Well, frankly, that's outrageous!

When I was little, I owned 'The Doctor Who Dinousaur Book', in which the Seventh Doctor (played by Tom Baker) travelled in his TARDIS back to prehistoric Earth to introduce the reader to the wonders of the terrible lizards (which is what the word 'dinosaur' roughly translates into in English). I loved that book and even put the poster inside on my bedroom wall, although, having Tom Baker grinning down at you at night whilst surrounded by rampaging dinos is not conducive to a good night's sleep. Cheers, Doctor.

The book was educational rather than purely fictional and DW, as a series, was originally intended to be both but settled firmly into the latter pretty quickly. There certainly wasn't much in the way of education in 'Dinosaurs On A Spaceship' - the first proper episode of Doctor Who I have seen with dinosaurs in it, having never viewed 'Invasion Of The Dinosaurs', a DW ep with Jon Pertwee from the 70's. When Matt Smith's Doctor excitedly uttered the episode's actual title in the trailer at the end of the previous week's cracking 'Asylum Of The Daleks', I did not share his passion. It seemed liked an episode with such an outrageously obvious title (more obvious even than 'Asylum Of The Daleks') might be a rare mis-step for the Steven Moffat produced series, where nothing should be taken at face value. Even bearing that in mind, 'Dinosaurs On A Spaceship' still sounds like the working title of an episode dreamt up by throwing two juxtaposing words together to create a story idea. Yet, it did inherently beg the admittedly intriguing question of how the hell did dinosaurs get on a spaceship?

Thankfully, writer Chris Chibnall answered in spades by crafted a rollicking story that not only gives us the promised terrible lizards on a starcraft but also Rory's Dad (Mark Williams, Ron Weasley's Dad in Harry Potter), a not-so-terrible lizard in the form of cutie Triceratops, 'Tricie', a thouroughly despicable space pirate (ably played by David Bradley, another Potter alumnus) and a pleasantly-surprising-but-obvious-when-you-think-about-it cameo from The Silurians. Then there's Mitchell & Webb as two rusty but deadly giant robots.

Whilst not as thrilling or dramatic as 'Asylum', Chibnall's episode still has an exciting story, slickly told, which does, if I'm honest bear some resemblance to last week's, with The Doctor and co travelling inside a darkened facility where dangerous creatures run amok, whilst an armed force waits outside to blow it all up. However, there is more of a countdown here, along with some very cool ideas. An engineroom that looks like a beach on a (wave-powered) ship that is altogether one of DW's best spacecraft designs of recent years, which must be challenge for this show , as well as some snappy interplay between the many characters. 'Well, frankly, that's outrageous.' The Doctor chides Rory after discovering the latter's Dad has hitched a ride in the TARDIS. 'You think you can just bring your Dad along without asking. This isn't a taxi service, you know.'
'You materialised around us!' Rory shoots back.
'Oh! Well, that's alright then...!'
It's a testament to Chibnall's skill that, regardless of how many extra companions The Doctor accumulates here ('A gang. Yes! Never had a gang before'. The Doc enthuses, as if to then add that, like bow ties and Stetsons, gangs are cool.) Amy remains chief among them. Now the Ponds' marriage is back on track, Amy's understandably dour mood from last week has given way to a lighter one and she also shows some impressive leadership skills, even towards Queen Nefertiti herself. As with 'Asylum'; we see more shades to Amy's character, here, alongside her usual ballsiness ('I'm worth at least two men!' She asserts at one point.) Given that Karen Gillan is leaving the show at Xmas, it's her last chance to really show what she's got. Her imminent departure is possibly foreshadowed by her throwaway line to the Doc at one point about his being present at her death. Or her at his. After Amy's narrow escape from being Daleked last week and that line in this episode, could her potential demise be this series' crack in time-style running theme?

So, bravo, Chris Chibnall for creating a worthy follow up to Steven Moffat's brilliant series opener. But did you really have to kill Tricie?