The Fires Of Pompeii

Writer:  James Moran
Director: Colin Teague

We’re in Pompeii…and its volcano day!!

Donna and The Doctor have come to what they initially believe is Ancient Rome, where Donna is amazed at everything she sees and also by the fact that The Tardis lets her speak Latin!  As they explore the city they soon discover that there are no signs of the famous buildings of Ancient Rome and that instead of being surrounded by seven hills this city is dwarfed by just one hill and that hill is the smoking volcano of Vesuvius.  They are not in Rome at all but in Pompeii, the day before Vesuvius erupts!

Their arrival has been seen by a member of the Sibylline Sisterhood who have a long held prophecy about the arrival of a Blue Box.  The prophecy says that the box will come at a time of fire and destruction but the leader of the Sisterhood tells them that this is no longer true and that she has a new prophecy.  Her prophecy foretells of Pompeii becoming a great city, one to even rival Rome and that if the occupants of the Blue Box defy her new prophecy then they must die.

The Doctor and Donna rush back to where they had left The Tardis only to discover that a local stallholder has sold it to the marble merchant Caecillius who bought it as a piece of modern art!.  Donna wants to tell the population about the forthcoming eruption and try to save them, but The Doctor tells her that she can’t as what happened in Pompeii is a fixed point in time and can not be changed. He just wants to get to The Tardis and leave.

The city is constantly being shaken by tremors from the soon to erupt volcano which most of the population, including Caecillius and his family, believe are caused by the wrath of angry Gods.  Caecillius’ daughter Evelina has the gift of sight and has been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood as soon as she is old enough.  Her gift is accentuated by smelling the vapours from the underground rivers of fire from the volcano, used to heat the houses.

The Doctor and Donna find Caecillius’ house and The Tardis and are about to leave when the chief Augur of the city, Lucius, arrives to take collection of an engraved stone Caecillius has made for him.  When The Doctor sees the engravings on the stone he realises that it looks like part of a circuit board and is obviously of alien origin.  He decides to stay and investigate.

Both Evelina and Lucius seem able to see who The Doctor and Donna really are and know that they are not of this time.  All those with the gift of foresight have never been wrong since an Earthquake nearly destroyed the city 17 years ago, but the price they pay for their ‘gift’ is that their bodies are slowly turning to stone.  When questioned though, neither Evelina nor Lucius can see the eruption of the volcano even though it is only one day in the future.

The Doctor and Caecillius son go to Lucius’ house where they find more stone circuit panels.  When The Doctor assembles them correctly he knows that they are an energy converter but not what energy or for what purpose.  Lucius believes that The Doctor is trying to prevent the rise of Pompeii and so he summons the God of the underground fires.  The God is just a monster which chases the Doctor back to Caecillius house where it emerges from the underground only to be easily stopped with cold water…he was after all made of fire!

Donna has told Evelina what is going to happen to the city tomorrow, but her words have also been heard by the Sibylline who kidnap her and prepare to sacrifice her for speaking a false prophecy.   Before they can kill her The Doctor appears and frees her.  He tells the Sisterhood that the Sibyl who founded their religion would be ashamed of what they have become and demands an audience with the High Priestess.  She is made completely of stone and The Doctor knows that underneath the stone she is an alien.  The alien is a Pyrovile, whose race fell to earth thousands of years ago and being made of stone they shattered on impact.  They were re-awakened by the Earthquake and started to use humans to regain their form.  The centre of their power is now inside the volcano and that is where Donna and The Doctor have to go.

Lucius has taken the energy converter panels inside the volcano and reassembled them inside the Pyroviles’ escape pod.  He tells The Doctor that although the Pyroviles’ home planet has been destroyed there is enough energy in and on the Earth for them to create a new home world and a new civilisation.  The Doctor knows now that the fate of the whole world is at stake and he and Donna seal themselves inside the escape pod.
Donna is still trying to get The Doctor to do something to stop the deaths of 20 thousand people but he knows that he has no choice but to use the energy converter to trigger the volcanic eruption and destroy the Pyroviles.  It is the death of one city or the end of the world.
Finally Donna seems to grasp his dilemma and although neither of them expects to survive they both know what they have to do and together they trigger the eruption of Vesuvius.

The Escape pod is thrown clear of the volcano by the force of the eruption and they fall safely to Earth.  Hurrying back through the devastation that has begun in Pompeii they reach Caecillius’ home and The Tardis.  Donna wants to save the family but the Doctor just rushes past them and into the Tardis despite her cries for him to stop and help.  When she hears The Tardis start to dematerialise she has no option but to leave Caecillius and his family to their fate and join The Doctor.

Inside The Tardis she continues to plead with The Doctor to save even one family especially as he couldn’t save his own people when Gallifrey burnt.  His conscience pricked The Doctor goes back and rescues the family taking them to safety.  As they watch the city of Pompeii slowly being consumed by the ash and rocks of the volcano The Doctor tells Caecillius that the city and its people are never forgotten.

Back in The Tardis, The Doctor thanks Donna, telling her that she was right when she told him that sometimes he needs somebody.
Their adventures are just beginning.

Written by Deryn Corner