After all the pathetic furore of the conclusion of the last episode now a (thankfully) distant memory. We can move on to the Vampires of Venice, a story that is perhaps the most visually stunning episode that I have ever seen in Doctor Who. It’s the third time that Doctor Who has filmed overseas since 2005 which is the same number of times that Doctor Who had filmed overseas between 1963 and 1989. The story is written by Toby Whithouse who wrote ‘School Reunion’ in 2006 and this is by far a superior story. The opening scene where the Doctor bursts out of the cake at Rory’s stag do was perhaps the strangest moment I have ever scene but Smith’s face when he popped out of the cake was funny.
Set in 1580, the Doctor takes Amy and Rory to Venice where the city is being protected by the House of Calvierri. The idea that they look like Vampires but are actually not, was quite a nice twist. The moment where Rosanna actually shows her true form was something that me and my friend had to stop for a moment a go ‘what’. That said the story that they were fleeing their home world and trying to set up on Earth was a good start. What Rosanna was trying to do was get all the women of Venice (all attractive women) to be brides to ’10,000 husband’ that appear in the water. There were several very good moments. The scene where Amy is strapped into the chair and Rosana tells Amy what is about to happen was a very dark moment. Then she got bit and I thought ‘Oh no, now shes a vampire’ before realising that their not vampires.
Matt Smith and Karen Gillan were very good as usual so I’m not going to repeat what I’ve said about previous episodes but for me Arthur Darvill was very good in this story as Rory. I must admit I wasn’t totally won over by his performance in ‘The Eleventh Hour’ but in a different setting he was a lot better. He has a nice scene with Matt Smith when he tells the Doctor that everyone wants to impress the Doctor in what most people already knew. When he was invited to stay on the TARDIS I was actually quite glad. I think that whilst Rory can be a bit child like its not full blown childishness. The moment where he has a go at the Doctor showed for me that he can do serious.
Again the best thing about this story (apart from the plot) was how wonderful and lushes it looked. In every scene it looked beautiful. Filming took place in Croatia which double quite convincingly for Venice. There is a bit more about the Silence will fall story line as Rosana gives a speech about it to the Doctor. At the end of the story Rory is accepted on board on the TARDIS. Not sure whether this makes his a proper companion, I suppose that debate will run and run. I quite like how the camera moved into the lock of the TARDIS, I thought that it was going to lead to something interesting but instead it was just the Next Time trailer.
The Vampires of Venice is a wonderfully visual episode with a great story and some great scenes in it. I wasn’t expecting a lot from this story as it comes in the middle of the series where there is usually a lul in terms of quality but Vampires of Venice is a story that shows that Doctor Who should go overseas to more filming because there’s only some much that be done to make something in Cardiff or Wales look like something abroad.
Set in 1580, the Doctor takes Amy and Rory to Venice where the city is being protected by the House of Calvierri. The idea that they look like Vampires but are actually not, was quite a nice twist. The moment where Rosanna actually shows her true form was something that me and my friend had to stop for a moment a go ‘what’. That said the story that they were fleeing their home world and trying to set up on Earth was a good start. What Rosanna was trying to do was get all the women of Venice (all attractive women) to be brides to ’10,000 husband’ that appear in the water. There were several very good moments. The scene where Amy is strapped into the chair and Rosana tells Amy what is about to happen was a very dark moment. Then she got bit and I thought ‘Oh no, now shes a vampire’ before realising that their not vampires.
Matt Smith and Karen Gillan were very good as usual so I’m not going to repeat what I’ve said about previous episodes but for me Arthur Darvill was very good in this story as Rory. I must admit I wasn’t totally won over by his performance in ‘The Eleventh Hour’ but in a different setting he was a lot better. He has a nice scene with Matt Smith when he tells the Doctor that everyone wants to impress the Doctor in what most people already knew. When he was invited to stay on the TARDIS I was actually quite glad. I think that whilst Rory can be a bit child like its not full blown childishness. The moment where he has a go at the Doctor showed for me that he can do serious.
Again the best thing about this story (apart from the plot) was how wonderful and lushes it looked. In every scene it looked beautiful. Filming took place in Croatia which double quite convincingly for Venice. There is a bit more about the Silence will fall story line as Rosana gives a speech about it to the Doctor. At the end of the story Rory is accepted on board on the TARDIS. Not sure whether this makes his a proper companion, I suppose that debate will run and run. I quite like how the camera moved into the lock of the TARDIS, I thought that it was going to lead to something interesting but instead it was just the Next Time trailer.
The Vampires of Venice is a wonderfully visual episode with a great story and some great scenes in it. I wasn’t expecting a lot from this story as it comes in the middle of the series where there is usually a lul in terms of quality but Vampires of Venice is a story that shows that Doctor Who should go overseas to more filming because there’s only some much that be done to make something in Cardiff or Wales look like something abroad.
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