The Vampires of Venice

There they are intrigued by a girls' school whose students appear to be vampires and discover that they are really alien refugees in disguise, who plot to make Venice their new home.

The Sisters have vampiric traits such as sharp teeth and an aversion to light, and use perception filters that make them not show up in reflections while appearing human.

Amy devises a plan to place herself inside the school and unlock a way in for the Doctor and Rory to save Isabella, the daughter of the boat builder Guido.

That said, I can't remember who was the first person to mention vampires – I think, to be honest, it was probably me – but it was also the fact that Venice is a very dark, macabre place, full of shadows and secrets.

[8] The opening scene, which detailed Isabella's entrance to the school and the foreboding danger that came with it, was described as "classic" Doctor Who by Whithouse as it contained a "victim coming into a trap".

[10] Due to the fact it would take time to cover up all the modern shops found in present-day Venice, the episode was filmed in the coastal town of Trogir, Croatia in late 2009.

Though Trogir was on the coast, it did not have internal waterways, so the production team found they could fill a square on the street below the balcony where the characters were with computer generated water and make it part of the Grand Canal.

[8] The chamber in which the girls were taken to be turned into the Saturnynians was bathed in a green light to suggest alien technology and also ease the brief glimpse of Rosanna's true form.

In the original script a big monster rose out of the water in Isabella's death scene, but this would have been too expensive and Moffat was forced to ask Whithouse to make it "invisible".

[15] When final consolidated ratings were calculated, it was shown that the episode had been watched by a total of 7.68 million viewers, coming in fifth place on BBC One for the week.

Daniel Martin, writing for The Guardian on guardian.co.uk, described it as "beautifully shot" and went on to write: "the way every part of the vampire mythos was explained away by Who pseudo-science was delightful; the stand-off between the Doctor and Rosanna was beautifully played; the dialogue as cracking as you'd expect from Whithouse...and the climactic shot of the Doctor scaling the tower in the rain was just the correct level of broad brushstroke".

He assessed it as "better structured, funnier and more absorbing" than the previous single episode "Victory of the Daleks" and praised the comedy and acting of Alex Price.

[21] Gavin Fuller gave the episode a negative review in The Daily Telegraph, calling it "highly disappointing" and "a tragically wasted opportunity."

He criticised the writing and plot for "sheer derivativeness", noting that the opening scene was "similar in concept" to Whithouse's previous Doctor Who episode "School Reunion" and thought the "aliens-posing-as-humans idea" was taken from that script as well.

He went on to criticise Lucian Msamati as Guido as he "seemed to be taken straight out of Othello", negatively compared the love triangle between the Doctor, Amy and Rory to the storyline with previous characters Rose and Mickey, and thought the ending was too similar to "The Idiot's Lantern" and "Evolution of the Daleks".

[22] Patrick Mulkern, writing for the Radio Times, echoed Fuller's sentiments in his review, saying "I must admit I yawn at aliens disguised as humans.

However, he also thought that "the script delivers lots of heroics and funny moments for the Doctor, Amy and Rory", and he praised the "terrific cast", describing Helen McCrory as "majestic".

[23] IGN's Matt Wales rated "The Vampires of Venice" 7 out of 10, saying that it "had plenty of standout moments, even if it didn't quite manage to come together to form a completely satisfying whole".

He praised the comedy between Amy and Rory and McCrory's acting, as well as the location shots and Croatia and thought "the sci-fi retcon of classic vampire phenomenon was particularly clever", believing that the aliens went beyond two-dimensional.