10 Doctor Who Episodes That Took Risks And Failed
3. Enough Of These M-Fing Dinosaurs On This M-Fing Spaceship
Similar to the above entry, Doctor Who attempted to get in
on another cinematic craze by including Dinosaurs in the second episode of the
seventh season. David Bradley would become best known in the franchise for
playing the First Doctor alongside Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth in the latter’s
finale episode, yet here he appears as a different man, one who is a far cry
from the kindly Time Lord.
Solomon is a thoroughly unpleasant man who pilots a ship that contains specimens from across time, echoing shades of Walder Frey rather than a benevolent older traveller. The Doctor opens some of his cages to find a Triceratops. While allowance must be made for Saturday evening TV budgets, it does not look amazing.
There are good parts to the story itself, including the
introduction of Mark Williams as Rory’s Dad, Brian. But the Dinosaurs themselves,
realised by CGI as a flashy attempt to win fans of Jurassic Park to the
franchise, let the episode down and, despite the title, play very little part
of the overall plot.