent, unlike the little trip to New York last year. That they managed to do all they needed in 2 days was really impressive too.

Si xx

[Dirk Gently]

It was probably cheaper to go there than build a new set.

[Pip Madeley]

Well, quite. They got a reduced rate too.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

There was some bumf in the Radio Times about them having special permission to film there. Presumably the same kind of "special permission" granted to anyone else who hires the set to film something on. Otherwise known as "permission".

[Jim]

Just a nod to Si Hunts review of this episode over at Vervoid which I think is absolutely spot on (and a good read!)

[Philipnet]

Anyone interested in the historical nature of the episode might be interested to learn that today is the 1930'th anniversary of the eruption.

On August 24, 79 Mount Vesuvius literally blew its top, spewing tons of molten ash, pumice and sulphuric gas miles into the atmosphere. Thousands died, including one of Rome’s greatest scientists.

The eruption buried the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae. Though the eruption came without warning, it lasted more than a week and did not kill all at once. Many people escaped, and many who could have evacuated the threatened cities stayed behind for one motive or another.

http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2...pompeii-pliny/

A "firestorm" of poisonous vapors and molten debris engulfed the surrounding area suffocating the inhabitants of the neighboring Roman resort cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae. Tons of falling debris filled the streets until nothing remained to be seen of the once thriving communities. The cities remained buried and undiscovered for almost 1700 years until excavation began in 1748. These excavations continue today and provide insight into life during the Roman Empire.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pompeii.htm

[Rob McCow]

A few years later....

I was very disappointed with my re-watch of this. I remembered it as a classic, but there's some truly stinking dialogue that drags it down. Even Peter Capaldi struggles. 'Vulcan is angry, it's so... Vulcanic....' he says as his city is destroyed, but it's OK because he's inventing the word 'Volcano'. I found that rather naff. Also his response to the Celtic sounds of the TARDIS translation of Latin were appalling. 'There's Lovely' etc. Not funny AND surely anachronistic?

The redeeming feature is Donna imploring the Doctor to save 'Someone'. That bit was great. And the Pyroville monsters look superb. Sadly however, the bit where the escape capsule is thrown clear of the volcano by the explosion is... utter bollocks. They'd be dead.

[Stuart Wallis]

He can't help sounding Scottish, but in general it does sound odd when a given actor in any production is speaking in one accent for no obvious reason while everyone else is speaking in another.