The Fires of Vulcan

An archaeological expedition recovers the TARDIS from the ruins of Pompeii in present day Earth. UNIT investigators are called in to identify the object. Hundreds of years in the past, the Doctor and Melanie visit the city during its final days. The Doctor knows well enough about the discovery in the future; it's something he has been trying to avoid for the longest time but now he has arrived at what he believes will be his last adventure. Melanie refuses to accept the Doctor's defeatist attitude and strikes out on her own to try and change the future, but as events progress and the travellers become more enmeshed in the past, it looks as if they will not escape the eruption of Vesuvius and will indeed die with Pompeii.

Here's an interesting twist on the whole "changing the past" thing. The Doctor knows he can't do it. He's told his companions often enough that they cannot do it, and on occasion has warned them that if they become part of history he will not be able to protect them from it. What happens, though, when he realizes that his own number might be up? Do the rules change for a Time Lord, or does he accept his fate and just wait for the end? After all he has the power to change it. And then there's Melanie to consider as well; does he doom her along with himself or does he try to at least save her life?

Fate and destiny. There's that old argument again that was thrust upon my OAC English class when we were reading Hamlet. Do we have power to change things? Or is it true what Jaye says in an episode of the inspired yet short-lived Wonderfalls, "We're all fate's bitch. Bend over for destiny,"

Against this struggle with the inevitible also comes the story of the Doctor and Melanie's visit to Pompeii. Their own fate is in question, but what about the people who live there? True to fashion they meet people and become involved in their lives, people who see the smouldering volcano next door as a chimney for Vulcan's furnaces where he works at his forge. They don't know what's coming, and history forbids the Doctor and Mel from saying anything, even if it means their own lives are at risk. Classic Doctor dilemma. In the face of this disaster, though, one wonders why he doesn't just leave and escape fate, absolve himself of the guilt of not being able to save anyone else this time. He thinks it's futile, that somehow he will just end up back here, and the TARDIS will be found later as it always has been. Sylvester McCoy goes a bit darker in this one, broody and moody, which I'm not a big fan of. He can't do defeated without sounding ... well... melodramatic.

The new series of Doctor Who due to start in April sees the tenth Doctor and his companion Donna in Pompeii as well; I'm not sure if they are there for the eruption but it's a pretty safe bet that they are. Why else would they go there? So will their adventure negate this one, will it overwrite and ignore The Fires of Vulcan? Or will it be adapted from this one, throwing continuity out the window and recycling key plot elements once more as was the case with Jubilee ? We'll find that out in April or May 2008.

Meanwhile...

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