Taking in the Sights

The Doctor and Donna Noble arrive in what The Doctor is convinced is Ancient Rome in the First Century. However, it soon becomes apparent that he is wrong. The First Century it may be. Italy yes. But after an earthquake, and the site of a very large smoking volcano towering over the town they realises that they are not in Rome: they have in fact materialised in Pompeii on 23rd August 79 - one day before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius!

Knowing the terrible fate that will soon befall Pompeii, and so the danger they are both in, The Doctor and Donna are faced with a moral dilemma: whether to escape from the situation or to stay and try to save the population of Pompeii. Donna’s instinct is to do the later. But the doctor knows that they must not tamper with established history and so, with an angry Donna in tow, he rushes back to the market place where they left the TARDIS so they can depart at the earliest opportunity. But on arrival they find that the TARDIS has disappeared. On investigation they discover that it has been sold to one Caecilius Iucundus - a marble sculptor. And so a trip to his nearby residence is in order.

There they get to meet local augur Lucius, who has come to visit Caecilius, and Caecilius' daughter Evelina – both of whom exhibit extraordinary flashes of precognition and telepathy and seem to know a lot about The Doctor being ‘A Lord of Time’ and Donna being the ‘daughter of London’. The Doctor is disturbed by their knowledge of his and Donna's lives. But he is even more concerned by Lucius' latest commission, a marble circuit board. Could there be an alien presence at work in the city?

Mount Vesuvius

Meanwhile Donna discovers that Evelina is slowly turning into stone. Could this have something to do with the volcanic vapour that Evelina has been consuming as part of her induction to The Sybilline Sisterhood - who make prophecies but who know nothing about the impending volcanic eruption.

Unbeknown to them the volcanic rock dust, they have been breathing in, have made them become incubators for the Pyroviles - a race of giant rock-like creatures whose home planet was destroyed and who are currently inside Mount Vesuvius where they are converting the human race to become new Pyroviles.

Modern Art

To discover what the marble circuit breakers are for The Doctor breaks into Lucius' home and discovers that Lucius is using them to create an energy converter. The Doctor also discovers that Lucius is also turning into stone. After being accosted by Lucius, The Doctor manages to escape but is pursued by Pyrovile.

Back at Caecilius’s residence they manage to defeat the Pyrovile by throwing a bucket of water over it but in the confusion the Sisterhood kidnap Donna and take her back to their shrine. After being freed by The Doctor they both escape into the Sisterhood's hypocaust system which leads them deep into the centre of Mount Vesuvius.

The Doctor then realises why there has been no prophecies about the eruption – because there is not going to be one. However, to stop the Pyroviles The Doctor has to switch off an energy converter that the Pyroviles have been using – but in doing so this will trigger the eruption and the death of thousands of Pompeii citizens. And so The Doctor himself will be creating history – as well as causing the death of thousands!

The Soothsayer

Soon it appears that the destruction of Pompeii may not be a natural occurrence at all. Realising the dilemma they face The Doctor has no choice but to sacrifice the town and so create this tragic historic event. Using an escape capsule The Doctor and Donna manage to flee from the exploding volcano and they reach Caecilius’s residence and so the safety of the TARDIS before Pompeii is completely buried under the volcanic ash that is falling from the sky and suffocating all who remain in the town.

Donna though is distraught that they weren’t able to save even one person and so persuades The Doctor to return and at least save Caecilius and his family. They all finally end up on a hillside, overlooking Pompeii, watching its destruction.