Doctor Who: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship Review

Just imagine if Samuel L Jackson had been in this episode (I HAVE HAD IT WITH THESE MOTHER (expletive removed) DINOSAURS ON THIS MOTHER (expletive removed) SPACESHIP!

Warning: Spoilers for the episode follow.

So, when I first heard this title, I was excited; we all were. Dinosaurs, on a spaceship! How could that go wrong. And the dinosaurs were awesome; they looked cool, whether it be in CGI form or the animatronics/puppetry, they did there job, and from fetch-playing triceratops to snoozing baby T-Rex, the dinos did their job, and with style too (sort of...). And it was a good thing, too, because there were some holes in this episode.

First, we've got Queen Nefertiti and hunter John Rydell; they both had their funny moments (though some of them were a tad inapropro...), but they were basically there as plot catalysts, and it seems a tad convenient that the Doctor happened to be with Nefertiti when he was called about the spaceship, and then decided he needed a gang for this adventure that included Rydell and the Ponds (speaking of which...). Granted, it was awesome when Rydell and Amy teamed up to tase raptors, but you get the point.

Ah, the Ponds. And Rory's dad. Was that one a plot convenience? Oh yeah, totally, but it was a great one. I'll admit it, when I first heard that they were going to have Rory's dad (played by Ron Weasly's dad from Harry Potter, no less), I though to myself "That could be really funny, but...". You get the idea. Fortunately, I was wrong, because Brian Williams was a boss: hilarious banter with Rory (and everyone else, while you're at it), playing fetch with a triceratops, flying a spaceship with the power of his mind, and sitting on the edge of the TARDIS, looking down at the earth while eating a sandwhich, Brian did in one episode what every companion dreams about, and it was cool. Thumbs up for Brian, everybody.

The Ponds themselves are always welcomed in my book, and they were cool this week, what with Amy showing she's picked up a thing or two, and Rory showing off his mad nursing skills. We also get dropped a few more hints regarding their eventual departure by way of Amy's telling the doctor that while she still likes him popping in a taking them somewhere, it's starting to play hell on her personal life.

As far as the main villains this week: ehh. Solomon was okay, but his robot friends were sort of annoying. Not racist robots from Transformers 2 annoying, but still pretty grating. Solomon's motivations were there, and he was pretty obviously evil, but I just didn't get anything out of him like I do from other Who-villians, other then that he sounded weirdly like Davros. The only really great thing about him was when the Doctor let him, that's right let him die;I really like it when 11 goes into the grey area morally, because that's the main thing that separates him from 10, and it's really badass.

Overall, this was a good episode. Nowhere near the awesomeness that was last week's outing, but still enjoyable.

Final Rating: 81%