Review: The Girl in the Fireplace (10th Doctor)
Ah, The Girl in the Fireplace. Well, firstly let me say that I want all of Reinette’s costumes (even though I would have no place to wear them to) and the baddie’s mask for my wall. Fabulous music, too. I like this episode a great deal on the one hand, but I have difficulty making it agree with the rest of the season on the other. Sigh. Oh, well. On to the spoilery stuff anyway.
Episode: The Girl in the Fireplace by Steven Moffat
Rating (1 to 5): *argues with herself* 4.3
Baddie: Clockwork Robots
Rose is trapped: In the future on a space ship with Mickey and the TARDIS.
The Doctor is trapped: In the past in France with Madame de Pompadour.
The Doctor enjoys: The Clockwork robots. Madame de Pompadour.
The Doctor dislikes: Having to damage the Clockwork Robots.
The Doctor apologizes to: Madame de Pompadour for the torn tapestries, etc.
Doctor-y Strangeness: Seemingly drunken singing.
Scary Stuff: The clockwork robots when they aren’t wearing their masks and therefore have no faces. Being trapped with no way home.
Torchwood? Not this time.
Does someone local help out? Madame de Pompadour
What we learn: The TARDIS even translates French. The sonic screwdriver can light candles. The Doctor can look into someone’s mind. Monsters have nightmares about The Doctor. Rule #1 is: Don’t wander off. The Doctor was a lonely little boy. The Doctor’s name is more than just a secret. The Doctor is a bit vague about money.
My Favorite Bits: The spaceship is designed like a key. The Doctor qualifying his “nothing dangerous” statement. “Dear me, had some cowboys in here.” “-Must be a spatio-temporal hyperlink. -What’s that? -No idea. Just made it up. Didn’t wanna say magic door.” “Oh, you never want to listen to reason.” There is a horse on the spaceship. “France. Different planet.” ” -No, you’re not keeping the horse! -I let you keep Mickey! Now go!” Bananas are good. The Doctor’s Drunken singing. The Doctor is worth the monsters. “Yeah? Well, I’m the Lord of Time.” The perfect reveal of the name of the ship.
Observations and musings:
Rose and Madame de Pompadour agree that The Doctor is worth the monsters. I’m thinking that this is a bit of a difficult episode for her. She and Mme de Pompadour understand each other, and they both seem to love The Doctor. Mickey has to go and point out that The Doctor called Cleopatra “Cleo.” And yet, Rose is worried about Reinette and urges him to do something to save her. If you think about it, Rose sent The Doctor to save Reinette, and Reinette sent The Doctor back to Rose afterwards. Or, rather, they were both willing to let him choose his path. (Yes, I have had *endless* discussions about this episode with my husband. We can never quite agree.)
In this episode, The Doctor basically falls for Madame de Pompadour. And she for him. It would seem that he was a fan of hers even before she snogged him. She got to him in much the same way that Jabe did in “The End of the World.” Good thing that in the absence of a truck, he had a horse to get through that window and save her neck. He traps Rose and Mickey in the future and himself in the past. It’s only luck and Reinette’s foresightedness that saves him and his crew. And yet he still lost Reinette in the end. And he never mentions her again. And in the next episode we’re back to normal. Sigh. You know? The Doctor really needs to think things through a bit more.
Murray Gold really outdid himself with the music on this one. I loved it. Mickey gets a spaceship on his first go. Good thing that Rose has softened her stance about having him with them. She even shows him the ropes. For example: go looking for the scary thing even though The Doctor said not to. Oh, BTW Sophia Myles (who plays Reinette) is David Tennant’s girlfriend. Just a point of information. I just wish that this episode tracked with the rest of the season. Oh, well.
Image Source: BBC Doctor Who Site
The Girl in the Fireplace, Steven Moffat
May 14th, 2007 at 10:40 am
I remember when my wife saw this episode for the first time. She was crying by the end.
I agree it seems a bit out of place in the series run. If it were moved to another location within that series, would it have worked better? Where could it have been moved to?
May 14th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
I really can’t think of anyplace else to move it. It would seem that we are just stuck with it where it is. Powerful episode, but…yeah.
May 16th, 2007 at 8:16 am
Well, always remember that there could be a huge amount of time between this and the next episode, not just the week we dealt with. Heck, he could have been cooped up in his room for a month while Rose & Mickey had their own adventures.
Regardless, I don’t care, best Dr. Who episode ever.
Makes me cry every time I see it.
May 16th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Hmmm…that would explain the sudden jump back to The Doctor and Rose laughing at in-jokes, while excluding Mickey.
The Doctor seems to find Mickey a threat for the most part, doesn’t he? At least judging by his actions.
And yes. Excellent episode.
December 4th, 2007 at 1:08 am
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