Madame de Pompadour

Since everyone else seems to be enthralled with "Blink," I guess I can talk a little bit about "The Girl in the Fireplace." I'm so glad these two episodes were chosen, because they are two of my favorite stand-alone episodes as well.

Part of the reason I've always loved Doctor Who is because of the show's ability to go back in time and "meet" figures from history. If the TARDIS were real, I'd go back in time for exactly two things: to solve the mystery of the lost colony of Roanoke and to meet Julia d'Aubigny (if you don't know who she is, look her up. She's awesome!). So for this reason alone "Fireplace" is one of my favorite episodes. You get to meet Madame de Pompadour, a little-talked about, but very important figure from French history. 

A little background for those of you who aren't familiar with her story: Madame de Pompadour, or Reinette ("little queen"), was born in 1721. Married to the nephew of her guardian at the age of nineteen, she was introduced in court to King Louis XV and became his fourth royal mistress. Contrary to what you may think, the position of royal mistress granted Reinette considerable power. She was given proper titles and land, and was essentially another advisor to the king. Before her death in 1764, she planned several buildings and was a great patron of the arts and academics. The "Pompadour" hairstyle is also named after her. 

My one critique of her storyline in Doctor Who is that she's not seen to be given enough autonomy (a common complaint for all Steven Moffatt-written storyarcs). I'm not a big fan of the pretty overt damsel in distress trope played out in the episode, with the Doctor literally swooping in on a shining white horse to save her. 

What do you guys think of the episode? Bonus question: If the TARDIS were real, where would you go and why?