Ahoy there.

The non spoiler review on the website, Den of Geek, said that this episode had a lot to follow after the opening two part story. I agree with this, The Curse of the Black Spot had a lot to follow. Den of Geek said that it failed to live up to this and there I disagree.

It is true that this story is nothing more that a story of the week but it was done very well. Firstly, kudos must be given to the production department. They have produced a wonderful looking pirate ship. Also praise must be given to the director, Jeremy Webb, and his camera crew who managed to produce a highly convincing stranded ship which in reality was moored in a dock in Cornwall.

Stephen Thompson, the writer of this episode, must also be given praise as well. I am not sure how much other TV writing he has done, I only know of his Sherlock episode from last year, has produced a good, solid story. As Steven Moffatt mentioned in Doctor Who Confidential, if you do Pirates, you have to have all of the associated trappings. So we had swashbuckling, laughs, walking the plank, and treasure.

Stephen Thompson took this in his stride and managed to merge them into the story that didn’t feel forced or put in because they can. I also quite like the clever twist of the siren turning out to be a goodie instead of an evil killing machine. In fact I quite enjoyed the Doctor being three or four steps behind, a refreshing break from the norm.

The cast, again, was on stunning form. The emotional ending sequence between Rory and Amy was superbly acted out in my opinion. Arthur Darvill and Karen Gillan are coming along to be tremendous actors and have made the roles their own. The supporting cast as well were well chosen. Lily Cole was an interesting choice as the siren. She played it well and was alluring when she needed to be and down right scary when that was required. Hugh Bonneville was a good choice as Captain Every and played the part well as a man split between two different loyalties.

However there is a big problem with the story that does hamper the story. The lad of Captain Every stabs a man with a cutlass and then we never see or hear from him again, until the end when he walks into the cock pit and looks out into the stars in a Blake 7esk ending. When did he get taken by the Siren, he just disappeared and is not mentioned again. It is a shame that this happened as it ruined, for me, a very good story. It’s a plot hole in the story and stands out quite jarringly. I noticed this on both of my viewings of the episode.

So as we come to a close, I really enjoyed this story. Yes it’s a story of the week but it’s a great one. The reviewer on den of geek said the episode was spoiled by the fact none of the questions from last week were answered. I say that was a good thing. With the brief glimpse of eye patch woman and is Amy pregnant or not we’ve been teased with things to come and I can’t wait to find out.

So I am going to give this story,

8/10