This review’s slightly delayed, so I apologise about that. But anyway. Episode Three had the unfortunate disadvantage of coming after the amazing two-parter opener, and coming before what looks like one of the most exciting episodes in Who Modern History (and who knows, maybe in all Who history). This all means Curse of the Black Spot (or Black Spot, for short) is sandwiched and doesn’t get the appreciation it could get.
SPOILERS START HERE
The episode itself was quite boring. Certainly the beginning. I’m not the greatest Pirate fan in the world, and while I like the odd pirate now and then, just like last year, it seems Doctor Who is cashing in on the current trends (last year it was vampires). Also, before the episode, I felt the ship did feel like it was a replica ship in Cornwall, or wherever they filmed, and that Steve Thompson (writer of “The Blind Banker” in Sherlock) wasn’t really right for Doctor Who. I mainly thought that because previous ‘new’ writer Richard Curtis had, in my opinion, not done a good job.
I was in a bit of a grumpy mood going into the episode anyway, I didn’t expect much. Then there was the walking the plank bit (good laughs there), the sword fighting bit (UTTERLY POINTLESS), Rory being drunk (sorry, enchanted by the song of the Siren) and the Siren just felt a bit… pointless? Then it got better, as we discover the stowaway, as we discover how the Siren must just enter the ship, as more of the crew turn away from their captain, as more revelations shake the character’s worlds. Or boat, I suppose, in this case.
From the bit where Amy/Rory/Toby and the two other blokes are in the room, it’s getting interesting, I loved it from here. And then more revelations, mutiny, a bit of a pointless chase scene and finally the revelation about how the Siren enters the ship. This is good – this is interesting, I like it now. Then the rain starts and THEN it gets good. And then it’s even more dramatic when Rory is thrown off the ship! Didn’t see it very well though, so wasn’t show brilliantly. But then there’s all that, and then the Siren.
And then it gets better – the alien ship, the patients, the Siren is a *remember spoilers are here* doctor (not that difficult to work out), and there’s that pointless bit about alien bogies. But the concept is fantastic, it’s a brilliant idea and the idea is carried off brilliantly. And then the captain and his son, lovely scenes, Amy and Rory, lovely scenes. Though we all knew he’d cough and wake up. And he said to Amy “you’ll never give up”. Yes she did. Pretty quickly, really.
But the episode, with pirates was average, with the humanity of pirates it was better, and then with the space ship it turned into a very good Doctor Who episode. Not brilliant, but certainly one I could watch again, and it had the right kind of plot and twists and turns for Doctor Who. It’s hard to rate the episode because it was so clever and well done, but then also there were boring bits nearer the beginning. I’d give it between 7.7 and 8.3 out of 10. Excellent idea, excellent episode near the end. But it had those boring bits, those average bits at the start, which bring it down.
And of course. The Eye Patch Lady (she actually scares me). And… is it just me? Or did one of the crew disappear for no reason when Mulligan the Pirate left?
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