Doctor Who -- Vampires of Venice

Okay -- sorry for the delay in this posting; Doctor Who (Vampires of Venice) episode aired like 2 weeks ago in the States, but on that very same night I was living my own horror story as kiddo woke up at 10PM with a stomach virus (which I came down with 2 days later) so....

But I'm here, and I have to say that despite what some naysayers say about the new doctor (ahem, certainly not pointing to my co-blogger here) -- Matt Smith is really growing on me.  Like Taliesin, I had grown a bit bored with the new series (I really, really looked forward to the season with Donna Noble as the companion, but it was a bit too dark for my tastes), ideas seemed to be recycled, so I'd stopped watching until I saw the episode with my favorite baddies, The Weeping Angels. Now I'm kinda into it again, and of course I tuned in for the Vampire episode.

So, the Doctor and his new, spunky companion (Amy) and her fiance (Rory -- why is it that the boyfriends/fiances are always bumbling idiots in this series?)  find themselves in Venice.  Amy is having doubts about her wedding, especially after she kissed the Doctor, so the Doctor decided to reunite the two lovers and take them on a romantic getaway to 15th (?) century Venice.

Only problem -- there appears to be vampires in town.  There's a really cool moment reminiscent of Jonathan Harker/Dracula where the Doctor meets a group of vampire brides -- no reflection, lots of teeth, white, billowy dresses.  I do like the new doctor!

Of course, things aren't as simple as they seem -- it's not just 'vampires' that are threatening to take over Venice. I won't give out spoilers, but there's a bit of a mystery the Doctor must solve before he can save Venice from total flooding. Amy is very courageous and offers herself as bait -- I'm liking her too, kinda like Rose, but she doesn't moon as much over the Doctor, which gets tiresome after a while.  The parts with Rory I found boring -- much like when Rose's boyfriend, Mickey, joined the team, and there's a bizarre love triangle wherein he feels insecure around the Doctor and competes with him.  Overall, though, I enjoyed the episode and will be tuning in for more.

Something Wicked  4/5