Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (TV story)
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship was the second episode of series 7 of Doctor Who.
Uniquely, this adventure played host to a gang of TARDIS travellers rather than just the Ponds, with Queen Nefertiti and John Riddell from off-screen adventures of the Eleventh Doctor joining. Brian Williams was introduced as Rory's father.
This episode marks the first appearances of dinosaurs since the 1974 story Invasion of the Dinosaurs. (Pterodactyls had featured in the previous season (TV: The Wedding of River Song) and multiple episodes of Torchwood, but are not actual dinosaurs.)
Synopsis
In 2367, the Indian Space Agency is on high alert as an unidentified spaceship hurtles towards the Earth. The Eleventh Doctor assembles a team to investigate, including the legendary Queen Nefertiti, a big game hunter named Riddell, Amy, Rory... and Rory's father, Brian. Materialising aboard the mystery ship, they're surprised to find it populated by dinosaurs. With time running out before the ship is blasted out of the sky, the Doctor must confront a vicious criminal named Solomon, as the lives of his companions and the dinosaurs hang in the balance...
Plot
The Doctor has saved Egypt from giant alien locusts and is trying to return to his TARDIS. However, Queen Nefertiti, attracted to the Doctor, stops him and tries to get his attention. The Doctor receives a message on his psychic paper. Telling her that it is unimportant, he learns that the Indian Space Agency needs his help; he's forced to take "Nefi" with him, as she has forced her way onto the TARDIS despite the Doctor's protests. Arriving in the 24th century, the Doctor is informed of a spaceship coming closer to Earth that has failed to respond to any of ISA's attempts to communicate; if it gets within ten thousand kilometres of Earth, they will send up missiles to destroy it.
The Doctor decides he should investigate the ship before the ISA attempt to destroy it, just in case there are aliens that cannot communicate either due to primitive technology or not understanding Earth's languages. Realising this would be too much for just him and Nefi, the Doctor decides to head to Africa in the early 20th century. He meets his old friend John Riddell, a game hunter he left behind after saying he was leaving to get some sweets. Riddell initially refuses to join the Doctor on another trip but gives in when he learns its a mystery to even him.
In 21st century London, Rory has his father, Brian Williams, over to help fix a light bulb. After saying the fixture may be the problem, Brian reminds Rory he is lucky to have Amy; Amy finds this amusing. As Brian continues working on the light, the sound of the TARDIS materialisation is heard; Brian thinks perhaps they have left the door open. The TARDIS materialises around them, shocking Brian in place while the Doctor greets Amy and Rory. They all travel in the TARDIS to the mystery spacecraft. The Doctor tells everyone to grab a torch as they head outside.
As they head out, Amy questions the Doctor about what he's up to this time; the Doctor explains that he decided that he needed a group this time. Brian exits the TARDIS and the Doctor, finally noticing him, questions him with hostility. Rory explains that Brian is his father, whom the Doctor inadvertently brought on board when he materialised the TARDIS around them. This calms the Doctor, whom Brian seems not to have met. The Doctor greets Brian and walks off with Amy, Nefertiti and Riddell; leaving Rory the job of telling Brian what's going on. Annoyed that it's always his turn, Rory explains to his confused father that he and Amy honeymooned throughout time and space aboard the TARDIS, not in Thailand as they had previously told him.
In the meantime, the presence of Nefi and Riddell has led Amy to believe that the Doctor has replaced her and Rory as his travelling companions during the gap between his last visit. The Doctor tells Amy that it's not the case, "they're not Ponds"; he cherishes the bond between them, plus they're family. Rory and Brian catch up to the group as the doors in front of them begin opening. Seeing what's coming out of the other side, the Doctor tells everyone to run. However, he has to be pulled away by Amy because he is gleefully surprised to find "Dinosaurs, on a spaceship!"
Hiding as the dinosaurs go past, the Doctor keeps Riddell from trying to harm them as they need to be preserved; Riddell sourly jokes in return "who's gonna preserve us?". They run into a Triceratops that sniffs Brian, forcing him to toss away one of the golf balls he keeps in his pocket to make it leave. The Doctor then examines the ship, discovering an interactive monitor. The Doctor asks to be shown where the engines are on the map, saying they need to get to them. He, Brian and Rory vanish in flash of light and Amy is left annoyed.
The Doctor, Rory and Brian arrive on the shore of a rocky beach. Seeing "birds" in the distance, Brian wonders if they are kestrels. Having an epiphany, the Doctor orders them to dig; Brian complies, producing a trowel from his pocket. Rory is surprised, but his dad tells him to put a trowel on his Christmas list; when Rory protests he's too old to have a Christmas list, the Doctor retorts that he has one despite being centuries old. The Doctor then runs off to "look at rocks", with Rory calling after him. Elsewhere, a man sees them on a monitor. He becomes interested when he hears one of them referred to as "the Doctor". He orders that they be brought to him.
Brian hits metal while digging, becoming shocked; they're actually still in the ship. The Doctor reveals a monitor in a rock face, explaining the ship's engines are powered by the waves; an endless supply of power. He said they needed to go to the engine room and the ship complied with its short-range teleporter. Brian is left dumbfounded, with Rory trying to explain; however, the Doctor cuts them off by asking "What about the things that aren't kestrels?" They turn around to see many pteranodon flying at them. The Doctor yells that he would be amazed if he wasn't being targeted as food. Brian suggests using the teleport, but the Doctor tells him that it fried out upon their arrival.
Upon entering the cave, they hear heavy footsteps approaching them. The Doctor panics, going back and forth, wondering which threat they should face. He asks Brian and Rory if they have any preferences but their fears are then partially relieved when the footsteps are revealed to belong to two large robots. The robots demand that the trio come with them.
Elsewhere, Amy, Nefertiti and Riddell explore the ship, with Nefertiti questioning Amy about the Doctor, saying she found her husband boring; Amy subtly hints the Doctor is married, but Nefi doesn't seem to catch on. The lack of a crew confuses them all, with Nefi suggesting a plague killed them, while Riddell believes the dinosaurs were responsible; Amy tells the "Chuckle Brothers" to lighten up. Investigating a room, Amy overhears Nefi and Riddell continue arguing; when Riddell threatens to strike Nefi, she responds with the same bravado. Riddell is impressed with the "spitfires" like Nefi in her time. Annoyed, Amy tells the two that she will not be having flirting companions; now she knows what being the Doctor is like.
Seeing a computer, Amy begins fiddling with the controls, she finds an orb and inserts it into the computer; the first rule of travelling with the Doctor: see a strange device, start pressing buttons and don't stop until you get results. Getting a fuzzy picture on the screen, Amy smacks the monitor and clears up the image. To her shock, she learns that the spaceship belongs to the Silurians. They launched it when the Moon was coming into alignment with Earth, fearing a cataclysm might result; the ship is akin to Noah's Ark.
In the meantime, the Doctor, Rory and Brian are brought to a smaller spaceship docked with this one; however, only the Doctor is allowed inside. He finds a man named Solomon laying on a bed and listening to Fantasia in F minor; the Doctor brags he was the second set of hands playing the music. The Doctor is briefly startled by a flash of violet light, which Solomon passes off as a malfunction. Solomon explains his legs were badly mauled by raptors, and the robots could only do so much to treat him. Realising Solomon has mistaken him for a medical doctor, the Doctor offers assistance in exchange for being told how he came by the ship's worth of dinosaurs. In response, Brian is given a painful laser burn by one of the robots as a warning. The Doctor proceeds to work on getting Solomon mobile again while Rory tends to his father's burn. Brian is surprised that Rory keeps a medical supply pack with him; Rory responds that it's a habit of their family to keep "tools" with them.
Back in the archive room, Amy asks the monitor to display life-signs of Silurians but gets nothing. Amy then compares this image with one on the day the ship launched, discovering there were numerous Silurians on board. She wonders what happened to them. She then asks the computer to zoom in at the core of the ship, discovering that it's been boarded before by Solomon. Riddell picks up a nearby gun, explaining it's full of tranquilliser; he tells Nefi that she needs a man of action in her life, before taking off to search for the Doctor. Nefi, now infatuated with Riddell, is told by Amy, "Human sleeping potion or walking innuendo; take your pick."
In Solomon's ship, the Doctor finishes adding braces to help with healing Solomon's injuries. He wonders why Solomon is here and learns that he's a trader that wants to sell the dinosaurs, but is heading in the wrong direction. The Doctor then realises that the flash of light was an IV System trying to figure out how much he's worth. To the Doctor's relief and Solomon's confusion, there is no record available to reveal how much he's worth. At that moment, Rory receives a call from Amy and is told to give the phone to the Doctor. Amy informs him that the Silurians built the ship, but there are no life signs of them. The Doctor questions Solomon on what happened to them. Solomon explains they rescued his ship, but when he found out there were dinosaurs on board, he attempted to do business. When the Silurians refused, he tossed them into space along with the ones in hibernation.
The Doctor quickly deduces that Solomon cannot control this so-called ark of the Silurians and his attempt to do so made its auto-pilot head for Earth, its launching point. The Doctor explains that the ISA will soon be launching missiles. The greedy Solomon believes the Doctor is lying and wants the dinosaurs for himself. Exiting Solomon's cockpit, the Doctor tells the two dim-witted robots that their boss wants to see them. The Doctor tells Rory and Brian to run as the two robots ask Solomon why he wanted to see them. Realising that the Doctor has tricked them, Solomon orders his lackeys to go after them.
The Doctor, Rory and Brian soon encounter the same triceratops from earlier — which the Doctor names "Tricey" — and board its back. The Doctor tries getting Tricey to go by using verbal commands used for horses but fails. Brian quickly deduces the same method they used to get rid of Tricey before can be used again, tossing his remaining golf ball away to make it run. The robots follow after them, unable to go faster than a walking pace, shooting lasers at them until Tricey turns a corner and loses them. The robots are annoyed; they used to be faster, but all this time on the ship has rusted them.
The Doctor then wonders how they are going to stop as Tricey is closing in on a wall; they fall off and have a hard landing. The ISA contacts the ship and the Doctor answers via the monitor; he claims to be able to turn the ship around, with a precious cargo on board. However, the head of the ISA, Indira, refuses to listen to the Doctor and informs him that the missiles will be launched within a few minutes. The Doctor, Rory and Brian try finding the TARDIS so they can collect Amy, Riddell and Nefertiti before coming up with a new plan. However, Solomon finds them with the security cameras and teleports to their location with his clumsy robots. Solomon explains that his ship has detected the missiles, saying the Doctor wasn't lying.
Solomon then explains his scanner found something just as valuable as the dinosaurs, and he is amazed that the Doctor has been able to procure this "item". He demands that Nefertiti be handed over to him, as he can't fit a dinosaur in his ship. When the Doctor refuses, Solomon has Tricey shot and killed to prove he's serious. Amy, Riddell, and Nefertiti arrive via the teleporter. Nefi willingly goes with Solomon to ensure the safety of everyone else. Solomon then has them teleported back to his ship, preparing to leave.
The Doctor quickly leads everyone to the control room, explaining that Solomon couldn't control the ship because the Silurians designed it to require two pilots who share similar DNA. Brian offers to pilot the ship with Rory — since they are father and son, they share similar DNA. The Doctor has them sit down in the control chairs and tells them how to work the controls. He orders Riddell to guard the room against anything that might attack them; Riddell complies.
The Doctor then opens part of the console and begins fiddling with the wiring; he asks Amy to talk to him as he works better when multitasking. Amy expresses her fear that his visits are becoming farther and farther apart; one day, he might never show up. However, the Doctor quickly comforts Amy by explaining that he'll always come to see them. He also learns Amy quit her job after their last meeting, in part because she never knows when he'll show up again.
The Doctor takes a glowing green orb from inside where he's been fiddling with the controls, telling Amy he's going to teleport to Solomon's ship to conduct Phase 1, saying Phase 2 has been completed. Amy corrects him, explaining 2 comes after 1, but gets laughter in return. The Doctor says that while humans are always linear about planning, he's not.
Riddell returns, stating that guarding the control room is a "two-man" job; Amy takes a gun, stating that she's easily worth two men, but Riddell can help as well. Amy joins him outside the room as a group of raptors close in. They shoot the electric tranquillisers into the dinosaurs several times, knocking them out. Riddell expresses interest in taking a dinosaur tooth back with him as a souvenir from the adventure as they continue knocking out the dinosaurs.
Back at the Indian Space Agency, one of the staff notices that the ship has turned around. However, Indira doesn't care; the missiles are still going to hit it.
In the control room, Brian is laughing with joy as he's piloting a spaceship full of dinosaurs.
In the meantime, Solomon has realised the Doctor has magnetised the Silurian ark to prevent his ship from leaving, just as the Doctor appears behind him and short-circuits the robots to prevent them from assisting. Solomon tells the Doctor that he will not let go of such a valuable item, offending Nefertiti, who knocks him down. As Nefi pins Solomon to the ground with his crutch, the Doctor jokes not to mess with Egyptian queens. Preparing to take Nefi back to the ark, the Doctor informs Solomon that he'll receive a consolation prize: the missiles meant for the ark. He places the orb, which emits the signal the missiles are locked onto, in Solomon's ship and teleports away with Nefi.
The ship is de-magnetised. Solomon screams in terror as his ship takes off and is hit by the missiles, exploding. At the same time, Rory and Brian pilot the ship away from Earth and into the emptiness of space.
With the ship safely piloted into an empty area of space, the Doctor has the chance to take it and the dinosaurs to somewhere else in the universe where they can live on a new planet in peace. Preparing to take everyone back, the Doctor is told by Amy and Rory that they wish to return home; he accepts this. However, Brian asks the Doctor for a favour before he takes him back home.
Later, Brian enjoys his lunch, sitting on the edge of the TARDIS doorway, looking down on the Earth. Amy and Rory look at him with smiles as the Doctor comes from behind and hugs them. Elsewhen, Riddell has been taken back to the time and place the Doctor took him from, only one thing is different: Nefertiti has decided to stay with him.
Back in London, Rory is checking the light-bulb Brian previously tried to fix, agreeing that his father was right — it might be the fixture. Amy enters, saying they got another bunch of postcards from Brian. She puts them on the fridge, showing that Brian has now taken to seeing the world. Amy and Rory stare at the last postcard before putting it on the fridge; it's of Siluria, the new home of the dinosaurs, which Brian and the Doctor have just visited.
Cast
- The Doctor - Matt Smith
- Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
- Rory Williams - Arthur Darvill
- Riddell - Rupert Graves
- Brian Williams - Mark Williams
- Solomon - David Bradley
- Queen Nefertiti - Riann Steele
- Indira - Sunetra Sarker
- Robot 1 - Noel Byrne
- Robot 2 - Richard Garaghty
- Bleytal - Richard Hope
- ISA worker - Rudi Dharmalingam
- Robot 1 voice - David Mitchell
- Robot 2 voice - Robert Webb
Crew
| Executive Producers Steven Moffat and Caroline Skinner |
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| Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources. |
Uncredited crew
Worldbuilding
Individuals
- Brian used to be afraid of travelling to different places.
- Amy quit her job as a model.
- Rory states his age as 31.
- The Doctor keeps a Christmas list for Santa Claus.
Culture
- Brian calls the Doctor "Arthur C. Clarke".
- When the Doctor disables Solomon's robots, they sing "Daisy Bell".
- Amy says that Riddell needs a lesson in gender politics.
Locations
- Solomon plans to sell the dinosaurs at the Roxbourne Peninsula.
Sports & hobbies
- Brian enjoys golf and carries golf balls around with him. He also carries around a gardening trowel.
Technology
- The Doctor's psychic paper is set to "Temporal News Feed". Its alert noise is a horn honking.
- Solomon uses an IV System "Identify and Value: the database of everything across space and time, allocated a market value".
- Rory uses an ice patch on Brian's burn.
Species
- Brian thinks the pterodactyls are kestrels.
- The Doctor implies that there are several species native to, or at least residing on, the Moon — although he may be joking.
Music
- The Doctor recognises that the music being played by Solomon in his spacecraft is "Fantasia in F minor" for four hands, by Franz Schubert. When asked if he knows it, the Doctor claims that he served as hands three and four. He adds that "Schubert kept tickling [him] to try to put [him] off."
Biology
- The Doctor jokes that Brian and Rory's habit of stating the obvious is hereditary.
Story notes
- This episode received an Appreciation Index of 87.[4]
- The Doctor claims to be a Sagittarius, but qualifies this statement by adding, "Probably." Interestingly enough, November 23, the first airdate of Doctor Who in 1963 falls during the time that Sagittarius is deemed by astrologers to be occupied by the sun using the tropical astrological calendar. In the sidereal astrological calendar, the sun was on the Libra/Scorpio border at the time of first airing.
- In a moment of excitement, the Doctor kisses Rory on the mouth after Rory suggests checking if the Silurian Ark has defence systems. This is the second same-sex kiss featured in the series and the first initiated by the Doctor. The first kiss was between Captain Jack Harkness and the Ninth Doctor in TV: The Parting of the Ways. Rory previously kissed the Doctor, believing him to be Amy, in COMIC: As Time Goes By. Unlike the previous on-screen same-sex kiss, this one was completely improvised by Matt Smith.
- For this episode, the Doctor Who logo's texture resembles scales, like those of a dinosaur. It is also given a green hue.
- Mark Williams (Brian Williams) previously played Maxwell Edison in AUDIO: The Eternal Summer.
- The CGI models of the raptors are the same as those used in the show Primeval.
- The costumes for Robot 1 and Robot 2 were remodelled from ones used on CBBC's Mission 2110.
- With this story, Rory became the only individual known to have travelled in the TARDIS with both his own parent and own child.
- Mark Williams and David Bradley both appeared in the Harry Potter films as Arthur Weasley and Argus Filch, respectively.
- David Bradley played Walder Frey in Game of Thrones. Matt Smith would later play Daemon Targaryen in the prequel series House of the Dragon.
- Arthur Darvill and David Bradley would later appear in Chris Chibnall's series Broadchurch.
Ratings
- "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 8 September 2012, and on the same date on BBC America in the United States. Overnight ratings showed that it had been watched by 5.5 million viewers live in the UK. Final consolidated ratings rose to 7.57 million viewers.[5] The episode also received 1.8 million requests during the month of September on BBC iPlayer, placing it second on the chart behind "Asylum of the Daleks". It also received an Appreciation Index of 87, considered "excellent".
- In Canada, on Space, the episode was watched by an average calculation of 575,000 viewers, making it the most watched item on the channel that week.
Filming locations
- The scenes in the engine room were filmed at Southerndown beach
Production errors
- The Doctor's socks constantly change from stripy blue socks to his normal black socks.
- On the final postcard sent by Rory's dad, the TARDIS exterior resembles how it looked before the redesign in The Eleventh Hour. However, as it was an illustration, continuity-wise it could just be an artist interpretation.
- When they first land the TARDIS on the spaceship, only the windows at the door are lit while the ones at the side are not given any lights.
- The flying reptiles identified by the Doctor as "pterodactyls" are actually pteranodons, a distantly related, though distinctly different genus of pterosaur, as noted by the distinctive spike-like crest on the back of their heads. ('Pterodactyl' is a more common vernacular substitute for 'Pterosaur', the class of flying reptiles to which Pteranodon belongs. So the naming is correct.)
- Shots of the TARDIS and Solomon's ship next to the Silurian ark show it is nowhere near the size of Canada (10 million square kilometres).
- When Amy is at the Silurian console, she picks up a small flat white disc, however, when she inserts it into the console, it is spherical.
- The first shot of the Earth (while Brian is having lunch at the TARDIS doors) is flipped; Spain is to the east and Saudi Arabia is to the west.
Continuity
- Rory's mobile phone rings on the spaceship and Brian is shocked by how it can work in space. On previous occasions the Doctor has been shown to convert a mobile phone into a "superphone". He has done this for Rose Tyler, (TV: The End of the World) Martha Jones (TV: 42) and Donna Noble. (TV: The Doctor's Daughter)
- The Tenth Doctor previously took a companion's parent on a TARDIS trip by accident. (TV: Army of Ghosts)
- The Doctor has travelled with Egyptian royalty before, as his fifth incarnation and Peri Brown shared many adventures with the 14th century BC Pharaoh Erimem. (AUDIO: The Eye of the Scorpion, et al.) As is implied with Nefertiti, Erimem also ultimately ended up staying behind in another time and place, namely Peladon in the 41st century. (AUDIO: The Bride of Peladon)
- A photo of Amy and Rory at their wedding appears on their fridge alongside Brian's postcards. Rory also mentions to Brian that he has been travelling with the Doctor since he and Amy got married (although, according to Brian, he said that they went to Thailand). (TV: The Big Bang)
- The Silurians were previously seen to have dinosaurs, using one to guard their base in Wenley Moor. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
- The Doctor accuses Brian of boarding the TARDIS via transmat. (TV: Bad Wolf)
- The Doctor tells Rory that the TARDIS isn't a "taxi service". The Fifth Doctor told Adric the same thing when he wanted to go back to Alzarius. (TV: Earthshock) The Eleventh Doctor also said this to River Song. (TV: The Time of Angels)
- The Tenth Doctor previously met another Brian Williams. (AUDIO: Snowglobe 7)
- The Eighth Doctor previously expressed an enthusiasm for dinosaurs. (AUDIO: The Resurrection of Mars)
- At later points in time, humans would also twice use an ark to preserve Earth life as the planet faced cataclysms. (TV: The Ark, The Ark in Space)
- When jumping on the triceratops, the Doctor yells "Geronimo!" (TV: The End of Time, The Big Bang, et al.)
- The Doctor has previously received messages through his psychic paper. (TV: New Earth, Silence in the Library, The Eleventh Hour, Night Terrors)
- The Doctor is once again quite pleased that he gets to say "Take us to your leader." (TV: Aliens of London, Voyage of the Damned)
- The Doctor opens the TARDIS doors in space so Brian can get a good view of Earth. (TV: The Runaway Bride, The Beast Below)
- Amy is already familiar with Silurians and their name "homo reptilia" (TV: The Hungry Earth, Cold Blood, A Good Man Goes to War)
- According to the IV system, the Doctor doesn't exist. The Doctor had been erasing any evidence of his existence from databases throughout time and space in his effort to "return to the shadows". (TV: The Angels Take Manhattan)
- A country was previously used to describe the size of something in TV: Time Crash.
- The Third Doctor took great care to avoid the harming or slaying of dinosaurs in the 1970s, a trait that remained with his successor herein. (TV: Invasion of the Dinosaurs)
- The approach of the Moon did not actually cause the extinction of life that the Silurians had anticipated, although they were previously known to have believed that it would. (TV: Doctor Who and the Silurians)
- The Fifth Doctor witnessed what actually caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. (TV: Earthshock)
Home video releases
DVD & Blu-ray releases
- Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, along with the rest of the first half of the series (episodes one through to five) was released as Series 7 Part One on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1/A on 13 November 2012, in region 2/B on 29 October 2012 and in region 4/B on 14 November 2012.
- Also, this episode was released as part of the Complete Seventh Series boxset on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1/A on 24 September 2013, in region 2/B on 28 October 2013 and in region 4/B on 30 October 2013.
Digital releases
- In the United Kingdom, this story is available on BBC iPlayer.
External links
- Dinosaurs on a Spaceship at The Locations Guide
- Dinosaurs on a Spaceship at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
Footnotes
- ↑ Leanza, Andrea (February 2012). Doctor Who 2012 season 7 "Dinosaurs On A Spaceship". Facebook. Retrieved on 6 November 2018.
- ↑ Doctor Who Season 7 Episode 1: Asylum of the Daleks. Retrieved on 3 November 2018.
- ↑ Award-winning make-up designer Neill Gorton is master of gruesome creations. Edinburgh Evening News (27 September 2012). Retrieved on 10 November 2018.
- ↑ Marcus (10 September 2012). Dinosaurs on a Spaceship AI:87. Doctor Who News. Retrieved on 11 September 2012.
- ↑ Doctor Who Ratings - UK final
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