The first recording today is a repeat of Charlie and Lola – I Want To Play Music Too.
Media Centre Description: Children’s animation. Join Lola and Charlie, a brother and sister, as they deal with topics that affect their everyday lives. Charlie and Marv are presenting a piece all about Outer Space accompanied with music in front of the whole school tomorrow in assembly. Lola is desperate to join in, even improvising instruments as she can’t play any herself. Suddenly, Marv falls ill. Who can take his place?
Recorded from CBeebies on Saturday 12th April 2008 18:13
BBC Genome: CBeebies Saturday 12th April 2008 18:15
After this, Colin Salmon trails his CBeebies bedtime story.
There’s also a trail for Charlie and Lola. Then the recording stops with the start of an episode of The Rubbadubbers.
It’s Saturday, so that means I’ve got five different copies of the next recording.
It starts with the end of The Kids are All Right, a quiz show pitting adults against kids, presented by John Barrowman.
There’s a trail for the Bafta Television Awards.
Then, there’s a fascinating bit of BBC housekeeping as they have to show an adjudication from Ofcom after last year’s Live Earth broadcast, which including some ‘strong language’ before the watershed.
Then, it’s the next episode of Doctor Who – The Fires of Pompeii. There’s so much to love about this episode.
The Doctor and Donna arrive in Ancient Rome. “Well, not to them, obviously. To all intents and purposes, right now, this is Brand New Rome.” “Oh, my God, it’s… It’s so Roman! This is fantastic. I’m here, in Rome, Donna Noble, in Rome.” The episode is aided immensely by shooting in actual Rome, at the Cinecitta studios on their backlots.
There’s a running gag when Donna notices that signs are written in English and the Doctor explains how the Tardis translates languages. She wonders what happens if she speaks Latin, and finds a stallholder, played by Phil Cornwell. “Veni, vidi, vici” she says. “Ah? Sorry? Me-no-speak-Celtic. No-can-do, missy” he says. Donna asks the Doctor “How’s he mean, Celtic?” “Welsh. You sound Welsh. There we are, learnt something, hm?”
They’re being watched by a woman in red who might look a little familiar under all the face designs – it’s Karen Gillan, making her first appearance in Doctor Who.
But they soon realise that they’re not actually in Rome when they spot an imposing mountain in the distance venting smoke, and there’s earth tremors. “Pompeii. We’re in Pompeii. And it’s volcano day.”
The woman in red reports to the Sybilline. “It has come, as foretold in the prophecy. The box. The blue box.”
The Doctor and Donna race back to the Tardis to find it gone. The stallholder has sold it to a local merchant, Caecilius. When I first saw this this made me laugh, as I remembered Caecilius and his wife Metella from old Latin textbooks at school, and clearly, so did the writers. Caecilius is played by Peter Capaldi, off of The Thick of It although I remembered him more from Lair of the White Worm, some of which I saw being shot. And that now makes two actors who would go on to be leading actors in future series. Can any other episode boast better?
Caecilius and Metalla have two children, Evelina, who is going to be a soothsayer, and brother Quintus, who’s not yet chosen a career path. “So where were you last night? Down the thermopolium, I bet? Cavorting with Etruscans and Christians and all sorts. How’s your head, sunshine?” He has to apologise to the household Gods, a little altar in the corner.
Evelina has to breathe in the smoke from the hypocaust, fed by the volcanic underground vents. “Sometimes, in the smoke… I see the most terrible things.” “Like what?” “A face. A face of stone.” “It’ll make sense. One day. Sister Spurrina promised. The veil will be parted, and you’ll be a seer.”
Underneath the house, there’s a face of stone!
While looking for the Tardis, Donna is trying to get the Doctor to help everyone in the city. These are the scenes that really put this story into the top tier. “What time does Vesuvius erupt?” “It’s 79AD, 23rd of August, which makes Volcano Day…tomorrow.” “Plenty of time to get everyone out, easy.” “Yeah, except we’re not going to.” “But that’s what you do, Doctor, you save people!” “Not this time. Pompeii is a fixed point in history. What happens, happens. There is NO stopping it.” “Says who?” “Says me.” “What, and you’re in charge?” “TARDIS, Time Lord, yeah!” “Donna, Human, no! I don’t need your permission!” “You stand here announcing the end, they’ll just think you’re a mad old soothsayer!”
The Sibylline sisters have a prophecy of the Tardis. “In the Thirteenth Book of the Sibylline Oracles. The blue box. A temple made of wood.” “And yet, the Sibyl foretold that the box would appear at the time of storms and fire and betrayal.”
But the High Priestess says otherwise. “The Sibylline Oracles are wrong.” “But we have venerated her words for generations.” “This is a new age. Heed my words. I predict a future of prosperity and might. An endless Empire of Pompeii, reaching out from this city to topple Rome itself, and encompass the whole wide world. If the disciples of the blue box defy this prophecy, their blood will run across the Temple floor.” Incidentally, you can’t tell but the High Priestess is played by Victoria Wicks – Sally Smedley off of Drop the Dead Donkey.
Another top notch gag, when the Doctor finds Caecilius’s house and is asked his name. “I am…Spartacus.” Donna says “And so am I.” “Mr and Mrs Spartacus?” “Oh, no, we’re not married.”
The Doctor poses as a Marble Inspector. But then he points at the Tardis. “Although, frankly, THAT object looks rather like wood to me.” Metella says “I told you to get rid of it.” “I only bought it today!” The Doctor says “Ah, well… Caveat emptor.” “Oh, you’re Celtic. There’s lovely.”
Caecilius has a visitor, Lucius Petrus Dextrus, Chief Augur of the City Government, played by Phil Davis.
He’s there to pick up something from Caecilius. A marble that looks like a circuit board.
Evelina comes in. She’s been consuming the vapours (is that olde time vaping?) and doesn’t look well. The Doctor asks “Consuming the vapours, you said?” “They give me strength.” “It doesn’t look like it to me.” “Is that your opinion…as a doctor?” “I beg your pardon?” “Doctor, that’s your name.” “How did you know that?” “And YOU… You call yourself Noble.”
Lucius doesn’t want to be left out and they have a bit of a sooth-off. “The female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries.” “Oh, not this time, Lucius. No, I reckon you’ve been out-soothsayed.” “Is that so… Man from Gallifrey?” “What?” “The strangest of images… Your home is lost in fire, is it not?” Donna asks “Doctor, what are they doing?” “And you, daughter of…London…” “How does he know that?” “This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth.” He continues. “Doctor, she is returning.” “Who is? Who’s she?” “And you, daughter of London… there is something on your back.” “What’s that mean?” Evelina says “Even the word “doctor” is false. Your real name is hidden. It burns in the stars, in the Cascade of Medusa herself. You are a Lord, sir. A Lord of Time.” Then she faints.
While Metella is tending to Evelina, show shows Donna her arm. “Evelina said you’d come from far away. Please, have you ever seen anything like it?” Donna touches her arm. “It’s stone.”
The Doctor and Quintus break into Lucius’s house and find that he’s had a lot of the marble circuits made.
Donna tells Evelina that Vesuvius will erupt. She doesn’t believe her because her visions show normality. The other Sibylline Sisters can hear Donna, and the High Priestess tells them “This is false prophecy. The noblewoman. She spoke of a new prophecy, the fall of Pompeii. Pompeii will last forever.” “Then what must we do?” “The False Prophet must die. Sacrifice her!”
Lucius finds The Doctor and Quintus. He’s about to have his guards kill them. The Doctor holds out his hand. “I respect your victory, Lucius. Shake on it? Come on. Dying man’s wish?” Lucius doesn’t respond. The Doctor reaches out and pulls off Lucius’ arm – which is stone.
Quintus and the Doctor escape, but Lucius sends a volcano monster to the house. The effects here are pretty good.
While they were dealing with the rock monster, Donna was grabbed by the Sibylline Sisters who intend to sacrifice her. Donna is admirably defiant. “The False Prophet will surrender both her blood and her breath.” “I’ll surrender you in a minute. Don’t you dare!” “You will be silent.” “Listen, sister, you might have eyes on the back of your hands, but you’ll have eyes in the back of your head when I’ve finished with you! LET me GO!”
The Doctor arrives and tells off the sisters for their behaviour. The High Priestess wants to see him. She’s almost entirely stone. The Doctor demands to know the name of the alien that has grown inside her. She says “Pyrovile!”. They’re stone creatures who crashed on Earth, and now they’re infecting the Sisters.
He fends her off with a water pistol. Donna says “You fought her off with a water pistol. I bloody love you.”
They end up below the mountain.
Lucius arrives with the marble circuits. The Doctor asks why the Pyrovile don’t just use their technology to leave and return to their home planet. “The Heaven of Pyrovillia is gone.” “What do you mean, “gone”? Where’s it gone?” “It was taken. Pyrovillia is lost. But there is heat enough in this world for a new species to rise.” “Yeah, I should warn you, it’s 70% water out there.” “Water can boil. And everything will burn, Doctor.” “Then the whole planet is at stake. Thank you. That’s all I needed to know.”
“See? The energy converter takes the lava, uses the power to create a fusion matrix, which welds Pyrovile to human. It’s complete, they can convert millions.” “Can’t you change it?” “With these controls? Course I can, but don’t you see? That’s why the soothsayers can’t see the volcano. There IS no volcano. Vesuvius is never going to erupt. The Pyrovile are stealing all its power, they’ll use it to take over the world.” “But…you can change it back?” “I can invert the system, set off the volcano, and blow them up, yes. But that’s the choice, Donna. It’s Pompeii or the world.” “Oh, my God.” “If Pompeii is destroyed then it’s not just history, it’s me. I make it happen.” “But the Pyrovile are rocks, maybe they can’t be blown up.” “Vesuvius explodes with the force of 24 nuclear bombs. Nothing can survive it. Certainly not us.” “Never mind us.”
“It WAS an escape pod.”
Even as the volcano is erupting and they’re trying to get back to the Tardis, Donna is trying to help people.
They get back to the Tardis. Caecilius and family are cowering from the blast. Donna still wants to help. Catherine Tate is just magnificent here. “You can’t just LEAVE them!” “Don’t you think I’ve done enough? History’s back in place. Everyone dies.” “You’ve got to go back. Doctor, I’m telling you, take this thing BACK! It’s not fair.” “No, it’s not.” “But your own planet. It burned.” “That’s just it. Don’t you see, Donna? Can’t you understand? If I could go back and save them then I would, but I can’t. I can never go back, I can’t. I just can’t, I can’t.” “Just someone. Please. Not the whole town. Just save someone.”
The Tardis reappears in front of Caecilius. The Doctor opens the door. “Come with me.” How they resisted the temptation to add “if you want to live” I will never know.
“It’s never forgotten, Caecilius. Oh, time will pass, men will move on, and stories will fade. But one day, Pompeii will be found, again. In thousands of years. And everyone will remember you.”
There’s a nice coda, six months later, with the family now in Rome. Evelina is now a normal girl going out with friends and wearing slightly too short skirts. Quintus is studying to be a doctor. And they have some new household gods.
Media Centre Description: Psychic powers and stone beasts run riot in old Pompeii, but can Donna dare the Doctor to change established history?
Recorded from BBC ONE on Saturday 12th April 2008 18:43
BBC Genome: BBC ONE Saturday 12th April 2008 18:45
After this, it’s a return for a Heroes-branded BBC Two logo featuring Peter, so I’m guessing season two is on the way.
There’s also a trail for the London Marathon.
Then, this very long recording continues with a whole episode of I’d Do Anything, the search for a Nancy and Oliver for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! We watched this show regularly at the time (being something of a musical theatre family before the kids made it harder to get to rehearsals) so I would have set the recording to record both Doctor Who and this, rather than risk cutting off the end of Doctor Who as it switches between the programmes.
On the judging panel are Denise Van Outen.
Barry Humphries.
John Barrowman.
And, of course, Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The Nancy performances in this episode are Rachel Tucker singing Oh What a Night from Jersey Boys.
Sarah Lark performing Maybe This Time from Cabaret
Francesca Jackson sings (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life from Dirty Dancing.
Keisha Amponsa-Banson sings The Lady Is a Tramp from Babes in Arms.
Ashley J Russell sings The Winner Takes It All from Mamma Mia!
Jodie Prenger sings Send in the Clowns from A Little Night Music.
Niamh Perry sings Moon River from Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
World famous film star Jessie Buckley sings One Night Only from Dreamgirls.
Tara Bethan sings Let’s Hear It for the Boy from Footloose.
Samantha Barks sings Somewhere from West Side Story.
The Olivers go to a football training ground, because every single boy loves football, especially those who are interested in musical theatre.
They also perform a song.
BBC Genome: BBC One London – Saturday 12th April 2008 – 19:35
After this there’s the trail for Bafta Television Awards.
Then, there’s a whole episode of The National Lottery Saturday Night Draws presented by Jenni Falconer.
BBC Genome: BBC One London – Saturday 12th April 2008 – 20:40
After this there’s a voting reminder for I’d Do Anything.
Then the recording finally stops with about 15 minutes of Casualty.
The last recording today starts with Football Gaffes (although Genome thinks it should have been Dog Borstal).
There’s a trail for Young Mums’ Mansion.
Then there’s a new episode of Doctor Who Confidential – The Italian Job. This one is really fun because it looks a lot at the practical issues of shooting the show in Italy.
Catherine Tate: “We’re here in Rome at the Cinecitta studios. We are here because the studio is doubling as Pompeii.”
Phil Cornwell: “It’s incredible, because there’s nothing like this in England. It’s an immense, huge, vast set. It’s nice to be here dressed as Kevin Keegan. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do! Yeah, Italy, great, Rome! Someone’s got to do it. It’s a dirty job.”
David Tennant: “We’re not really abroad. There’s been a lot of nonsense talked about us coming to Rome. It’s just a publicity thing. The fact is, we’re in the Mumbles, and we’ve just built a very expensive set. So don’t be fooled by all this we’ve-come-to-Rome nonsense. It’s not true.”
Colin Teague: “They did discuss various locations. There was the possibility of going to Malta. Even in Wales, there was a small village around that sort of period, but it became pretty inevitable, on the scale of the episode, that actually Rome was our best option. So it was great.”
Edward Thomas: “We knew that we would never be able to build the sort of scale sets that we wanted of the exteriors, so we started looking around Europe really for a location to shoot. We finally ended up in Rome. And on those fantastic sets.”
Phil Collinson: “It is the biggest set. It offers us the most scope, in terms of the different kinds of streets they’ve got here, and the level of the design work that has gone in is incredible.”
Russell T Davies: “We are not just going to a set in Rome to film people walking up and down the street. There are volcanos going off, everyone’s gonna run and there’s pyrotechnics and the sun disappears! So not a small set-up.”
Tracie Simpson: “Primarily, my job is to look after the budget, to contract the crew, and just be a mother to everyone, yet try and keep it all together, which I think I’m doing.”
Bob Gurney was responsible for getting the production trucks all the way to Italy, which wasn’t a straightforward journey.
Danny Hargreaves is worried because the delay of the Special Effects equipment will mean that have one day to set up and shoot instead of two days.
James North: “We arrived last night and came to the studio this morning. Our crew had done everything they said they were going to do, so they’ve started hanging the drapes, and getting the dressing out, mainly to mask off areas of the set we don’t want to see.”
Asterix is mentioned as a huge influence on the comedy.
And they mention the Latin textbooks.
Dave Houghton is on location in Pompeii , shooting background plates for the special effects.
David Tennant also visits Pompeii to see a volcano, and his guide, Gaetano Manfredi, is the most Italian tour guide you’ve ever seen.
As always, this episode is on iPlayer.
Media Centre Description: Behind-the-scenes look at the making of Doctor Who. There’s a trip to Rome to witness the making of the Doctor’s latest volcanic voyage. Filming at the famous Cinecitta Studios, the production team face an Italian job of colossal proportions, while David Tennant heads up Pompeii and climbs Mount Vesuvius.
Recorded from BBC THREE on Saturday 12th April 2008 19:33
BBC Genome: BBC THREE Saturday 12th April 2008 19:35
After this there’s 60 Seconds of News.
There’s the Nathan Petrelli Heroes BBC Two ident, the trail for Young Mums’ Mansion and a trail for Glamour Girls.
Then the recording ends with the start of Top Gear.
