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DVDfever.co.uk – Doctor Who Series 5 Episode 6 review by Dan Owen
“The Vampires of Venice”Broadcast on BBC1, Saturday May 8th, 2010 As premiered ondanowen.blogspot.com
Series 5 Vol.1 Blu-ray:
Series 5 Vol.1 DVD:
2009 Specials (Blu-ray):
Director:
- Jonny Campbell
Screenplay:
- Toby Whithouse
Cast:
- The Doctor: Matt Smith
Amy Pond: Karen Gillan
Rory: Arthur Darvill
Rossana Calvierri: Helen McCrory
Guido: Lucian Msamati
Isabella: Alisha Bailey
Francesco Calvierri: Alex Price
Expect spoilers
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 trivial in comparison. This was another good episode, but its shortcoming was the fact this story-type has become almost ingrained in nu-Who. It was a fantastic-looking hour thanks to location filming in Croatia (standing in for Venice), which aided the sense of realism enormously, but it was a shame the overall storyline felt quite shop-worn.
This week, The Doctor (Matt Smith) interrupted Rory’s (Arthur Darvill) Stag Night by replacing the stripper inside a giant cake (a funny scene), and whisked him away in the TARDIS to hopefully rekindle fiancé Amy’s (Karen Gillan) feelings for him. Inevitably, The Doctor’s arrival in 16th-century Venice with his betrothed companions turned into adventure when it became clear that signora Rossana Calvierri’s (Helen McCrory) school for the betterment of women was a cover to turn ladies into “vampires”. Or, more accurately, hybrid human-“space fish” whom she wants to breed with the remaining males of her species, to rejuvenate her dying race. As The Doctor himself commented: “they’re not vampires, they’re aliens — classic.”
“The Vampires Of Venice” was good fun and nicely written, just nothing we haven’t seen before. Its story and atmosphere reminded me of “The Fires Of Pompeii” crossed with “The Runaway Bride”, recycling ideas and a sweep of narrative from many adventures in the show’s modern era.
But that’s not to say this was a tedious bore, because it sustained a lively energy and Matt Smith 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 seeing who had the largest phallic ultraviolet baton), and it was refreshing to have two companions join The Doctor on an adventure. The classic series often involved trio’s, and while I understand the reasons nu-Who doesn’t do that very often, it nicely shakes up the dynamic whenever it does. Here, Amy and Rory were allowed to go off and get into scrapes together, without The Doctor to constantly bail them out of trouble. As a result, their interaction without The Doctor listening gave us more of an insight into Amy as a character.
It’s just a terrible shame Gillan and Darvill have zero sexual chemistry together. Their characters are getting married in the morning, but you just don’t feel that kind of connection between them. Arguably that’s the point and we’ll come to see how Amy’s stringing Rory along, and is poised to jilt him at the altar — so far that reason, I’m prepared to cut it some slack. Darvill certainly made for an endearingly gawky companion, so I’m glad Rory’s going to be around for a little while longer, and hope this trend continues of occasionally giving Doctor Who more of a “team” feel.
Overall, while a lot of fun and nothing to get upset over, “The Vampires Of Venice” was enjoyable but suffered from over-familiar storytelling. Doctor Who undoubtedly has a template with its “aliens posing as humans, intending to enslave/destroy mankind for their own survival/benefit”, and this script towed that line to a fault, which disappointed me coming off the more imaginative and pioneering Angels two-parter.
Asides:
- Interesting to note that the TARDIS trio have broad similarities to Whithouse’s own Being Human triumverate — the youthful-looking ancient Doctor (vampire Mitchell), charming geek Rory (werewolf George), and irreverent hottie Amy (ghost Annie).
- The Doctor had good intentions in taking Amy and Rory to Venice to spice up their love lives, but he’s clearly never heard of the term “gooseberry”. He should really have left them alone for a few days, right?
- 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.
- That scene with The Doctor being electrocuted through a wooden door. Illogical and rather embarrassing.
- Did you notice the “cracks” appearing in the clouds above the city during the finale?
- The Doctor’s library card included a photo of the First Doctor (William Hartnell) still on it. A fantastic in-joke for fans, particularly as Hartnell tends to get forgotten about with the back-references.
- 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 had the lead in ITV’s terrible update of Frankenstein that starred Julian Bleach as The Monster (who played 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.
Join in the discussion about this episode atDan’s Media Digest
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.