The Stones of Blood - Episode 2

The direction used in the reprise is what makes it so impressive. There are some inconsistencies as far the sky is concerned but that’s the only thing that’s wrong with the start of this episode. Romana thinks that the Doctor is the one that pushed her over the cliff but obviously we know this isn’t the case. This introduces a nice sense of distrust for a moment between the Doctor and Romana. Oddly the story seems to have time for Romana to have a costume change. I do think that the costumes is better than her posh farmer look.

The idea that the stones should light up when active is a clever idea and one that belongs to Matt Irvine. The stones are a force that have been gradually introduced into the story and despite not having a face or a voice it seems to be quite destructive and causes some damage to K9, so there not totally evil. The idea also that the third segment can be used to conjure up an image of the Doctor to make Romana think that he pushed her is quite a clever one.

Normally I don’t praise studio sets because they are…well studio sets but the stone circles set is rather impressive. I don’t know if its because its poorly lit but it looks rather good. Other things that are good include Professor Rumford who spends some quality time with the Doctor and I could easily see Rumford travelling with the Doctor. She is a TV version of Evelyn Smythe. If only she were a little younger then it could have happened.

The gothic vibe is running through the episode and I am still amazed that this happened during a Graham William story. The whole episode is directed with a freshness and I think that considering that the episode is only 25 minutes, there seems to be quite a lot going on and I was quite surprised when the episode ended. The cliffhanger is quite a good one and again it involves Romana which shows what good form the character is on at the moment. The end is when we learn that Vivien Fey isn’t as good as she made out. I think that the revelation wasn’t handled in the best way but that aside its another very good episode and this is definelty the best story of the season so far.