‘The Curse of the Black Spot’ (TV)

 

‘THE CURSE OF THE BLACK SPOT’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Yo, Ho, Ho with the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory

N.B.: Watch the prequel for ‘The Curse of the Black Spot’ before this episode.

This episode is by Steve Thompson, who makes his first contribution to the TV series. This is ‘Doctor Who’s attempt to do ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ in this story! At least, that’s what I hoped it would do.

I was rather disappointed with this episode really. I was hoping for this to be something on the lines of ‘Treasure Island’ by Robert Louis Stevenson with pirates searching for treasure on an island tale.

Instead of what we got was an episode about pirates marooned on a pirate ship out on a misty sea. They are marked by a gorgeous-looking female Siren when one gets cursed with the black spot on his hand.

Not exactly my cup of tea of a pirate episode really. Also the story gets too fantastical when there is a science-fiction element involved with a spaceship on top of the pirate ship in another dimension.

But there are some good moments to be gained from this episode. The pirate costumes and the pirate ship are great; there’s a pirate captain with treasure and a raging tempest of a storm on sea.

Hugh Bonnveville (from ‘Downton Abbey’) stands out for me in the cast for this episode. I liked his performance as pirate Captain Henry Avery. He doesn’t do a typical pirate captain in this, as he seems a good-hearted soul.

There’s also Oscar Lloyd as Toby, Captain Avery’s son who stowaways aboard the pirate ship. It was interesting to see the pirate captain have a son. Toby doesn’t realise that his father is really a pirate.

Lily Cole guest stars as the Siren, who is like a female mermaid that walks and glows green when collecting victims with the black spot. She’s very alluring and hard to resist, especially for the pirates.

I liked how the Eleventh Doctor; Amy and Rory somehow managed to turn up on the pirate ship unexpectedly. They don’t receive a hearty welcome, as the Doctor gets forced to walk the plank by Captain Avery.

Matt Smith’s performance is good in this episode. I liked it when the Doctor is working out how the Siren is getting to her victims with the black spot. He realises that clear reflections are portals for her.

I liked Karen Gillan as Amy in this episode. Amy gets to show off and get into the buccaneering spirit as she dresses up like a pirate and fights with a sword to save the Doctor and Rory from the pirates.

Arthur Darvill as Rory sadly gets the black spot on his hand when injured. It was funny to see Rory when he was going delirious and getting lured by the Siren’s beauty which Amy doesn’t approve of.

I found those last scenes in the story where Amy is saving Rory’s life with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation very emotional and moving. Rory puts her trust in Amy as he knows she will save him.

I enjoyed ‘The Curse of the Black Spot’. It’s not the pirate episode I was hoping for in ‘Doctor Who’ and the spaceship aspects were far-fetched. But it is adequate enough and I enjoyed the cast in this.

The DVD/Blu-ray special features for this episode are as follows. There’s the prequel for ‘The Curse of the Black Spot’ with Hugh Bonneville as Captain Henry Avery. And there’s the ‘Doctor Who Confidential’ episode ‘Ship Ahoy’.

‘The Curse of the Black Spot’ rating – 5/10

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The previous story For the Eleventh Doctor was ‘The Very Cool Bow Tie!’ (Comic) For Amy was ‘The Very Cool Bow Tie!’ (Comic) For Rory was ‘The Very Cool Bow Tie!’ (Comic)	The next story For the Eleventh Doctor is ‘Reality Cheque’ (Comic) For Amy is ‘Reality Cheque’ (Comic) For Rory is ‘Reality Cheque’ (Comic)
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