Doctor Who Review 7.2 – ‘Dinosaurs on a Spaceship’

Things were looking pretty bleak last week with The Doctor and the Ponds being dropped on a planet-wide dumping ground for bat-shit crazy Daleks. Awesome, yes, but not the brightest start to a new season. Their second outing does one thing only: have buckets of fun. Buckets.

As you may have guessed the story involves dinosaurs being on a spaceship. While this may sound like something that requires a time consuming set-up the writers are just as keen to get into the action as we are. Within the first few minutes The Doctor has taken a phone call in Ancient Egypt about a spaceship on a collision course with Earth and decided to take Queen Nefertiti with him. He swings past the Edwardian era to pick up big game hunter John Riddell and then the Ponds (inadvertently collecting Rory’s father Gary as well) and head off to the unresponsive spaceship with a countdown until it is blown out of the sky. Upon arriving on the ship they find it deserted and in disrepair and home to a number of dinosaurs.

There’s a flavour of the old school Flash Gordon serials to this episode with the oddball group of characters brought together to go on an adventure through space involving dinosaurs. There are plenty of rich ideas and images throughout with a unique way of powering a ship, The Doctor being chased by pterodactyls, bickering robots and a none too subtle nod to Jurassic Park. The mysterious villain pulling the strings is a right nasty bugger, threatening The Doctor and his people for the purpose of stealing valuables.

The casting of Mark Williams as Rory’s father is spot on – not only do the two bear a physical resemblance to each other but they share quite a few mannerisms and have an easy chemistry. Another Harry Potter alum – David Bradley – hams it up nicely as the villainous Solomon and creates a menacing new foe. Rupert Graves and Rian Steele are also enthusiastic short-term additions to the crew, with Graves being especially good fun. We certainly hope to see Riddell and Nefertiti cross paths with The Doctor again in the future (or past).

Amid all the wacky dino-riding and banter there is a nicely handled serious moment between The Doctor and Amy. There seems to be a greater affection between Doctor and Amy than there has been with his previous companions (not that surprising given how they met) and it looks as though they’re already starting to lay the ground for the Ponds’ departure from the series. So far this season we’ve been lacking any real development for The Doctor as a character, one can only assume that the over-arching story will kick off soon.

It also seems that that we’re going to have a different design on the main title during the intro. Interesting notion, but a bit of consistency in this segment is expected. There wasn’t anything wrong with the logo used last season.