Episode #235 : Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

"What sort of a man doesn't carry a trowel? Put it on your Christmas list."

Episode #235:      Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams.
Air Date:               8th September 2012.

In 2367, the Indian Space Agency is on high alert as an unidentified spaceship hurtles towards the Earth. The Eleventh Doctor assembles a team to investigate, including the legendary Queen Nefertiti, a big game hunter named Riddell, Amy, Rory... and Rory's father, Brian. Materialising aboard the mystery ship, they're surprised to find it populated by dinosaurs. With time running out before the ship is blasted out of the sky, the Doctor must confront a vicious criminal named Solomon, as the lives of his companions and the dinosaurs hang in the balance.

Dinosaurs are a good staple of time travel stories and even better when put out of place, such as on board a starship. Add some strange comical robots, Rory's odd father, an Egyptian queen, a 19th century big game hunter and an insidious space pirate villain who quite frankly has no redeeming qualities, and you have quite a fun adventure for a Saturday night tea time. A perfect bit of modern Doctor Who.

We learn that the Silurians, with all their technology, had the ability to construct and pilot spaceships - something never previously mentioned or considered really. So, it makes me wonder how many more Silurian ships may still be out there or did they find a new home? Could there be Silurian colonies out in deep space on jungle worlds filled with dinosaurs? That could go a way to explain why we never see Silurians on Earth in the future despite repeated pointers that in the future both species cohabit.

I love the addition of Mark Williams, a star of the Harry Potter movies, as Rory's somewhat odd father Brian. The modern series, far more than classic, tends to give cameos to household name actors and actresses. When watching a classic story you would be surprised to well known names from the 70's and 80's mainly making the occasional appearance. New Who and their appearance is too commonplace to bother mentioning most of the time. However, Mark Williams stands out nicely and his talents really brighten the fun of the episode.

The role of the pirate trader Soloman is likewise played by a name from the Harry Potter movies, David Bradley. He would also go on to play William Hartnell in the 50th anniversary program An Adventure In Time and Space. In Dinosaurs on a Spaceship he plays a very unlikeable villain. Even the evil deeds of villains such as Daleks and Cybermen, you never feel a sense of actual dislike or unpleasantness about them. The deeds expressed by Soloman make him a very dark and unpleasant personality. I guess more for the adults watching than something to be picked up by the younger viewers.

So, if I like this adventure why do I only give it a basic 3 stars? It does what it says on the tine. It's fun but it doesn't raise the excitement level or give true squee moments. It doesn't push an ongoing plot forward or anything like that. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, while good, is a modern example of what I expect a modern Doctor Who adventure to be.

Episode #143 : The Mysterious Planet

"Whereas yours is a simple case of sociopathy, Dibber, my malaise is much more complex. A deep-rooted maladjustment, my psychiatrist said, brought on by an infantile inability to come to terms with the more pertinent, concrete aspects of life."

Episode 143:   The Mysterious Planet.
Companions:   6th Doctor and Peri.
Air Date:         6th to 27th September 1986.

The Doctor is on trial for his life. Plucked out of time and space by the Time Lords, he is charged with transgressing the First Law of Time. He must defend himself against the prosecution led by the sinister Valeyard. The trial begins as the Time Lords review an adventure from the Doctor's recent past. The setting is Ravolox, where the Doctor and Peri find themselves caught in the conflict between a warrior tribe, a pair of intergalactic con-men, and a god-like robot. But deep below the surface of the mysterious planet lie secrets that threaten the very fabric of the universe. And to protect them, drastic measures have been taken that will shock the Doctor to his very core.

After a year and a half hiatus the show comes back with another season long arc similar to the Key to Time. This time however the Doctor is plucked out of time and space by the Time Lords again and put on trial for violating the First Law of Time. The first case presented by the Valeyard is an adventure on the planet Ravolox. The opening sequence where the camera weaves its way across the surface of a space station is excellently done and sets up the trial atmosphere very well. The story then alternates between the court room and the adventure.

The court room scenes prove to be quite amusing as the Doctor relies on humour to poke fun at the Valeyard and the proceedings. Who is the Valeyard and why does he seem to have an aggressive desire to see the Doctor dead? All will be explained in time.

The actual adventure on Ravolox revolves around the mystery of why planet, in fact Earth, has been moved across space into a whole new galaxy and renamed. Even the computer records of the Time Lords have it listed as Ravolox. The planet is supposed to be dead, scoured clean by a fireball, but is actually alive and well, with survivors living a sort of Celtic existence on the surface, and others living underground under the rule of an "immortal" robot. Add to that a pair of immoral space pirate types, Sabalom and Dibber, who seek information hidden somewhere in the underground settlement and you have an interesting tale.

Episode #136 : The Twin Dilemma

"Well, look at me. I'm old, lacking in vigour, my mind's in turmoil. I no longer know if I'm coming, have gone, or even been. I'm falling to pieces. I no longer even have any clothes sense... Self-pity is all I have left."

Episode 136:   The Twin Dilemma.
Companions:   6th Doctor and Peri.
Air Date:         22nd to 30th March 1984.

A race of giant gastropods has taken over the planet Jaconda. Their leader, Mestor, now intends to cause an enormous explosion in order to spread his people's eggs throughout the galaxy, and he kidnaps juvenile twin geniuses from Earth to work out the necessary mathematical equations. Space fighters led by Lieutenant Hugo Lang are dispatched to get the twins back, but they come under attack and Lang is the sole survivor when his ship crashes on the asteroid Titan 3. The Doctor and Peri become involved and help Jaconda's elderly former ruler Professor Edgeworth, who is really a Time Lord named Azmael, to defeat Mestor and free the planet's bird-like indigenous people from the gastropods' reign of terror.

Colin Baker takes over as the Doctor in this story and his performance tends to split fans. The gaudy costume and rather nasty approach does not sit well with many but I think they are missing out. Colin may not have been one of the better classic Doctors but he plays the character in a far more interesting way. The post regeneration weirdness is a standard thing now, and it is just a case that in this story he is more unstable than usual.

The problem with The Twin Dilemma is that Colin's acting is the best thing in it. The story falls flat, has nothing really to deal with the twins, and has far too many plot holes to count. It is four episodes of nothing special. In fact, the story may have been better if rather than creating yet another race of giant slug things, they just used the tractators again and saved themselves the design issues. They would also have been a far better option considering the plot than the villainous Mestor.

If it wasn't that this being a post regeneration story I might well suggest you skip it.