This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Delta and the Bannermen

A pure historical? With 7 and Mel? With implications about the consequences of time travel? Sign me right up. This is fantastically simple yet engaging story which manages to hold your attention in a way no lazy sci-fi explanations or poorly modulated alien voices ever could. The central conflict of this story being the Doctor giving up because he believes he's destined to die at Pompeii is a really good one, albeit I think it was resolved a bit lazily.

It's funny that there's two stories out there featuring Scottish actors playing the Doctor alongside a redhead companion set in Pompeii that deal with changing established events titled "The Fires of [something]". Makes me wonder if one inspired the other but I think the similarities are mostly surface level.

Overall a really good story, the final part being a mad dash back to the TARDIS with both Mel and the Doctor seperated was particularly good in my opinion. Really tense and dramatic stuff.

Next Story: Bad Day in Tinseltown