Dinosaurs, Queen Nefertiti, big game hunters and greedy capitalists all made appearances on last night’s Doctor Who.
Only in Doctor Who would Arthur Weasley play fetch with a Triceratops. Well, not Arthur Weasley, but Mark Williams as Brian Williams, father of Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill, Robin Hood), the husband of Amy Pond (Karen Gillan, In Love with Coward), the girl who waited (and still waits) for the ever ridiculous Doctor (Matt Smith, Bert & Dickie).
In the first three minutes of this week’s bombastically fantastic standalone episode, “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship,” Queen Nefertiti (Riann Steele, Sadie J) aggressively flirts with the consistently non-sexual Doctor in 1334 B.C., the Doctor and Nefertiti discuss a mysterious unmanned spacecraft hurtling toward Earth in an Indian Space Agency control room in A.D. 2367, and the Doctor talks shop with big game hunter Riddell (Rupert Graves, Detective Inspector Lestrade in Steven Moffat’s other wonderful BBC hit, Sherlock) in the African plains in A.D. 1902.
Overwhelming? Yes. Incredibly fun? Of course. Doctor Who rarely disappoints, but some episodes can feel like a chore rather than an adventure. This episode is certainly the latter.
We find out it’s been 10 months since the Doctor last bounced around space and time with Amy and Rory (or, as he loves to call them, “the Ponds”) in the season opener. While the seventh season premiere was a slow-developing, careful episode that tied up a few of the many loose ends from the sixth season, it had hints of the excitement that is in store this season, with its Daleks, human Daleks and zombie human Daleks.
This season wastes no time getting into ridiculous adventures, as the unmanned spaceship turns out to house dinosaurs, and lots of them. The Doctor and his gang (“This is the gang — I’ve got a gang. Yes!”) pop onto the spaceship to avert its destruction by ISA missiles and to whet the Doctor’s insatiable curiosity. Their objective: find a way to save all the organisms on board what turns out to be a Silurian ark.
Wait — Silurians? The last time we saw them, Rory died! Good thing they aren’t around in this episode. They were commandeered and killed by a raggedy old trader named Solomon, played by David Bradley (Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films), who wants to sell off whatever is valuable on the ship. (Oh, Doctor Who, you and your morals. The greedy old capitalist doesn’t care about history or the sanctity of life or even dinosaurs, he just wants money!)
The episode splits into three concurrent story lines about halfway through — the Doctor trying to convince Solomon to have a heart; Amy, Nefertiti (or, as the Doctor calls her, Neffy) and Riddell doing reconnaissance to find out the secrets of the ship; and Rory and Brian wandering around and just generally being adorable.
Director Saul Metzstein (Upstairs Downstairs), who IMDb tells me will direct three more episodes of this season, sets up wonderful blocking and cinematography throughout the episode. Amy’s face is illuminated webcam-style by one of many shots through the backs of computer screens. The camera sweeps epically over a grey beach landscape (the ship’s onboard hydropower, of course) as Pterodactyls chase the Doctor, Brian and Rory. They later ride the Triceratops in a bouncing, exciting chase scene.
As the story reaches its climax, Solomon’s robot helpers shoot the Triceratops. In the episode’s most touching moment, the Doctor cradles the dino’s head as it dies, the latest collateral damage in the Doctor’s sad centuries of attempting to save everyone.
After a series of frantic back-and-forths in the character’s fortunes, Nefertiti offers herself as quarry to Solomon, then takes control of the situation because she’s Nefertiti. Brian and Rory, because of something with genetics, are the only ones who can pilot the ship to safety, which they do. The Doctor sends Solomon off in a smaller ship to get blown up by missiles. Everything gets wrapped up nicely.
And that’s what makes Doctor Who special — we’re dropped into absolutely ridiculous situations that then get explained by science and solved by intellect and humor. The episode has dark moments, but nowhere near as dark as the Doctor’s death in the sixth season.
Most of the episode is crazy fun, which is reassuring, considering the show runners have indicated this season will be full of individual story lines, as opposed to the crazy, confusing, plot-hole-ridden-yet-satisfyingly-epic arcs of the last season. Next week’s episode will see the Doctor protecting a town in the Wild West from a cyborg gunslinger. Sign me up.
Tidbits:
– The Doctor kisses Rory on the mouth when the bumbling nurse has a good idea. Of course.
– Amy has a heart-to-heart with the Doctor about his random and lengthening absences. He reassures her, “You’ll be there ’til the end of me,” to which she responds, “Or vice versa.” The Doctor looks at her longingly and mournfully. Yep, Amy is going to die in this season.
– Riddell: “Dinosaurs ahead, lady at my side, about to be blown up — not sure I’ve ever been happier.”
– The Doctor: “I’m going to look at rocks. Love a rock!”
– Solomon’s robots could be straight out of a Douglas Adams book.
– The unfortunate title sequence font changes come with a cool benefit: the show’s title is now themed to the episode. Last week saw Dalek orbs all over the title, and this week saw dino scales.
– Finally, some attention to the companions’ parents! Haven’t had that in a while.
– When Amy is looking into the Silurian files, Nefertiti and Riddell loudly flirt behind her. Amy quips, “I will not have flirting companions!” How’s it feel to be the third wheel now, Pond?
– The visuals in this episode are breathtaking. I’m glad they sat on this episode until they had the massive effects budget they now have.
– Brian Williams turns out to be the story’s emotional heart, as a reluctant traveler who ends up sending postcards from all of time and space to his son at the end of the episode.
king@umdbk.com
