Doctor Who: 14 Cool Details James Moran Just Revealed About The Fires Of Pompeii

Donna in a pub fight? Why was this cut!

Doctor Who The Fires of Pompeii David Tennant Catherine Tate Donna Noble
BBC

David Tennant's final series as the Doctor is full of fantastic stories, from the spooky Midnight to the blockbuster finale to the introduction of River Song in Silence of the Library. But another, somewhat underrated standout is The Fires of Pompeii.

Continuing the Tennant-era trend of having a historical episode come second in every series, this James Moran-penned disaster epic is the first proper adventure that the Doctor and Donna embark on together, after their reunion in Partners in Crime.

It's an important story in establishing that Donna isn't just a "comic-relief" companion, which many assumed would be the case when Catherine Tate was cast. Instead, Donna gives the episode a huge emotional wallop in her desire to save as many lives as possible, demonstrating exactly why the Doctor should never travel alone.

After writers like Russell T Davies and Richard Curtis took to Twitter to talk about their episodes The Stolen Earth and Vincent and the Doctor, James Moran recently did the same, joining Who fans around the world for a watch-along of The Fires of Pompeii.

In doing so, he revealed a bunch of cool behind-the-scenes details and unknown secrets about the episode, so we picked out the best ones you need to know!

14. Coming Up With A Reason For The Doctor To Visit Pompeii Was Tricky

Doctor Who The Fires of Pompeii David Tennant Catherine Tate Donna Noble
BBC/Twitter: @jamesmoran

While the Doctor loves bumping into a spot of danger every now and then, he doesn't exactly have a death wish, which originally made it tricky for Moran to decide why the character would willingly go to Pompeii on volcano day.

The solution? Simple. He doesn't go willingly.

Moran ultimately settled on the idea that the Doctor lands in Pompeii accidentally, after intending to take Donna on a trip to ancient Rome.

This retroactively ties in with a concept that was explored in the Matt Smith episode The Doctor's Wife, in which the TARDIS says that it doesn't always take the Doctor where he wants to go, but it does always take him where he needs to go.

While Moran obviously didn't know about this concept while writing The Fires of Pompeii, the Doctor's accidental arrival at the site of a volcano eruption can now be explained by saying that the TARDIS decided to take him there.

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WhoCulture Channel Manager/Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture. Can confirm that bow ties are cool.