Again..
The Girl In The Fireplace was one of those amazing stories that makes one wish Doctor Who could be like this all the time. I do not mean that it should be heart breaking all the time but that it should be a celebration of concepts and storytelling and be a seamless marriage of both. At the time I asked myself Who is this Steven Moffat?
Well I guess we all know the answer to that by now.
On the night of transmission a friend of mine recording it on my behalf (it was one of those very rare for me moments I did not watch the episode upon transmission.) missed the closing seconds of the episode so I never got to see the name of the starship the clockwork butchers hailed from and thus did not understand their reasons for pursuing this particular woman through her personal history.
When I discovered later the power of that explosive hook I could only sigh as comprehension dawned. Yet to be honest there was also a certain frisson to not knowing. I was as dumbfounded as the Tardis crew as to why these events had played out as they had. I was scratching my head but glowing with delight at such a story so well told.
Here is my own encounter with one of those clockwork French renaissance simulacra. A stunning recreation of one of those figures. A lovely piece of cosplay by the very clever and beautifully named Amanda Allaway. I watched her dazzle and unnerve a succession of people over an afternoon. "Oh Mummy That Weird Clockwork Woman Keeps Staring at Me", one girl choked as she turned her face away to duck under a chum's wing. I just loved this poised elegance that was served with an angled crook of the neck producing a gaze that followed one around like two dark voids.
A most pleasing and pleasant terror.
