Just in case they were in any danger of forgetting, every once in a while a Doctor Who episode will come along and resoundingly remind its viewers exactly why it’s television’s longest-running science fiction programme. Its illimitable format is matched only by its flair for zeitgeist; one week it’s reinventing a fifty year-old dynamic, and the next it’s paying homage to the recent movie Snakes on a Plane, dauntlessly substituting dinosaurs for serpents and aeroplanes for starships while peppering in turns both comic and cold from some of the nation’s finest actors.
Indeed, there are few boxes that Dinosaurs on a Spaceship doesn’t tick. Chris Chibnall’s script rewards long-standing viewers with an inspired riff on the old ‘Earth Reptile’ chestnut, whereas casual channel-hoppers will be wowed by the Mill’s stonkingly expensive-looking dinosaurs, not to mention the endearing performances of this week’s TARDIS entourage. The plot sees the Doctor and the Ponds joined by ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti; a lascivious, gung-ho Victorian adventurer who looks astonishingly like Sherlock’s Lestrade; and even Rory’s affably-resourceful old dad (wonderfully played by the aptly-named Mark Williams) who serves as living proof that you never know when you might need a trowel. What a gang. This week’s baddies are every bit their match though, as two of my favourite contemporary comedians, Peep Show’s David Mitchell and Robert Webb, play two easily-offended and woefully-ineffectual robots employed by Hogwarts’ dishevelled-looking former groundskeeper, who has apparently turned his hand to flogging history’s rarities..jpg)
However, like many of the series’ most enduring stories, Chibnall’s vibrant tale is punctuated with powerful pathos. There are moving shades of Wilfred Mott wonder to be seen in the wide eyes of Rory’s father, and exquisite heartbreak vested in the rueful fate of a surprisingly-helpful herbivore. Even a frantic scrabble to save the day is underscored by a suddenly-melancholic Doctor / Pond chinwag, as they each seem to recognise that they are growing further and further apart in line with the increasing infrequency of the Time Lord’s house calls.
And so, despite its title being an affront to my fondness for names florid and cryptic, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship delivers on every feasible front, its alluring arsenal of Saturday night sensations offering ITV’s X Factor the most frightening competition that it’s seen in years – if not ever.
Doctor Who continues on Saturday at 7.35pm on BBC One.
Read retro Doctor Who reviews @
