The first episode of Season 8, Deep Breath, opened with the typically bonkers image of a giant T-Rex with a Tardis stuck in its throat roaming Victorian London. What a totally brilliant Doctor Who set-up. A set-up that proved to be completely inconsequential to the episode. Said T-Rex is blown up off-screen, an action hastily explained thirty minutes later to be part of the villain's plot in the vaguest sense. Which leaves us to conclude the dinosaur was only included to provide a bit of spectacle to draw people in and create the illusion of a big kick-off for a new Doctor. Padding out an already long episode, this isn't the first time we've seen Doctor Who do some big visual 'thing' that serves no purpose to the episode. The Day Of The Doctor kicked off with the embarrassing sight of the Doctor clinging to the bottom of the Tardis and dinosaurs have already proven to be a favourite go-to filler animal in a superfluous appearance on Dinosaurs On A Spaceship. People watch Doctor Who for the interesting characters and exciting adventures, not empty images that are discarded in an irritating way.
