The Curse of the Black Spot
Encyclopedia
"The Curse of the Black Spot" is the third episode of the sixth series
of the British science fiction
television series Doctor Who
. Written by Stephen Thompson
, and directed by Jeremy Webb, the episode was first broadcast on 7 May 2011 on BBC One
in the United Kingdom and on BBC America
in the United States. It features alien time traveller the Doctor
(Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond
(Karen Gillan
) and her husband Rory Williams
(Arthur Darvill
).
In the episode, the TARDIS
materialises in the 17th century on board a pirate
ship whose crew is being terrorised by a Siren
-like creature. After receiving an injury, however minor, a black spot appears on their palms and then the creature apparently disintegrates them.
The producers wished to develop a pirate-themed episode for the sixth series and allow the protagonists to "sit back and have some fun" on the adventure. The episode was primarily filmed at a dock in Cornwall
and Upper Boat Studios
in Wales. "The Curse of the Black Spot" was seen by 7.85 million viewers and received generally mixed reviews from critics. It gained an audience Appreciation Index of 86 - considered excellent.
, the TARDIS lands aboard a 17th century pirate
ship stranded in the middle of a calm ocean. The ship's crew have been terrorised by a Siren-like creature (Lily Cole
) who marks people with black spots on their palms after they are injured. Her song then lulls victims into a trance, making them want to go to her, which apparently disintegrates them. Rory Williams
(Arthur Darvill
) receives a cut during a tussle with the pirates, and finds a black spot on his hand. He is prevented from succumbing to the song of the Siren by Amy Pond
(Karen Gillan
) and the Doctor
(Matt Smith).
Surmising the Siren is using water as a portal, the Doctor instructs everyone to seek refuge in the ship's dry magazine
. There, they find Toby Avery (Oscar Lloyd
), the son of the ship's captain Henry Avery
(Hugh Bonneville
), who stowed away on the ship in order to join the crew after his mother died, unaware of his father's illicit deeds. He too has a black spot on his palm due to a fever
. In an attempt to escape, the Doctor and Avery board the TARDIS, but find it is acting haphazardly, and are forced to evacuate, and they watch as it dematerializes by itself. After another shipmate is taken by the Siren in a dry room, the Doctor realises the Siren is actually using reflection
to appear. In response they rid the ship of any reflective surfaces, including the ship's stolen treasure.
When a storm begins, those who remain on the ship start to set sail. Toby drops a polished crown while bringing his father a coat. The Siren is summoned and takes Toby. Soon, Rory falls into the ocean, and the Doctor rationalises that the Siren has shown intelligence and will likely get to Rory before he drowns. Believing the victims are not dead, the Doctor convinces Avery and Amy to prick themselves. The Doctor's suspicions are confirmed when the Siren's touch actually teleports
them to an alien spaceship, invisible in the same spot the pirate ship is located.
The Doctor finds the spaceship's crew long dead from exposure to a human virus
. The trio then discover a sickbay where Avery's entire crew, Toby and Rory are in medical care. The Siren turns out to be the ship's emergency medical programme, which is caring for the injured humans; the black spots are tissue samples used as references. Amy convinces the Siren to release Rory into her care. Using Rory's nursing knowledge, Amy and the Doctor remove him from life support
and are able to resuscitate him. Meanwhile, Avery decides to stay with his son and his crew, unable to go back to England himself while the ship will care for his crew. Avery takes the helm of the spaceship and, along with Toby and his crew, sets off to explore the stars.
, which deals with the search for "Avery's gold". "The Curse of the Black Spot" re-asserts unresolved plot points from the previous two episodes, "The Impossible Astronaut
" and "Day of the Moon
"; Amy and Rory express concern over the Doctor's future death, the Eye Patch Lady appears briefly to Amy and the Doctor again uses the TARDIS scanner to perform a pregnancy test on Amy, the results of which remain unclear.
actor Hugh Bonneville would make a guest appearance as a "pirate captain" in an episode of the sixth series of Doctor Who. Matt Smith and Karen Gillan felt that working with the actor was "great fun." He previously played Sir Sidney Herbert
and Tzar Nicholas I of Russia
in the Seventh Doctor
audio drama The Angel of Scutari
. Later in February 2011, it was announced actress and model Lily Cole was cast as a sea creature. The producers were looking for an actress who is "beautiful," "striking," and yet somewhat "spooky." Cole came early into the casting suggestions, and accepted the role when she was approached.
The episode was written by Stephen Thompson
. The producers wished to develop a Doctor Who episode set on "the high seas." The episode was also made to allow the Doctor and his companions to "kick back and have some fun." As the episode was pirate-themed, the producers wanted to fit in as many elements as possible from pirate fiction, including treasure
, mutinies
, a stowaway boy, walking the plank
, storms, swords, and a pirate with a "good heart" who "isn't really evil." "The Curse of the Black Spot" was originally planned to be ninth in the series, but was moved forward prior to filming.
and the Upper Boat Studios
in Wales. The exterior of the pirate ship was filmed at a dock in Cornwall, while the lower decks were built from a set at the studio. The principal challenge to film at the dock was to ensure the audience would not see it. The crew set up smoke machines to simulate fog
. To create the storm the crew used wind and rain machines, the latter of which went through 15,000 litres of water. The loud noise from the wind machines caused communication difficulties during takes. Anticipating they would get soaked, the cast present on the deck wore dry suits underneath their clothes. Before filming began on the storm sequences, Darvill heard that he would perform the stunt where he is thrown into the sea, and was willing to perform it. The stunt would later be performed by a double.
The scenes in which Cole appeared on the ship were done by using a harness as if she was flying. Because the actress wore green dress and makeup, the normal greenscreen
was replaced by bluescreens in the studio. Cole felt it was fun to fly on the harness, but found it painful after a few hours. Gillan was allowed to perform several of her own stunts in the episode. She was excited to learn that her character would fight pirates with swords, and was taught how to handle one with basic moves. Gillan was also allowed to swing across the ship. However, a stunt double was required to film the sequence where Amy is thrown across the deck by the Siren. The sickbay set was also built in a studio. Because the beds were attached to strings, they were prone to swaying. The cast members who were asked to lie on the beds were instructed to stay still and not breathe heavily to limit movement.
in the United Kingdom on Saturday, 7 May 2011, from 6:15 pm to 7pm. It was shown on BBC America
in the United States the same day as the UK broadcast. In the UK, the episode received preliminary overnight ratings of 6.21 million viewers. Based on these estimated figures, viewership was up by 800,000 from "Day of the Moon". Final consolidated ratings for the episode increased to 7.85 million viewers, with a 35.5 pre cent audience share. It was the second largest audience of the night, behind Britain's Got Talent
on ITV1
. In addition nearly one million viewed the episode on BBC iPlayer
. It was given an Appreciation Index
of 86, placing it in the "excellent" category.
thought that "The Curse of the Black Spot" was "a little bit anticlimax" in comparison to the opening two-part episode of the series, though it was "a nice old-fashioned runaround bolstered by some high concepts and cute moments", much like the classic episodes. He praised Lily Cole as the Siren but criticised the character of Avery. Martin later rated it the worst episode of the series, though the finale
was not included in the list. IGN
's Matt Risley gave it an overall "good" score of 7 out of 10, admitting that there were "some great lines" and the "Space Pirate" twist was "a refreshingly sci-fi spin on the well-worn genre plot", but he criticised the Siren for lacking qualities to become "a credible and terrifying Who villain".
Gavin Fuller of The Daily Telegraph
did not feel the episode was believable enough, citing Bonneville's performance, saying he "didn't come across as a ruthless, greedy killer despite what his crew claimed of him," and if the crew had been "nastier," it could have given more potency to the Siren threat. Fuller felt that Cole did "a decent enough job," claiming that the Siren was the "best-realised thing" about the episode, "only slightly ahead of Karen Gillan looking very fetching in a pirate outfit." Simon Brew of Den of Geek started by comparing the episode to Lost
"massive, intriguing" cliffhangers, "and then sauntered off to other less interesting stuff," mainly criticising that the little girl's regeneration
in "Day of the Moon" was left unresolved. However, Brew "still enjoyed" "The Curse of the Black Spot", reacting positively to the episode's production values and the reveal of the black spots. Nick Setchfield of the science-fiction based magazine SFX opined that the high points of the episode were that it was "high on shivery maritime atmosphere," and the Doctor for not being "in instant possession of all the facts, but who reloads his thinking as events unfold." However, Setchfield was critical of the story, claiming "pirates and Who should be as combustive a mix as gunpowder and a trusty flintlock, but ultimately this grog-time yarn falls short of its promise."
Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy
wrote "following on from that game-changing two-part premiere, this week's Doctor Who provides us with a real change of pace, with a moody and atmospheric pre-titles sequence setting the scene for a far more traditional adventure." Jeffery praised the performance of Bonneville, but was critical of Cole's role for her not being "given much to do except float around and look ethereal," but added "the English model certainly looks the part, with well-judged special effects aiding her performance as the beautiful yet unsettling Siren." Jeffery also thought that Amy's revival of Rory was "well-acted by both Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill," but criticised the series for the numerous "Rory's dead" scenes, negatively comparing Rory with the South Park
character Kenny McCormick
. Jeffery rated the episode three stars out of five for being somewhat underwhelming in comparison with "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon".
Doctor Who (series 6)
The sixth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who was shown in two parts. The first seven episodes were broadcast from April to June 2011 and the final six episodes from August to October. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill continued their roles as The Doctor, Amy...
of the British science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. Written by Stephen Thompson
Stephen Thompson (writer)
Stephen Thompson, born in 1966, sometimes credited as Steve Thompson, is a British playwright and screenwriter. He trained on the RADA playwrights' course, and his first play, Damages was performed at the Bush Theatre in 2004, winning the Arts Council's Meyer-Whitworth Award for new writing...
, and directed by Jeremy Webb, the episode was first broadcast on 7 May 2011 on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
in the United Kingdom and on BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...
in the United States. It features alien time traveller the Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
(Matt Smith) and his companions Amy Pond
Amy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
(Karen Gillan
Karen Gillan
Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress and former model who is best known for her current portrayal of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
) and her husband Rory Williams
Rory Williams
Rory Williams is a fictional character portrayed by Arthur Darvill in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Having been introduced at the start of the 5th series, Rory joins the Eleventh Doctor as a companion in the middle of Series 5...
(Arthur Darvill
Arthur Darvill
Thomas Arthur Darvill is an English actor, known professionally as Arthur Darvill. He is noted for his work in the plays Terre Haute and Swimming with Sharks , but is probably best known for his role as the Eleventh Doctor's Companion Rory Williams in the television series Doctor Who.-Early and...
).
In the episode, the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
materialises in the 17th century on board a pirate
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
ship whose crew is being terrorised by a Siren
Siren
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous mermaid like creatures, portrayed as seductresses who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. Roman poets placed them on an island called Sirenum scopuli...
-like creature. After receiving an injury, however minor, a black spot appears on their palms and then the creature apparently disintegrates them.
The producers wished to develop a pirate-themed episode for the sixth series and allow the protagonists to "sit back and have some fun" on the adventure. The episode was primarily filmed at a dock in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and Upper Boat Studios
Upper Boat Studios
Upper Boat Studios is a television studio complex operated by BBC Wales and based in Upper Boat, a village on the outskirts of Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales. The studios were officially opened on 27 July 2006 by Welsh Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies, for the purpose of producing Doctor...
in Wales. "The Curse of the Black Spot" was seen by 7.85 million viewers and received generally mixed reviews from critics. It gained an audience Appreciation Index of 86 - considered excellent.
Prequel
On 30 April 2011, immediately following the broadcast of "Day of the Moon", the BBC released a "prequel" to "The Curse of the Black Spot". The prequel consists of a short montage of atmospheric shots of the pirate ship, bridged by a narration in the form of Captain Avery's journal for "April the first, 1699; the good ship Fancy." Avery describes how his ship has been becalmed for eight days, and the crew are being taken one by one by "an enemy"; he fears that they are all doomed to die there.Synopsis
Following a distress signalDistress signal
A distress signal is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals take the form of or are commonly made by using radio signals, displaying a visually detected item or illumination, or making an audible sound, from a distance....
, the TARDIS lands aboard a 17th century pirate
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
ship stranded in the middle of a calm ocean. The ship's crew have been terrorised by a Siren-like creature (Lily Cole
Lily Cole
Lily Luahana Cole is an English model and actress. Cole's modelling career was launched by a chance encounter with Benjamin Hart in Soho, London when she was 14....
) who marks people with black spots on their palms after they are injured. Her song then lulls victims into a trance, making them want to go to her, which apparently disintegrates them. Rory Williams
Rory Williams
Rory Williams is a fictional character portrayed by Arthur Darvill in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Having been introduced at the start of the 5th series, Rory joins the Eleventh Doctor as a companion in the middle of Series 5...
(Arthur Darvill
Arthur Darvill
Thomas Arthur Darvill is an English actor, known professionally as Arthur Darvill. He is noted for his work in the plays Terre Haute and Swimming with Sharks , but is probably best known for his role as the Eleventh Doctor's Companion Rory Williams in the television series Doctor Who.-Early and...
) receives a cut during a tussle with the pirates, and finds a black spot on his hand. He is prevented from succumbing to the song of the Siren by Amy Pond
Amy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
(Karen Gillan
Karen Gillan
Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress and former model who is best known for her current portrayal of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
) and the Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
(Matt Smith).
Surmising the Siren is using water as a portal, the Doctor instructs everyone to seek refuge in the ship's dry magazine
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
. There, they find Toby Avery (Oscar Lloyd
Oscar Lloyd
Oscar Lloyd is a young British actor from Seaford. In early 2009, at the age of 12, he started starring in Emmerdale as the character of Will Wylde, son of Mark and Natasha Wylde; he left in January 2011...
), the son of the ship's captain Henry Avery
Henry Every
Henry Every, also Avery or Avary, , sometimes given as John Avery, was an English pirate who operated in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans in the mid-1690s. He likely used several aliases throughout his career, including Benjamin Bridgeman, and was known as Long Ben to his crewmen and associates...
(Hugh Bonneville
Hugh Bonneville
Hugh Richard Bonneville Williams, known professionally as Hugh Bonneville , is an English stage, film, television and radio actor.-Education:...
), who stowed away on the ship in order to join the crew after his mother died, unaware of his father's illicit deeds. He too has a black spot on his palm due to a fever
Fever
Fever is a common medical sign characterized by an elevation of temperature above the normal range of due to an increase in the body temperature regulatory set-point. This increase in set-point triggers increased muscle tone and shivering.As a person's temperature increases, there is, in...
. In an attempt to escape, the Doctor and Avery board the TARDIS, but find it is acting haphazardly, and are forced to evacuate, and they watch as it dematerializes by itself. After another shipmate is taken by the Siren in a dry room, the Doctor realises the Siren is actually using reflection
Reflection (physics)
Reflection is the change in direction of a wavefront at an interface between two differentmedia so that the wavefront returns into the medium from which it originated. Common examples include the reflection of light, sound and water waves...
to appear. In response they rid the ship of any reflective surfaces, including the ship's stolen treasure.
When a storm begins, those who remain on the ship start to set sail. Toby drops a polished crown while bringing his father a coat. The Siren is summoned and takes Toby. Soon, Rory falls into the ocean, and the Doctor rationalises that the Siren has shown intelligence and will likely get to Rory before he drowns. Believing the victims are not dead, the Doctor convinces Avery and Amy to prick themselves. The Doctor's suspicions are confirmed when the Siren's touch actually teleports
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
them to an alien spaceship, invisible in the same spot the pirate ship is located.
The Doctor finds the spaceship's crew long dead from exposure to a human virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
. The trio then discover a sickbay where Avery's entire crew, Toby and Rory are in medical care. The Siren turns out to be the ship's emergency medical programme, which is caring for the injured humans; the black spots are tissue samples used as references. Amy convinces the Siren to release Rory into her care. Using Rory's nursing knowledge, Amy and the Doctor remove him from life support
Life support
Life support, in medicine is a broad term that applies to any therapy used to sustain a patient's life while they are critically ill or injured. There are many therapies and techniques that may be used by clinicians to achieve the goal of sustaining life...
and are able to resuscitate him. Meanwhile, Avery decides to stay with his son and his crew, unable to go back to England himself while the ship will care for his crew. Avery takes the helm of the spaceship and, along with Toby and his crew, sets off to explore the stars.
Continuity
The historical pirate Henry Avery was previously mentioned in the 1966 serial The SmugglersThe Smugglers
The Smugglers is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 10 September to 1 October 1966.-Plot:...
, which deals with the search for "Avery's gold". "The Curse of the Black Spot" re-asserts unresolved plot points from the previous two episodes, "The Impossible Astronaut
The Impossible Astronaut
"The Impossible Astronaut" is the first episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 23 April 2011 in the United Kingdom, as well as the United States...
" and "Day of the Moon
Day of the Moon
"Day of the Moon" is the second episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Toby Haynes, the episode was first broadcast on 30 April 2011 on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on BBC America in the...
"; Amy and Rory express concern over the Doctor's future death, the Eye Patch Lady appears briefly to Amy and the Doctor again uses the TARDIS scanner to perform a pregnancy test on Amy, the results of which remain unclear.
Writing and casting
In January 2011, it was announced that Downton AbbeyDownton Abbey
Downton Abbey is a British television period drama series, produced by NBC Universal-owned British media company Carnival Films for the ITV network. The series is set during the late Edwardian era and the First World War on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in Yorkshire, and features an...
actor Hugh Bonneville would make a guest appearance as a "pirate captain" in an episode of the sixth series of Doctor Who. Matt Smith and Karen Gillan felt that working with the actor was "great fun." He previously played Sir Sidney Herbert
Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea
Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea PC was an English statesman and a close ally and confidante of Florence Nightingale.-Early life:...
and Tzar Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
in the Seventh Doctor
Seventh Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is the seventh incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He was portrayed by the actor Sylvester McCoy....
audio drama The Angel of Scutari
The Angel of Scutari
The Angel of Scutari is a Big Finish Productions audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
. Later in February 2011, it was announced actress and model Lily Cole was cast as a sea creature. The producers were looking for an actress who is "beautiful," "striking," and yet somewhat "spooky." Cole came early into the casting suggestions, and accepted the role when she was approached.
The episode was written by Stephen Thompson
Stephen Thompson (writer)
Stephen Thompson, born in 1966, sometimes credited as Steve Thompson, is a British playwright and screenwriter. He trained on the RADA playwrights' course, and his first play, Damages was performed at the Bush Theatre in 2004, winning the Arts Council's Meyer-Whitworth Award for new writing...
. The producers wished to develop a Doctor Who episode set on "the high seas." The episode was also made to allow the Doctor and his companions to "kick back and have some fun." As the episode was pirate-themed, the producers wanted to fit in as many elements as possible from pirate fiction, including treasure
Treasure
Treasure is a concentration of riches, often one which is considered lost or forgotten until being rediscovered...
, mutinies
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
, a stowaway boy, walking the plank
Walking the plank
Walking the plank was a form of murder or torture thought to have been practiced by pirates, mutineers and other rogue seafarers. The victim was forced to walk off the end of a wooden plank or beam, the final six feet of which extended over the side of a ship...
, storms, swords, and a pirate with a "good heart" who "isn't really evil." "The Curse of the Black Spot" was originally planned to be ninth in the series, but was moved forward prior to filming.
Filming and effects
Filming took place primarily in CornwallCornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and the Upper Boat Studios
Upper Boat Studios
Upper Boat Studios is a television studio complex operated by BBC Wales and based in Upper Boat, a village on the outskirts of Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales. The studios were officially opened on 27 July 2006 by Welsh Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies, for the purpose of producing Doctor...
in Wales. The exterior of the pirate ship was filmed at a dock in Cornwall, while the lower decks were built from a set at the studio. The principal challenge to film at the dock was to ensure the audience would not see it. The crew set up smoke machines to simulate fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
. To create the storm the crew used wind and rain machines, the latter of which went through 15,000 litres of water. The loud noise from the wind machines caused communication difficulties during takes. Anticipating they would get soaked, the cast present on the deck wore dry suits underneath their clothes. Before filming began on the storm sequences, Darvill heard that he would perform the stunt where he is thrown into the sea, and was willing to perform it. The stunt would later be performed by a double.
The scenes in which Cole appeared on the ship were done by using a harness as if she was flying. Because the actress wore green dress and makeup, the normal greenscreen
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
was replaced by bluescreens in the studio. Cole felt it was fun to fly on the harness, but found it painful after a few hours. Gillan was allowed to perform several of her own stunts in the episode. She was excited to learn that her character would fight pirates with swords, and was taught how to handle one with basic moves. Gillan was also allowed to swing across the ship. However, a stunt double was required to film the sequence where Amy is thrown across the deck by the Siren. The sickbay set was also built in a studio. Because the beds were attached to strings, they were prone to swaying. The cast members who were asked to lie on the beds were instructed to stay still and not breathe heavily to limit movement.
Broadcast and ratings
"The Curse of the Black Spot" was first broadcast on BBC OneBBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
in the United Kingdom on Saturday, 7 May 2011, from 6:15 pm to 7pm. It was shown on BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...
in the United States the same day as the UK broadcast. In the UK, the episode received preliminary overnight ratings of 6.21 million viewers. Based on these estimated figures, viewership was up by 800,000 from "Day of the Moon". Final consolidated ratings for the episode increased to 7.85 million viewers, with a 35.5 pre cent audience share. It was the second largest audience of the night, behind Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...
on ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
. In addition nearly one million viewed the episode on BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer, commonly shortened to iPlayer, is an internet television and radio service, developed by the BBC to extend its former RealPlayer-based and other streamed video clip content to include whole TV shows....
. It was given an Appreciation Index
Appreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
of 86, placing it in the "excellent" category.
Critical reception
The episode was met with generally mixed reviews from television critics. Dan Martin of The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
thought that "The Curse of the Black Spot" was "a little bit anticlimax" in comparison to the opening two-part episode of the series, though it was "a nice old-fashioned runaround bolstered by some high concepts and cute moments", much like the classic episodes. He praised Lily Cole as the Siren but criticised the character of Avery. Martin later rated it the worst episode of the series, though the finale
The Wedding of River Song
"The Wedding of River Song" is the thirteenth and final episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, BBC America and Space on 1 October 2011.-Plot:...
was not included in the list. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Matt Risley gave it an overall "good" score of 7 out of 10, admitting that there were "some great lines" and the "Space Pirate" twist was "a refreshingly sci-fi spin on the well-worn genre plot", but he criticised the Siren for lacking qualities to become "a credible and terrifying Who villain".
Gavin Fuller of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
did not feel the episode was believable enough, citing Bonneville's performance, saying he "didn't come across as a ruthless, greedy killer despite what his crew claimed of him," and if the crew had been "nastier," it could have given more potency to the Siren threat. Fuller felt that Cole did "a decent enough job," claiming that the Siren was the "best-realised thing" about the episode, "only slightly ahead of Karen Gillan looking very fetching in a pirate outfit." Simon Brew of Den of Geek started by comparing the episode to Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
"massive, intriguing" cliffhangers, "and then sauntered off to other less interesting stuff," mainly criticising that the little girl's regeneration
Regeneration (Doctor Who)
Regeneration, in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, is a biological ability exhibited by Time Lords, a race of fictional humanoids originating on the planet Gallifrey. This process allows a Time Lord who is old or mortally wounded to undergo a transformation into a new...
in "Day of the Moon" was left unresolved. However, Brew "still enjoyed" "The Curse of the Black Spot", reacting positively to the episode's production values and the reveal of the black spots. Nick Setchfield of the science-fiction based magazine SFX opined that the high points of the episode were that it was "high on shivery maritime atmosphere," and the Doctor for not being "in instant possession of all the facts, but who reloads his thinking as events unfold." However, Setchfield was critical of the story, claiming "pirates and Who should be as combustive a mix as gunpowder and a trusty flintlock, but ultimately this grog-time yarn falls short of its promise."
Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
wrote "following on from that game-changing two-part premiere, this week's Doctor Who provides us with a real change of pace, with a moody and atmospheric pre-titles sequence setting the scene for a far more traditional adventure." Jeffery praised the performance of Bonneville, but was critical of Cole's role for her not being "given much to do except float around and look ethereal," but added "the English model certainly looks the part, with well-judged special effects aiding her performance as the beautiful yet unsettling Siren." Jeffery also thought that Amy's revival of Rory was "well-acted by both Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill," but criticised the series for the numerous "Rory's dead" scenes, negatively comparing Rory with the South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
character Kenny McCormick
Kenny McCormick
Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is one of the four central characters along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His oft-muffled and indiscernible speech—the result of his parka hood covering his...
. Jeffery rated the episode three stars out of five for being somewhat underwhelming in comparison with "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon".