NWR for “Girl in the Fireplace”
Posted By Kathleen David on October 21, 2006
When this one first aired the fans either loved it or hated it. A number of fans got upset by how the Doctor acted (more about that in the spoilers). I really liked this one. I found the writing to be snappy and the explanation of why these events happened was very nicely done.
I so want to recreate the clockwork men of this piece. I know how I would do the costume but I don’t have a few of the skills needed to really kick it up to the next level. That and I don’t have a 10th Doctor body type in my group of people I call on for costumes (which is really the easier problem to solve really). If I can solve my mechanical problem then I might do this one within the next year.
Mickey’s first trip on the TARDIS gives him a taste of what life is like with the Doctor and he proves himself up to the challenge. Probably the biggest journey this season is Mickey’s. Rose gets to show Mickey how they do things with the Doctor and I find it interesting how Rose acts and reacts to what she is seeing around her. She no longer has the Doctor to herself and she knows that she is not the only person that has been in the Doctor’s life. This is re-emphasized by the events of this episode.
Next week “Rise of the Cybermen” and as the tag line in the adverts in England said This ain’t your Daddy’s Cybermen. Just FYI this one is a two parter which does leave you with one of those cliffhangers.
I am grateful that SciFi didn’t cut the end of this episode.
The biggest problem many of the fans had was the relationship between Reinette and the Doctor and how fast it moved. I can believe that the Doctor was impressed by Madame De Pompadour having a good sense of history. She was a rather impressive individual so I could buy into the Doctor’s reaction to her. Some had a problem with his sacrifice for her but remember that if the time windows weren’t closed there would be problems in the continuum.
I loved the Clockwork men. I thought they were wonderful and I loved how they were used in the episode. Once it is reveled how they were fixing the ship there was a whole new level of creepiness added to the episode. Also this one holds up to a second viewing because if you know the name of the ship then the robots make a very weird logical sense all through the episode.
I like that Mickey got over his fears and grew a pair in this one. This will serve him well in future episodes. Faced with the reality of time travel rather than the abstract concept, he adjusts very well.
Rose seems to be still dealing with meeting Sarah Jane and that she has not been the only woman in the Doctor’s life. Now she adds watching the Doctor get involve with another female and can see how it happens. Gives her more to deal with emotionally that will play through the season.
A lot of people think that this one is going to win the Hugo next year. I’m betting Battlestar will probably do it this year considering last night’s episode.
Seriously, can someone get that messed up by finding out they’re not the opne and only in someone’s life? I would expect anyone over the age of sixteen to have had at least one other special person in their life.
I think you might have it wrong, Kath. I suspect Rose has seen her own future in the guise of Sarah Jane. Older, left behind, seemingly forgotten by the most special man in her life. She knows it’s coming, just not sure when.
I liked it. A lot. Of the three episodes I’ve seen so far this season, it’s my favorite. I also liked that having been able to catch an episode on cable, instead of the could be better reception I pull in on the CBC, I had a nice, clear picture.
I’ll see “School Reunion” on the CBC on Monday, and we’ll see whether “Girl in the Fireplace” remains my favorite. Of course, the same holds true for the episodes to come. One of them might knock “Girl” out of first place.
One question for those who have seen the BBC broadcast of the episode: was anything cut between the time the Doctor encountered the horse, and the time he’s watching Reinette outdoors? According to the Wikipedia entry for that episode, he opens a set of double doors that lead into another time window- in this case the park or garden in question. However, Wikipedia is not the most reliable of sources. So was something cut (since I didn’t see the Doctor go through the aforementioned doors) or was there never any such scene when he did so?
I also liked the clockwork men, though one would think 51st century technology would be a bit more advanced in terms of how robots and what not are designed and built. Of course, they could have been deliberately built in that style to create a sense of quasi-period atmosphere- given the name of the ship and all. Or maybe the big 51st century trend is building sophisticated mechanical devices.
I must admit to a certain fondness for some types of mechanical devices. I like the complex simplicity of both my bicycles and my manual typewriters. Complex in that both have many parts; simple in that you push down on the pedal and the bike goes forward, and you press down on the typewriter keys and words appear on the page.
Curiously, though, I never really got into the steampunk genre, into which, if I understand the genre correctly, those clockwork men would have fit quite nicely. Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll read something in that genre.
But getting back to the episode, at one point, the Doctor says they can’t use the TARDIS to do this, that or the other thing (he said vaguely, to keep from posting possible spoilers) because he, Mickey and Rose have become part of events. So? Every time the Doctor shows up _anywhere_ he becomes part of events. Now, whether those events are recorded for posterity is another question. Somehow, I don’t think the truth about what happened in 1758 went beyond the walls of Versailles- not even the manner of the horse’s entrance. That being the (probable) case, I can’t see the appearance of the TARDIS creating a different result. Especially if the TARDIS appeared in a corner somewhere.
It’s also curious that the Doctor, knowing of certain… problems with the time windows, doesn’t immediately grant Reinette her wish. Perhaps he’s asking himself that same question at the end.
Rick
“I also liked the clockwork men, though one would think 51st century technology would be a bit more advanced in terms of how robots and what not are designed and built. ”
Yes, but whose 51st century technology? Because human actors have to play the parts on television and in the movies, we often forget that humans may not be all that common in the universe, nor does everyone speak english. Add to that, the fact that most of our technology is built upon what already exists, so for another planet to have clockwork parts and go in entirely another differet direction in development isn’t all that unusual.
There’s a commercial playing that shows what would happen if all of the things made of plastic today would lose that plastic. Then remember that plastic was discovered by accident.
Me: “I also liked the clockwork men, though one would think 51st century technology would be a bit more advanced in terms of how robots and what not are designed and built.”
EClark1849: “Yes, but whose 51st century technology?”
Given the name of the ship, one would assume the technology is that of Earth- or at least an Earth colony planet with strong ties to the mother planet. It’s doubtful that a planet with no ties to either Earth or human history is the point of origin for the ship.
Also, you’ll note that I did say the clockwork men may have either deliberately been built in that style (even though other technology exists) to create a certain sense of atmosphere (for passengers, crew or whomever); or that such technology was the trend at the time.
Of course it’s possible the clockwork men are the product of a non-human planet, and the captain of the ship just happened to like the technology, and special ordered some (in humanoid shape) to handle maintenance and repairs. However, if they, like the ship, were of Earth (or Earth colony) origin, then they were either created to give a sense of atmosphere for passengers and/or crew; or the technology was in some favor at that time.
Rick
Rick
“Girl in the Fireplace” was definately up there was one of the best of the season. A nice contrast to the events of “School Reunion”.
I thought the biggest problem is that the Doctor is a COMPETENT TIME LORD and can therefore visit Reinette in the gosh-darned TARDIS WHENEVER THE HECK HE FEELS LIKE IT. No in-story explanation is going to mitigate that. Nor would he be so stupid as to forget the time-passage difference of the time-windows through the spaceship. Oh, and how convenient that he just happens to suddenly have mind-melding powers when he’s never previously displayed any such talent. Emotionally the episode worked as well as the one before it, but logically it was pretty poorly done and wildly internally inconsistent.
“Oh, and how convenient that he just happens to suddenly have mind-melding powers when he’s never previously displayed any such talent. Emotionally the episode worked as well as the one before it, but logically it was pretty poorly done and wildly internally inconsistent.”
No pun intended, right? Yeah, I found it a bit… fascinating that the Doctor would suddenly emulate Spock. As to the TARDIS, I wish there _had_ been an in-story explanation for why he couldn’t use it. As I said above, I don’t buy “we’re part of events now” as an explanation, because he’s been _always_ part of events. I’d rather have seen the TARDIS incapacitated in some way _because_ of the time windows.
However, those shortcomings aside, “Girl in the FIreplace” remains my favorite so far this season.
By the way, there is one advantage to the CBC broadcasts over those on Sci Fi. The CBC shows teasers for the following week’s episodes. Unfortunately, there aren’t introductions by David Tennant, the way Christopher Eccleston did last year.
Rick