Doctor Who: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

I believe, ladies and gents, that this is what you would call a fun old romp!

And it was fun, at times, wasn't it? But it was also...lacking. Much like last seasons, "Curse of the Black Spot".

This episode was written by Chris Chibnall, who's hit-or-miss for me. I LOVED '42', but 'The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood' were also kind of meh.

Okay!
So, the Doctor heads to future-earth and is told about a spaceship the size of Canada that's going to crash into the planet.
He gathers some friends (and tagalong Queen Nefertiti) and tries to stop it before earth shoots it down.

On the ship they discover--what else?--Dinosaurs!

This episode truly shows Matt Smith's utterly brilliant acting skills. How a man can go from the child-like dinosaur-lover in this episode to the old man who's so sad for the girl inside the Dalek in Asylum is absolutely beyond me. He amazes me in every damn time!

And lets talk about Rupert Graves as Riddell, shall we? TOTALLY underused! I LOVED his character! How awesome would it be to see him again in a future episode? Yes, please!

And, of course, Mark Williams as Brian 'Pond'. Haha! We DO see him again in The Power of Three, in case you're curious!
He was great too, wasn't he?
Definitely comic relief with Rory with many laugh-out-loud moments....and we see where Rory gets his fashion sense!

So, while the Doctor and his 'gang' are trying to find a way to stop the ship, we meet the big bad for the episode, Solomon, played by David Bradley. He was sufficiently grumpy and cross, but I wasn't as scared of him as I should have been.
And his two robot sidekicks? Yeah, they were supposed to be funny but, for me, they fell completely flat. Borderline stupid and not so much funny.

I was happy to see likable Amy back for this episode, instead of conceited, mean, bossy Amy we saw in Asylum...albeit she was that way for good reason.

And in a fun twist, it's always great to see the Silurians, isn't it? Who've built a space-ark full of dinosaurs, as we come to discover!

The Doctor is pleasantly happy and gleeful...until Solomon shows his true colours and tells his robots to injure Brian. THEN his darker side comes through once again....and THAT, ladies and gentlemen, ALWAYS scares me.
Again, I ask, HOW can a man who's playing someone happy and fun one minute, play someone so cold and callous the next?! Brilliant, that Matt!

It turns out that Soloman is a trader (which reminded me so much of a few Star Trek: TNG and Voyager episodes I've seen!) and deals in rare objects.
It's good to see that the Doctor is still unknown and not at all valuable--more so now that even the Daleks don't remember him!

Solomon jettisoned ALL of the Silurians into space because he wanted the dinosaurs...but when the ship went onto auto pilot and turned back to earth, he couldn't figure out how to turn it off.

The ship enters the earth's atmosphere and earth launches the missiles. Solomon decides to leave the ship, and kidnaps Nefertiti. Now THERE'S a rare find!

Of course, the Doctor comes up with a plan (cue 'I Am the Doctor'!) and magnetizes Solomon's ship so he can't leave.

Amy and Riddell stun raptors back-to-back in a gloriously fun shoot-em-up scene, and Rory and Brian easily pilot the ship out to space because, you know, they have the same genes!
Handy, that!

Of course, even a old romp of an episode has to have some serious foreshadowing time, right?
And this one doesn't disappoint in THAT department!
"How can I not wait for you, even now? They're getting longer, you know, the gaps between your visits. I think you're weaning us off you."
"I'm not, I promise. Really promise. The others, they're not you, but you and Rory have...lives. Each other. That's what we agreed."
"I know. I just worry there'll come a time when you never turn up. That something will have happened to you and I'll still be waiting...never knowing..."
"Oh, come on, Pond. You'll be there til the end of me."
"Or vice-versa."
*long pause, meaningful look from the Doctor to Amy*
"Don't."

Whoa. WHOA. What does that mean?! DOES Amy die? Can you believe they only have THREE epsiodes left?! I'm going to SOB my FACE OFF!

Ahem!.....Anyway!

They save the ship, the Doctor rescues Nefertiti, the missiles kill Solomon because of the Doctor's dark side, and Brian gets to see the earth from high above...as he eats his tea.

Who else caught the look the Doctor gave Amy and Rory as they looked out the TARDIS door?
He's so lonely. He misses them so much. ....or was the a look of foreshadowing, again?!
I think he knows something and he's not telling!

We end with the Ponds getting postcards from Brian as he travels the world...and from the Doctor as he travels through all of time and space.

All in all, a decent, fun episode, but not mind-blowing, which is what I've come to expect from each and every Doctor Who episode.
What can I say? I've been spoiled. ;)

What questions do we have after this episode?
-IS it foreshadowing? Does the Doctor know something about the Ponds?
-How do Amy and Rory leave him?!
-How much time will pass between 'Dinosaurs' and 'Mercy'? (There was 10 months between 'Asylum' and 'Dinosaurs'!)

Best parts:
-Matt Smith!
-Riddell!
-Brian Williams!
-Rory and Brian's relationship.

-"This is the gang. I've got a gang. Yes."

-"I'm not a Pond."
"'Course you are."

-"Did you just have that on you?"
"Of course, what sort of  a man doesn't carry a trowel? Put it on your Christmas list."
"Dad, I'm 31. I don't have a Christmas list anymore."
"I DO!"

Here's the trailer for A Town Called Mercy. Cyborg gunslinger! AHHH!

Now, what did YOU think of Dinosaurs on a Spaceship? Did you enjoy it more than I did? Or not?

See you back here next week, fellow Whovians!