First broadcast: Saturday 7th May 2011 Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me. Or does nobody actually say that? The Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory journeyed to the high seas in The Curse of the Black Spot but if you're looking for an adventure that actually qualifies as 'swashbuckling', you'd be best sticking with Captain Jack (Sparrow, not Harkness!) and his Pirates of the Caribbean. Yes, the BBC's limited budget was never going to be able to recreate the scale of Disney's blockbuster franchise but they could've at least tried a little harder to make it actually believable. Not even the sight of Amy Pond swinging into action was enough to excite us (because let's face it, it's not like she hasn't dressed up before!) and, as it turns out, the episode's only overriding threat - the not so sinister Siren, played by Lily Cole - wasn't actually a threat after all. The whole thing is forgettable because... well, there really isn't anything worth remembering, is there? Someone pass us the rum.
Dan Butler is the Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture.com. When he isn't writing his own articles or editing other people's, he can be found trawling the internet for gifs of Steven Moffat laughing. Contact him via dan.butler@whatculture.co.uk.
