Rate & Discuss: The Curse of the Black Spot

May 7th, 2011
Warning! This article and its comments may contain spoilers...

The TARDIS is marooned onboard a 17th-century pirate ship whose crew is being attacked by a mysterious and beautiful sea creature, and the Doctor must gain the trust of the implacable Captain Avery. He must work quickly, for his friends have already fallen under the Siren’s spell…

Avast me Whovian mateys, and what do we ‘ave ‘ere!? Well, a discussion for tonight’s new episode of Doctor Who, The Curse of the Black Spot, of course! It was a case of all hands on deck in the rip-roaring adventure, as the TARDIS trio took to the high seas…

As with all good pirate stories, this episode boasted an array of sword fighting, rope swinging and plank walking. Of course, it wouldn’t be a good pirate story without a strange disturbance becalming the waters, and in this case, it was the mysterious Siren, using her enchanting beauty to mystify the ship’s crew… Well, if you’ve got it, flaunt it!

It takes a lot to make a buccaneer quiver in his boots, but with them all living in fear of the dreaded black spot, it was time to batten down the hatches, discard the bottles of rum and hoist the mizzen, as the Doctor, Amy and Rory set out to solve the mystery of the “stroppy, homicidal mermaid”. That is, if they didn’t fall under her spell themselves…

So, did the episode deliver the booty? Is a pirate’s life for you? Did it make you a Jolly Roger, or should everyone involved be made to walk the plank to be fed to the fish? Did it push the boat out? Leave YOUR mark in the comments, whether it left you feeling sea sick, chanting “Yo ho ho!”, or using your remote control as a makeshift sword! Ahoy!

Rate this episode
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(44 Votes, Average: 3.73/5)
73 comments on this article
  1. vaguely
    May 7th, 2011 at 7.09pm | #1

    Amy. In a pirate suit.

    Thank you Messrs Moffat and Thomson. Thank you.

  2. TeamStetson
    May 7th, 2011 at 7.12pm | #2

    Simply AWESOME!!

  3. TWWL
    May 7th, 2011 at 7.12pm | #3

    After two outstanding opening episodes, this crashed back down to Earth. It wasn’t BAD, it was just a bit normal, there wasn’t much to distinguish it. Every series has a few of them, this is the first of this run; let’s hope Gaiman delivers something rather more special and engaging next week.

    It’s a six out of ten on this one.

  4. Patrick
    May 7th, 2011 at 7.15pm | #4

    It wasn’t the greatest of episodes but had interesting points mainly at the end with the Doctor doing the pregnancy scan (again), amy remembering what happened on the beach and the re-appearance of the mysterious woman from Day of the Moon did not expect that but wasn’t great but had some ok moments.

  5. Rose
    May 7th, 2011 at 7.19pm | #5

    I enjoyed this episode after the first two episodes, which were full of action and adventure. This one was just plain normal Doctor Who with little elements of danger and heartbreak as well. A nice little bridge really to relax our minds cause 4,5/6 and 7 look like they are going to be EPIC :D

    7/10 for me

  6. shawn
    May 7th, 2011 at 7.21pm | #6

    i thought it was brillient but im more interested in the silver eye patch woman madame kovarian i wonder if there going to do another river song type caractor with her that u have to wait and wait to find out who she is

  7. Lisa-Marie
    May 7th, 2011 at 7.26pm | #7

    I admit, it wasn’t the best episode ever BUT it did drop massive hints about there being 2 universes, 2 ships, 2 doctors 2 EVERYTHING!!
    Maybe even 2 Amy’s?
    One pregnant one not and that is why the TARDIS cannot decide which one she is.
    Surely the TARDIS will know, or be able to track, if there is another one hanging around out there….

    Just a theory, as always :(

  8. Sam
    May 7th, 2011 at 7.42pm | #8

    It was a good episode, but it just didn’t catch me like the last two did. The Siren being a doctor was a nice touch though, but it was freaky when she went from blue to red. It really got me watching when Amy started swashbuckling- loved the Doctor’s face! Overall, it was a good episode, maybe the pirate ship could bump into the Titanic one day. I can’t wait for the next episode!

  9. Song
    May 7th, 2011 at 8.09pm | #9

    Agree with @Lisa-Marie, think it was a big hint at the possible answer a lot of the mysteries but still a lot unknown. Wasn’t my fave episode ever but next week’s looks great.

  10. Last_of_the_timelords
    May 7th, 2011 at 8.16pm | #10

    episode was good, but not as good as the previous two, the lady amy keeps seeing is very interesting cant wait to see how that turns out, and the pregnancy too. 7/10

  11. shawn
    May 7th, 2011 at 8.26pm | #11

    does anyone have any idea who the silver eye patch lady is ?

  12. PRB
    May 7th, 2011 at 8.33pm | #12

    Oh, I really liked it!

    Being “average Doctor Who” isn’t a bad thing; in fact it’s just what the series needed at this point. Moff’s great at striking a balance. Maybe a second viewing is needed for some. Then another viewing at the end of the series, to see how it fits in line with everything?

    C’mon people: ‘Average’ Doctor Who is brilliant.

  13. PRB
    May 7th, 2011 at 8.34pm | #13

    Oh, and after mulling over what the Eyepatch Woman said in ep 2… I hope Amy’s not just dreaming all this.

    No, no, can’t be; Steven Moffat’s too clever for that.

  14. The silence
    May 7th, 2011 at 8.48pm | #14

    I think it served its purpose perfectly: A short and simple but also fun Doctor who story.

    It took me back to the girl in the fireplace at times(one of my first Who Stories).

  15. The silence
    May 7th, 2011 at 8.49pm | #15

    @shawn
    I think shes Amys midwife. She talks about “keeping calm” and says “Your doing fine”.

  16. Patrick
    May 7th, 2011 at 8.52pm | #16

    @shawn
    No-one knows. This is another mystery but some seemed to think it was River Song and it kinda did look like her a little bit. But we’ve no idea. But the eye patch lady is coming back in episode 8 – a character called Madame Kovarian played by Frances Barber who appeared in episode 2 and 3 as eye patch lady.

  17. Patrick
    May 7th, 2011 at 8.54pm | #17

    @The silence
    yeah it reminded me of that episode as well. especially the whole 2 worlds thing. like girl in the fireplace episode there was france in the 18th century or something but on the other side some kind of spaceship. i know im not making much sense sorry lol

  18. Ellen
    May 7th, 2011 at 9.12pm | #18

    It was brill just brill and the end was a cliffhanger :D 5 stars

  19. blakey
    May 7th, 2011 at 9.55pm | #19

    this episode was good, but not as good as i thought it would be. But at the end of the day what do you expect i mean it’s a pirate ship with pirates with a siren and a ghost you can’t possibly expect more from that. There were a lot of hints dropped throughout, yeah i agree that the eyepatch lady is Amy’s midwife in the future and i believ she is currently pregnant. Im still sticking to my theory that it’s the Doctor who’s the father of the baby. Im actually a bit curious in the next episode that the other ‘time lord out there’ Idris is either the baby/little girl grown up or re-generated, but on the other hand she might actually be the Doctor’s wife that’s what puts me off. I really enjoyed rory in this episode,especially when he said “I want a beard!” and Amy Pond complete with sword classic! I wanted to hear Lily Cole (the siren) speak though it would have made it more eerie :) it’s not my fave but i really enjoyed it just kinda ****** off we still don’t know if Amy’s pregnant yet haha but hopefully we find out before summer

  20. shawn
    May 7th, 2011 at 9.58pm | #20

    @The silence
    i never thought about that theroy before thanks i thought she was river r something but then thought it cant be

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