DOCTOR: So, this is it. The final journey. I had hoped for a while longer, time to prepare. Time’s slipping away from me. Only just arriving, but we’ve already stayed a lifetime. Too many lifetimes. Withering like roses.

MEL: Alright Doctor, what’s going on?

DOCTOR: I’m sorry Mel.

MEL: What for? Tell me Doctor.

DOCTOR: The year is AD 79. The Roman Empire is under the short-lived rule of Titus. We’re in the city of Pompeii, a prosperous trading centre on the bay of Naples. If you look between the buildings over there, you can see a mountain by the name of Vesuvius.