Doctor Who and the Beauty of Continuity: ‘Inferno’ to ‘The Fires of Pompeii’
By David Hill
Given the extensive history of Doctor Who, and the plethora of episodes, it is great to see those moments when the revival harkens back to the early days of the classic show. One of those moments happened in Series Four, and most of us may well have missed it.
‘The Fires of Pompeii‘ has become one of the more famous episodes in NuWho. In it, we saw Peter Capaldi make his debut as Lobus Caecilius. When Capaldi would later become the Twelfth Doctor, this episode garnered quite a lot of attention, due to the speculation that Capaldi, as the future Doctor, was meeting his past self. After all, could there be any other explanation as to why he bought the TARDIS? There was, but that is beside the point.
In any case, this episode is also notable for another reason — the amazing continuity that Doctor Who has had over the years. Hidden away in a bit of dialogue, the Tenth Doctor references the Great Fire of Rome, set by Nero who, according to legend, played his fiddle while watching the city burn. The Doctor is quoted as saying,
"“Before you ask, that fire had nothing to do with me… Well, a little bit.”"
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Why is this significant? Because back in the First Doctor serial ‘The Romans,’ in the episode ‘Inferno,’ the fire in Rome is depicted. Beforehand, the Doctor indirectly and inadvertently caused the fire by giving Nero the idea. Of course, as was his wont, he took umbrage to the idea that he had anything to do with the blaze. Those statements to the contrary? Just insinuations, nothing more, according to him.
While that bit of dialogue may not have attracted much notice, it just goes to show how much the past, present, and future of Doctor Who are intertwined. As a show that involves travelling through time and space, it certainly make sense how much of an homage is made to earlier eras.
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