This week the Tardis lands on a pirate ship. Soon the Doctor and co. find out that the ship is haunted by a siren. Cursing injured men with a black spot on the palm of their hands she calls out to them, and once they touch her, they vanish into thin air.
After this series' first two episodes, which were both very intense, propelling the series overriding story arc forward, a plain fun, stand-alone episode should come as a welcome relief. It all sounds great - a haunted pirate ship, a scary siren and a swashbuckling Amy, but the Curse Of The Black Spot fell a little flat for me.
The story seemed rushed and under-developed. The origin of the siren nurse and the spaceship she inhabits, and the logistics of how the pirates ship came to be caught in between two dimensions were never explained. The pirates were too tame and the sets were obviously just that. It ruined what could have been a creepy, unsettling atmosphere. Try as I might, it was hard to enjoy the story while being distracted by the black cloth surrounding the ship or noticing how much the sickbag scenes looked like the came from Flatliners.
I did however, like the siren effects and the wide ocean shots, both of which looked ethereal and spooky, and of course Amy made a cool pirate. The thing that annoyed me most was that one of the main characters nearly died - again. It just gets a bit old, and the shock effect wears off, seeing the same routine played out week after week.
Anyway, not a great episode, but at least we've got the much anticipated Neil Gaiman penned adventure coming up next week!
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