Doctor Who: Girl in the Fireplace Review.

Since there are a lot of newer fans of Doctor Who reading this blog, it seemed like a good idea to try and review some of older episodes from Tennant and Eccleston eras, so here is one of my many favorite episodes, "The Girl in the Fireplace" with the tenth Doctor Who David Tennant. Many consider this episode to be among Tennant's best and who am I to disagree, it is positively brilliant!

It is one of those videos that was just about everything, fun action adventure, hilarious humor, creepy bad guys, and a sad, bittersweet ending. This was one of Tennant's first episodes as the Doctor and he had already taken it as his own. His performance was top notch, equally portraying a serious and fun side when necessary. He showed more of his heroic side, not being afraid to risk everything at save Reinette.

Not surprising, Steven Moffat wrote this episode, and in typical Moffat fashion there are memorable monsters, albeit not quite as creepy as his other ones, and crazy "wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff."

Normally a romance like the one between The Doctor and Reinette is annoying, but it really works in the episode. Sophia Myles as Reinette was magnificent! Easily one of the best one-off characters in the series. Even though it would change the ending the episode, I almost would not mind seeing again in on the show, because I want to see more of her.

If I remember correctly, this is the first time Mickey travels with the Doctor and Rose and while a little dopey, he was often humorous. It has been a while since watching any of Rose's seasons, and I have forgotten how cool she was and how much fun she was with Doctor as well.

Although the effects do not hold up compared to later episodes, they serviceable and effective enough and there was a lot of practical effects usage as well.

Tennant was less brooding as he was in later seasons and a lot more fun. His lines and jokes are often hilarious! Featuring some of the tenth Doctor's most memorable lines: "I'm The Doctor. And I just snogged Madame de Pompadour!", "You're mister thick thickity thick face from thicktown thickannia. And so is your Dad!", "Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good." and many more fantastic quotes.

There is one thing that kind of bugs me, why hasn't the Doctor used the mind reading ability more often? It would seem useful at times. 

 

Overall: 10/10- While it does not the big epic scale of other episodes, "The Girl in the Fireplace" is an excellent example of a standalone Doctor Who episode with film quality story. It would certainly rank among my Top 25 best Doctor Who episodes, and one of more re-watchable episodes of the series.

 

Note: Even though I gave "The Name of the Doctor" a 9.9/10, I am not entirely sure if this episode is better or not.

 

If you have a request for a specific Doctor Who episode review, please comment and I will try to watch and review it.

 

 

 

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