History Recap / DoctorWhoS30E2TheFiresOfPompeii

* BeenThereShapedHistory: The Doctor is quick to deny that he anything to do with the Great Fire of Rome, and was in fact responsible for the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (as the alternative would be letting the Pyroviles TakeOverTheWorld).

* PrescienceIsPredictable: See the page quote.

* RetroactiveRecognition: See YouLookFamiliar

* YouLookFamiliar: Caecilius is played by Creator/PeterCapaldi, the future Twelfth Doctor, while one of the priestesses is played by Creator/KarenGillan, the future Amy Pond.

* MeaningfulName: Lots. but particularly Lucius Petrus Dextrus (literally translating to Lucius '''Stone Right Arm'''!). These were all deliberate -- Creator/RussellTDavies was channelling ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' and asked James Moran to put them in.

** The Doctor mentioning that he had [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E4TheRomans nothing to do with Rome burning.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: "The explosion was so powerful it cracked open a rift in time."

* TheCretaceousIsAlwaysDoomed: There's no saving Pompeii. It's fixed point in history.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The family Donna and The Doctor saved re-establish themselves in Rome. Marble Businesses continues, Evelina is wearing a short skirt that's the latest fasionn, and her brother is training to be a doctor.

The casting for this episode turned out to be quite auspicious. Phil Davis ("Lucius") would play the first antagonist in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' (a series run by the same show runners as ''Doctor Who''); Tracey Childs ("Metella") had previously appeared in ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' and would go on to become a regular Big Finish companion; Creator/KarenGillan (Soothsayer scout) would return as [[YouLookFamiliar Amy Pond]], the longest-serving companion of the new series; and Creator/PeterCapaldi ("Caecilius") would have a supporting role in ''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth'' and later take the helm of the show as the Twelfth Doctor himself.

* YouLookFamiliar: Retroactively. Oh look, it's [[Creator/PeterCapaldi the Doctor]] and [[Creator/KarenGillan a companion.]]

* AccidentalArt: PlayedForLaughs, as Caecilius is sold the TARDIS as a work of modern art. His wife calls it a "great waste of space", not knowing that the TARDIS is BiggerOnTheInside.
** [[HilariousInHindsight Capaldi then went on to become the latest resident of the TARDIS...]]

* BigNo: Lucius Petrus Dextrus and the High Priestess. Both do it twice.

** Not to mention the Doctor mentioning that he had [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E4TheRomans nothing to do with Rome burning.]]

* ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive: Although he doesn't say the "if you want to live" part.

** The Doctor admits that Donna was right -- sometimes he needs someone to stop him.

* TheCretaceousIsAlwaysDoomed

* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** "The explosion was so powerful it cracked open a rift in time."
* HappilyMarried: Caecillius and Metella.

* IAmSpartacus: "And so am I."

** Not to mention that 2000 years later, the English language itself still frequently throws ''Latin'' into everyday conversation.

* MistakenForExhibit: Not only is the TARDIS mistaken for a modern art installation, but an enterprising street trader has sold it to a wealthy marble merchant, kicking off the plot. Probably meant to be PlayedForLaughs.

* OutrunTheFireball

* ProphecyTwist: The Doctor says Pompeii's destruction is "a fixed point" that he can't prevent, even though thousands will die. It's worse than that, he has to ''make'' Vesuvius erupt to {{save the world}}.

* TakeOverTheWorld
* WatchingTroyBurn
* WeaksauceWeakness: A giant, badass-looking alien warrior made of magma and rock... and [[KillItWithWater a bucket of water]] [[AnticlimaxBoss takes it down instantly]]. The Doctor later uses this to his advantage by arming himself with... a water pistol.

* TheXOfY

* PsychicPowers: The Sibylline sisterhood have them as a side-effect of the Pyroviles' presence.

* TakenForGranite

->''"I don't know! Isn't that brilliant? I love not knowing! Keeps me on me toes. It must be awful being a prophet, waking up every morning, 'Is it raining? Yes, it is. I said so.' [[PrescienceIsPredictable Takes all the fun out of life.]]"''

So they go for the ''other'' secret Time Lord manoeuvre: running away, much to Donna's frustration. Unfortunately, the TARDIS is missing; while they were walking around, a street merchant seized it (justified, as it ''was'' parked on his market's place) and sold it to Caecilius, a local marble merchant [[note]]played by Creator/PeterCapaldi[[/note]] with a dysfunctional family (a hungover son and an oracle daughter) AND a taste for avant-garde art. It's not the first time [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath the TARDIS has been mistaken for an art installation.]]

[[caption-width-right:251:And we thought Rory was the only one who had [[NoodleIncident mostly unseen]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens adventures in the Roman Empire!]][[note]][[HilariousInHindsight And meanwhile, the Twelfth Doctor is running around, pretending to be Caecilius.]][[/note]]]]

->''"I don't know! Isn't that brilliant? I love not knowing! Keeps me on me toes. It must be awful being a prophet, waking up every morning, 'Is it raining? Yes, it is. I said so.' Takes all the fun out of life."''

* HilariousInHindsight: PeterCapaldi playing a character that purchases the TARDIS and moves it into his house, and is then saved by an earlier version of himself.

[[caption-width-right:251:And we thought Rory was the only one who had [[NoodleIncident mostly unseen]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens adventures in the Roman Empire!]]]]

** The PunnyName RunningGag is a reference to {{Asterix}}

* KillItWithWater: Or a [[LethalJokeItem Walther P38 water pistol]]

* AccidentalArt: PlayedForLaughs, as Caecilius is sold the TARDIS as a work of modern art. His wife calls it a "great waste of space",, not knowing that the TARDIS is BiggerOnTheInside.

** The augur tells Donna that there is "something on her back". There will be, in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E11TurnLeft "Turn Left"]]. He also tells the Doctor "she is returning", referring to Rose.

** Take a good look at how the Doctor saves the Caecilius family from being destroyed by the Vesuvius eruption. He will later stop resigning himself to fate and save Gallifrey in the same way. And one person he saved there, Lobus Caecilius, became the face of the future Twelfth Doctor- almost like a subconscious reminder of how he must become TheAtoner. Conversely, John Frobisher, in the future ''[[Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth Torchwood: Children of Earth]]'' series, who shares the same face as Lobus and Twelve does the ''opposite'' course of action and stages a familicide.
*** Funnily enough, this was not intended to be foreshadowing until coincidentally, Capaldi got cast as the Twelfth Doctor and it was all made to be so.

Except after some searching, they discover that they've landed in Pompeii, on August 23, 79 A.D., which means it's the day before Mount Vesuvius erupts and Pompeii's streets get re-paved with lava. Donna immediately requests the Doctor's help to organize a mass evacuation and save everyone, but the Doctor claims to be unable to do anything about this: he doesn't ''say'' "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E6TheAztecs You can't change history, Barbara; not one line]]", but he is probably thinking it.

So they go for the ''other'' secret Time Lord manoeuvre: running away, much to Donna's frustration. Unfortunately, the TARDIS is missing; while they were walking around, a street merchant seized it (justified, as it ''was'' parked on his market's place) and sold it to Caecilius, a local marble merchant with a dysfunctional family (a hungover son and an oracle daughter) AND a taste for avant-garde art. It's not the first time [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath the TARDIS has been mistaken for an art installation.]]

* AccidentalArt: PlayedForLaughs, as Caecilius is sold the TARDIS as a work of modern art. His wife calls it a "great waste of space".

** The Doctor's mention of "Volcano Day" refers to a comment by Jack Harkness in "The Empty Child", who mentioned using Pompeii several times to pull cons where he'd sell alien ships or technology, only for the eruption to wipe away the evidence before his mark's realised that he'd actually sold them bits of old junk.

* CreatorInJoke: Latin students everywhere stand a chance of recognising Caecillius and his family. They feature in the ''Literature/CambridgeLatinCourse'', a widely used Latin textbook series. Well, Caecilius, Quintus and Metella do. Evalina is made up. [[GovernmentConspiracy Probably...]]

[[caption-width-right:251:[-And we thought Rory was the only one who had [[NoodleIncident mostly unseen]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens adventures in the Roman Empire!]]-] ]]

'''WARNING! THERE MAY BE UNMARKED SPOILERS!'''

The casting for this episode turned out to be quite auspicious: Phil Davis ("Lucius") would play the first antagonist in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' (a series run by the same show runners as ''Doctor Who''); Tracey Childs ("Metella")[[note]]who had previously appeared in ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho''[[/note]] would go on to become a regular Big Finish companion; Creator/KarenGillan (Soothsayer scout) would return as [[YouLookFamiliar Amy Pond]], the longest-serving companion of the new series; and Creator/PeterCapaldi ("Caecilius") would have a supporting role in ''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth'' and later take the helm of the show as the Twelfth Doctor himself.