BBC Doctor Who - The Stories BBC
QuickNav to a Season: 
QuickNav to a Story: 
 
The Previous Story
The Girl in the Fireplace
 The Previous Story
The Previous Story
(School Reunion)
 The Next Story
(Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel)
Season
Details
SynopsisGeneral
Information
The
Episodes
Audience
Appreciation
ArchivesNotesFirst and LastThe PlotQuote of
the Story
Release
Information
In PrintPhoto
Gallery
 

David Tennant
The Girl in the Fireplace
Tenth Doctor Logo


Synopsis


The SS Madame De Pompadour
The SS Madame De Pompadour
 Madame de Pompadour is being haunted by a stranger called The Doctor - can he save her from the clockwork killers?

Source: BBC DVD


General Information

Season: Twenty Eight (New Series 2)
Production Code: 2-4
Story Number: 171 (New Series: 15)
Episode Number:714 (New Series: 18)
Number of Episodes: 1
Percentage of Episodes Held:100%
Working Titles:"Madame de Pompadour", "Every Tick of My Heart", "Reinette and the Lonely Angel" and "Loose Connection"
Production Dates: October 2005
Broadcast Date: 06 May 2006
Colour Status: Colour
Studio: BBC Wales (Unit Q2, Newport) and Enfys Television Studios (Cardiff)
Location: Tredegar House (Newport), Dyffryn Gardens (St Nicholas, Vale of Glamorgan) Ragley Hall (Alcester, Warwickshire).
Writer:Steven Moffat
Director:Euros Lyn
Producer:Phil Collinson
Executive Producers:Julie Gardner and Russell T Davies
Associate Producer:Helen Vallis
Script Editor:Helen Raynor
Editor:Crispin Green
Production Manager:Marcus Prince
Production Designer:Edward Thomas
Director of Photography:Rory Taylor
Casting Director:Andy Pryor CDG
Costume Designer:Louise Page
Make-Up Designer:Sheelagh Wells
Cameraman:Penny Shipton (Assistant)
Visual Effects:The Mill
Special Effects:Any Effects
Prosthetics:Millennium Effects and Neill Gorton
Stunt Co-ordinator:Dave Forman
Stunt Performer:Peter Miles
Incidental Music:Murray Gold
Special Sounds (SFX Editor):Paul Jefferies
Sound Recordist:Simon Fraser
Sound Editors:Doug Sinclair and Paul McFadden
Music Performed By:The BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Title Music:Ron Grainer and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Arranged by Murray Gold
Number of Doctors: 1
The Doctor: David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor)
Number of Companions: 2The Companions: Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) and Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith) Guest Cast: Sophia Myles (Reinette) Additional Cast: Ben Turner (King Louis), Jessica Atkins (Young Reinette), Angel Coulby (Katherine), Gareth Wyn Griffiths (Manservant), Paul Kasey (Clockwork Man), Ellen Thomas (Clockwork Woman), Jonathan Hart and Emily Joyce (Alien Voices)Setting: Palace of Versailles, France (18th century) and SS Madame De Pompadour, Dagmar Cluster (51st century) Villain:Clockwork Androids

The Episodes

No. Episodes Broadcast
(UK)
Duration Viewers
(Millions)
In Archive
714The Girl in the Fireplace06 May 200644'41"7.9Yes

Total Duration 45 Minutes


Audience Appreciation

Average Viewers (Millions) 7.9
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2006)81.74%  (Position = 5 out of 11)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2009)85.05% Higher (Position = 11 out of 200)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2014)83.47% Lower (Position = 29 out of 241)
Doctor Who Magazine Poll (2023) Position = 7 out of 36


Archives


 This story exists and is held in the BBC's Film and Videotape Library.



Return to the top of this page
 


Notes


This story serves as Mickey Smith's first 'official' trip in the TARDIS and so his first story as a companion.

Guest star Sophia Myles, who plays the part of the adult Reinette, is in fact the real-life girlfriend of David Tennant.

Two horses were used in this story: one, named Bolero, was used for close-ups on the spaceship, and another, named Arthur, was used for the scene where The Doctor jumps through the time window.

If you are wondering about the connection between the character 'Reinette' and the name of the spaceship, that is revealed at the very end of this story, then you may be interested to know that the real Madame De Pompadour was apparently nicknamed 'Reinette' by her mother after a fortune teller claimed that she would someday 'reign' over the heart of a king.

The 53 second TARDISode for this story was recorded at Enfys Television Studios in Cardiff on 31st January 2006. It depicted the crippling of the SS Madame de Pompadour in an ion storm and the clockwork robots subsequently attacking the crew. It has been reported that writer Gareth Roberts intended it to be reminiscent the space operas seen in late-Seventies-era Doctor Who and Blake's 7. As with all the other TARDISode's it could be downloaded from the BBC Doctor Who website or via a mobile phone a week before the broadcast of the main story.

The ending of this story contains a trailer for the first episode of the next story - "Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel".

Following on immediately after this story, on BBC3, was the fourth chapter of the second series of Doctor Who Confidential, "From Script to Screen" presented by Mark Gatiss.

This story won the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.



First and Last

The Firsts:

 The first trip in the TARDIS for Mickey Smith, played by Noel Clarke, and also his first story as an official companion.

 The first story, of the revised show, to use live animals. These being horses used in the ballroom scenes.


Return to the top of this page
 


The Plot

WARNING: May Contain SpoilersHide Text
The Girl in the Fireplace
The Girl in the Fireplace

In deep space, in the fifty-first century: the TARDIS arrives on the deck of a derelict spacecraft whose occupants have mysteriously vanished.

The Doctor and his two travelling companions, Rose Tyler and her boyfriend Mickey Smith, start to explore and very soon make a curious discovery - an antique French fireplace. But this is no ordinary fireplace, but one that is anchored to a space-time disturbance. When The Doctor looks inside Reinette, a little French girl from eighteenth century Paris, is on the other side.

Then when The Doctor trips a switch the fireplace twists around and suddenly he's back in time, in Paris, along with the little girl, but Reinette informs The Doctor that several months have passed and so he deduces that the portal is out of sync with the space ship and that time goes by much faster at this end of the portal.

Travelling Companions
Travelling Companions

The Doctor also discovers a clockwork android under the little girl’s bed. The Doctor uses the fireplace to return to the space ship followed by the android. But before he can examine the robot it teleports itself away. When The Doctor returns through the fireplace portal, to check that Reinette is okay, he finds that it's over a decade later and that she has now grown into an adult. It is then that The Doctor realises who Reinette is - she is the Madame De Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV, King of France.

Other curious discoveries are soon found on the space ship by, Rose and Mickey - a human eye in a sensor and a human heart wired into the spaceship beating in the middle of the ship's interior. The Doctor, meanwhile, discovers another portal and a white horse. The Doctor soon realizes that there are many gateways to Reinette's history aboard this craft.

Rose Prepared for Danger
Rose Prepared for Danger

Through another gateway, the three go to Paris to rescue Reinette from another clockwork android, where they learn that while the robots are stalking her, they haven't done anything to her yet because she's 'not ready'.

Back on the ship, Rose and Mickey are taken prisoner by the clockwork androids, but The Doctor attempt to rescue them fails. But he does learns that the clockwork androids are in fact repair androids who are following their instructions to repair the ship - first from the rest of the ship, and then the human crew itself, manifesting their bodies to keep the ship running. Now, for some reason, they are convinced that Reinette is the last link to repairing their damaged craft.

But what is so special about Reinette and what will happen when she becomes 'ready' and will The Doctor be able to come to her rescue and stop the androids and if he does how is he going to defeat the androids without become trapped himself?

Reinette
Reinette

The Doctor does manage to foil the androids by making them realise that they no longer have a purpose since their window to the future, and their ship, is broken. It looks as if The Doctor has saved Reinette but at the cost of his own freedom. Or has he?

Will The Doctor find a way back to the ship and his TARDIS and will they discover why Reinette is so important to the androids? – maybe the fact that the spaceship is called the “SS Madame De Pompadour” holds the answer.

 
A Clockwork Android
A Clockwork Android
Reinette and The Doctor
Reinette and The Doctor
Rose in Danger
Rose in Danger
The Doctor
The Doctor
 
Reinette in Danger
Reinette in Danger
Reinette
Reinette
The Doctor to the Rescue
The Doctor to the Rescue
The SS Madame De Pompadour
The SS Madame De Pompadour




Quote of the Story


 'It is customary, I think, to have imaginary friends only during one's childhood. You are to be commended on your persistence.'

Reinette



Return to the top of this page
 


Release Information

FormatTitleRelease Date (UK)Code NumberCover ArtRemarks
Video
DVD
Tooth and Claw - School Reunion - The Girl in the FireplaceJune 2006BBCDVD 1961Photo-montage
Video
DVD
The Complete Second SeriesNovember 2006BBCDVD 2122Photo-montageBoxed set containing all 11 stories
Video
DVD
The Complete Second Series (Amazon Version)November 2006BBCDVD 2122Photo-montageLimited Edition 'Cyberman Head' box set containing all 11 stories
Audio
CD
Original Television SoundtrackDecember 2006SILCD1224Photo-montageMusic by Murray Gold
Audio
CD
Original Television Soundtrack - Series 1 and 22007Photo-montageMusic by Murray Gold
Video
DVD
Series 1 - 4 Box SetOctober 2009BBCDVD 3058Boxed set containing all 43 stories on 23 Discs
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Series 1-7 Box Set (Limited Edition)December 2013BBCBD 0242Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray boxed set containing all Series 1-7 stories at full 1080p high definition
Video
DVD
The Complete Second Series (2014 Re-release)August 2014BBCDVD 3966Photo-montageBoxed set containing all 11 stories
Video
DVD
The Complete David Tennant Years Box SetNovember 2014BBCDVD 4000Photo-montageBoxed set containing all 37 stories on 26 Discs
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Second Series Box SetAugust 2015BBCBD 0262Photo-montageBlu-Ray boxed set containing 11 stories
Audio
LP
Original Television Soundtrack - Series 1 and 22016Photo-montageMusic by Murray Gold
Video
DVD
The Complete Second Series Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)July 2017BBCDVD 2317Photo-montageLimited Edition DVD Steelbook boxed set containing 10 stories (Amazon Exclusive)
Video
Blu-Ray
The Complete Second Series Box Set (Limited Edition Steelbook)July 2017BBCBD 0393Photo-montageLimited Edition Blu-Ray Steelbook boxed set containing 10 stories (Amazon Exclusive)
Video
Blu-Ray
Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray CollectionNovember 2023BBCBD 0582Photo-montageBoxed set containing all Ninth and Tenth Doctor stories upscaled to high definition


In Print

No Book Release
Doctor Who Magazine - PreviewIssue 369 (Released: May 2006)
Doctor Who Magazine - ArticleIssue 370 (Released: June 2006)
Doctor Who Magazine - After ImageIssue 371 (Released: July 2006)
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of FictionIssue 434 (Released: June 2011)
Doctor Who Magazine - Time TeamIssue 446 (Released: May 2012)
Doctor Who DVD FilesVolume 9 (Released: May 2009)

Return to the top of this page
 


Photo Gallery


The Doctor and Companions

 
David Tennant
The Tenth Doctor

   

Billie Piper
Rose Tyler
 
Noel Clarke
Mickey Smith
   




On Release

DVD Cover
DVD Cover

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series DVD Box Set
Complete Series DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
DVD Box Set<BR>(Amazon Version)
DVD Box Set
(Amazon Version)

BBC
VIDEO
Original Television Soundtrack Cover
Original Television Soundtrack Cover

BBC
AUDIO
   
Original Television Soundtrack Silva Screen CD Cover
Original Television Soundtrack Silva Screen CD Cover

Silva Screen
AUDIO
Series 1-4 DVD Box Set
Series 1-4 DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set
Complete Series 1-7 Ltd Edition Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series DVD Box Set<BR>(2014 Re-release)
Complete Series DVD Box Set
(2014 Re-release)

BBC
VIDEO
   
Complete David Tennant Years DVD Box Set
Complete David Tennant Years DVD Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Original Television Soundtrack Vinyl Cover
Original Television Soundtrack Vinyl Cover

Silva Screen
AUDIO
Complete Series DVD Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set
Complete Series DVD Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
   
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set
Complete Series Blu-Ray Limited Edition Steelbook Box Set

BBC
VIDEO
Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray Collection Cover
Series 1 - 4 & Specials Blu-Ray Collection Cover

BBC
VIDEO



Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 369
Doctor Who Magazine - Preview: Issue 369

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 370
Doctor Who Magazine - Article: Issue 370

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - After Image: Issue 371
Doctor Who Magazine - After Image: Issue 371

Marvel Comics
   
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 434
Doctor Who Magazine - The Fact of Fiction: Issue 434

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 446
Doctor Who Magazine - Time Team: Issue 446

Marvel Comics
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 9
Doctor Who DVD Files: Volume 9

GE Fabbri
   

Return to the top of this page
 
 
Who's Who
KJ Software
Who Me
Episodes of the
Tenth Doctor


Season 28 (New Series 2) Press to go back to the previous visited page References
 
 
Doctor Who is the copyright of the British Broadcasting Corporation. No infringements intended. This site is not endorsed by the BBC or any representatives thereof.