Here is a plot synopsis, I guess someone on
Forum might check this for historical accuracy,
consistency with Pliny etc. Not sure it's all precisely as I've read in my
history books but it's pretty close, a better effort than some historical movies on the ancient world.
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The Doctor and Donna arrive in what the Doctor believes to be
Rome in the first century AD. After an earthquake and witnessing a nearby mountain begin to smoulder, he realises he has in fact materialised in Pompeii one day before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. When he and Donna return to where the TARDIS landed he discovers that a local merchant sold it to sculptor/merchant
Lucius Caecilius Iucundus. The Doctor and Donna go to
Lucius Caecilius' house to retrieve it. Unknown to them, they have been followed by a soothsayer who reports to the Sibylline Sisterhood that the prophesized
man in the blue box has arrived, and the Sisters fear the prediction that
his arrival brings fire and death.
At the house, the Doctor is surprised by
Lucius Caecilius' daughter Evelina, who seems to have ESP and knows personal details about the Doctor and Donna. They are interrupted by the local
augur Lucius Petrus Dextrus, who has arrived to collect a
sculpture he commissioned. The Doctor is intrigued by the
sculpture, which resembles a segment of an oversized circuit board.
Lucius Petrus reveals that he also has powerful ESP and calls out the name of the Doctor's
home planet, Gallifrey. The Doctor wishes to learn more about the sculptures and enlists
Lucius Caecilius' son Quintus to
help him break into
Lucius Petrus' house. Inside the Doctor deduces that the circuits will make an energy converter, but is caught by
Lucius Petrus. The two escape, but
Lucius Petrus beckons a large
stone creature to attack and kill them. The
stone creature appears in
Lucius Caecilius' house and attacks them, but Quintus saves them by dousing the creature in water and killing it. In the confusion the Sisterhood kidnap Donna, and the Doctor sets off to rescue her. He meets the high priestess of the Sisterhood, who is revealed to be transforming into a
stone creature. The Doctor discovers that they are being controlled by the Pyroviles, volcanic creatures whose
home planet of Pyrovilia was lost. The Doctor is attacked by the Sisterhood, but escapes with Donna into an underground tunnel that leads into the heart of Mount Vesuvius.
The Doctor discovers that the
volcano is being used by the Pyroviles to convert the human race and conquer Earth. The Doctor realises the
volcano will not erupt if the energy converter is running, and tells Donna that the volcanic eruption is a fixed point in time and must always happen. The Doctor and Donna get into an escape pod and together press a lever which overloads the converter and triggers the eruption, killing the Pyroviles and launching the pod clear of the blast. The Doctor and Donna run for the TARDIS and the Doctor coldly leaves
Lucius Caecilius and
his family cowering in their
home and dematerialises. Donna begs him to go back and at least save one person, and the Doctor finally relents and goes back for
Lucius Caecilius and
his family. He leaves them on a
hill overlooking the destruction, and together with Donna slips out quietly as the family mourns Pompeii. The Doctor comments to Donna that she was right, and he does need someone to stop him.
Six months later in
Rome,
Lucius Caecilius' family are shown to be successful. He is running a profitable business, Evelina has a social life in comparison to her seclusion in Pompeii, and
his son Quintus is studying to become a doctor. Before Quintus leaves, he pays tribute to the family's household gods, a bas relief depiction of which are in the form of the Doctor, Donna and the TARDIS.
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not bad, ehh? So as not to spoil the movie for those who haven't yet seen it, the above synopsis has a couple of minor changes and omissions; those who get to see the movie in cinemas should watch carefully for any plot differences as compared with (a) my above synopsis and (b) Pliny.