It has been such a lovely day so far today, and it promises to continue to be fantastic right to the end. This morning I got to sleep in, which was a rare treat. True, as soon as I woke up I did my hundred push-ups plus did one hundred and fifty six sit-ups before collapsing, and then followed that up with fifty five minutes on the treadmill, but I got to do all that two hours later than usual. How nice was that? Then my wife and I went to see Avengers: Infinity War (no spoilers, we liked it just fine, and the only thing better than a baby Groot is a surly teenage Groot). Tonight we are going out with a friend to see a local theatrical production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame featuring the work of several theatre friends. The sets and costumes look to be off-the-hook amazing.

But in between all that I have a bit of time to talk about Doctor Who, so let's get that done.

The Fires of Pompeii

(TARDIS Data Core recap)

The last time the Doctor visited Rome, way back in The Romans with the First Doctor and Barbara Wright, Goddess, the Doctor managed to burn the joint down on his way out of town. Now in this episode he visits again, but does it on Volcano Day and once again lays waste to a Roman city with the fires of an eruption. I'm just sayin', if I was a citizen of Rome and the Doctor came to visit, I would make sure my homeowner's insurance was current and then get the heck out of town. Preferably to someplace with lots of water.

Although, definitely not to Sea Parks

The general plot is that the Doctor and Donna arrive in Rome, discover that they are actually in Pompeii on the day before Volcano Day, and then Stuff Happens. A group of alien Pyroviles crash landed on Earth thousands of years earlier, were awakened by an earthquake, and have been using the power of Mount Vesuvius to regenerate themselves. The story creates an interesting dilemma in which Donna wants to warn everyone in the city to get the heck out before the eruption, but the Doctor refuses to because it is a "fixed point in time". Then at the climax it gets flipped on its head when the Doctor finally realizes that the Pyrovile interference is actually preventing the eruption, and will imminently take over the Earth and destroy the human race, and that it is the Doctor himself who has to trigger the eruption - killing twenty thousand humans in order to save the world.

In doing so, however, Donna acts as his conscience and compels him to at least save one family from the death and destruction. In doing so, she forces the Doctor to admit that, yes, he needs traveling companions in order to keep him in check. It is a lovely moment of self-reflection and admission.

Other notable things in this story: This is the second story in a row in which a major plot point turns on a missing planet. It's almost like that's a theme that's going to be very important in the season finale. This is also the second consecutive story in which the Doctor and Donna have been mistaken as a married couple. Ha! It also features a very sly callback to City of Death, with the TARDIS again mistaken as a work of modern art. The story also offers a deeper explanation about how the TARDIS works as a translator, and features a running joke in which anytime the Doctor uses a Latin phrase like 'ipso facto' or 'caveat emptor' the locals hear it as Celtic.

On the production side, this is the first BBC-produced story since The Two Doctors to be filmed outside of the U.K. Also, this story very notably features both Karen Gillan (the future Amy Pond) and Peter Capaldi (the future Twelfth Doctor). Of course, right after watching this episode this morning I went out and say Karen Gillan again in the Avengers, so I've been seeing a lot of her today.

I like this episode a lot, and I especially like the dynamic between the Doctor and Donna. I am not a fan of romance inside the TARDIS, so it's nice to get back to a traditional companion who isn't constantly making doe-eyes at the Doctor. 

Tomorrow: the return of the Ood! Yay!!

STATS:

Doctor(s): Tenth, Twelfth (but not really)
Companion(s): Donna Noble, Amy Pond (but not really)
Episode(s): The Fires of Pompeii
Steps Walked: 7,435 today, 2,868,649 total
Distance Walked: 3.92 miles today, 1,496.22 miles total
Push-ups Completed: 100 today, 2,314 total
Sit-ups Completed: 156 today, 929 total
Is the Doctor So, So Sorry?: This time around it is Donna Noble who is so sorry
Weight: 250.92 lbs (five day moving average), net change -56.38 lbs