The Girl in the Fireplace

David Tennant just gets better and better! A fantastic episode, definitely the best from this series so far. It was great to see the Doctor connect on an emotional level with someone else other than Rose. By the end I really believed in the relationship he had built with Madame de Pompadour, who was portrayed to perfection by Sophia Myles. Very cleverly written, and I love the way the Doctor is becoming more human (if that makes sense) every time we see him. As well as being visually dazzling, this episode plucked at the heartstrings on a deeper level than previous episodes have. I also thought that the enemies in this episode were some of the most frightening I've seen in the past series and this. I've never really been into sci-fi fantasy, but I am proud to admit Doctor Who has converted me! Keep it up BBC!

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.

The Doctor, Mickey and Rose land on a Spaceship which has a link to Reinette, Madame de Pompadour, but why are there so many windows to her life, and what do the Clockwork robots want with her?

It is utterly beautiful to look at, the production values look worthy of a massive budget film, it is gorgeous, from the ship, to the views of Paris, the bedroom, Versailles, Sophia Myles, the robots, everything is perfection. It looks like it cost big bucks to put it together. It always leaves me with a little tear.

Murray Gold's music is wonderful, it fits in so well and enhances the script without overtaking or being intrusive. It's romantic.

The connection between Tennant and Myles is wonderful, what a brilliant beautiful actress she is, a casting masterclass.

David Tennant's Doctor gets better and better, he's taken the show to another level. He connected with Sarah Jane last week, Madame de Pompadour this time, was there a plot to get him away from Rose's clutches I wonder?

I just knew this was going to be a heart breaker, one of the best, 10/10, the show is going through a bit of a purple patch isn't it.

Everything came together to perfection in this episode - the best ever. The chemistry between Sophia Myles and David Tennant was electric and the Murray Gold's music caught its poignancy to perfection. The costumes were sumptuous and there was just enough menace to keep kids behind the sofa now and again, and certainly will stop them looking under their beds at night. And a great one to put before next week's Cybermen as a complete foil to it. It went a long way to explaining a lot of the Doctor's motivation as a character in a variety of other situations. If this episode doesn't win some kind of award, I will eat my sonic screwdriver.

I think this was the best episode of this season so far, and it was even better than The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances of the previous season (which, incidentally, are by the same writer: Steven Moffat, also responsible for the brilliant sitcom Coupling).

The plot of The Girl in the Fireplace is brilliant, complex and intricate, and surprisingly free from the gaping holes that complex plots usually have. It can be a bit confusing, but it'll all make sense in the end. The acting was good: David Tennant was a bit too hyper as usual, but tense when he needed to be, and Sophia Myles was absolutely brilliant as a very convincing Madame de Pompadour. Downsides? The end may be a bit too easy, but this is Doctor Who, after all. I think this will be my favourite episode for a long time. Or at least until next week.