“The Girl In The Fireplace”…. on the wall
Episode 4 of this series sees the Doctor take a wander down the road less travelled, well at least as far as he’s concerned, and that is the road to love. This may not be the premise that would attract your “traditional” Doctor Who fan, but these days the traditional fans are hugely outnumbered by the nouveau Whovians, a fact to which the truly astonishing viewing figures would testify (7.9million tuned in to this). So, Mickey’s first trip aboard the TARDIS sees him and his two travelling companions land on a spaceship in the far future with the animosity of Rose, exhibited at the end of School Reunion, having strangely disappeared. A little investigation and the viewers find this sci-fi staple is not as simple as it first appears because the deserted spaceship is curiously juxtaposed against 18th century France, via a series of “holes punched in the universe”. It is through these “holes” that the Doctor first sees and then travels to meet a young Reinette, who will grow up to be Madame de Pompador. Trips back and forth see the Doctor appear at various stages of the courtisan’s life, and as the script cleverly points out, she takes the slow road through life as he spends no more than a day falling in love with her.
So, this 21st century Doctor feels a little love tug at the strings of his hearts, but the question is, “Does it work?”. Kind of depends who you listen to (especially if you are moved to read the ramblings of a few of those “traditional fans”) but as you’re reading this, I can tell you that the unequivocal answer is “Yes!”. Even if the love story was not to your taste, I haven’t even mentioned the beautiful clockwork droids that are the main villains of the piece, the witty yet moving script penned by the magnificent Stephen Moffatt, or the acting of Sophia Miles that was marvellous to behold. It wasn’t without its faults, of course, but then what is, and anything I mention here would only do a disservice to a great episode. Certainly vying with “Tooth and Claw” as the best of the series, even vying with “The Doctor Dances” as the best of the revised series and, just in case that’s all not quite enough, it has the best twist at the end I ever did see.
