S06E03 - The Curse of the Black Spot

Before this review starts, may I personally make a plea of forgiveness; forgive me for posting this up so late! There should be no explanations needed, but shortly after returning to my netbook did things go awry; malfunctioning programmes raised one’s tempers, yet they were soon calmed by the ‘Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’ and ‘Voyage of the Dawn Treader’—two remarkably good films, and very good follow-ups to the immortalized ‘The Lion, the Witch an the Wardrobe’, but let’s not get on to that just yet, maybe next month after Who… Now, a new day sparks afresh, a cracking headache cleared and a re-watch of Curse of the Black Spot achieved, let’s get to it!


Just one word: Pirates! In one of the most highly anticipated episodes of this Series Six: Part One series (behind the Opening Two Parter and next week’s Gaiman-scripted episode), Curse of the Black Spot achieved a new stepping stone in Doctor Who history, as proper-ish pirates haven’t appeared in Who since Fifth Doctor episode ‘Enlightenment’ (though correct me if I’m wrong!). That aside of course, THIS particular episode was fantastic, yet again, to say the least. Hugh Bonneville’s portrayal of Captain Avery, a former British Naval Officer turned pirate, was just fantastic and so perfectly done that Bonneville could be the only man for the job.

Speaking of casting, Lily Cole as the Hologram-turned-Siren-turned-Hologram again was absolutely stunning! The celestial singing and the green glow that emanated from the character of the Siren Doctor was spooky and charming and just oh-so beautiful, although a possibly disappointment to a few fans who expected a proper 100% tale of the sea, expecting the Siren to be an actual Siren and not what she turned out to be, yet the plot was sound nevertheless, with the cause for the aforementioned black spot to appear on the had scarily done; no one injure/damage yourself, you might be taken by her!


Anyway, let’s not forget the actual twist of the episode: multidimensional stranded ships, although clever in the way it was done, and slightly confusing in others, it puts a whole new effect on mirrors and reflections since Series Three episode ‘The Family of Blood’, by putting the question of ‘What DO you see in your refection: A little girl or a whole other world…?’—very nice! Now, moving slightly backwards in topic, one could say there were three ships stranded in the same spot in different dimensions: the TARDIS, the Space ship, Pirate ship, the latter of which has to be mentioned: since Avery and his crew decidedly left in the space ship instead of his own boat, that means his original vessel was left, abandoned, on the sea—Mary Celeste-like, anybody? ;)

This episode also highlights on the importance of Amy and Rory’s relationship, proving how much the couple really do love each other, in similar sense to last year’s ‘Amy’s Choice’, although I have to question: Why does Rory always have to be the one to die? Poor bloke, he always seems to get the worse of the situations; being marked, looking funnily stupid lusting after the Siren, then knocked into ice cold waters, almost drowning, almost dying then JUST surviving through his wife’s stubbornness not to let things be (good on Amy, by the way)! A lot for one episode, it has to be admitted for Mr. Pond. Oh yes, and speaking of Pond, wasn’t Amy’s sword fight just amazing? Karen trained hard for that, according to Confidential, and loved every minute, just like the audience watching!


On some final pointers now, and I ask you readers now to check back during the week as I may add/alter stuff during the week (am aware this review is lacking in strength and flow, my apologies), what is up with that eye-patch woman? It has to be admitted that it is a little worrying, her constant referencing to Amy ‘dreaming’, because let’s face it, the whole ‘it was all a dream’ stuff works in some movies and television shows, like Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes for an example, but it would NOT be favorable on Doctor Who, thankyouverymuch, Moffat! Oh, and random final thoughts: didn’t the original crewmen on the parallel space ship look slightly like Sycorax? AND more rooms have been mentioned for the TARDIS: One kitchen and three bathrooms, to be precise and a LOT more to actually be seen in next week’s episode, so squee!

Now to the usual;

• The Doctor = 10/10 – This series is looking GOOD for brilliant acting and character developments!
• Amy = 10/10 – The sword fight alone would have given her this score, but Karen’s added Amy wit and sarcasm seal the deal. And still, is Amy pregnant or isn’t she? VERY worrying…
• Rory = 10/10 – All I can say is ‘oh no you almost didn’t, Moffat!’ ;)
• Captain Avery = 10/10 – Amazing performance from Mr. Bonneville, just amazing.
• The Siren = 10/10 – Beautiful, stunning, elegant… and scary!
• Plot = 9/10 – Yes, as mentioned expectations might not have been filled by a lack of true adventure and mystery, but as a Who episode, it did its job!

Overall episode rating: 9 out of 10—so yet another excellently done episode and a whirlwind of a storyline!

Now bring on the Gaiman episode, it’s going to be a stunner, apparently!