The Fires of Pompeii marked Donna Noble’s first adventure in
the Tardis as the Doctor’s new companion and is really revealing for anyone
trying to work out what kind of companion Donna will be. The Doctor takes Donna
to ancient Italy with the intention of showing her Rome and filling her mind
with the wonders of time travel, however the Tardis lands in Pompeii instead on
the day of Vesuvius’ eruption.
We’re once again reminded in this episode of the horrible
events of the Doctor’s past when Donna presents him with the task of trying to
evacuate the people of Pompeii who they both know will die within a day. Donna
is outraged when the Doctor tells her that they can’t save the people and
exclaims “But that's what you do, you're the Doctor, you save people!” Which
leads the Doctor to explain that he just can’t.
Doctor: “Not this time; Pompeii is a fixed point in history,
what happens happens, there is no stopping it.”
Perhaps more so than any previous companion from the modern
series, Donna really is the voice of the audience. How many times in the past
have you screamed at the screen begging the Doctor to save someone, just one
person, any one really from an explosion or mass disaster when it’s a fixed
point? Donna is beside herself with grief as she looks at the people around her
knowing what fate awaits them. Donna reminds the Doctor what it means to be
human and you feel the chemistry and connection between the two almost
immediately. 
One of the greatest things about Donna is her attitude. She
isn’t afraid to tell the Doctor how she really feels and seeing as most of the
time it is the same thing that the audience are thinking we’re all really
appreciative of it. She doesn’t fancy the Doctor, she isn’t pining after his
attention and she is intelligent funny and determined all off of her own steam.
Donna has a real sense of what’s good and what’s right and has the human
compassion that the Doctor admires so much in his companions. I can’t stress
enough how much I love this pairing. 
In the end the Doctor is once again faced with the decision
to either let the people of Pompeii die at his own hands or allow the entire
earth to burn at the hands of the Pyroviles who are holed up in the bowels of
Mount Vesuvius after their home planet of Pyrovilia was destroyed.
This episode is full of foreshadowing with the appearances
of two actors who would later become major cast members, see if you can spot
Karen Gillan amongst the soothsayers and I am sure you’ll recognise the twelfth
doctor as his role is pretty pivotal to the story.
Donna makes this episode a solid 5/5
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