The Girl in the Fireplace

Richard Grant @richyg360 · girl in the fireplace what a good story I did enjoy that one

Neat trick - making us think we're in space, then panning down... 

It's really France, and a palace is under attack. The clocks are all broken...

Isaac Dakin @IWhittakerDakin ·  Right from the start the production is gorgeous looking and it really feels like you've stepped into 18th century France 

50dw50 @50dw50 · i wonder if Tennant still watches it now it features his ex?

The woman shouts into the Fireplace - the Doctor promised he'd save them...

Mickey's made up to get a spaceship on his first TARDIS trip. 

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer ·  Shame we only had Mickey as a proper companion for this and next story! :-) 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  true, i loved Micky 

Isaac Dakin @IWhittakerDakin ·  He got better and better though he's not the coward he used to be 

The spaceship is from the 51st century. Rings a bell... 

Where are all the crew? 

And why is there an 18th century fireplace aboard? 

On the other side of the fireplace is a little girl, Reinette. 

The Doctor flips a switch and the whole fireplace revolves. 

Now he's in France! Better than the chunnel. 

If the clock is broken, where's that ticking coming from? 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  such a wonderfully sinister moment when they realise "something" is ticking 

"You might start to wonder if you're really alone..." 

Lovely fright when the droid moves under the bed. 

Why is that clockwork droid sniffing round a little girl's brain? 

The droid points it's can opener swiss army knife thingy at the Doctor... 

So he flips it through to the ship and freezes it with a fire extinguisher. Obviously. 

Slightly too much schtick from Davey T when he's telling the droid it's beautiful. 

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer ·  Glad they went against putting in a Torchwood element for this! I had mixed feelings about whole Torchwood story of s2. :-)

The Doctor tells Rose and Mickey not to wander off. Good luck with that. 

Back in France, Reinette's all growed up. 

Put your tongue back in, Doctor! 

Isaac Dakin @IWhittakerDakin · Similar to The Doctor Dances with the whole 'end of the tape' thing 

It's the "technology gone wrong with horrific consequences" trick from Moffat's very small bag.

50dw50 @50dw50 · if its not broke then dont fix it

Does a stuck record not indicate the player may be broken, though? ;-P

TheGrandMoff @TheGrandMoffat · has anyone seen my pen? F***ing new cleaner!

Jason McLaughlin @jangomac72 · Law of diminishing returns every time he's used it but this is still his best for me!!

The Empty Child for me, though I do like the "saving" thing from Silence in the Library too.

Reinette gets a quick snog off the Doctor, who doesn't seem to mind. 

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer · The Doctor snogging?! What would the War Doctor say?! ;P

He'd say, my last incarnation started all this!! Although, more on that later...

Poisson? Something fishy going on here... 

50dw50 @50dw50 · she's nice but her dads not Dr Who

"I'm the Doctor, and I just snogged Madame de Pompadour!" 

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer · Sophia Myles acting is brilliant in this. Would have been easy to go over the top... but she didn't & made it convincing. :)

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  its easy to forget what a great Dr Who Tennnant was, he is the Doctor and this is only his 5th story

Isaac Dakin @IWhittakerDakin · He became The Doctor when he stepped out the TARDIS and said "Did you miss me?"

Rose and Mickey have wandered off. 

But someone's followed the Doctor back from France... 

Eye, eye...  

Rather icky when Rose & Mickey find a human heart in the machinery... 

The Doctor's got a new companion... 

Back in France, Reinette gossips with her off of Merlin. 

The Doctor is reunited with Rose & Mickey, and gives them a quick history lesson about the King's mistress.. 

Isaac Dakin @IWhittakerDakin ·  Wait a minute The Doctor's been hanging out with another woman and Rose isn't jealous? Has something gone wrong here?

Don't worry, she spends the rest of the episode giving disapproving looks. ...and the delivery of the otherwise reasonable question: "Why her?" is laden with jealousy.

The TARDIS crew spring into action when they realize Reinette's not alone. 

The droids have adapted to the extinguisher...  

"We did not have the parts..." He's a bit slow here... 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  i love the robots, both gorgeous and creepy 

The robot does a runner back to the ship, so the Doctor sends Rose & Mickey to give chase. 

Rose and Mickey are caught unawares and captured by the clockwork droids... 

Meanwhile the Doctor finds himself fascinated by Reinette's beautiful... mind. 

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer ·This is one of my favourite scenes (reading minds)!

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  i love season 2, with the exception of Fear Her obviously

Reinette reverses the mind meld and sees the Doctor's childhood... oooh... 

Isaac Dakin @IWhittakerDakin ·  Reinette asks 'Doctor Who' I'm sure THAT won't become a recurring trend in future Moffat episodes. 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  "you did WHAT to Susan's mother!!!" #FiftyShadesOfGallifrey

Isaac Dakin @IWhittakerDakin ·    It's a gorgeous scene helped by the actors performances.

Jason McLaughlin @jangomac72 ·  Also helped they started dating during filming, you can sense real chemistry between them!

Rose & Mickey are about to become spare parts. It's as if this story's foreshadowing a different the Doctor monster, maybe in the very next story... 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  oooh now thats a good idea

I remember there being a minor fuss about whether it was appropriate for the Doctor to act pissed here. 

KrynoidPodCast @KrynoidPodCast · Maybe not appropriate. Definitely a bloody awful scene. 

Isaac Dakin @IWhittakerDakin · It seems very Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker.

Not so. Both studiously avoided influencing the kids in such a way, hence people feeling that crossed a line.

atruedrwhofan @atruedrwhofan · didnt stop Tom downing a sherry or two in stones of blood :)

Yeah, such a notable exception it immediately stuck out like a sore thumb cos he'd broken his own 'rule'!

He's figured out that the ship is a certain age and is waiting for Reinette to reach that age too. 

Rose tries to break the bad news to Reinette about space, time and her impending brain-ectomy. 

Tim @parks8472 ·  Do Clintons have a card-range for this? 

"Don't worry about the wibbly wobbly headache, it won't last long...!" 

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  Rose seems surprisingly nice to the competition considering what a bitch she was to Sarah Jane

Reinette gets a bit fierce, and finds her way on to the ship. 

Jason McLaughlin @jangomac72 ·  "The Doctor is worth the monsters!" Great line! 

Now we're back at the beginning; the droids attack the palace, and Reinette shouts through the fireplace. 

Reinette isn't scared, because she knows the Doctor's on his way... 

The saddest thing about the jumping through the mirror on horseback bit is that it gives Tennant a terrible mullet. 

Jason McLaughlin @jangomac72 ·  "I wear a mullet now, mullets are...."
"NO!!! No, they're not!" 

Isaac Dakin @IWhittakerDakin · Arthur the horse should've been a companion. Who's with me?

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer · Yes, but they'd have to be careful about landing the TARDIS in a Tesco burger factory... ;-)

With the mirror broken, and the link to the ship disrupted, the droids stop. 

Their mission has failed. 

Isaac Dakin @IWhittakerDakin · You kinda feel sad for the clockwork droids at the end. They only wanted to repair the ship. 

The Doctor starts to wonder about a life stranded in one place in one time. 

Where's the 18th Century French equivalent of UNIT when you need them? 

50dw50 @50dw50 · surrendering! 

Jason McLaughlin @jangomac72 · he could just bump into one of his earlier selves & ask for a cheeky lift? You just know the Doctor would if story required.

He might have a while to wait...

Isaac Dakin @IWhittakerDakin · Wait until the french revolution and he'll bump into the first doctor.

Judging by Reinette's age it's now 1755 so he'll have 39 years to wait for his 1st incarnation to turn up for The Reign of Terror in 1794!

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  he could have met up with Steven before The Massacre

No chance of that, though, he's 183 years too late for The Massacre (1572)!

Reinette just happens to have relocated the entire fireplace so there is a way back after all... 

He's gone a minute and then... 

She's gone. 

Chance missed. 

Window closed.  

The King delivers her letter. 

"There she goes..." 

Simon Pittman @LibraryPlayer · Gets a bit sad now... as Doctor learns of death, reads her letter and we learn why they wanted her brain... all nicely done!

Isaac Dakin @IWhittakerDakin · The ending is so sad also despite Louis XV having little screen time you even feel sorry for him as well 

50dw50 @50dw50 · the King is very easy on the eye! 

Jason McLaughlin @jangomac72 · It's a wonderfully heartbreaking yet touching finale to the story, the reveal at the end is genius! 

The Doctor waits till he's alone aboard the TARDIS to read Reinette's last letter... 

It's one of those magic Harry Potter letters where the writer's voice comes out.



Jason McLaughlin @jangomac72 ·  It's refreshing that the Doctor never discovers the reveal, adds to his bewilderment in Deep Breath that he can't place it.

On the TARDIS scanner, the fire goes out... 

The TARDIS drifts away, and the ship silently spins through space, the SS Madame de Pompadour... 

Nu Who or Not Who?

Phil Creighton @phil_creighton ·  Controversial, I know, but I don't rate Girl In The Fireplace. It's a difficult 2nd album that tries too hard to be clever. Whole episode feels like a Short Trips tale extended and padded out to hit the 45 minutes. I have a heart of stone. Felt very uncomfortable with Dr's flirting, it's so out of established character.

Other Pete @other_pete · Doctor Who is sexxxy hero, & 2 blondes crazy for him, & it ruins the french one's life. His burden!

50dw50 @50dw50 · cor! you cyberman you!

Jason McLaughlin @jangomac72 · "Emotions! Love, pride, hate, fear! Have you no emotions sir?"

Phil Creighton @phil_creighton · Excellent!

Jason McLaughlin @jangomac72 · You'll be telling us you don't like a well prepared meal next!!

Phil Creighton @phil_creighton ·You mean a kebab from a takeaway at 3am ain't a well prepared meal? ;) I grew up with an asexual Dr (yep even Tom/Lalla on screen), so still feel him snogging is unacceptable.

50dw50 @50dw50 · so did i but its never bothered me really

Same. I could easily do without it but I guess I just got on with it. I always hated the "looms" guff from the New Adventures so I guess it played more towards my taste in that respect for it be confirmed that the production team of this era were hitching their wagon to the Susan = biological Granddaughter school of thought. I felt like we'd gone through all the fuss with the TV Movie anyway and the character had survived that unscathed in my eyes.

Phil Creighton @phil_creighton · This episode is where NuWho and I started to part company. Dr's actions feel so against what I've grown up with.The show became about the Doctor, not his thrilling adventures in space and time.

That I can completely sympathize with, definitely much prefer the Doctor being a wanderer who arrives in an adventure, without all the self-aggrandizement that's been prevalent since around this time. And I really do wish we could have an end to part-time companions, gracing the Doctor with their presence when they can be bothered with ALL OF TIME AND SPACE(!). Reckon we need a TARDIS that's not so reliable that they can be part-time. 

Phil Creighton @phil_creighton · The premise of the show was always Tardis lands in strange place, Dr solves mystery and leaves.

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  no its not, its Dr Who lives on Earth and works for the establishment!

Phil Creighton @phil_creighton ·Heh. Not by choice! And by the time Letts came in, he did what he could to move it back to outer space again. NuWho is a Doctor whose reputation preceedes him. That bothers me a great deal. No mysterious wanderer in 4th dimension.

James Cooray Smith @thejimsmith · The Dr's reputation precedes him as early as The Savages.

50dw50 @50dw50 ·  and Wotan was keen to meet that Dr Who fellow

James Cooray Smith @thejimsmith ·  In Day of the Daleks a bloke on C22nd Earth has heard of him as "one man the Daleks are afraid of!"

Phil Creighton @phil_creighton · That makes sense within in-series continuity, especially within light of the 1970s Dalek annuals ADF

James Cooray Smith @thejimsmith · He's a mythical figure the Thals of Planet.

Equally, though, I don't really see having the Doctor express romantic feelings as being anything like as radical as making him a time-Lord in the War Games or the subsequent introduction of the 13 lives rule in the Deadly Assassin.

Phil Creighton @phil_creighton ·Both War Games and Deadly fit within in-series vision. War Games had 9 episodes to build up to the trial.I don't care much for Assassin and can see how it would have upset fans at time. But it is a gripping tale.

James Cooray Smith @thejimsmith · You're reaching; the point doesn't stand, really. There is no "always" in Doctor Who.

Phil Creighton @phil_creighton · The series has never been consistent, has it?! #digsOwnHoleALittleDeeper

James Cooray Smith @thejimsmith ·  Rose is vastly more like Survival than Survival is like An Unearthly Child.

I still just see it as different eras of the one continuous show, though. Don't really accept a particularly seismic shift pre- and post-2005 pre-05 eras were wildly different from one another - compare Lambert's to Williams', or JNT's to Letts.

Phil Creighton @phil_creighton ·  I really struggle to do that. I might have been more persuadable had Eccleston stayed another year

Is it just Tennant that puts you off? Don't see anything in The Girl in the Fireplace that Eccleston wouldn't have been scripted to do. It may have felt different on screen, but he'd have absolutely done everything the Doctor does in this episode.

Phil Creighton @phil_creighton ·  Not Tennant - one thing I will never criticise NuWho for is the acting. Every main actor is deftly cast. My main beef is the episode length prevents stories from breathing.

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 we endured Frontier in Space the other week, i will never underestimate the need for pace again

Phil Creighton @phil_creighton ·In the box set binge era, we so easily forget that Who was meant to be watched once a week.

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 only gin improves most pertwee 6 parters! which is odd because the 7 parters are great!

Phil Creighton ‏@phil_creighton I've not found the strength to watch The Mutants on DVD. Last saw it in late 90s on UKGold.

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 6h6 hours ago its a test of fortitude!

James Cooray Smith‏@thejimsmith A Test of Fortitude sounds like a Hartnell era episode title.

Ha! Yes it does!

50dw50 ‏@50dw50 followed by "escape to danger"

Aandreew Hiickeey ‏@stealthmunchkin Have to agree with Mr Creighton. Girl In The Fireplace was the point at which I thought "this series not for me" Like him, I liked Eccleston's year, but don't see much of what follows as being like "my" Doctor Who.

And that's entirely fair, obviously everyone has their own likes and dislikes, and may prefer one era over another, but I must admit I've never got to a point with any given era where I've liked so little of it as to not consider it as fitting what "is" Doctor Who.

As it's always constantly changing anyway it always seems to me that we're only ever talking about what it "was" at the best of times! 

To me, what is Doctor Who is Doctor Who, whether I like it or not, and luckily (so far) I've always liked all of it at least a little bit!

TTFN! K.
Coming Soon... Genesis of the Daleks