Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered

Just as many were wondering if this series of Doctor Who was dragging us back to the dire comedy of the Eighties thanks to Partners in Crime and many others were suggesting that the excess of glitz and glamour was ruining modern Who, they come along and give us The Fires of Pompeii. Not only did we get a standard Who story of danger, history and backwards individuals who don’t understand the nature of time travellers, we get a surprising moral dilemma on the nature of the Time Lord and his ability to change established history.

All this at 6:45 on a Saturday evening after John Barrowman got done charming us with over-intelligent and precocious little kiddies. I think a round of applause is in order.

As always, spoilers after the break.
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Saturday was the night for me, much like everyone else I’d been anticipating the return of Doctor Who for a long time. I’ll admit that in advance of the show I wasn’t particular taken with the plot for the season opener but then hardly any of the first episodes have grabbed me beyond Season 1’s Rose and even that hasn’t stood up to repeat viewings due to it’s new nature and the actors finding their feet.

I’ve already read the majority opinion, over 8 million viewers, an 88 appreciation index…for those wondering, yeah, these are good figures to have…and many diatribes from long term Whovians slowly getting bored of the new style formula. I’m a long time Whovian myself, my favourite Doctor was Jon Pertwee, I wasn’t a fan of the movie, I know the Doctor can only regenerate thirteen times before he won’t be able to again, I’m well aware that the Daleks are actually genetically engineered Kaleds from the planet Skaro and that the Cybermen actually converted their planet into one giant mothership that roams space, much like the Dark Angels in Warhammer 40,000.

Yet I loved this episode. In fact, I much preferred it to other season openers, it certainly floated my boat.

Warning, there be spoilers beyond the cut.
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