Who Reviews Dinosaurs on a Spaceship by Tom Clarke

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is what it says on the tin. A nice, basic episode with no complicated plot threads, just the Doctor, Amy and Rory, and three other characters to add to the gang, Brian Williams – Rory’s Dad, Queen Nefertiti and John Riddell.

So this episode follows the Doctor, Amy and Rory who have been alerted by the Indian Space Agency about a strange spaceship headed towards the Earth. As they arrive on the Spaceship/Meteor Hybrid, they find the strangest cargo you could find on a ship. Dinosaurs.  On the trip to pick up Amy and Rory, the Doctor also decides to bring along two friends, the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti (portrayed by Riann Steele), and a big game hunter, John Riddell (portrayed by Rupert Graves) and accidentally brings along Rory’s Dad too. So the gang must stop Indian Space Agency from firing missiles towards the ship, and stop the real actual villain who is piloting the ship, Soloman the Trader (David Bradley, known to Doctor Who fans as the First Doctor in an Adventure in Space and Time.  Also known to many as Filch from Harry Potter or the old dude in the first few episodes of Broadchurch.)

But what do I think of the episode? It’s a fun romp, not to be taken seriously; it’s basically Robots of Sherwood - enjoyable, but not the best episode ever. The main crew are brilliant as ever and the guest cast are great too. Although, while I loved Brian and I wanted to see more of him, he was really only in the episode as a plot device. And I’m not one to jump out and point out plot holes in Doctor Who, but I do find it strange that the Doctor is friends with a game hunter, you know, someone who goes out and kills animals. I’ve seen a few people wondering about why the Doctor would associate himself as a friend of someone who kills animals for sport. Then again, he is from 1902, and the Doctor knows that people had different attitudes back then, so I suppose its best left to the imagination.

Back to the topic of positives, the episode was great, and the episode relied a lot on CGI and I didn’t find the CGI to look strange or fake at any points, and I know Doctor Who is sometimes hit and miss with the CGI, so yeah, it’s nice to look at. The episode is probably the most fun I’ve had while watching an episode in some time, it was really nice to see all the characters enjoying themselves, riding dinosaurs and saving a spaceship.

I suppose the only other negatives I really have follow the end of the episode, the way the Doctor deals with Soloman just wasn’t like the Doctor at all. It was light-hearted but also very dark and there were a few points it could have transitioned from happy to dark a bit better. But really other than that, this episode was enjoyable. Will it be an episode remembered in the future as a classic? No, but it is a nice one to watch every now and again.