The Girl in the Fireplace

During the original run of Doctor Who, the mere idea of any kind of romance between the Doctor and his companions was deemed ridiculous (although we know that he had a family at one point, what with Susan calling him "grandfather" and all). The new series, on the other hand, has a lot of fun with the main character's attitude (or lack thereof) towards the opposite sex: by the admission of writer Steven Moffat, his episode The Doctor Dances was, starting with the title, a blatant sexual metaphor, and it's only fitting that his third Who script deal with the unthinkable - the Doctor in love.

Having solved the Krillitane mess, the Time Lord, Rose and Mickey end up on a spaceship in the 51st century that, weirdly enough, contains bits of the 18th century, specifically the life of French noblewoman Madame de Pompadour (Sophia Myles). The Doctor communicates with her at various points in her life through a fireplace, and a bond forms between the two. Unfortunately, time is running out, and the Doctor needs to figure out how he can save her from the attack of clockwork "monsters".

Touching, poetic and magical, The Girl in the Fireplace continues the fairy tale motif present in Moffat's previous scripts, explicitly borrowing from C.S. Lewis to concoct a truly timeless and tragic love story between the dark future and the brightly lit, stunningly executed past. Whereas previous episodes were meant to establish Tennant as the new Doctor, this story sees him go beyond that and play a wide range of emotions alongside the equally superb Myles, who is the real heart of this beautiful tale. Not that the romantic feel gets in the way of some traditional Doctor Who silliness - no other show would probably get away with a brilliantly daft shot of a horse on a spaceship.

Steven Moffat at his absolute best. The writing is sharp, concise, meticulously crafted with forensic concision, boasting fierce intelligence & emotional wit. He somehow manages to strike the perfect balance between featuring all the existing plot threads & tying them together neatly with not a single piece out of place or perceptible fault to be found.

Sophia Myles & David Tennant are incredible, Euros Lyn directs the story beautifully, Murray Gold gut punches the audience repeatedly with his deeply impactful, emotive music & these remarkable talents culminate to form an instantaneous classic which will forever be remembered as undoubtedly one of the greatest ever episodes of Doctor Who in its entire existing history.

This episode is the reason for me to watch the dr. Who series again. Really, after the famous (and me being 6 years old) 70's Tom Baker dr. Who , I hardly took interest in watching the series again. Every time I was disappointed. But this episode/season stroke me. It think it was even much better than the 70's best episode. The music is great, the story is wonderful, David Tennant and the other characters make this the best dr Who so far :) So after re-looking all of the 2006 episodes I can only say that to me this series is the most catching series until now. I'm really looking forward 2 what's to come :)

The story lines are so great, the music is beautiful and finally, the characters are chosen perfectly.

I've seen a lot of the Doctor over the last thirty-odd years, and this episode has the greatest emotional depth I've ever encountered. It doesn't hurt that it presents a complex story with skill, charm, and sensitivity. It also doesn't hurt that the twists of the story surprised me regularly through the entire hour, or that the performance by Sophie Miles was superb. It was also nice that Rose was in great form, and that Micky was finally showing solid promise as a character.

Still, the best parts for me were the personal interactions, and the new slant on some of the questions raised in Schoold Reunion. This has helped make the Doctor a more complete character, and also one who is more sympathetic. It's a powerful reply to the questions raised throughout the New (and the New, New) Doctor as to whether evil follows him, or whether he goes where it is inevitable in order to try to prevent its effects.

This is a great episode, and it is my favorite of all I have seen thus far.

However long the modern Dr Who lasts, I bet this episode will still rank as one of the best episodes.

A history lesson and love story all in one, this tale is beautifully played out.

Sophia Myles for me steals the show with a wonderful performance, as well as having lovely chemistry with David Tennant's Dr. There's also a very understated turn by Billie Piper as Rose, who realises that there will always be someone else for him to save.

With a heart-wrenching end, this is a very good episode overall.