When I first watched this episode I was hoping for some Jurassic Park level scares and excitement but it had more of a Night at the Museum tone. Once I got over that, I found I still enjoyed the quirky adventure in this episode.
The highlight for me wasn't even the titular dinosaurs but the supporting cast. Big game hunter Ridell and Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, while only characterized in broad strokes, were still a blast to watch interacting with eachother and brought a lot of fun to the episode. But the real showstealer was Rory's dad. Papa Pond (as I like to refer to him, though technically not a Pond) is a down to earth all around genuinely good natured character. He represents the average person and it is fun to see his responses to the Doctor's antics. At this stage, he is far more interesting character than Amy and Rory, and it seems like Moffat may have gotten a little bored with these characters. Not that they didn't have good moments, but were definitely outshined by the supporting characters.
This episode, written by Chris Chibnall, features a rather lackluster villain, who feels more like a place holder for the real villain than a fully realized character, though his two robot henchman were amusing. Unfortunately this will prove to continue be an issue when he takes the helm in season 11 (but more on that when we get to it). It also feels like it moves a little too fast, the opposite problem than what plagued his "Hungry Earth/Cold Blood" two parter in season 5, with little time spent to develop the characters, most notably the villain (as mentioned before). This also causes problems with the twist, that it's a Silurian ship and the man aboard is a pirate but there's not much time for that to make an impact cause we have to move past it and focus on the immediate danger the Doctor and company are in.
Even so, there was a lot of fun to be had with this episode and a relatively strong entry for Chibnall. A bit of a happy medium between his outstanding "42" and lackluster two parter from season 5. And this episode could have been outstanding with a little more attention paid to characterization and pacing. But unfortunately, as I mentioned, many of the issues hindering this episode become regular detractions in his future writing. 8/10
The highlight for me wasn't even the titular dinosaurs but the supporting cast. Big game hunter Ridell and Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, while only characterized in broad strokes, were still a blast to watch interacting with eachother and brought a lot of fun to the episode. But the real showstealer was Rory's dad. Papa Pond (as I like to refer to him, though technically not a Pond) is a down to earth all around genuinely good natured character. He represents the average person and it is fun to see his responses to the Doctor's antics. At this stage, he is far more interesting character than Amy and Rory, and it seems like Moffat may have gotten a little bored with these characters. Not that they didn't have good moments, but were definitely outshined by the supporting characters.
This episode, written by Chris Chibnall, features a rather lackluster villain, who feels more like a place holder for the real villain than a fully realized character, though his two robot henchman were amusing. Unfortunately this will prove to continue be an issue when he takes the helm in season 11 (but more on that when we get to it). It also feels like it moves a little too fast, the opposite problem than what plagued his "Hungry Earth/Cold Blood" two parter in season 5, with little time spent to develop the characters, most notably the villain (as mentioned before). This also causes problems with the twist, that it's a Silurian ship and the man aboard is a pirate but there's not much time for that to make an impact cause we have to move past it and focus on the immediate danger the Doctor and company are in.
Even so, there was a lot of fun to be had with this episode and a relatively strong entry for Chibnall. A bit of a happy medium between his outstanding "42" and lackluster two parter from season 5. And this episode could have been outstanding with a little more attention paid to characterization and pacing. But unfortunately, as I mentioned, many of the issues hindering this episode become regular detractions in his future writing. 8/10