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Saturday 8 May 2010

Doctor Who: The Vampires Of Venice Review (5/5)


After the sensational Weeping Angel two-parter, "The Vampires Of Venice" had big shoes to fill...lucky, then, that writer Toby Whithouse managed to keep the episode running at a fast enough pace to be an entertaining yet intriguing romp through 16th century Venice. For once on Season Five, the SFX were absolutely fantastic, reminding us just how far "Who" has come, and while Arthur Darvill's Rory debatably seemed like an irritating addition to the TARDIS crew judging by his bumbling in "The Eleventh Hour", here he showed just how fun it can be to have a male companion on board, also highlighting many of the Doctor's profound flaws and striking a likeable relationship with Amy. This week's story was light on the whole-season arcs, and yet the "cracks in time and space" seemed more disturbing than ever when the realisation dawned upon us that one may in fact be hiding in the Doctor's vehicle even now, plus the idea of "silence will fall" also looks to be a scary one to watch (or rather hear). The score above is such that, while it didn't carry all the bravado and action of "Flesh and Stone", "The Vampires Of Venice" turned out to be one of the best episodes of the series so far, while merely being what many might call "traditional-Who". Essential viewing, then- as always.

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