Inferno
The final part of this arc begins, as was the custom with old Doctor Who, a few moments before the last one ended. Ian is on his knees, with his friend about to chop off his head. At the last moment, his friend stops, and goes and attacks the guards instead, trying to get at Nero. Ian and his friend fight with the guards, overpowering them and tricking them, while Nero, who you think would be afraid, holds onto Barbara and chortles with glee at a real fight. Ian and his friend get to an exit, and as Barbara struggles to break free and leave with them, make their escape. Nero, now knowing that Barbara knows Ian, decides to use Barbara as bait for a trap, to capture and kill Ian. He tells the gladiator master to station guards around the palace to catch them, and tell him that he'll reward him if he succeeds, and kill him if he fails. Taking the guard who's holding Barbara's sword, he goes as if to strike Barbara, but kills the guard instead, saying "He didn't fight hard enough". Mad Emperor Nero indeed.
Barbara goes to Tavius and asks him to help her escape, and then in passing, mentions Nero's plan to kill Maximus Patalion (The Doctor, although I'm not sure about the spelling) in the arena. Ian and his friend meanwhile, are trying to decide what to do, with his friend wanting to get undercover, but Ian deciding to take the approach that an old friend of his uses, just diving right in and sorting it out as it goes. This may be the first example of a companion being inspired to do something by the Doctor in the series. The Doctor and Vicki are looking at Nero's plans to rebuild Rome, and then the Doctor remembers that this is right around the time of the Great Fire of Rome. And when the Doctor says right around the time, he means its that night. Tavius comes in to warn 'Maximus' of Nero's plans, and 'reminds' the Doctor of his plan, to kill Nero, of course. The Doctor is a bit startled by this, but manages to keep his cover, and assures Tavius that he'll carry it out by that night, and make his escape. Right after Tavius leaves, who should walk in but Nero. Nero wants the Doctor to guess what suprise he has in store, and is slightly disappointed when the Doctor gets it right. And then the Doctor proceeds to use every lion pun he can think of without giving it away directly, while Nero gets more and more distraught. The Doctor meanwhile, is holding his glasses clasped behind his back, pointed directly at the plans for a new Rome. By the magic of old glasses and sunlight at an unfortunate angle, the map manages to catch on fire. Nero is outraged, and yells for the guards to come and take them away, until he starts laughing manically as he decides to burn down Rome, all thanks to a little help from the Doctor.
Ian and his friend, noticing a large group of raggedly dressed men heading into the palace, sneak in with them, slipping right past the guards. They soon discover that these men are nothing less then the torchbearers that Nero has hired to go light fires throughout Rome. Fortunately for them, Tavius comes and sneaks them out, leading them to Barbara. As the men stream out excitedly to go burn down the greatest city of that age, Barbara and Ian are re-united, and get ready to sneak back out. The episode then cuts back to the guards outside, who rather dramatically say that even if Ian had snuck in, he won't sneak out again. Right on cue, there's a rustle in a bush, and the guard goes and investigates, only to find the Doctor and Vicki, who reassure them "It's only us!" and waltz right out. Ian, Barbara, and the random slave friend also manage to escape in the confusion, and head on back to the villa.
The Doctor and Vicki spend some time watching Rome burn, mentioning how cool it is to see history in action, until Vicki mentions that it was all the Doctor's fault. The Doctor at first vehemently denies this, eventually dissolving into fits of laughter, which fade into an iconic scene of Nero laughing and playing the lyre, while Rome burnt around him. Ian and Barbara make it back to the villa, and clean themselves up from their ordeals just in time for the Doctor and Vicki to stroll back in. Of course, they don't give Barbara or Ian a chance to mention their adventures, saying they don't care about people lazing about for a week. Barbara and Ian eventually give up, and they all head back to the TARDIS and dematerialize into a new adventure. Ian notices that the Doctor has been at the controls a rather long time, and asks him about it, only to find out that apparently they had materialized quite some time ago, and were slowly being pulled down by some mysterious force!
Tomorrow, I'll start on The Web Planet, a space adventure arc! If you want to know more about the Great Fire of Rome, click here. To learn more about Nero, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment