My favorite episode of the new series so far is “The Girl in the Fireplace.”The episode solidified Steven Moffat as a superior writer for Doctor Who. I recall in my original review back in 2006 that I called for Moffat to replace Russell T. Davies when the time came for a new showrunner. Lo and behold, I got my wish four years later.
“The Girl in the Fireplace” creatively blends the past and future in a tragic love story between the Doctor and the real historical figure Madame de Pompadour. The Doctor keeps popping back into her life in the 18th century from the 51st in in order to save her from clockwork androids. While only minutes pass for him, years and decades pass for her. She succumbs to illness before the Doctor can finally take her away with him because he could not control the lags between his visits.
The episode has fantastic atmosphere. The BBC does period pieces well even with such a limited budget. While I have never been much of a fan of steam punk outside of the ’60’s series The Wild Wild West, I liked the clockwork androids stalking Madame de Pompadour. But what really moved me about the episode was how the Doctor, in the depths of his Last of the Time Lords loneliness, reached out to Madame de Pompadour, only to lose her, too.
Some fans complain about the continuity error of Rose, who normally demonstrated extreme jealousy at the doctor showing the slightest warmth towards any female, not only not being bothered by the budding relationship, but expressing sympathy towards the Doctor’s loss. It does not bother me because I have always thought the Doctor would never fall for an immature girl like rose. Therefore, whenever it was annoying whenever she believed he would. Anytime her infatuation was cast to the wayside is a bonus in my book.
Not that I do not like Rose I would have preferred she have a role more like Amy Pond’s is now.
We are getting sidetracked. “The Girl in the Fireplace” is a great episode.
