There are always those few episodes in each Series of Doctor Who which act as filler, prolonging the time it takes for the overarching plot to get from Point A to Point B. Usually these episodes are good, harmless fun, building on character or atmosphere, or just telling a cracking story from a different perspective. Sometimes they are awful, being too absurd or cliché, or are completely overwhelmed by the surrounding dramatic episodes. The Curse of the Black Spot sits somewhere in the middle. It is a story constructed from other stories. It has its moments, but fails to offer anything that we haven’t already seen (often multiple times).
In an interlude to saving the universe, The Doctor and companions take to the high seas, under the flag of the Jolly Rodger, in a slightly different take on the Black Spot. The crew of a 17th Century Pirate Ship find themselves stranded in the middle of a windless ocean. A simple cut or a bruise reveals a Black Spot upon their hand, and it is only a matter of time before they come face to face with The Siren (Lily Cole), a beautiful glowing entity whose hypnotising melodies leave the victim defenceless towards her malicious intentions. The Captain Henry Avery (Hugh Bonneville) tries to keep his dwindling crewmembers from panic and chaos, as they are picked off one by one. Enter the Doctor and companions, to solve the mystery with reason, logic, and a bit of hearty swashbuckling.
This story proves that Moffat is still recycling his previous stories, combining plot elements of The Girl in the Fireplace with The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances, to create an adventure not nearly as good as either. The fact that he delegated the writing of this story to someone else entirely makes the ideas appear even more jaded. It’s still a fun adventure, but feels altogether disposable when the first and second acts of the episode are made redundant by the third. If they had all “died” in the beginning of the episode, there would have been absolutely no difference in the outcome. The exhausted scenario of the climax only succeeds to frustrate further as the creators refuse to make up their minds whether Rory should be alive or dead. It severely degrades the emotional impact every time Rory dies, to the point where it just becomes a joke. “Doctor! Rory’s dead again!” “Oh that Rory!” *doo-doo doo doo-doo doo*
And The Doctor still can’t resist his name-dropping, throwing names of famous historical figures about with a complete lack of subtlety. When you have a weak story, carelessly flirting with stories that are potentially better than yours does not turn the audience in your favour.
The episode does have its highlights, however. The brief sequences of action and classic pirate-ship antics are reminiscent of Patrick Troughton’s reign. Amy channels a meaner, saucier Jamie as the redhead wench equips a cutlass and shows how much she’s learnt during her stay with The Doctor.
It seems a shame that when Murray Gold finally seems to have done some work, with a new Pirates of the Caribbean-inspired score, the rest of the team lets him down with such an underwhelming episode. Still, there is some hope on the horizon. Next week’s episode will look absolutely brilliant in comparison, even before taking into account the fact it’s written by Neil Gaiman. The only question is how will Rory die next time?
2 ½ / 5
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