Semi-convinced that people give this one a negative review because it seems like the sort of episode that ought to be bad (a Chibnall-penned romp about dinosaurs).

But it's a cracker. The buds of a Whittaker-era stinker are there (an inexplicably bloated cast from different eras, and a curiously callous final move from the Doctor), but whether by his own focus or a Moffatian hand, the story (with its swish direction) stays frenetic and funny; this is the most I've laughed at a rewatch in a while, and the script is much, much wittier than I remembered. Matt Smith is on fine form, and all of the character moments work far better than I remembered. I had enormous fun.

New Who Review #90

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship

This story wasn't for me. I appreciate that we get Dinosaurs at last in new who but I really didn't like it. Solomon is a really evil guy that wanted to keep the Dinosaurs so he killed an innocent race to get them it's monstrous. The doctor was really dark in this because it's not like him to kill anyone but he killed Solomon and felt no mercy at all. He's travelling alone too much now which is why he's changing. I love seeing dark doctor and we are seeing dark 11 in this. The robots were funny to watch and they remind me of the ones from The Robot Revolution. Overall an ok story that I can appreciate but I don't really like it. 5/10

Are we still letting this guy write stuff??

The pre-credits sequence is excellent, a bit more frenetic than we are used to from Chibnall. It's great seeing the Ponds at home, with Mark Williams as Rory’s dad; a fantastic piece of casting. At this late point in Amy and Rory’s time on the show they could just be looking to wrap everything up, so it's fantastic that they are still pushing their relationship somewhere new. This dynamic, building on Pond Life, and the character interactions lift what is otherwise a bog standard plot.

I love the dinosaurs, I love the spaceship, I hate the comedy robots. It is the only time Mitchell and Webb have been in Doctor Who and it feels like a waste of their talents to play unfunny robots. Poor Robot Webb’s unfunny robot barely even says anything. You only know who it is from context.

There is a huge ensemble cast. Solomon is an interesting enough baddy. Queen Nefatiti and the gamekeeper guy are very good. The show absolutely survives on the character moments. Although the cringey flirting which penetrates every part of this period of Doctor Who does not leave this episode untouched.

This is in the most part a more child friendly episode, with the major exception of the implied threat of assault (keeping it vague) from Soloman to Nefatiti. I’m not sure how I feel about little girls watching that exchange, even if she does get her comeuppance. The way the Doctor heartlessly kills Soloman at the end also feels a bit off; regardless of how bad he is.

At the start of the episode I was thinking this might have been Chibnall’s best pre-13th Doctor story but it quickly falls down. Mixed!

This was a daft but pretty fun romp. However, it tried to cram in far too much for me to rate it too highly. Introducing Brian was a great move but Nerfertiti, Riddell and the two Robots were completely pointless really and a waste of some potentially good guest stars.