Doctor Who Series 2 Episode 4 - The Girl In The Fireplace - Review

Starring: David Tennant, Billie Piper, Noel Clarke & Sophia Myles

Written By: Steven Moffat

Directed By: Euros Lyn

 

The Girl In The Fireplace is an episode that almost every Doctor Who fan went into with high expectations, simply due to the writer: Steven Moffat. Last year, he wrote the two-part The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances, one of the best of the series. While I was somewhat cautious, wondering whether lightning really could strike twice, I soon discovered that it most certainly can. 

 

The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Rose and Mickey to a spaceship in the 51st Century. However, the ship is abandoned, with no sign of any crew onboard. Even stranger, on each of the ship's decks, there is a time window, each one leading to 18th Century France and to different parts of the Madame De Pompadour's life. It's up to the Doctor what connects these two different points in time. Straight away, this premise gives us two great contrasting locations, and there are even moments in the episode where characters walk from Versailles in the 18th Century to a futuristic spaceship in the 51st. This is an ingenious idea, and once again, it would be difficult to find in any other show apart from Doctor Who. Where else could you find an 18th Century fireplace onboard an advanced spaceship 3,000 years in the future?

The characters and supporting cast that accompany the Doctor, Rose and Mickey are just as strong as the premise. In particular, the standout character here is the Madame De Pompadour. The entire episode focuses on the Doctor’s relationship with the Madame De Pompadour (aka. Reinette), and how it changes as the Doctor watches her grow up from a seven year-old girl to a thirty-seven year-old woman. The audience are put in the Doctor's shoes, and by the end of the episode, you get the feeling that you really know who she is. As Reinette matures, the Doctor even forms a strong relationship with her, giving us something that we've never really seen before in Doctor Who - a love story. Whether or not you are warm to a love story involving the Doctor will depend on your own preferences, but for me, as long as it's handled well, it's something I welcome. Here, I can't see how they could have done a better job as the relationship was sweet, charming and later tragic. It's a testament to the episode that the love story here is far better in a space of forty-five minutes than other series' have managed over an entire series.

 

As for Reinette herself, she is a deep and likeable character, and you can understand why the Doctor would fall in love with her. Reinette also makes a brilliant other-half for the love story between her and the Doctor. The "Dance with me" scene shows this at its best. It's brilliantly acted by both David Tennant and Sophia Myles, and leads to a change in dynamic for their relationship. Of course, "Dance" is a metaphor for sex in Steven Moffat's scripts, and it's probably better to watch that scene without that knowledge.

 

It isn't all just a love story though, and there is still some great sci-fi and drama to be found, largely in the Clockwork Repair Droids. Whilst they aren’t exactly a powerful threat, they are pretty creepy, as seen when they hide under the young Reinette’s bed, before lashing out at the Doctor. Their purpose in this episode is also surprisingly dark, harvesting human parts in an effort to repair their spaceship. We even get to see this as Rose and Mickey explore the ship, finding a human eye being as a security camera, and a heart wired into machinery. It's pretty dark and provides another great contrast with the more light-hearted love story. The Clockwork Droids are also a great design, whether they be masked or unmasked. The masked version is a beautiful blend of an aristocratic wig and a carnival mask. Unmasked, the droids lose none of their beauty, as we see the clockwork mechanisms that keep them operating. The design is stunning, as we see the cogs and gears working, ticking and clicking, and a big well-done has to go to the design team.

 

This is also Mickey’s first proper trip in the TARDIS. While Mickey may have had vital roles in stopping the Slitheen in Downing Street, or helping to stop the Krillitane, he hasn’t yet gone anywhere in the TARDIS. Since the first series, I’ve really liked Mickey, but I’ve felt that Noel Clarke is severely underrated in the role, so it’s nice to see him on his first adventure in the TARDIS. While this episode may focus more on the Doctor and Reinette, and Rose and Mickey may not have that much to do, Noel Clarke is still great here and hopefully he'll get more to do next week. I can't really put anyone at fault for Rose and Mickey's reduced role here, because no matter what you do, you're never really going to top the Doctor smashing through a mirror into Versailles, whilst riding Arthur the horse. Incidentally, that is the 10th Doctor's best action sequence yet.

 

So while everything so far has been excellent, it's The Girl In The Fireplace's ending that will stick in your head. I'll try not to spoil it too much, but it's incredibly heartbreaking. By the time the Doctor retreats to the TARDIS, if you aren’t letting at least one tear slide, your heart must have been harvested by the Clockwork Droids. It's the 10th Doctor at his best, and demonstrates what David Tennant can do so well as an actor - empathy. As the TARDIS dematerializes from the spaceship, accompanied by a fairytale-like score from Murray Gold, Steven Moffat rounds everything up and without using a single spoken word, manages to explain the link between the ship and Reinette. The final image of the spaceship flying away, sums up a heart-breaking but entirely beautiful episode.

 

To finish up, The Girl In The Fireplace is simply masterful TV. It is without doubt one of the best and most mature love stories that you will ever watch. Both David Tennant and Sophia Myles are wonderful, the Clockwork Droids are an interesting and refreshing change from several other villains and the ending, for me, couldn’t have been better. While The Girl In The Fireplace may not top last year's The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances, it comes pretty close and still deserves an immense amount of praise.

 

 

The Girl In The Fireplace



10/10