After the two-part opener to the sixth and latest series of NuWho, I was looking forward to a stand-alone story that wouldn't mess around with the growingly tiresome conceit of playing around with time travel. A concept that executive producer and head writer Steven Moffat has got into the habit of exploiting. With "The Curse of the Black Spot", penned by a new writer to the series Steve Thompson and with a fairly constrictive and isolated setting there were never really going to be any problems with that.
The setting is that of a 17th Century Pirate ship riding the ocean waves where the crew led by Avery (Hugh Bonneville) are being picked off one by one by a Siren. A ghostly apparition that appears in the form of a beautiful maiden and lures men to their fate with Its haunting Siren song. The one indication they have of knowing who will be the next intended victim is a Black Spot that appears on the hand of one of the men before the phantom strikes. All seems like it might be lost for the men who can practically do nothing to defend themselves against the creature. That is until they come across the Doctor, Amy, and Rory who they think to be stowaways. The Doctor intrigued by the Siren and determined to put a stop to what it's doing endeavours to discover the truth behind It. Curious to learn what motivates it to prey upon the crew.
I have to give writer Steve Thompson credit for something with "The Curse of the Blackspot", an episode which while not being particularly outstanding at least avoids the temptation to going down the obvious route and making some inane gags or references to "Pirates of the Caribbean". But leaving that little thought to one side, it would be easy to write it off as being purely filler and while that might be true to some extent it's not a bad piece of filler as fillers go. The premise is mildly intriguing and there is ample scope to do a nice spin on traditional and literal folklore. A concept that has been neatly exploited before in the classic and old series with 1989's exceptional "The Curse of Fenric" and 2010's Christmas special "A Christmas Carol". The sad fact is however that Thompson ultimately wastes a good opportunity to do this by borrowing tried and tested plot devices with a final reveal that I suspect was plundered from another NuWho story. 2005's "The Doctor Dances" which funnily enough was scripted by Steven Moffat. Undoubtedly with the constrictive nature of the ship, it would prove stilted and tawdry for the protagonists to do their best Scooby-Doo and the Gang impressions and have them running around willy-nilly while attempting to solve the case. To this end, Thompson does hit on the idea of the Siren being able to use mirrors or anything with reflections as portals so that it might leap from one location to another. With the Doctor, Amy, and Rory being trapped in the middle of the ocean it would seem like a fairly ominous plot device were it not for the fact that It's been done before. The 45-minute allotted format proves to be a hindrance as well with a tale which although unoriginal is of a magnitude that it forces Thompson to cram a lot in so that It's like an over-stuffed sock drawer. Problematic still is the fact that a sub-plot involving Avery and his son who has been discovered and the one true stowaway aboard the ship is left underdeveloped with one or two questions left hanging in the air. While there is the niggling notion as to how a young stowaway could conceal himself for a relatively long period without being found in the first place. Worse still is the fact that Thompson wastes the father/son dynamic on a final pay-off which is pretty daft and ridiculous given its context.
There is though some fun to be had however, the sight of Amy trying to buckle her swash and take on a crew of pirates while trite is done so in the right spirit as is the Doctor being forced to walk the plank. The concept of the Siren being able to use mirrors or anything reflective as portals although hackneyed is deftly utilized and with keen direction, by Jeremy Webb, he manages to at least raise some tension out of it. The production values as usual are of the ultimate standard with Webb being able to successfully capture the rain-drenched decks and the turmoil of a ship caught in a storm as close to perfection as possible. Lilly Cole although given no dialogue to work with is necessarily beautiful and makes a haunting presence as the Siren.
Matt Smith once again manages to convince as the Doctor although I find once again we're not seeing enough of the darker side and the righteous indication that we saw in Tennant's tenth incarnation. I am beginning to be convinced that Moffat seems resigned to Smith being more clown-like and light-weight which I feel necessitates being counterbalanced if we're going to see a more rounded and convincing eleventh personae. Arthur Darvill is once again spot on as Rory although I'm beginning to get a bit disheartened with Karen Gillan who is a bit too artificial when playing Amy. With reliable support from Hugh Bonneville and a decent turn from young Oscar Llyod that rounds off the cast and a neat and curious coda to hook us in further to the series, "The Curse of the Black Spot" is passable filler at best. But with the teaser for next week's episode heralding "The Doctor's Wife" and that Neil Gaiman is behind the script, It's a double whammy that I can't resist and only hope that my high hopes are rewarded.
The setting is that of a 17th Century Pirate ship riding the ocean waves where the crew led by Avery (Hugh Bonneville) are being picked off one by one by a Siren. A ghostly apparition that appears in the form of a beautiful maiden and lures men to their fate with Its haunting Siren song. The one indication they have of knowing who will be the next intended victim is a Black Spot that appears on the hand of one of the men before the phantom strikes. All seems like it might be lost for the men who can practically do nothing to defend themselves against the creature. That is until they come across the Doctor, Amy, and Rory who they think to be stowaways. The Doctor intrigued by the Siren and determined to put a stop to what it's doing endeavours to discover the truth behind It. Curious to learn what motivates it to prey upon the crew.
I have to give writer Steve Thompson credit for something with "The Curse of the Blackspot", an episode which while not being particularly outstanding at least avoids the temptation to going down the obvious route and making some inane gags or references to "Pirates of the Caribbean". But leaving that little thought to one side, it would be easy to write it off as being purely filler and while that might be true to some extent it's not a bad piece of filler as fillers go. The premise is mildly intriguing and there is ample scope to do a nice spin on traditional and literal folklore. A concept that has been neatly exploited before in the classic and old series with 1989's exceptional "The Curse of Fenric" and 2010's Christmas special "A Christmas Carol". The sad fact is however that Thompson ultimately wastes a good opportunity to do this by borrowing tried and tested plot devices with a final reveal that I suspect was plundered from another NuWho story. 2005's "The Doctor Dances" which funnily enough was scripted by Steven Moffat. Undoubtedly with the constrictive nature of the ship, it would prove stilted and tawdry for the protagonists to do their best Scooby-Doo and the Gang impressions and have them running around willy-nilly while attempting to solve the case. To this end, Thompson does hit on the idea of the Siren being able to use mirrors or anything with reflections as portals so that it might leap from one location to another. With the Doctor, Amy, and Rory being trapped in the middle of the ocean it would seem like a fairly ominous plot device were it not for the fact that It's been done before. The 45-minute allotted format proves to be a hindrance as well with a tale which although unoriginal is of a magnitude that it forces Thompson to cram a lot in so that It's like an over-stuffed sock drawer. Problematic still is the fact that a sub-plot involving Avery and his son who has been discovered and the one true stowaway aboard the ship is left underdeveloped with one or two questions left hanging in the air. While there is the niggling notion as to how a young stowaway could conceal himself for a relatively long period without being found in the first place. Worse still is the fact that Thompson wastes the father/son dynamic on a final pay-off which is pretty daft and ridiculous given its context.
There is though some fun to be had however, the sight of Amy trying to buckle her swash and take on a crew of pirates while trite is done so in the right spirit as is the Doctor being forced to walk the plank. The concept of the Siren being able to use mirrors or anything reflective as portals although hackneyed is deftly utilized and with keen direction, by Jeremy Webb, he manages to at least raise some tension out of it. The production values as usual are of the ultimate standard with Webb being able to successfully capture the rain-drenched decks and the turmoil of a ship caught in a storm as close to perfection as possible. Lilly Cole although given no dialogue to work with is necessarily beautiful and makes a haunting presence as the Siren.
Matt Smith once again manages to convince as the Doctor although I find once again we're not seeing enough of the darker side and the righteous indication that we saw in Tennant's tenth incarnation. I am beginning to be convinced that Moffat seems resigned to Smith being more clown-like and light-weight which I feel necessitates being counterbalanced if we're going to see a more rounded and convincing eleventh personae. Arthur Darvill is once again spot on as Rory although I'm beginning to get a bit disheartened with Karen Gillan who is a bit too artificial when playing Amy. With reliable support from Hugh Bonneville and a decent turn from young Oscar Llyod that rounds off the cast and a neat and curious coda to hook us in further to the series, "The Curse of the Black Spot" is passable filler at best. But with the teaser for next week's episode heralding "The Doctor's Wife" and that Neil Gaiman is behind the script, It's a double whammy that I can't resist and only hope that my high hopes are rewarded.