Mira (The Fires of Pompeii)
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Mirafor other, similarly-named pages.
Mira the Soothsayer (PROSE: The Fires of Pompeii [+]Loading...["The Fires of Pompeii (novelisation)"]) was a member of the Sibylline Sisterhood in Pompeii in 79 AD.
Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]
Early life[[edit] | [edit source]]
Mira remembered being an observant child. Her family were often ridiculed for their beliefs. She was five years old when the Pyroviles arrived, and saw the sudden change in culture: when the visions of augurs became accurate, they were suddenly revered. (PROSE: The Fires of Pompeii [+]Loading...["The Fires of Pompeii (novelisation)"])
Arrival of the Blue Box[[edit] | [edit source]]
Mira had eyes painted on the back of her hands, a sign of the cult. She had psychic powers from breathing in dust from Vesuvius that was converting her into one of the Pyroviles, and could see through time because of the rift activity there.
She was the first of the Sisterhood to see the TARDIS, or "Blue Box", which had appeared in one of their original prophecies. She communed with Spurrina telepathically to alert the Sisters about the arrival of the Blue Box. (TV: The Fires of Pompeii [+]Loading...["The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)"])
Mira doubted her Sisters' judgement for the first time when the High Priestess dismissed the Sibylline Oracles as outdated, and promised an endless empire of Pompeii, despite the recent omens, and gained approval from Spurrina. (PROSE: The Fires of Pompeii [+]Loading...["The Fires of Pompeii (novelisation)"]) She was killed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius the following day. (PROSE: Doctor Who: The Encyclopedia [+]Loading...{"ed":"2011","1":"Doctor Who: The Encyclopedia (reference book)"})
Appearance[[edit] | [edit source]]
One account described the Soothsayer's appearance as having a "Pond-y air to her". (GAME: The Fires of Pompeii [+]Loading...["The Fires of Pompeii (game)"])
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Karen Gillan was later cast as Amy Pond, first companion of the Eleventh Doctor, beginning in series 5. Coincidentally, Amy had an affinity for Romans. Unlike other guest actors who later played more prominent characters (such as Lalla Ward or Freema Agyeman), no attempt was made, either on-screen or in behind-the-scenes interviews, to connect Mira the Soothsayer to Amy. Incidentally, Amy's History Hunt [+]Loading...["Amy's History Hunt (video game)"] establishes that the Eleventh Doctor had told Amy of the events of The Fires of Pompeii.
- Mira is only named in James Moran's The Fires of Pompeii [+]Loading...["The Fires of Pompeii (novelisation)"]. This was not derived from any information given in the televised version.
- An introduction to The Fires of Pompeii published in TCH 57 speculated that spatial genetic multiplicity could explain any in-universe resemblance between Mira and Amy Pond.[1]
