**Spoilers** Series 7, Episode 2 - "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship"

pixelburp

Well, I think it's fair to say that this will likely be a bottle episode, and that the title is to be taken completely at its word

Sir Clippingtons of Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6vH7EpPhMQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIyiRHL-q5c

Sleepy

And in this episode we're going to learn that Rory's a wizard: his Dad is Arthur Weasley!

pixelburp

Swapped out the trailer for a teaser scene instead - much more interesting - and features Inspector Lestrade!

Doctor DooM

The writer has a bit of a rep, right?

pixelburp

Chris Chibnall? Sorta, though the reputation isn't entirely deserved. He wrote mostly for Torchwood, and his episodes were beyond awful & adolescent. On the other hand, his Dr. Who work has been solid: he wrote '42' and the Silurian double-bill from Series 5 which I thought were pretty good by all accounts. He also wrote a few episodes of Life on Mars, which gets him a pass in my book.

Doctor DooM

I liked 42, which was why I asked...

I'm not up on who wrote what on Torchwood, but I'll give him a free pass on the strength of 42 alone, I enjoyed that a lot.

ríomhaire

"Only my balls." Stay classy Doctor Who.

Basq

It's all a bit too daft for me so far..

.. but strange to see (or hear) Mitchell & Webb pop up.

off.the.walls

Nice fun episode compared to the opener! Completely unrelated to the whole story ark though

TheIrishGrover

Bit of a goof. Why was the doctor not found on yer man's database though? Surely they didn't delete his entry 'cos they thought he's supposed to be dead. (Unless he said he was using a Dalek Database? My pic was intermittent round about then)

Colmo52

off.the.walls wrote: »

Nice fun episode compared to the opener! Completely unrelated to the whole story ark though

I see what you did there.

Tzar Chasm

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Bit of a goof. Why was the doctor not found on yer man's database though? Surely they didn't delete his entry 'cos they thought he's supposed to be dead. (Unless he said he was using a Dalek Database? My pic was intermittent round about then)

Well if he's dead then the computer can't match what its seeing to anything on its list, but then how did it identify nephritite

flazio

S'alright, not a Doctor's Wife classic or anything but a good bit of fun.

BuffyBot

So-so for me. It wasn't awful, but I'm a bit tired of the Doctor popping off and "collecting" the Ponds with months of gaps etc. If anything it's making me want them gone already. It is also hard to buy into in a weekly show, even one about time travel. Move on, show, move on..

Rory's Dad, Nefrititi etc just seemed a bit lobbed in for the sake of it. With no back story to them it was hard to care who they were or why they were chosen. With all the people the Doctor has met in the past..why them?

(btw you would have thought the Doctor would have met Rory's dad at the wedding, no?)

As a stand alone episode it was a fun concept if the unneeded stuff had of been stripped out.

Speculation:

I'm guessing the Doctor being forgotten across space and time is the series arc, and it will have implications to come

ríomhaire

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Bit of a goof. Why was the doctor not found on yer man's database though? Surely they didn't delete his entry 'cos they thought he's supposed to be dead. (Unless he said he was using a Dalek Database? My pic was intermittent round about then)

I really really doubt that's a goof. Last season there was a big deal about how famous he is, two episodes into this one and we have two sets of records being wiped of him. Some sort of plotline for the Christmas episode to reveal? (Christmas has been mentioned in both episodes and from the series 7 trailer it'll be mentioned in the next one too)

Perhaps he travelled to Gotham City and borrowed the Clean Slate programme from the Dark Knight Rises.

yaines

Meh, I didn't love it... Twas grand but nothing to get excited about. Next week looks more of the same but I'm looking forward to eps 4 and 5.

TheIrishGrover

ríomhaire wrote: »

I really really doubt that's a goof. Last season there was a big deal about how famous he is, two episodes into this one and we have two sets of records being wiped of him. Some sort of plotline for the Christmas episode to reveal? (Christmas has been mentioned in both episodes and from the series 7 trailer it'll be mentioned in the next one too)

Perhaps he travelled to Gotham City and borrowed the Clean Slate programme from the Dark Knight Rises.

Oh I know. Poor choice of words on my account. I meant the episode was a bit of a goof The look on his face was interesting when it was searching. (Although I did think they overdid all the concerned and sad knowing looks he was giving Amy. We get it, he knows)

Duggys Housemate

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Oh I know. Poor choice of words on my account. I meant the episode was a bit of a goof The look on his face was interesting when it was searching. (Although I did think they overdid all the concerned and sad knowing looks he was giving Amy. We get it, he knows)

he knows what?

Duggys Housemate

The references to him playing the music - I was there with schubert - make no sense. Schubert didnt record his stuff.

pixelburp

I thought it was breezy fun, nothing special but not every story is going to be a insta-classic like Doctors Wife or Blink. The lack of a substantial plot arc makes the stories feel a bit random & loose I suppose, maybe there's something to be said for a season-spanning storyline. Even so, it shows the high standards the show exists at these days I guess. It's enough for me that I had fun watching it, and enjoyed the various beats and ticks.

The SFX was decent & I liked the concept with the Silurian ark (ties in to the old series in a way); and even if the Queen & Riddell were completely pointless in terms of the story, the banter was enjoyable.

Mild fan of Mitchell & Webb, so it was a nice surprise to hear their voices of the robots & their snarky incompetency fitted David Mitchell to a tee hehe

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Oh I know. Poor choice of words on my account. I meant the episode was a bit of a goof The look on his face was interesting when it was searching. (Although I did think they overdid all the concerned and sad knowing looks he was giving Amy. We get it, he knows)

I didn't read it that he knows anything, I think he just didn't like being reminded that all things being equal, he'll outlive his friends no matter how close they become.

Ridley

Thin on plot but good fun for the most part and I enjoyed it more than last week. The thing with Moffat's maybe-answer-questions-later policy is that now I'm left with an uncomfortable wait to find out whether the Doctor's a killer or not...

And as I said elsewhere, I didn't like the twist that Rory's pa is a cardboard cutout.

Doctor DooM

Anyone else wondering why the silurian specifically mentioned 1 species did not survive? The line is never expanded on...

InisMor

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Anyone else wondering why the silurian specifically mentioned 1 species did not survive? The line is never expanded on...

Probably alluding to cave men or like.

I thought the Doctor doesn't kill?!?

He killed Solomon easily enough without so much as a by-your-leave.

Granted, I'm no Whovian or such, but I can't recollect any villain dying as a direct result of the Doctor's action - he may as well have just **** the guy himself.

A rather sinister turn that was just ignored, especially considering the episode was just intended as nothing more than fun.

InisMor

pixelburp wrote: »

and even if the Queen & Riddell were completely pointless in terms of the story, the banter was enjoyable.

I agree. They didn't even get much screen time either.

Plus he said having a "gang" was new but this happened before in that episode Battle of Demon's Run.

And that made even less sense. I don't think any of those characters had ever even been seen before - which added the element of it didn't matter a damn who lived or died.

InisMor

BTW, does the Doctor only have two lives left?

Is his regeneration limit still in place or have Moffat and company decided to throw that out?

In either case, his he heading for a time when a teenager or younger will be taking the role?

Doctor DooM

InisMor wrote: »

Probably alluding to cave men or like.

I thought the Doctor doesn't kill?!?

He killed Solomon easily enough without so much as a by-your-leave.

The Doctor has killed indirectly many, many times, but I think this is the most blatant one where he could have saved him.

Knowing Moffat, there'll be some reason behind this.

They've thrown out the regeneration limit, in passing in an episode of Sarah Jane Adventures where Matt Smith shows up.

Duggys Housemate

InisMor wrote: »

Probably alluding to cave men or like.

I thought the Doctor doesn't kill?!?

He killed Solomon easily enough without so much as a by-your-leave.

Granted, I'm no Whovian or such, but I can't recollect any villain dying as a direct result of the Doctor's action - he may as well have just **** the guy himself.

A rather sinister turn that was just ignored, especially considering the episode was just intended as nothing more than fun.

Last week he allowed millions of daleks to die.

the guy committed genocide, the doctor doesn't like that at all

and he killed the poor dino

Doctor DooM

bluewolf wrote: »

the guy committed genocide, the doctor doesn't like that at all

and he killed the poor dino

He didn't ask if the guy deserved it, which he clearly did

Who'd kill a puppy triceratops?!

BuffyBot

I thought the Doctor doesn't kill?!?

Far from it. From this (and others like it) down to entire races (he killed all the Time Lords).

Reminds me of the episode "The Doctor's Wife" where house goes "Fear me, I've killed hundreds of Time Lords" and the Doctor replies "Fear me...I've killed all of them".

He doesn't like killing/letting people die..but he's done it many times!

Manach

Doctor DooM wrote: »

Who'd kill a puppy triceratops?!

mmm Dino-Burger mmm.

I'm pretty certain in the Doctors timeline Amy is already gone (fwiw, I don't think she'll die, but she'll get "removed", maybe a bit like Rose?), and he is travelling back to her. When the Dad was sitting out on the Tardis, The Doctor gave a really strange look over Amy like he wanted to say something. Also the part where the two of them are joking around saying, you'll be here to see the end of me and the Doctor just says "don't", really forcibly.
It might explain the gaps in the visiting too, so he doesn't step on his own timeline.

Hashtag_HEEL

I enjoyed the episode! It was a bit of fun! Hope the "wild west" episode is good!

Duggys Housemate

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm pretty certain in the Doctors timeline Amy is already gone (fwiw, I don't think she'll die, but she'll get "removed", maybe a bit like Rose?), and he is travelling back to her. When the Dad was sitting out on the Tardis, The Doctor gave a really strange look over Amy like he wanted to say something. Also the part where the two of them are joking around saying, you'll be here to see the end of me and the Doctor just says "don't", really forcibly.
It might explain the gaps in the visiting too, so he doesn't step on his own timeline.

I could see this except I am certain the story always follows the Doctors timeline. Otherwise confusion would reign and David Tennant could pop back next week.

Duggys Housemate

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

I could see this except I am certain the story always follows the Doctors timeline. Otherwise confusion would reign and David Tennant could pop back next week.

Well, it would be neatly wrapped up by episode 5 so I think it should be ok, being contained in a series arc. Just my theory anyway

jasonb

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

I could see this except I am certain the story always follows the Doctors timeline. Otherwise confusion would reign and David Tennant could pop back next week.

Not always, we got to jump 200 years into the Doctor's future in The Impossible Astronaut, even if only for a few mins...

J.

Duggys Housemate

jasonb wrote: »

Not always, we got to jump 200 years into the Doctor's future in The Impossible Astronaut, even if only for a few mins...

J.

True. An exception to prove the rule perhaps?

Anyway the Pond's break with the Doctor will be in his future. I suspect it will be banal, something like Amy getting pregnant - despite recent events and neither of the Ponds wanting to leave their child parent less.

The breakup because of her then inability to have kids would make this birth all the more poignant. And, so the doctor moves on.

jasonb

I've read comments ( I think from Moffat ) saying

them leaving will be heartbreaking

so I'd imagine it's something more than just them moving on. It's hard to know of course, but we've only 3 more weeks to wait!

J.

ixoy

It was so-so. One credit due though: The SFX in "Doctor Who" are at their peak. The dinosaurs looked far far better than I expected, even viewed in HD.

The episode overall was a little on the "silly" side for me, echoing a bit of the RTD era.

There was that touch of darkness there too but one element really bugged me: The Doctor sending someone to their death. It just seemed particularly cold blooded and I can't really think of a precedent for this. When the Doctor killed the Time Lords, for example, it was for a necessary reason. He's not above making cold "means to an end" decisions. This killing was vindictive and judgemental though - that's what didn't work. Since when has the Doctor killed for no reason? I'm really hoping this wasn't sloppy writing but that there was a good reason. If there is one, then I'm going to guess that the Doctor needs companions to ground him hence he keeps calling in on the Ponds as otherwise he can go to the Dark Side.

Doctor DooM

ixoy wrote: »

The Doctor sending someone to their death. It just seemed particularly cold blooded and I can't really think of a precedent for this. When the Doctor killed the Time Lords, for example, it was for a necessary reason. He's not above making cold "means to an end" decisions. This killing was vindictive and judgemental though - that's what didn't work. Since when has the Doctor killed for no reason?

He killed a doggy triceratops. There's no greater evil in this world. And no bigger reason!

Duggys Housemate

ixoy wrote: »

It was so-so. One credit due though: The SFX in "Doctor Who" are at their peak. The dinosaurs looked far far better than I expected, even viewed in HD.

The episode overall was a little on the "silly" side for me, echoing a bit of the RTD era.

There was that touch of darkness there too but one element really bugged me: The Doctor sending someone to their death. It just seemed particularly cold blooded and I can't really think of a precedent for this. When the Doctor killed the Time Lords, for example, it was for a necessary reason. He's not above making cold "means to an end" decisions. This killing was vindictive and judgemental though - that's what didn't work. Since when has the Doctor killed for no reason? I'm really hoping this wasn't sloppy writing but that there was a good reason. If there is one, then I'm going to guess that the Doctor needs companions to ground him hence he keeps calling in on the Ponds as otherwise he can go to the Dark Side.

it bugs me that people think the doctor doesn't let sentient creatures die. Last week he let millions of daleks die - he didn't try and save the planet. presumably he sees all daleks as evil. In this case this man was evil, and unreformable, so he let him die.

Das Kitty

I enjoyed the episode, not as much as I did last week's granted.

I liked how Doctor-ish Amy was; she was more Doctor than the Doctor himself. It was 'in character' for him to send Solomon to his death, but he normally spends his time trying not to be that guy. I have a feeling it's a case of his being effectively companionless. He's slipping back. I would like the resolution to me more than another band-aid companion. I don't know if it'll happen though.

I'd put money the Doctor hasn't seen the end of the Ponds yet. He knows it's coming though, he's outlived everyone he's ever known, he knows the Ponds are no different, even if he doesn't want to admit it.


I loved the banter between Rory and his Dad. My OH was sure Brian had been in it before because it was so close to how he had imagined Rory's Dad to be . I'd definitely ask to see the earth from space if I were Brian too.

cloud493

I really enjoyed that wasn't complex, just a good tea time romp. Plus, the doctor letting solomon die is like how he was after he lost Donna, goes a darker.

pixelburp

The Doctor has never shirked from punishing people who have shown no signs of redemption and remorse for their actions, but I'd agree that his moods in this vein tend to darken when he doesn't have a softening element around him. That said, in this case I don't blame him; what Solomon did was just plain nasty. Those poor Silurians

Also, this thread needs more quotations hehe; I loved the exchange at the beach

"... what sort of a man doesn't carry a trowel?"
or ...
"Dad, I'm 31, I don't have a Christmas list anymore"
"I DO!!!!"

Das Kitty

pixelburp wrote: »

"... what sort of a man doesn't carry a trowel?"
or ...
"Dad, I'm 31, I don't have a Christmas list anymore"
"I DO!!!!"

I love the little thumbs up Rory gives him then.

Also interesting to note that he's 31, considering they were early 21 or 22 in the Eleventh Hour which was set in 2009.

ixoy

pixelburp wrote: »

"Dad, I'm 31, I don't have a Christmas list anymore"
"I DO!!!!"

Yeah, once again we can see/hear Matt Smith's excellent comic timing. Even his delivery off camera was perfect. He can help lift an average script with such a performance.

it bugs me that people think the doctor doesn't let sentient creatures die. Last week he let millions of daleks die - he didn't try and save the planet. presumably he sees all daleks as evil.

Yeah, he's always had a bit of a blind spot for the Daleks throughout the show's history. I think though what got me here is that normally such a death is towards a greater end - kill the Daleks, then that stops them. Solomon could just have easily been picked up by a nearby earth ship and sent for punishment without affecting anyone.

I'm guessing that we'll see it tie in with how the Doctor does need people around him - we've seen him slip before in the likes of "The Water of Mars". That could be an interesting route to take. Hopefully not dealt with as poorly as it was in the RTD era with a montage trying to gloss over it.

cloud493

ixoy wrote: »

Yeah, once again we can see/hear Matt Smith's excellent comic timing. Even his delivery off camera was perfect. He can help lift an average script with such a performance.


Yeah, he's always had a bit of a blind spot for the Daleks throughout the show's history. I think though what got me here is that normally such a death is towards a greater end - kill the Daleks, then that stops them. Solomon could just have easily been picked up by a nearby earth ship and sent for punishment without affecting anyone.

I'm guessing that we'll see it tie in with how the Doctor does need people around him - we've seen him slip before in the likes of "The Water of Mars". That could be an interesting route to take. Hopefully not dealt with as poorly as it was in the RTD era with a montage trying to gloss over it.

This. Water of mars was one of the most interesting episodes to me, and the conclusion was quite unexpected. Love that episode.

T-Bird

jasonb wrote: »

I've read comments ( I think from Moffat ) saying

them leaving will be heartbreaking

so I'd imagine it's something more than just them moving on. It's hard to know of course, but we've only 3 more weeks to wait!

J.

Read a Doctor Who short book during summer:

Magic of the Angels.
Angels touched 2 girls in this and explained what happened to them afterwards.
Same thing might happen to Amy and Rory, but perhaps its completely unrelated.

Jessibelle

Well, that was... meh. All it's done is leave me with questions.

Shouldn't Rory's father have remembered the Doctor and the Tardis from when they materialized right in the middle of the wedding reception? And why does no one seem to remember River? The Dr doesn't tell Nefferti he's a married man, the Ponds can't have children (except for the one they already have)? And no-one remembers the Dr historically?
Also the Dr is a calculated killer now? What happened to 'The man who couldn't'?
And eh, totally nerdishly, why was Ten's tardis the one on the postcard, shouldn't it have been 11's?

cloud493

Who wants to remember river anyway :rolleyes:

Doctor DooM

I've been starting to wonder if the lack or remembering River is deliberate too.

Why didn't Amy go mad when Nefertiti was asking if the Doctor had a queen? It's her daughter's husband!