Who: The Vampires Of Venice Retrospective (R: 4.5/5)

Funny how the episodes that seem to have the most basic premises can sometimes turn out to be unexpected hits- The Vampires Of Venice is like a mini-movie, featuring fangs, swashbuckling swords and explosions aplenty, as well as perhaps the most believable villain of the entire season. Lady Rosanna (Helen McCroy) carries a motive for her work that anyone could empathise with, trying to build a new home when her own was destroyed and willing to make sacrifices to do it. In fact, the real highlights of the story for me are Matt and Helen's scenes together where they discuss extinction, the cracks and the Silence in multiple locations of the beautifully directed shooting in Croatia. My only problem with the episode sadly comes from its placement in the season: having the Doctor burst into Rory's stag do- hilarious as it is- and discuss his untimely snog with the latter's future wife feels jarring to the pace of the story, and really we could have done with swapping Amy's Choice and this one (not least as that would have meant Rory wouldn't have had to die in two consecutive stories, more on that later!) so that the emotive elements could have been covered and this could have become simply a 'traditional' episode of its own. Other than that, though, The Vampires Of Venice is absolutely thrilling stuff, featuring one of Matt's best performances yet as the Doctor!