Donna's first-time travelling adventure takes her back to the devastating eruption of Pompeii, addresses one of the shows key conceits and has both a future companion and Doctor amongst it's cast.
Heading for ancient Rome, The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna (Catherine Tate) instead find themselves in Pompeii on the eve of the eruption. The pair clash over the possibility of warning everyone about the impending doom, but are interrupted when the Tardis is sold to a local merchant, Caecilius (Peter Capaldi). Caecilius' daughter Evelina (Francesca Fowler) is one of a number of Soothsayers in the town suddenly able to predict the future with prodigious accuracy, but all are blind to the fate that awaits them the following day.
Though the Doctor disagreed with and disappointed his previous two companions at times, this is the first time that I can recall that one stands up to him and ignores what he says, let alone gets him to change his mind about what to do. The story does present Donna with a very different type of scenario, a fixed point in time disaster, which she naturally tries to save as many people as possible and not understanding why the Doctor doesn't want to help. Her strong performance helps sell this. The plot though revolves around another displaced race whose planet has disappeared (foreshadowing!!!) and who are hiding in the volcano. It's fine, and the visual effects are OK - but it all ends rather abruptly.
Peter Capaldi appears, in a bit of a paradox that the show will actually go on to address. Karen Gillen appears too as one of the priestesses, but she is under enough make up that it's never needed to be sorted out.
It was a solid and potentially interesting episode, but unfortunately fell a bit short at the end with the hurried conclusion.