The last time I remember a pirate story being done was in “The Pirate Planet” and it was a rather fun story, but this was set in the future, on a different planet and with a very scary parrot, but the last proper story set with pirates was way back in 1965 in “The Smugglers” I think, with the good ol’ Bill Hartnell, and unfortunately it was good but wasn’t the best story in the world; so when I heard that this was going to be a pirate story, I was a bit concerned that it would take one of these routes, a weird, but fun space adventure, or a normal pirate story where the characters talk more than swashbuckler. I however was wrong, yes there was a LOT more talking than swashbuckling, but with good reason, the baddie in all this, the siren, played oddly serenely by the lovely Lily Cole, because, if someone was injured in any way, she would, apparently blow them up, to be blunt.
Of course, with a pirate story, you had all the clichés, but they worked, except the child, I am sorry, but there was just something about him, or was it her, really there was something more supernatural about the boy/girl than the bleeding great glowing alien! Also it was a waste of talent with guest star Hugh Bonneville having to act against a rather inanimate and frankly just naturally annoying child.
What I liked about this story is that it felt like a classic romp, where the Doctor doesn’t have a “moral obligation” to help people, its one where he actually has to help and figure out the mystery because he is trapped. It felt very much like a remake or a tribute to “The Smugglers” in the sense that it had the Doctor, trapped, a young couple, Amy and Rory (Ben and Polly), and a bunch of pirates, swashbuckling and talking a LOT about their problems. The twist at the end was very Davies era as well, which I think helped people realise that the show is the same, and it is still a good show, even after quite a bit of scepticism many fans have shown towards the show that it has lost its spark, this episode shows that the spark is still there, but not quite shining how it used to.
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