Mark Watches ‘Doctor Who’: S05E06 – The Vampires of Venice

In the sixth episode of the fifth series of Doctor Who, the Doctor rushes Amy and Rory to Venice in 1580 in order to give them some romantic time together. Of course, that’s not at all how things work for the three of them. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who.

I liked this episode. It wasn’t anywhere near as serious or intense as anything we’d seen before, and I found a few themes, tropes, and plot strings to be a bit too familiar for me to say that I outright enjoyed everything here, but I was glad to see a bit more light-hearted fare from Doctor Who. The opening scene sets the tone well, with the Doctor bursting out of Rory’s cake at his stag party, providing some wonderfully awkward humor.

Funny how you can say something in your head and it sounds fine.

I was a bit disappointed that the explanation for Amy’s actions at the end of “Flesh and Stone” essentially amounted to WELL SHE WAS STRESSED, only because I felt the answer would be a bit more comprehensive than that. I suppose I set myself up to be disappointed, though, because it’s not like that’s a bad idea per se. Still, I was very happy to see goofy Rory back on the show, this time as a companion.

That’s where my first complaint comes in, though. Isn’t this all a bit too familiar? Didn’t we run through a frighteningly similar situation with a female companion and her boyfriend/dude before? I do acknowledge that the context was different and the dynamic feels new, but we’ve quite literally seen the Doctor, his excited companion, and the companion’s boyfriend feeling left out on the show a few times. I guess I just wanted something more.

On that note, there are a lot of moments like that, spread throughout a fairly entertaining story, that made me scratch my head and think, “Haven’t we seen this before?” I mean….aliens hiding as humans. Plans to use earth to re-colonize a refugee race. The Doctor climbing to the top of a building in order to save the world. (Hell, we’ve seen that twice, in “The Idiot’s Lantern” and “Evolution of the Daleks.”) I wish I could say otherwise, but they simply felt….distracting. Right? Right?

I think that I also might not be paying as much critical attention to other episodes I’ve seen, especially when the spectacle of it all is sweeping me away from noticing when Doctor Who is repeating itself. That’s a fair thing to claim, as this show has to also rely on some sense of creating patterns or the storytelling might seem far too erratic. So perhaps I am being far too hard on “The Vampires of Venice,” but I just believe it happens too much in a small span of time, so it all seems so much more blatant.

But this is no “Fear Her.” (PLEASE NEVER LET SUCH A TRAGEDY HAPPEN AGAIN.) There are things to like! I swear! Rory is, by and large, one fantastic good time, his uncertainty infectious and amusing, and at times absolutely necessary to give the Doctor pause. Amy’s excitement, so reminiscent of whenever the Doctor discovers danger, was a nice detail for Toby Whithouse to add to the story.

The creatures from Saturnyne may have started off in a derivative way, but their actual appearance was some of the best CGI work The Mill has produced for Doctor Who. The audience, of course, always suspected that they weren’t actual vampires, but their fish-like nature was definitely a nice touch. And those prosthetic teeth were amazing!!! They were so realistic! But I’m not surprised. For the most part, the prosthetics and costumes on Doctor Who have always been pretty darn awesome. (Except for “Turn Left.” LOL AT THE BEETLE.)

I also appreciated the tone for the bulk of the episode, with the Doctor, Rory, and Amy being a bit more playful than I expected, considering the context of why the Doctor brought his two companions here. From the Doctor’s frustration at Rory not saying the TARDIS was bigger on the inside, to the size of Rory’s flashlight, to both men admitting that they are Amy’s boys, I think this aspect of the story is what saved it from being largely forgettable.

I know I’m not running through this episode as I normally do, but a chronological review feels too forced for me with this episode. The thing is, aside from lodging a few complains and praising the good parts, I don’t have a whole lot of ~feelings~ about “The Vampires of Venice.” And you all know I am a man of many ~feelings~ and ~feelings~ are wonderful. Ultimately, I suppose this episode is just there. Entertaining just enough to keep my interest, but not to the point where I feel like I can vomit out 2,000 words like I might usually do.

How does the rest of the fandom view this particular episode?

THOUGHTS

• Rosanna’s goodbye to the Doctor was touching. It is sad that the Doctor chooses to allow her race to die, but then again, SHE WAS STEALING BODIES FROM EARTH. I don’t feel that bad about it.
• “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, do you? I’m a Timelord, you’re a big fish…think of the children.”
• “And you kissed her back?!?!” “No. I kissed her mouth.”
• “I have a right to know. I’m getting married to her in 430 years!”
• I think Rory got the best line of the episode: “You know what’s dangerous about you? It’s not that you make people take risks, it’s that you make them want to impress you. You make it so they don’t want to let you down. You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you’re around.”
• “Tell me the whole plan! [silence] One of these days, that will work.”
• “You stink of fish!” “Well, I’m hardly likely to smell of cheese and biscuits!”