it is not "an italian film studio" it's "THE italian Studio" "Cinecitta." Also this set was especially build for the Series "ROME" which gave a few problems, since they had explicit grafitto all over the place. But apart from that, yes, authenticity is a BIG bonus.
I wondered if he was based on a real person. It turns out he was...sort of. Quintus Caecilius Iucundus is a character in the Cambridge Latin Course series of books, set in the Ancient Roman Empire. He was the son of wealthy banker Lucius Caecilius Iucundus and his wife Metella, both of whom were real people and who lived in Pompeii before 79 AD. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Caecilius_Iucundus
@@sebastianimation6100 I can't believe that Porsche named their most popular car after a terrorist attack... What next? Is there going to be an Irish holiday named after a SpongeBob character? Is there going to be a nursery rhyme named after a fast food corporation? Lmao none of that's ever going to happen... Wait, what?
“We’re in Pompeii, and it’s volcano day” - I can remember being 6 years old and for some reason the first Monday after this episode first aired everyone at school was quoting that line
Wow it's so bizarre for me that it was just in tv and kids watched it. In my country it was never in tv (obviously) and I first watched it somewhere on the internet when I was like 16-18
Yeah I guess creating a posibly very wrong butterfly effect in history is nothing compared to weak morals of a random human that dosen't know shit about how time works.
I love that it was Donna begging him to Save the family and that ends up impacting the Doctor in the future when obvs we get Capaldi as the Doctor. It reminds him that sometimes even when everything seems hopeless saving just one life can have an impact. It's what the Doctor does. The Doctor saves people. Sometimes the Doctor forgets that and needs reminding. But it also shows how impactful certain companions are. I always thought the Rose would have just gone along with The Doctor and let him walk away. Also I like the Doctor is really understanding towards Quintus. We see him at the start and he is a mess and a rebel who defies his parents because all the attention is on his sister. The Doctor can see the potential in the lad and can see him being more. When they defeat the Pyrovile foot soldier the Doctor goes "I thought your son was amazing aren't you gonna thank him" which shows that the parents have been neglecting and ignoring their son in favour of the daughter which is the cause of his behaviour. They need reminding to praise him. Quintus is shown to be brave and smart when he needs to be and then at the end he turns his life around and finally gets praise and love from his parents. I think also Quintus hated his sister having a restricted life so was probably glad at the end that the attention went on him and she was allowed a normal life to go out and have fun. It's little moments like that that I really love with Doctor Who. Those little character moments.
You really think Rose Tyler, who tried to prevent her own fathers death in spite of it being a fixed point in time, who brought Jack Harkness back from the dead, who guided Donna out of her alternative reality where the Doctor died, would just….walk off from Pompeii not reminding the Doctor of his humanity? Her entire arc with 9 was making him human. Not the best take.
That is a fun idea, but imo it takes away from the whole point the show tried to make in 12's first episode: He looks like Cacilius because after the awful stuff 11 went through, 12 needed a reminder that he can't give up on humanity, and he needs to go back and save someone, even if he can't save them all. Turning that into a paradox because whoops Cacilius was 12 all along kind of ruins that. Maybe I'm just taking the joke too seriously but it's the part of Doctor Who I'm most passionate about.
thing is, and believe me I love this idea, but that would be the Doctor running into his own time stream, and as we all know that is a big no no in time traveling, if it wasn't for that factor I would almost call it canon lol.
@@katarinabrunk8698 I'm not too sure that would be that big a problem since we've seen multiple versions of the doctor interact with each other plenty of times without any issue. Also the same for the master and Missy. I guess a different regeneration of a Time Lord counts as a different person for the purpose of their own personal timeline perhaps.
I love how after so many years of the doctor pulling rank as his trump card Donna flips it on its head and calls out its insignificance. Like yeah, you’re a Time Lord and I’m a human. So what? She’s the absolute best
I really like how in this one it deconstructs Doctor/companion behaviour in historicals, when they pretend to be someone else, pretend not to be from the future and kinda treat it like a game. Here, it doesn't work and is called out on by Evelina. "They're laughing at us. Those two, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us."
"Where it turns out that the 9th Doctor has been grooming Rose to be the perfect companion" How would that even be written? That sounds really creepy, and I guess that was the intent, but wouldn't that make the Doctor seem like a monster?
Not sure about the full details but the idea was Jack would find it out that's all we know. I'm so glad they didn't do it, it would have made 9 and Rose's already kinda questionable relationship be much worse and would have come across like an edgelord trying to write for the 7th Doctor.
The first place the doctor brings rose is to the end of her world. This is right after the time war, so I believe he did this to show her how it feels to be the last of your kind.
@@edroia4123 Yeah see that's how you do a manipulative Doctor, cause there's sympathy there, like the Dalek in episode 6 he's a survivor trying to form a connection
I’ve been rewatching Series 4, and figured out why I like Donna so much. Besides Catherine Tate being funny and talented, Donna is the most empathetic companion. Again, her crying when she first hears the Ood sing. And the hug she gives the Doctor at the end of Midnight. No words. Fantastic moment. The only companion that comes close is Clara, but nobody is as noble as Donna.
One cool thing that didn't come up in the video was that for those of us who did Latin at school, Caecilius and his family were instantly recognisable as they were the central characters of the Cambridge Latin Course. They were real people that we have historical records of! When this episode first aired I was pointing at the TV like in the Leo DeCaprio meme Caecilius est pater Metella est mater Quintus est fukboi
Lurcio est servus....😊 As soon as the name Caecilius was spoken, I was back in my grammar school, I can still see the books....but I can't remember Quintus being such a d*ckhead
@@gingganggoolie me too. I had no idea it was hated THAT much until I saw a review here. I only had an issue with the "monster's" look and of course the fact that the main protagonist's girlfriend ended up like that. Because if you think about it a bit it's disgusting, horrible and... F'd up.
Anyone here did the Cambridge Latin course, the textbooks are set in pomepeii, they end with volcano day. That’s what the caecilius family are named after-fun fact
The point I often see fans miss is that FoP was not a choice of whether or not to kill 20,000 people or screw with a fixed point in time; it was a choice between killing 20,000 humans or killing them ALL by letting the Pyroviles take over. For the Doctor it must have felt like the Time War writ small; only he could take action and that action must cause a lot of death. That OMG moment Donna has is this realization, that the Doctor not only has to walk away letting so many die, but he actually has to do the killing. In one moment, Donna understands this is the choice the Doctor faces every day--how to save as many as possible, to limit inevitable destruction and death, to make the best bad choice, and to remember that this too is a victory and to accept the bitter while appreciating the sweet. Not only did Donna remind the Doctor to hold onto the sweet by saving the family, she, more than any other companion, understood *and shared* the responsibility the Doctor lives and works under. Other companions have had their aha moments, but never to such a degree. That relatively subdued "Oh my god" from Donna speaks volumes and makes the viewer pause with the same realization. And when she resolutely places her hands over the Doctor's, saying without words that he is not alone even when making world-shattering decisions, taking life-shattering actions, that he has the mate he wanted beside him even in this...it's amazing. I agree with another commenter that empathy is Donna's superpower. She has enough empathy to share the heavy burden of the Time Lord. That is unique. And it's fantastic.
People were really sceptical about Catherine Tate returning for Series 4, but her performance throughout the Series just shows how phenomenal of an actor she is!
Correctomundo! This was in fact the first dw episode I made my sister watch and it made Donna and the 10th doctor her favourite characters until she found 12 and _CLAHRAH_
@@Eden._.garden it also happened to be the first episode of the show I caught while visiting a friend, and I absolutely fell in love with the show after seeing it, especially with Donna's pleading to save not the whole town, but just someone.
This, I think, is actually the first episode of doctor who I ever saw. I was really young and forgot all about it but when I recently watched the full show, I immediately started to remember it. It's such a good episode and the atmosphere of it is incredible
Apparently this episode was going to be later in the series and i think it would of worked better in the place of the Unicorn and Wasp. If they were swapped i think it could be a little more effective. Anyways the episode i think theres a nice nod to a previous 1st doctor story with a huge fire that the 10th Doctor mentions. The chameleon circuit thing was a nice touch about what would happen if they actually spoke the language nice little joke. This episode is the start of a few different things that will pay off in the series both comedic and serious like Donna having a bug on her back, mentioning the Medusa Cascade, the mysterious ''she'' is returning (Rose) and how everyone thinks the Doctor and Donna are either a couple or look similar (Doctor Donna). The moral question is handled very well like Pompeii being a fixed event and the doctor thinking he cant save anyone because its fixed. Him also comparing Pompeii to Gallifrey and wanting to save everyone but he cant and im glad Donna does convince him to change his mind even if he only saves 4 people he saved somebody and i think she kinda makes me think she is his moral compass in a way. Also having Peter Capaldi and Karen Gillian in this episode in Doctor Who before they became main characters in their own right. Its also interesting how Capaldi's character here and the one in Torchwood are related and the connection is made later in Children of Earth (I think i havent watched it in a while)
I like Donna's comment of "JUST ONE! SAVE JUST ONE!" Also the fact that he chooses Kasilie's(?) face later on because of this moment iirc is also a bonus.
I wish you'd talked about the arc that this led into with Capaldi's Doctor, which ties in really nicely to his character in Torchwood too. In Torchwood is what happens when the Doctor doesn't interfere and lets people fend for themselves, but Pompeii is an example of what can happen when he does interfere and save people, and I think it all ties in quite nicely to the 12th Doctor's moral dilemma of questioning whether he's a good man
I forget which writer wrote that Frosbisher’s family in Torchwood Children of Earth are descendants of the family 10 & Donna saved, and their end was the universe rebalancing the scales
@@myrddinemrys1332 tardis.fandom.com/wiki/John_Frobisher go to the section: “behind the scenes”, RTD & Moffat were the people’s that forwarded the idea apparently
@@UgandanPrinc3 Yeah but I'm just saying it wouldn't balance anything out. Their survival would effect so much more than the death of the Frobishers could fix.
@@myrddinemrys1332 not according to the show runners 🤷🏾♂️ per radio times: “Moffat explained how this fit into the franchise at the Doctor Who Festival, alongside former showrunner Russell T Davies. “When I first cast Peter Capaldi as the Doctor,” he said, “I remembered that Russell had said to me that he had a plan to account for the fact that Capaldi turns up in both Doctor Who and Torchwood in different parts. So I wrote to him to ask, ‘look, what’s the plan? And does it fit?’ He said, ‘yes! I’ve worked it out!’ “He said that it’s about - as the Doctor says - asserting his right to save people. His plan was that in the Torchwood episode - which we couldn’t really reference as it would have been difficult in that scene - is that the Doctor asserts himself over time by saving Capaldi’s character in ‘The Fires of Pompeii’ and time re-asserts itself by ending that bloodline in the Torchwood episode [in which Frobisher’s character is forced to commit suicide]. And the Doctor says, ‘to hell with you, time!’ And takes that face and brings it back again. It’s the Doctor’s eternal battle with doom and destiny.” Moffat says this means Caecilius and Frobisher are related: “Remarkably there’s a level of genetic throwback in that thousand years to make them identical!”
@@UgandanPrinc3 Frankly then that just makes him look like an idiot. Time could only reassert itself by killing Caecilius's family before they bred or interacted with a different fixed point. Essentially they would have had to be killed on the way to Rome. Just Caecilius's bloodline existing to Frobisher butterflies away so many small events that killing 3 likely 4 descendants of Caecilius does nothing except be a moment of petty revenge by something that likely doesn't think in those terms.
"They basically just stole their god's from the Greeks." *Annoyed Classical Historian noises* The Roman's had their gods before meeting the Greeks, they however considered similar deities to essentially be the same as their own gods (Zeus and Jupitor for example), just being worshipped under a different name. They did adopt deities from people they met, as did every other pagan, so some gods were adopted from the Greeks. Just not the main pantheon.
I mean as far as I'm aware the Roman empire was founded by descendants of greek migrants to the region, so they're literally the same gods with differences due to different retellings of the myths over the generations
Gods quite often evolve from a complex series cultural cross pollination anyway. The Anglo-Saxon Gods of 500AD England were pretty much the same as the Viking Gods 300 years later. There a huge amount of cross fertilisation between Christianity, Judaism and Islam as well as a vast amount of other middle eastern gods (and goddesses) that ended up in early Judaism.
@@the-oncomingstorm Boom town And farting jokes taken to fare in Aliens of London And Awful CGI in more than one episode. Really, really, really awful even for the time and the budget. As much as i love 9 (who is my favorit Doctor) and series 1 it is very fare from being flawless
I honestly applaud james moran for writing such an amazing episode. i really wish he wrote more for the series because i loved how the doctor and donna were led down different paths to the point where they butted heads at the height of the episode and the doctor giving in to donna's pleas. i met him a few years ago at a convention and he is such a cool and nice guy!
Caecilius and his family are also the main characters of the Cambridge Latin course's first year program for students in 7th grade like I was, so seeing the subject of my intro to Latin turn up in Doctor Who was really cool.
It's a shame Gatiss' episode about Nazis never saw the light of day, it sounds like something really ambitious for the writer who usually writes cartoonish characters.
Well Gatiss has had plenty of opportunities since to show his writing chops and what did he give us? Oh yeah Sleep No More and Empress of Mars 🤦♀️ 😩 He would have ruined the perfect series that is Series 4
I like the connection between this episode and Children of Earth, that the character Capaldi played is a descendant of his character here and the reason his entire family dies in Children of earth is as a result of the timeline correcting itself.
I find it just absolutely perfect that in the episode that includes both choice and prophecy that the actors who play the doctor's companion and the doctor are both in this episode years before they get their chance.
This was actually the first ever episode I saw, in high school my latin textbook was based on Caecillius, Metella, and their son Quintus. I was doing homework one day and found online that they had based a doctor who episode on the characters from my homework and holy cow I got hooked on the show ever since.
Fixed point can't be entirely rewritten just watch waters of Mars to see another fixed point being rewritten just a lil bit. It's more bending then breaking like here they bent it by saving the family
Posting this on a bunch of your videos to help metrics: Thank you so much for making this series. Doctor Who was my favourite tv show as a kid, and was literally the only interest that every member of my family had in common, so it was very special to us growing up. Watching all your deep dives into each of the NuWho episodes has been a very nostalgic experience for me, so thank you thank you xx
Unironically our Latin class high school teacher used to play this episode yearly in class. Not only was it a good reflection and demonstration of the times we learned about, it was entertaining sci fi that ended up getting me more into the show
would it be crazy to have a new doctor who series with no main doctor? just isolated adventures of past doctors and past companions? we could see new stories with our favorites
I usually think of this episode as very underrated not going to lie. I feel like it should be more loved by the fans. Easily one of the best episodes of s4.
I feel that this episode is like a Proto-Waters Of Mars, exploring the same themes brilliantly, only for Waters Of Mars to come in and do what it did great even greater. But that's getting ahead XD
This episode is what I feel is the reason that 10 couldn't find another way in The Day of the Doctor. THEY pushed the button together. He accepted the need to do what he had done. The Man Who Regrets was needed to hold The Man Who Forgets to account, to force him to stop disassociating himself from the War Doctor; but only one that's "moved on" from burning Gallifrey can find another path forward. They both had to be there.
I love that the writer of this episode must have studied Latin and based the character’s off the Cambridge Latin Course. Edit: I just remembered that the characters in the CLC were based on real people, so the characters here were sort of real I love Dr Who!
I forget which writer wrote that Frosbisher’s family in Torchwood are descendants of the family 10 & Donna saved, and their end was the universe rebalancing the scales
@@hellacoorinna9995 no and yes. No as it were talking about John Frobisher from Torchwood: CoE; Yes as in he was intentionally named after the shapeshifting penguin by the writers
@@hellacoorinna9995 Torchwood Series 3: Children of Earth It can get pretty seriously dark at times just a heads up, but if you’re good with that it’s probably one of the best bits of DW extended universe media
I just realized how genius it is that the soothsayers did NOT know Pompey was going to blow, until the Doctor had to press the button. The Volcano had no reason to blow until that happened. The writers were hinting at the ending from the beginning
To me the Roman family trying to protect stuff from smashing from the Volcanic trembles made me thnk of Mary Poppins' Banks family and Mrs. Banks and the servants trying to prevent the goods from smashing when the Admial did his cannon thing
Drinking game: take a shot every time this video uses the "Modern Art!" clip. I think it's also good that the Doctor accepts Donna as a companion at the end, taking in Donna's advice from The Runaway Bride about the Doctor needing someone to stop him every now and again. Martha was definitely that someone during Series 3, and Donna proves the Doctor still needs someone in this episode as well as the Doctor mentioning it later in the 2009 Special episodes.
What a coincidence. I was rewatching Doctor Who from series 1 all over again. I watched Fires Of Pompeii yesterday. I just opened youtube and you uploaded this also yesterday.
I'M THE DOCTOR! AND I SAVE PEOPLE! AND IF ANYONE IS LISTENING AND IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEM WITH THAT.... TO HELL WITH YOU!!!!!! Sorry just had to do that
I actually found it interesting how we didn’t get an episode filmed abroad until series 4. The only other episodes to feature footage abroad was Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks and that was some of the shots of New York such as the Statue of Liberty and the above shots of Manhattan which was taken by a skeleton crew who went out there during post production.
the doctor admits he wants to do the same thing as Donna early in the episode. he admits he too has the urge to save as many people as he can, but at the same time the Timelord in him is demanding that everyone in that town is going to die and he cannot stop it or time will unwravel.
coming back to this episode after studying ancient rome, more specifically doing a unit on pompeii and its architecture, the sets are /so close/ to being perfect but if only they were able to have the intricate mix of apartment buildings, shops with flats above, and villas roman cities typically had along with the deep pits in the centre of roads for, well, sewage. it's one of those cases where knowing just that little bit too much and being one of those people who get hung up on historical innaccuracies is my downfall (also the pompeii bodies are actually plaster casts of the space left in the ash by the body which is long gone/just a skeleton. it's fascinating stuff)
Pretty sure the main reason they replaced it with Boomtown was the budget. That episode was shot outside the writer's office, had about 2 shots that required cg and the main villain effect was an existing prop arm. It just screams "Yeah they wouldn't give us THAT much money.
I always revisit the scene where the two soothsayers are trying to our-soothsay each other and it gives me chills. It's just the right amount of cheesy and dramatic.
after listening to the fires of Vulcan (Big Finish) I'm reminded of the line the 7th doctor said as the volcano is exploding "its got nothing to do with me" i think you'll find it has everything to do with you doctor just not yet
Click this link for a free trial of Skillshare Premium Membership! skl.sh/harbowholmes02211
it is not "an italian film studio" it's "THE italian Studio" "Cinecitta." Also this set was especially build for the Series "ROME" which gave a few problems, since they had explicit grafitto all over the place. But apart from that, yes, authenticity is a BIG bonus.
Can we expect an eu4 stream some time?
I wondered if he was based on a real person. It turns out he was...sort of.
Quintus Caecilius Iucundus is a character in the Cambridge Latin Course series of books, set in the Ancient Roman Empire. He was the son of wealthy banker Lucius Caecilius Iucundus and his wife Metella, both of whom were real people and who lived in Pompeii before 79 AD. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintus_Caecilius_Iucundus
The companions are there to convince Professor not to bash in a caveman's skull.
When they all go to their positions when the tremors happen to stop the things smashing, well, it's very Mary Poppins.
The fact Capaldi's first words in this episode were *Modern Art* makes me feel like he was pitching his Doctor there and then.
Lol.
I agree
Can't believe they named a town after a song by Bastille
I can't believe they named the National Day of France after Bastille themselves
Can't believe they named a band after a Metro station in Paris
@@sebastianimation6100 I can't believe that Porsche named their most popular car after a terrorist attack... What next? Is there going to be an Irish holiday named after a SpongeBob character? Is there going to be a nursery rhyme named after a fast food corporation? Lmao none of that's ever going to happen... Wait, what?
And then they blew it up.
Italy hates Bastille.
@@alexandergunn5143Ahh well played 👋
“We’re in Pompeii, and it’s volcano day” - I can remember being 6 years old and for some reason the first Monday after this episode first aired everyone at school was quoting that line
Wow it's so bizarre for me that it was just in tv and kids watched it. In my country it was never in tv (obviously) and I first watched it somewhere on the internet when I was like 16-18
Volcano Day should have been the title of the episode
Lol.
Were they serving hot chili con carne that day or what? ,🥵
I think the writing for Donna is by far the strong point of the story. As I've said before, _empathy is Donna's superpower._
And I thought I made an original comment.
Indeed.
Yeah I guess creating a posibly very wrong butterfly effect in history is nothing compared to weak morals of a random human that dosen't know shit about how time works.
@@Chris_Knight7 you talk like you're the doctor or something dude sit down it's just a show
@@Nieveria Triggered? Pathetic attempt.
I love that it was Donna begging him to Save the family and that ends up impacting the Doctor in the future when obvs we get Capaldi as the Doctor. It reminds him that sometimes even when everything seems hopeless saving just one life can have an impact. It's what the Doctor does. The Doctor saves people. Sometimes the Doctor forgets that and needs reminding. But it also shows how impactful certain companions are. I always thought the Rose would have just gone along with The Doctor and let him walk away. Also I like the Doctor is really understanding towards Quintus. We see him at the start and he is a mess and a rebel who defies his parents because all the attention is on his sister. The Doctor can see the potential in the lad and can see him being more. When they defeat the Pyrovile foot soldier the Doctor goes "I thought your son was amazing aren't you gonna thank him" which shows that the parents have been neglecting and ignoring their son in favour of the daughter which is the cause of his behaviour. They need reminding to praise him. Quintus is shown to be brave and smart when he needs to be and then at the end he turns his life around and finally gets praise and love from his parents. I think also Quintus hated his sister having a restricted life so was probably glad at the end that the attention went on him and she was allowed a normal life to go out and have fun. It's little moments like that that I really love with Doctor Who. Those little character moments.
I KNOW WHAT IT'S FOR. TO REMIND ME.... TO HOLD ME TO THE MARK.
Hm.
You really think Rose Tyler, who tried to prevent her own fathers death in spite of it being a fixed point in time, who brought Jack Harkness back from the dead, who guided Donna out of her alternative reality where the Doctor died, would just….walk off from Pompeii not reminding the Doctor of his humanity? Her entire arc with 9 was making him human. Not the best take.
I always love to imagine that cacilius was just actually the 12th doctor and was deliberately poking fun at the 10th doctor and Donna the whole time
That is a fun idea, but imo it takes away from the whole point the show tried to make in 12's first episode: He looks like Cacilius because after the awful stuff 11 went through, 12 needed a reminder that he can't give up on humanity, and he needs to go back and save someone, even if he can't save them all. Turning that into a paradox because whoops Cacilius was 12 all along kind of ruins that. Maybe I'm just taking the joke too seriously but it's the part of Doctor Who I'm most passionate about.
@@tatltails3923 oh I know it just a fun idea to imagine I didn’t say I’d want that to happen
@@tatltails3923 then that would make forbisher in children of earth, cacillius' descendent and he had to die to put the time lines right irrelevant!!
thing is, and believe me I love this idea, but that would be the Doctor running into his own time stream, and as we all know that is a big no no in time traveling, if it wasn't for that factor I would almost call it canon lol.
@@katarinabrunk8698 I'm not too sure that would be that big a problem since we've seen multiple versions of the doctor interact with each other plenty of times without any issue. Also the same for the master and Missy. I guess a different regeneration of a Time Lord counts as a different person for the purpose of their own personal timeline perhaps.
“Doctor, Time Lord, Yeah”
“Donna, Human, No”
Love this line.
Wow
I love how after so many years of the doctor pulling rank as his trump card Donna flips it on its head and calls out its insignificance. Like yeah, you’re a Time Lord and I’m a human. So what? She’s the absolute best
That is so woke.
@@mayotango1317 how is that woke?
@danm3882 A woman be superior to a alien? Woke.
I really like how in this one it deconstructs Doctor/companion behaviour in historicals, when they pretend to be someone else, pretend not to be from the future and kinda treat it like a game. Here, it doesn't work and is called out on by Evelina. "They're laughing at us. Those two, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us."
"Tardis time lord yeah"
"Donna human no" I love that part
"Where it turns out that the 9th Doctor has been grooming Rose to be the perfect companion"
How would that even be written? That sounds really creepy, and I guess that was the intent, but wouldn't that make the Doctor seem like a monster?
Not sure about the full details but the idea was Jack would find it out that's all we know. I'm so glad they didn't do it, it would have made 9 and Rose's already kinda questionable relationship be much worse and would have come across like an edgelord trying to write for the 7th Doctor.
The first place the doctor brings rose is to the end of her world. This is right after the time war, so I believe he did this to show her how it feels to be the last of your kind.
@@edroia4123 Yeah see that's how you do a manipulative Doctor, cause there's sympathy there, like the Dalek in episode 6 he's a survivor trying to form a connection
Yeah... especially if Bad Wolf/Parting of the ways played out the same way. Yuck!
Well, that would explain Father's Day.
“We all know what a Roman city with a mountain means.”
That’s right... Welcome to Miami bitches!
*Welcome to Miami beaches!
I REGRET NOTHING!!!!
*MODERN ART*
*MODERN AHHT*
I’ve been rewatching Series 4, and figured out why I like Donna so much. Besides Catherine Tate being funny and talented, Donna is the most empathetic companion. Again, her crying when she first hears the Ood sing. And the hug she gives the Doctor at the end of Midnight. No words. Fantastic moment. The only companion that comes close is Clara, but nobody is as noble as Donna.
Clara and Donna are my favorites too! I love when the companions aren't romantic (Clara with Calpadi I mean)
'Poundland sisterhood of Karn' 😆
One cool thing that didn't come up in the video was that for those of us who did Latin at school, Caecilius and his family were instantly recognisable as they were the central characters of the Cambridge Latin Course. They were real people that we have historical records of! When this episode first aired I was pointing at the TV like in the Leo DeCaprio meme
Caecilius est pater
Metella est mater
Quintus est fukboi
"Quintus est fukboi", love it.
Lurcio est servus....😊
As soon as the name Caecilius was spoken, I was back in my grammar school, I can still see the books....but I can't remember Quintus being such a d*ckhead
Talks about how beautiful doctor who is to people: cuts to love and monsters clip
Ignoring all the f'd up stuff from this episode, it had it's moments
I actually really like Love and Monsters, I like seeing the lives of people affected by The Doctor
honestly I didn’t really mind it first time round, cut some scenes and its a pretty solid episode.Especially because they use my blue sky ;)
@@gingganggoolie me too. I had no idea it was hated THAT much until I saw a review here. I only had an issue with the "monster's" look and of course the fact that the main protagonist's girlfriend ended up like that. Because if you think about it a bit it's disgusting, horrible and... F'd up.
The doctor has a literal trolley problem.
Wait, trolley problems aren't literal. You should have told me before I ran the trolley over someone.
Anyone here did the Cambridge Latin course, the textbooks are set in pomepeii, they end with volcano day. That’s what the caecilius family are named after-fun fact
Actually Volcano Day is the end of the *first* book. They end up in Britain, of course.
I thought this as well! Sadly my school has since dropped Latin. Plenty of time for a much sillier dead language like Irish :(
They did Grumio dirty here
@@drummingkiwi8766 lol
@@drummingkiwi8766 ah I see, a fellow member of the grum gang
The point I often see fans miss is that FoP was not a choice of whether or not to kill 20,000 people or screw with a fixed point in time; it was a choice between killing 20,000 humans or killing them ALL by letting the Pyroviles take over. For the Doctor it must have felt like the Time War writ small; only he could take action and that action must cause a lot of death. That OMG moment Donna has is this realization, that the Doctor not only has to walk away letting so many die, but he actually has to do the killing. In one moment, Donna understands this is the choice the Doctor faces every day--how to save as many as possible, to limit inevitable destruction and death, to make the best bad choice, and to remember that this too is a victory and to accept the bitter while appreciating the sweet.
Not only did Donna remind the Doctor to hold onto the sweet by saving the family, she, more than any other companion, understood *and shared* the responsibility the Doctor lives and works under. Other companions have had their aha moments, but never to such a degree. That relatively subdued "Oh my god" from Donna speaks volumes and makes the viewer pause with the same realization. And when she resolutely places her hands over the Doctor's, saying without words that he is not alone even when making world-shattering decisions, taking life-shattering actions, that he has the mate he wanted beside him even in this...it's amazing.
I agree with another commenter that empathy is Donna's superpower. She has enough empathy to share the heavy burden of the Time Lord. That is unique. And it's fantastic.
Is Katherine Tate as underrated a dramatic actress as I think she is? Pity.
*Catherine
Sorry. Still probably underrated. Like when she cries when the Ood sing.
People were really sceptical about Catherine Tate returning for Series 4, but her performance throughout the Series just shows how phenomenal of an actor she is!
Unfortunately she’s not big in the USA. Dr. Who was my introduction to her.
I knew she had her own comedy show, but I'd never seen it - still haven't, as it happens. I only know her as Donna, and that's treasure enough.
"we love to overanalyse the show"
*checks video time bar*
Yup, the calculations check out :p
Funny how the Doctor never bumps into Captain Jack while him and Donnor are in Pompeii.
This is one of a few episodes you can show to someone who doesn't know doctor who but they still could enjoy it like a movie
Correctomundo! This was in fact the first dw episode I made my sister watch and it made Donna and the 10th doctor her favourite characters until she found 12 and _CLAHRAH_
@@Eden._.garden it also happened to be the first episode of the show I caught while visiting a friend, and I absolutely fell in love with the show after seeing it, especially with Donna's pleading to save not the whole town, but just someone.
This, I think, is actually the first episode of doctor who I ever saw. I was really young and forgot all about it but when I recently watched the full show, I immediately started to remember it. It's such a good episode and the atmosphere of it is incredible
Apparently this episode was going to be later in the series and i think it would of worked better in the place of the Unicorn and Wasp. If they were swapped i think it could be a little more effective. Anyways the episode i think theres a nice nod to a previous 1st doctor story with a huge fire that the 10th Doctor mentions. The chameleon circuit thing was a nice touch about what would happen if they actually spoke the language nice little joke.
This episode is the start of a few different things that will pay off in the series both comedic and serious like Donna having a bug on her back, mentioning the Medusa Cascade, the mysterious ''she'' is returning (Rose) and how everyone thinks the Doctor and Donna are either a couple or look similar (Doctor Donna).
The moral question is handled very well like Pompeii being a fixed event and the doctor thinking he cant save anyone because its fixed. Him also comparing Pompeii to Gallifrey and wanting to save everyone but he cant and im glad Donna does convince him to change his mind even if he only saves 4 people he saved somebody and i think she kinda makes me think she is his moral compass in a way.
Also having Peter Capaldi and Karen Gillian in this episode in Doctor Who before they became main characters in their own right. Its also interesting how Capaldi's character here and the one in Torchwood are related and the connection is made later in Children of Earth (I think i havent watched it in a while)
I love the callback to the Runaway Bride "You're right. Sometimes I need someone"
I like Donna's comment of "JUST ONE! SAVE JUST ONE!" Also the fact that he chooses Kasilie's(?) face later on because of this moment iirc is also a bonus.
“When has a villain ever recounted their plan in excruciating detail and won?”
Watchmen.
karen gillain got lost on her way to the day of the dead celebrations
as a mexican, i love this joke
I wish you'd talked about the arc that this led into with Capaldi's Doctor, which ties in really nicely to his character in Torchwood too. In Torchwood is what happens when the Doctor doesn't interfere and lets people fend for themselves, but Pompeii is an example of what can happen when he does interfere and save people, and I think it all ties in quite nicely to the 12th Doctor's moral dilemma of questioning whether he's a good man
I will never get over the prophecy Evelina and Lucious downs the atmosphere it creates it is so impactful
I forget which writer wrote that Frosbisher’s family in Torchwood Children of Earth are descendants of the family 10 & Donna saved, and their end was the universe rebalancing the scales
That's not really how descent works though. By the time of Children of Earth most of Europe and the Americas would be descended from them.
@@myrddinemrys1332 tardis.fandom.com/wiki/John_Frobisher go to the section: “behind the scenes”, RTD & Moffat were the people’s that forwarded the idea apparently
@@UgandanPrinc3 Yeah but I'm just saying it wouldn't balance anything out. Their survival would effect so much more than the death of the Frobishers could fix.
@@myrddinemrys1332 not according to the show runners 🤷🏾♂️
per radio times: “Moffat explained how this fit into the franchise at the Doctor Who Festival, alongside former showrunner Russell T Davies. “When I first cast Peter Capaldi as the Doctor,” he said, “I remembered that Russell had said to me that he had a plan to account for the fact that Capaldi turns up in both Doctor Who and Torchwood in different parts. So I wrote to him to ask, ‘look, what’s the plan? And does it fit?’ He said, ‘yes! I’ve worked it out!’
“He said that it’s about - as the Doctor says - asserting his right to save people. His plan was that in the Torchwood episode - which we couldn’t really reference as it would have been difficult in that scene - is that the Doctor asserts himself over time by saving Capaldi’s character in ‘The Fires of Pompeii’ and time re-asserts itself by ending that bloodline in the Torchwood episode [in which Frobisher’s character is forced to commit suicide]. And the Doctor says, ‘to hell with you, time!’ And takes that face and brings it back again. It’s the Doctor’s eternal battle with doom and destiny.”
Moffat says this means Caecilius and Frobisher are related: “Remarkably there’s a level of genetic throwback in that thousand years to make them identical!”
@@UgandanPrinc3 Frankly then that just makes him look like an idiot. Time could only reassert itself by killing Caecilius's family before they bred or interacted with a different fixed point.
Essentially they would have had to be killed on the way to Rome.
Just Caecilius's bloodline existing to Frobisher butterflies away so many small events that killing 3 likely 4 descendants of Caecilius does nothing except be a moment of petty revenge by something that likely doesn't think in those terms.
"They basically just stole their god's from the Greeks."
*Annoyed Classical Historian noises*
The Roman's had their gods before meeting the Greeks, they however considered similar deities to essentially be the same as their own gods (Zeus and Jupitor for example), just being worshipped under a different name. They did adopt deities from people they met, as did every other pagan, so some gods were adopted from the Greeks. Just not the main pantheon.
I mean as far as I'm aware the Roman empire was founded by descendants of greek migrants to the region, so they're literally the same gods with differences due to different retellings of the myths over the generations
@@Ghostking5904 What? I thought they were the descendants of a wolf named Remulus.
They were similar because they have both Indo-European roots.
@@PwnZombie I mean, that's the myth, but in reality they were refugees from the Trojan war
Gods quite often evolve from a complex series cultural cross pollination anyway. The Anglo-Saxon Gods of 500AD England were pretty much the same as the Viking Gods 300 years later. There a huge amount of cross fertilisation between Christianity, Judaism and Islam as well as a vast amount of other middle eastern gods (and goddesses) that ended up in early Judaism.
I think Series 4 is the only season with no really bad episodes
What about Series 1?
@@the-oncomingstorm Boom town
And farting jokes taken to fare in Aliens of London
And Awful CGI in more than one episode. Really, really, really awful even for the time and the budget.
As much as i love 9 (who is my favorit Doctor) and series 1 it is very fare from being flawless
@The Reverse I loved it then and still do today
@The Reverse what’s so disliked about that episode, I never got it?
I loved it and still do!
The Unicorn And The Wasp was garbage.
I honestly applaud james moran for writing such an amazing episode. i really wish he wrote more for the series because i loved how the doctor and donna were led down different paths to the point where they butted heads at the height of the episode and the doctor giving in to donna's pleas. i met him a few years ago at a convention and he is such a cool and nice guy!
Caecilius and his family are also the main characters of the Cambridge Latin course's first year program for students in 7th grade like I was, so seeing the subject of my intro to Latin turn up in Doctor Who was really cool.
It's a shame Gatiss' episode about Nazis never saw the light of day, it sounds like something really ambitious for the writer who usually writes cartoonish characters.
The modern view of Nazis IS cartoonish villains though....
Well Gatiss has had plenty of opportunities since to show his writing chops and what did he give us? Oh yeah Sleep No More and Empress of Mars 🤦♀️ 😩 He would have ruined the perfect series that is Series 4
I like the connection between this episode and Children of Earth, that the character Capaldi played is a descendant of his character here and the reason his entire family dies in Children of earth is as a result of the timeline correcting itself.
Very interesting connection.
I wonder why time took centuries to correct itself.
@@tomnorton4277 yeah, that does seem weird.
I find it just absolutely perfect that in the episode that includes both choice and prophecy that the actors who play the doctor's companion and the doctor are both in this episode years before they get their chance.
This was actually the first ever episode I saw, in high school my latin textbook was based on Caecillius, Metella, and their son Quintus. I was doing homework one day and found online that they had based a doctor who episode on the characters from my homework and holy cow I got hooked on the show ever since.
_Father's Day_ wasn't a fixed point since they can't ever be rewritten but a paradox that's what attracted the Reapers.
Fixed point can't be entirely rewritten just watch waters of Mars to see another fixed point being rewritten just a lil bit.
It's more bending then breaking like here they bent it by saving the family
Posting this on a bunch of your videos to help metrics:
Thank you so much for making this series. Doctor Who was my favourite tv show as a kid, and was literally the only interest that every member of my family had in common, so it was very special to us growing up. Watching all your deep dives into each of the NuWho episodes has been a very nostalgic experience for me, so thank you thank you xx
Fact that Capaldi had monument of the Doctor is totally accurate
I think it would be cool if you did a cold open tier list
YASS
If someone makes one I'll do it on stream
You could use this episodes tier list maker tiermaker.com/create/doctor-who-episodes-series-1-12-2005-2020-377598
This was also the first time we saw the 12th Doctor and Amy Pond before they arrived as the main stars of Doctor Who
Unironically our Latin class high school teacher used to play this episode yearly in class. Not only was it a good reflection and demonstration of the times we learned about, it was entertaining sci fi that ended up getting me more into the show
Kudos to the 12th Doctor creating the word for volcano.
would it be crazy to have a new doctor who series with no main doctor? just isolated adventures of past doctors and past companions? we could see new stories with our favorites
doctors 4-12 live, and we have very worthy substitutes for 1st and 3rd, could be done!!!
I usually think of this episode as very underrated not going to lie. I feel like it should be more loved by the fans. Easily one of the best episodes of s4.
Alternate title: Remember when the doctor encountered his future face
All I could think of when they rush to protect their things was that scene in Mary Poppins... "Posts!"
I feel that this episode is like a Proto-Waters Of Mars, exploring the same themes brilliantly, only for Waters Of Mars to come in and do what it did great even greater. But that's getting ahead XD
With the earthquakes, is it just me who’s reminded of Mary Poppins?
Absolutely! My first though too :)
This episode is what I feel is the reason that 10 couldn't find another way in The Day of the Doctor. THEY pushed the button together. He accepted the need to do what he had done. The Man Who Regrets was needed to hold The Man Who Forgets to account, to force him to stop disassociating himself from the War Doctor; but only one that's "moved on" from burning Gallifrey can find another path forward. They both had to be there.
I find it funny how I (and most of the audience) didn't notice Karen Gillian, which means that 2 future doctor who actors were there
I just finished rewatching Tennet’s era and I think this episode definitely still holds up. It’s one of my favorites. Great breakdown as always man!
I love that the writer of this episode must have studied Latin and based the character’s off the Cambridge Latin Course.
Edit: I just remembered that the characters in the CLC were based on real people, so the characters here were sort of real
I love Dr Who!
"I remember why I chose this face" is y favorite line from the Doctor, soon after regenerating into Capaldi
I forget which writer wrote that Frosbisher’s family in Torchwood are descendants of the family 10 & Donna saved, and their end was the universe rebalancing the scales
The shapeshifting Penguin?
@@hellacoorinna9995 no and yes.
No as it were talking about John Frobisher from Torchwood: CoE;
Yes as in he was intentionally named after the shapeshifting penguin by the writers
@@UgandanPrinc3 "CoE"?
Miniseries or Book? Figure I can give it a look if I know the title.
@@hellacoorinna9995 Torchwood Series 3: Children of Earth
It can get pretty seriously dark at times just a heads up, but if you’re good with that it’s probably one of the best bits of DW extended universe media
@@UgandanPrinc3 The one that is a result of The Master becoming PM, wbich in turn is a result of "don't you think she looks tired?"
13:56 that girl is probably one of Amy's ancestors, since she's played by Karen Gillan as well.
I just realized how genius it is that the soothsayers did NOT know Pompey was going to blow, until the Doctor had to press the button. The Volcano had no reason to blow until that happened. The writers were hinting at the ending from the beginning
To me the Roman family trying to protect stuff from smashing from the Volcanic trembles made me thnk of Mary Poppins' Banks family and Mrs. Banks and the servants trying to prevent the goods from smashing when the Admial did his cannon thing
yoooooooo. the ancient picture of SBFP before the fall. i love all the memes and references you add to your videos.
Honestly man, your videos keep me going, I could listen to chat who for hours. Keep it up man!
Drinking game: take a shot every time this video uses the "Modern Art!" clip.
I think it's also good that the Doctor accepts Donna as a companion at the end, taking in Donna's advice from The Runaway Bride about the Doctor needing someone to stop him every now and again. Martha was definitely that someone during Series 3, and Donna proves the Doctor still needs someone in this episode as well as the Doctor mentioning it later in the 2009 Special episodes.
If I was Donna, I definitely wouldn't be able to continue travelling with the Doctor after this. I'd be completely mentally destroyed after this
What a coincidence. I was rewatching Doctor Who from series 1 all over again. I watched Fires Of Pompeii yesterday. I just opened youtube and you uploaded this also yesterday.
Imagine living in Pompeii at the time of the eruption and your graffiti or your room is what gets preserved for thousands and thousands of years.
I'M THE DOCTOR! AND I SAVE PEOPLE! AND IF ANYONE IS LISTENING AND IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEM WITH THAT.... TO HELL WITH YOU!!!!!!
Sorry just had to do that
Season 4 have sooo many great episodes! The dynamics between the Doctor and Donna is also great to see
I actually found it interesting how we didn’t get an episode filmed abroad until series 4. The only other episodes to feature footage abroad was Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks and that was some of the shots of New York such as the Statue of Liberty and the above shots of Manhattan which was taken by a skeleton crew who went out there during post production.
Damn, old Funhaus and Best Friends clips out of nowhere in the same video? Man that's a gutpunch that takes me back lol
The coliseum was actually very tame and there was pretty much no blood shed in them
So glad you brought up the end of the massacre, I've always seen Pompeii as a spiritual sequel to the massacre.
Is this Caecilius and his family meant to be the same one from the British Latin classes textbook?
Ita vero
"We know the ancient Roman gods aren't real"
the witches in the audience : 👁 👄👁
Two Funhaus references in one video? Great work
the doctor admits he wants to do the same thing as Donna early in the episode. he admits he too has the urge to save as many people as he can, but at the same time the Timelord in him is demanding that everyone in that town is going to die and he cannot stop it or time will unwravel.
coming back to this episode after studying ancient rome, more specifically doing a unit on pompeii and its architecture, the sets are /so close/ to being perfect but if only they were able to have the intricate mix of apartment buildings, shops with flats above, and villas roman cities typically had along with the deep pits in the centre of roads for, well, sewage. it's one of those cases where knowing just that little bit too much and being one of those people who get hung up on historical innaccuracies is my downfall (also the pompeii bodies are actually plaster casts of the space left in the ash by the body which is long gone/just a skeleton. it's fascinating stuff)
Absolutely brilliant ep. Great video as always!
9:55 "Synthetic Dawn" into the console in vanilla euiv gets you their just fine.
I think the scene where they try and stop the valuables from falling is a reference to the posts everyone scenes in Mary Poppins
I used to watch his one all the time as a kid. Fantastic episode-love the monsters, love he acting, love everything
I can't wait for you to do a video of the waters of mars. It's the best episode of doctor who imo.
Like the similarities to The Massacre of St Bartholomew’s Eve with this story in the review
Pretty sure the main reason they replaced it with Boomtown was the budget. That episode was shot outside the writer's office, had about 2 shots that required cg and the main villain effect was an existing prop arm. It just screams "Yeah they wouldn't give us THAT much money.
"The Poundland Sisterhood of Karn" lmao
The scene on prophecy is the only scene in New Who that gives me goosebumps
Unlike Lucius, Ozymandias knew the proper time for the villainous monologue- after your plan works, but before the heroes know it
I always revisit the scene where the two soothsayers are trying to our-soothsay each other and it gives me chills. It's just the right amount of cheesy and dramatic.
Something about 27:40, having two Doctors there, is just awesome.
7:29 me watching children of earth
Was not expecting to see the Zaibatsu in a Harbo video. Damn that kind of stung
This vid is "mODerN ArT!" For real though love your work mate. Keen for the next one!
Late I know, but my Mother designed the Volcano monster in this episode
She did a smashing job especially for 2008
after listening to the fires of Vulcan (Big Finish) I'm reminded of the line the 7th doctor said as the volcano is exploding "its got nothing to do with me" i think you'll find it has everything to do with you doctor just not yet
Hands down my favourite episode of the revival. It just holds such a special place in my heart and in my favourite series.
I always get goosebumps at the end of this episode.
my favourite moment of that episode:
-TARDIS, Time Lord, YEAH
+DONNA, HUMAN ¡NO!
Great episode but why is Caecilius non est in horto? CAMBRIDGE LATIN GANG RISE UP!
Why is Caeclius not in the Garden?
Because Caecilius est in tablino. Caecilius semper est in tablino.