Doctor Who: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship – series 33, episode two

SPOILER ALERT: This weekly blog is for those who have been watching the new series of Doctor Who. Don’t read ahead if you haven’t seen episode two – Dinosaurs on a Spaceship Dan Martin’s episode one blog “I’m riding a dinosaur on a spaceship, I only came round to fix your light.” Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? The only way this could have been more of a riot is if Samuel L Jackson had turned up. Fandom will probably hate Dinosaurs on a Spaceship. Yes, it was flimsy and, yes, it was pretty much a story built around a title. The producers have admitted as much. But second episodes are supposed to be fun – and you only have to think back to The Curse of the Black Spot to realise that this is the finest episode two from Doctor Who in some time. It looked hugely expensive – with both the dinosaurs and the Silurian craft beautifully realised – while Chris Chibnall ‘s most accomplished Who script to date proved not only incredibly funny, but managed to carry the title over a whole episode. So much was packed in: Silurians! The India Space Agency! A randy Queen Nefertiti! Rory’s dad! Camp dreadnoughts with the voices of Mitchell and Webb! How wrong can you go with that sort of thing? “Egyptian queen or not, I should put you over my knee and spank you!” This episode also served as this series’ “celebrity historical” adventure while still managing to sidestep the requirement to feign historical accuracy. Which is a bit of a shame because I’d dearly love to see a Doctor Who story set in Ancient Egypt; the business with the giant weapon-bearing alien maggot thing will have to be left to the imagination. I like the idea of the Doctor’s gang – like a sitcom version of the army he raised in A Good Man Goes to War – and Mark Williams’s performance of a human bewildered by all of this was lovely (and highlighted how used to everything Amy and Rory now are). Rupert Graves, meanwhile channelled something of the Brigadier as game-hunter Riddell. And there was a cute riff on history – Queen Nefertiti really did vanish from the historical records in 1336BC. “Piracy, the genocide …” The dinosaurs, of course, were not the baddies here, with the tearjerking triceratops death scene reminiscent of The Land Before Time . But in David Bradley’s Solomon we had one of the most unpleasant villains in recent memory. And as funny as the episode was, the whole thing was undercut with a darkness that was almost disturbing enough to ruin everything. The line about “breaking in Nefertiti”, for instance, was laced with a dark sexuality that felt completely inappropriate. Perhaps it was intended as some justification for the Doctor’s merciless decision to leave the old letch for the missiles. But that was a hugely un-Doctorish move, and I’m not sure how I feel about that, either. Could it be intended to feed into the themes revealed in the trailer for next week’s western episode – with the Doctor getting emo over the question of his mercy? Pond watch Amy and Rory are getting seriously good at this. Amy even plays the Doctor to Neffy and Riddell (nice line about flirting companions, too), and even Rory has developed enough aptitude as a Tardisnaut to show his dad the ropes (inadvertently earning his respect for his profession etc etc etc). But the foreshadowing of their exit continues: with the Doctor zinging in and out of their lives, Amy can’t settle. And, really, why would she keep quitting jobs? That modelling looked like a right cushy number. Fear factor Dinosaurs on a Spaceship may have been a great many things, but scary it was not. Mysteries and questions • No sign of Oswin this episode, although plenty of interesting theories last week about the nature of her return. I think we can safely say that her appearance was intended as part of a mystery and not a casting accident, and I’m going with the “person fractured through time” theory. Meanwhile, could the Silurians be a part of this year’s arc? We know that Neve Macintosh is back later in the series as Madame Vastra . Time-space debris • Of course, we’ve already seen dinosaurs on a ship, of sorts, before if you count the Drashig from the 1973 Pertwee story Carnival of Monsters . • Everyone’s speculating about Benedict Cumberbatch playing the Master, but here we have the first Sherlock crossover, in Rupert “Lestrade” Graves. • “Even a monkey could use them. Oh look, they’re going to.” • Turns out the Doctor is quite the musician. After last week’s turn on the triangle in Carmen, he was also the second pair of hands in Fantasia in F minor for four hands. Next Week! Doctor Who does the wild west, as writer Toby Whithouse returns to Who for A Town Called Mercy. Season 2 Episode 1: The Robot Revolution Episode 2: Lux Episode 3: The Well Episode 4: Lucky Day Episode 5: The Story and the Engine Episode 6: The Interstellar Song Contest Episode 7: Wish World Episode 8: The Reality War Season 1 Episodes 1 & 2: Space Babies / The Devil's Chord Episode 3: Boom Episode 4: 73 Yards Episode 5: Dot and Bubble Episode 6: Rogue Episode 7: The Legend of Ruby Sunday Episode 8: Empire of Death Christmas special: Joy to the World 60th anniversary specials Special 1: The Star Beast Special 2: Wild Blue Yonder Special 3: The Giggle Christmas special: The Church on Ruby Road Flux / Series 13 Chapter one: The Halloween Apocalypse Chapter two: War of the Sontarans Chapter three: Once, Upon Time Chapter four: Village of the Angels Chapter five: Survivors of the Flux Chapter six: The Vanquishers New Year's Special: Eve of the Daleks Spring special: Legend of the Sea Devils BBC centenary special: The Power of the Doctor Series 12 Episode 1: Spyfall part one Episode 2: Spyfall part two Episode 3: Orphan 55 Episode 4: Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror Episode 5: Fugitive of the Judoon Episode 6: Praxeus Episode 7: Can You Hear Me? 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Episode 8: The Witchfinders Episode 9: It Takes You Away Episode 10: The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos New Year's special: Resolution Series 10 Episode 1: The Pilot Episode 2: Smile Episode 3: Thin Ice Episode 4: Knock Knock Episode 5: Oxygen Episode 6: Extremis Episode 7: The Pyramid at the End of the World Episode 8: The Lie of the Land Episode 9: Empress of Mars Episode 10: The Eaters of Light Episode 11: World Enough and Time Episode 12: The Doctor Falls 2017 Christmas special: Twice Upon A Time Series 9 Episode 1: The Magician's Apprentice Episode 2: The Witch's Familiar Episode 3: Under The Lake Episode 4: Before The Flood Episode 5: The Girl Who Died Episode 6: The Woman Who Lived Episode 7: The Zygon Invasion Episode 8: The Zygon Inversion Episode 9: Sleep No More Episode 10: Face The Raven Episode 11: Heaven Sent Episode 12: Hell Bent 2015 Christmas special: The Husbands of River Song 2016 Christmas special: The Return of Doctor Mysterio Series 8 Episode 1: Deep Breath Episode 2: Into The Dalek Episode 3: Robot of Sherwood Episode 4: Listen Episode 5: Time Heist Episode 6: The Caretaker Episode 7: Kill The Moon Episode 8: Mummy on the Orient Express Episode 9: Flatline Episode 10: In the Forest of the Night Episode 11: Dark Water Episode 12: Death In Heaven 2014 Christmas special: Last Christmas Series 7 Episode 1: Asylum of the Daleks Episode 2: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship Episode 3: A Town Called Mercy Episode 4: The Power of Three Episode 5: The Angels Take Manhatten 2012 Christmas special: The Snowmen Episode 6: The Bells of Saint John Episode 7: The Rings of Akhaten Episode 8: Cold War Episode 9: Hide Episode 10: Journey to the Centre of the Tardis Episode 11: The Crimson Horror Episode 12: Nightmare in Silver Episode 13: The Name of the Doctor 50th Anniversary special: The Day of the Doctor 2013 Christmas special: The Time of the Doctor Series 6 Episode 1: The Impossible Astronaut Episode 2: Day of the Moon Episode 3: The Curse of the Black Spot Episode 4: The Doctor's Wife Episode 5: The Rebel Flesh Episode 6: The Almost People Episode 7: A Good Man Goes To War Episode 8: Let's Kill Hitler Episode 9: Night Terrors Episode 10: The Girl Who Waited Episode 11: The God Complex Episode 12: Closing Time Episode 13: The Wedding of River Song 2011 Christmas special: The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe Series 5 Episode 1: The Eleventh Hour Episode 2: The Beast Below Episode 3: Victory of the Daleks Episode 4: The Time of Angels Episode 5: Flesh and Stone Episode 6: The Vampires of Venice Episode 7: Amy's Choice Episode 8: The Hungry Earth Episode 9: Cold Blood Episode 10: Vincent and the Doctor Episode 11: The Lodger Episode 12: The Pandorica Opens Episode 13: The Big Bang 2010 Christmas special: A Christmas Carol