Tuesday, 9 July 2013

Day 55: The Romans - All Roads Lead to Rome

The episode starts off with the cliffhanger of the mute assassin about to kill the Doctor. What follows is a nice little fight sequence which is similar to the one in The Rescue. I thought that the cliffhanger was a bit odd and I still think its odd but the fight was quick and immediate that I forgot about it at first. The Doctor almost won before Vicki chases him out of the window, much to the Doctors annoyance. 

More odd models to show that they are in Roma, at least it’s a step up from the drawings in ‘The Reign of Terror’. Barbara is on her own and she is about to become a slave. She is looking after a woman who is very ill a bit like Ian was back in ‘The Reign of Terror’. She gets an offer from Tavious but refuses it which is in keeping with her character but I think had Vicki or Susan been with her then there might have been a different outcome. Ian is also on his own but has ended up on a ship. Neither of their settings is particularly cheery which is at odds with the light hearted tone the story has taken on the Doctor and Vicki’s side of things. Things get worse for him when the ship hits the rocks. It’s all got really bad for him really quickly. 

Tavious seems like a nice person even though he is involved in what is essentially human trafficking. Which I’m not sure how I feel about it. Being such a horrific thing it feels wrong to sympathise with him even if he shows kindness to one of our favourite characters. He gets his own way and buys her at the auction but Barbara is still not going to be 100% grateful. It’s good how the Doctor and Vicki miss seeing Barbara because the Doctor is in too much of a hurry to meet Nero. It’s a frustrating thing that happens here but if they did meet then the story would be over too quickly. 
We get to meet Nero in this episode and he’s not quite historical figure that he should have been. He is very much played for laughs and I must admit that the scene with the Doctor and Nero was quite fun to watch with Vicki chipping in the odd line that makes the initial scene between these two quite good.

Despite starting off quite comedic, the story takes a more darker tone than in the previous episode. Ian and Barbara are in quite harsh situations. It’s good that the Doctor and Vicki’s story is more light-hearted as this story should have the right balance and Dennis Spooner has done well with this script in my opinion. This is a better episode and my opinion of the episode has changed greatly since watching the opening episode.
 

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