I am – Hercules!! “Doctor Who” 5.6 has taken a big bite out of Britain! “Dcotor Dan” found it “enjoyable but frustratingly familiar”:

DOCTOR WHO 5.6 – "The Vampires Of Venice" WRITER: Toby Whithouse DIRECTOR: Jonny Campbell GUEST CAST: Arthur Darvill, Helen McCrory, Lucian Msamati, Alisha Bailey, Alex Price, Michael Percival, Simon Gregory, Gabriella Wilde, Hannah Steele, Elizabeth Croft, Sonila Vieshta & Gabriela Montaraz Toby Whithouse knows a thing or two about vampires, having created the excellent Being Human, but "The Vampires Of Venice" was always going to be something more lightweight and silly. This was actually another very good episode for the series, but its shortcomings were the simple fact this type of story has become almost ingrained in nu-Who already. It was a fantastic-looking hour thanks to location filming in Croatia, standing in for Venice, which undoubtedly benefitted the episode's sense of realism, but it was a shame the overall storyline felt so shop-worn. This week, The Doctor (Matt Smith) interrupted Rory's (Arthur Darvill) Stag Night by replacing a stripper inside a giant cake, and whisked him away in the TARDIS to hopefully rekindle Amy's (Karen Gillan) feelings for her fiancé in light of her kissing him last week. Needless to say, The Doctor's arrival in Venice with the two lovebirds quickly turned into another adventure when it became clear signora Rossan Calvierri (Helen McCrory) is running a school for the betterment of women that's actually a cover to turn them into "vampires" (later revealed to be "space fish" intending to breed with the males of her homeless species.) "The Vampires Of Venice" was good fun and well-intentioned, just nothing you haven't seen before. It reminded me of "The Fires Of Pompeii" crossed with "The Runaway Bride", stealing ideas and the general sweep of narrative from countless adventures already. That's not to say it was a tedious bore throughout, because it kept a lively energy, The Doctor was on great form ("I'm a Time Lord, you're a big fish, think of the children"), there were some amusing moments (Rory and The Doctor playing who has the largest phallic ultraviolet baton), and it was actually surprisingly refreshing to have two companions join The Doctor on an adventure. The classic series often trio's involved in adventures, and while I understand the reasons nu-Who doesn't do that very often, when it does it shakes things up. Here, Amy and Rory were allowed to go off and have their own little adventure and get into scrapes together, without The Doctor to constantly bail them out of trouble. It's a shame Gillan and Darvill have so little chemistry together (their characters are getting married in the morning, but you really don't feel that connection between them), but Darvill himself made for an endearingly gawky temporary companion. I'm glad he'll be around for a little while longer, and hope that trend continues of occasionally giving Doctor Who more of a "team" feel. Still, while a lot of fun and nothing to really get upset over, "The Vampires Of Venice" was ultimately enjoyable but frustratingly familiar in terms of its storytelling. The show undoubtedly has a template with its "aliens masquerading as humans, intending to enslave or destroy us all for their own survival", and this script stuck religiously to that, which disappointed me. The Good Matt Smith's really developing a firm style and stronger comic timing now. Helen McCrory made for a decent villainess, if clichéd. The location filming was superb and really gave things a sense of place and provided some great architectural visuals. The suggestion that The Doctor gets his companions into trouble because they're always so eager to impress him. I love it when the show tries to get under the skin of itself like that. Arthur Darvill playing the dopey boyfriend role (a la Noel Clark as Mickey), but doing a better job. The Doctor. In a cake. At a stag night. Surrounded by boozy blokes. The Bad There was no real chemistry between Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill. It's hard to imagine what Amy's doing getting married to him. A storyline that felt formulaic and thus very predictable. That scene with The Doctor being electrocuted through a wooden door. Illogical and rather embarrassing. The Geeky The Doctor's library card has a photo of the First Doctor (William Hartnell) still on it. While set in Venice, filming actually took place in the Croatian town of Trogir. Controversially, the BBC paid for a "making of" trip to the real Venice as part of Doctor Who Confidential for Matt Smith and Toby Whithouse. Tenuous link: actress Helen McCrory played Casonova's mother in the 2007 BBC series starring Tenth Doctor David Tennant as the eponymous lothario, and also starred in a TV update of Frankenstein that starred Julian Bleach as The Monster (who played Dalek creator Davros in series 4.) This episode marks the debut of director Jonny Campbell on the show. He's best-known for directing episodes of Ashes To Ashes. Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

“Kelly” says the episode restored his or her faith in the series:

It finally happened. Honestly, I didn't think it ever would. I was thisclose to giving up on Doctor Who. Then came this episode and, with it, everything that I've been looking for. Which is funny, considering that I thought this would be the death of Who for me. I mean, vampires? C'mon. Not Twilight crap again! Oh, it so wasn't Twilight crap. Here's everything they got right: 1. The Doctor. FINALLY. This is the Doctor we know and love, right here. He's not MY Doctor, still. Ten will always have my heart, but this is the day that Matt Smith went from being the guy playing the Doctor to actually being the Doctor. For me, anyway. Why was this THE episode? a. The humor. He was finally able to be the witty, sometimes over-the-top character I know the Doctor as. From the moment he popped out of the stripper cake, he was on. Which reaffirms my suspicion that it wasn't Matt Smith who was holding the Doctor back, it was the lackluster scripts. Moffat's still on notice, boys. b. Mr. Fix-It. This was the first episode I felt that drive come from him that drives him to want to fix all the wrongs with the universe, which, let's face it, is one of the major reasons we love him. Furthermore, he was driven to obliterating one race to save another and he was stuck in that trademark Doctor dilemma of "Damned if you do, damned if you don't." These moments, for me, are what make the Doctor larger than life. He knows how it's going to end, but he does it anyway. c. The Bad-Ass. Another thing that's been there throughout Doctor Who has been the Doctor's "I'm the sheriff in this town" bit. I love it when he does this. Christopher Eccleston had this down (perhaps a bit too much at times, but I loved it just the same) and David Tennant splendidly wove the other aspects of the Doctor in with it to the point he could actually be frightening. I found it funny that Toby Whithouse wrote this episode as he also wrote "School Reunion." "School Reunion" had that brilliant bit with the "If I don't like what's going on, it stops" (which, of course, made panties burst into flames all over the globe - that's what caused the earthquakes - residuals of Doctor panty flames). That was here in spades in this episode when he's talking to the Fishy-Vampire Mum. So yeah - this episode was all about the Doctor for me. Despite Rory and Amy being present. 2. Again with the Doctor. This episode had a brilliant bit of dialogue between Rory and the Doctor in which Rory tells the Doctor that he's dangerous because people want to impress him so. And color me impressed because I was floored by this scene. It brilliantly made the Doctor human, as well as all his companions. All the people who have been saying that this season isn't about the characters and the characters aren't important to Who, it's all about the plots? This is why you're wrong. It's these character revealing moments that make all the crazy plots worth it. 3. Loved the dialogue in this episode. It was funny. It was honest (as seen with the bit with Rory above). 4. To paraphrase Tallahassee in "Zombieland," "It's the little things." And this episode had plenty. From putting Isabella's father in Rory's stag party shirt to the Doctor's psychic paper revealing William Hartnell's face. 5. Loved the monsters. If it had just been vampires, it would have been lame, but they were ugly, scary monsters who, oddly enough, were given a bit of humanity in the end. I don't require that of my Who monsters, but it was a nice touch. 6. This episode had a touch of the old RTD "hit 'em where it hurts at the very end." We all really wanted to see Isabella returned to her father, didn't we? Too bad. I love tragic Who. Love, love, love it. All the "If his heart just grows to be three times its size, the world will be saved" or "clap if you believe in fairies!" shit is for the birds. Give me my angst, you bitches. He's a Time Lord, for crying out loud. Not the fucking Easter Bunny. They actually improved upon Rory a lot in this episode and I hope they don't rip apart all that characterization with next week's episode, which, admittedly, scares me a little. But I'm now intrigued enough to go with it. Overall, I'm happy. Let's hope they keep this up.

“Kelvington” calls it “a good story”:

Doctor Who – The Vampires Of Venice Tonight’s episode of “Doctor Who” has a great double opening, one scary and one funny. Of all the images I thought Moffat would bring to his vision of the series. The one that I never imagined was the Doctor coming out of stripper cake. I have to admit, I think I liked this episode more than just about any other in the new series. While the plot was on the smallish side, it was so well written that they didn’t need to spend a ton of money on extra effects. You get to see fish people occasionally when not in human form, thanks to the perception filter. You get to see a medium size finish to the story, that didn’t really explain what happened to all the fish people. But I think I enjoyed this one so much, because it was so character driven. The Doctor, Amy, Rory and Guido did a great job of just carrying a story. This episode could have easily been done back in the Baker era, and while the title included the word Vampires, there weren’t really any vampires to be found. I was so looking forward to “Plasmavores” which is what vampires really are in the Whoverse. But instead we got some fish people, well more ugly prawn people, but still. Probably the best bits from tonight’s episode were, Amy’s fishnet stalking, which should have been a dead giveaway. Seeing Rory’s reaction to the Doctor as he popped out of the stripper cake. And seeing a nice, well written episode that both explained what the Doctor’s relationship to Amy really is, and that Rory could accept it as well. For the Amy haters out there, you got see that tonight, the Doctor sussed out what to do, and not Amy. You got to see Karen do some very decent acting. Maybe not on par with Piper, but still very good. Finally, there are going to be lots of people who were not fond of the episode, the lack of explanations, the lack of ending effects, but for me, I think that’s what endeared it to me. They showed that a good story, even missing huge effects can still be just that… a good story. The only thing really missing was the Doctor not offering to save the fish people to another world, but even that had a good explanation. They didn’t know her name was Isabella. I now too believe that Moffat front loaded the lesser episodes so the rest of the series could shine. And if tonight is any indication of what’s to come, the rest is going to be amazing. Particularly next week, when we get to see “Doctor Who’s” take on “Nightmare on Elm Street”. Just my 2¢

“Gabba UK” rates it his third favorite Matt Smith episode:

Hi Herc, We're nearly at the halfway point through Matt and Moff's debut series. So I think its time for a moment of reflection.... Done? No? Not surprising really when you're dealing with Vampires. Or Space fish as the case maybe. Opening with a school in late 16th century Venice ,Guido is petitioning for his daughter, Isabella, to be accepted. The owner of the school is Rosanna Calvierri, matriarch of House Calvierri and played by the always classy Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter Films). Once Isabella is accepted, Guido is quickly rushed away, leaving his daughter to discover that Rosanna's son, Francesco, as an unusual problem of a dental nature. Skipping forward 430 years, we find Rory on his stag night. Things are looking up for Amy's fiance as a suspiciously large cake is wheeled into the pub by his mates. They take a dip when a tweed wearing Timelord jumps out of it and announce's that Amy just tried to kiss him. "Funny how you can say something in your head and it sounds fine" The Doctor has decided that after Amy's reckless, minutes-aways-from-death-and-desire-to-share-a-wild-moment-of-carnal-intimacy-as-a-result-with-the-person-she-experienced-it- with, come on to him last week, that Rory and Amy must share an amazing adventure so as their future together is not torn apart with Amy unable to share those memories with Rory. So he takes them somewhere romantic. Late 16th Century Venice for instance? "Blimey, fish from outer space have never been so.... buxom." This episode was written by Toby Whithouse who previously wrote 'School Reunion' and created and wrote the rather great 'Being Human'. So has some writing chops about him and it showed here in buckets. This was a fun, feisty and fast moving story with some great lines in it from all the cast. Rory is of course all awkward and out of his depth compared to the Doctor but is all heart and determined to save Amy (who wouldn't) reminding her why she's with him in the first place and why she wants him to join her and the Doctor 'for a while'. Which will be good I think as Arthur Darvill as Rory and Matt Smith have good comedic timing with each other. The production value of this episode was simply outstanding compared to most Who's with Trogir in Croatia doubling as Venice and alien CGI that didn't suck. Amy was a little more damsel in distress this week, which is good as some in the TB's that hate easily, clearly have a problem with strong willed women. But she is vicious with a vanity mirror and knows how to make best use of one. Big-up there for flame haired strong willed women everywhere (and the blokes that love 'em). Even the music was more subdued and appropriate to what was on screen for once. Maybe, just maybe, the producers have heard the criticism of it and toned it down a bit. I would say that this was my third favourite episode of Matt Smith, after The Eleventh Hour and Flesh and Stone. And the 'Cracks' in time and space don't make an appearance this time but they are spoken of and their effect is shown a little more... 8 out of 10 Next week, a pregnant Amy and Toby Jones as the 'Dreamlord' Cool And one more thing .... Leeds Utd back in the Championship! GET IN!!!!!!!

“V'Shael” deems it a “strong showing”:

Vampires in Venice was excellent in my opinion, though it was let down by at least two glaring plot holes. (More later) The season arc of the "Silence" is shaping up nicely, as the largest hints to date are revealed in this episode, and we do get a few seconds of "silence" towards the end of the episode. Though not written by Moffat, this was a very strong showing by the person who wrote the also excellent "School Reunion" which saw the return of the fan favourite Sarah Jane Smith to the modern Doctor Who canon. This episode was essentially about the last remaining survivors of a race of "fish from space", who in their own words, would kill a city to save a world. In some respects, similar to the Silurians of the old series, in that the Doctor frequently thought they and humanity could co-exist on Earth (with some help obviously) because the oceans are so large. Such a shame then, that these vampires (space-fish) clearly felt nothing for the people they killed. You see, the Doctor is no stranger to genocide or to killing. But he never does it cavalierly. He never does it without regret. There's some great dialog in this episode. Some nice quotables. And the acting from the major players is very good again. The guests this episode are also quite good, with the possible exception of the mommys boy. The good : The scenery was amazing. I love location shoots like this. Good plot, good explanation of the "vampire" stuff, Rory was actually good, useful to the plot, and not just killed off in the last 5 minutes. Also, very very nice "explanation" of the Amy snog fest from last week. I think I laughed more at this episode than any other this season, with the Eleventh Hour a close second. "Yours is bigger than mine." "Let's not go there." And for those who are sick of the "crack" imagery, I didn't notice any cracks this week. The bad : Two major plot points really pulled me out of the story. How did Amy kill Mommy's boy? It's not very clear. We're led to believe, I think, that's she's reflecting sunlight at him. But the sky is completely covered at this point. Plus, I'm pretty sure that a UV lamp would give more UV than a reflection of the sun on a small square mirror. Try tanning under a mirror sometime and see how far that gets you. Plus, if there's a perception filter to show the "countess" and her cortiage, then how is she able to take off gloves and clothes and so on. The resolution is a little "applaudy" which reminds me too much of the RTD era. It's a little too quick. Literally, flick a switch, even if the switch is out-of-the-way. Next time : Looks damn interesting. Can't wait.

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