Harry -
Five seasons into New Who, and the Silurians make their first appearance.
Sarah -
After watching "The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood" I immediately wanted to watch "Doctor Who and the Silurians" -- all seven episodes!
Harry -
I always liked the premise of this ancient Earth species, but not how they were written after their debut in the Pertwee era. The Silurians gave writers the opportunity to hold a mirror up to ourselves, depicting humans as the ultimate exploiters who took an entire planet away from its earliest inhabitants. Over time though, the Silurians were turned into just another set of shambling monsters for the Doctor to defeat.
New Who, new opportunity to reset the relationship.
Unfortunately, so much of part one took an awfully long time to get going.
Sarah -
It seems like there should have been more Silurian stories between 1970 and 2010, but "Warriors of the Deep" was the only one. The Moffat years definitely made up for lost time, but we'll get to that later.
I actually liked that the story took its time, giving us a chance to get to know the characters. Mo and Ambrose and their dyslexic son Elliot, Ambrose's father, Tony, and my favorite character of all -- Dr. Nasreen Chaudhry. By the time things begin to happen, I was absolutely invested in their wellbeing.
Harry -
There's definitely more time in a two-parter to get to know everyone. Ambrose's true character came to the fore quickly enough. Anyone who can gather a cache of deadly weapons in a matter of minutes is someone to be suspicious of.
Sarah -
Right? That was unexpected.
Harry -
Nasreen is certainly fascinating because of the question: does she count as one of the Doctor's companions? She met the Doctor, entered the TARDIS and even travelled in the TARDIS. These are some of the basic criteria when it comes to companions. Granted, the TARDIS didn't actually fly, rather it plummeted down a shaft, but it did move from one place to another with the Doctor and Nasreen inside.
Sarah -
I would love to have Nasreen back for some more adventures. Maybe when Amy and Rory are busy doing normal human stuff.
Harry -
"Oh I love a big mining thing," the Doctor says early on, perhaps remembering previous adventures inside big mining things. There were several call backs to the Pertwee era here, not just with the Silurians. The gigantic drill burrowing 21 kilometres to the planet's core was reminiscent of "Inferno". It was also quaint that the entire drilling operation seemed to be operated by fewer than a half dozen people. No expensive crowd shots. Matt Smith going undercover as a cleaning lady might have taken things too far.
Sarah -
Now that you've mentioned it, I'm quite disappointed he did't go undercover as a cleaning lady.
Harry -
Amy getting pulled beneath the ground was full-on horror. It kicked off a series of incidents where once again it looked like things were spinning out of the Doctor's control. He could barely keep all the human characters in one place. Rory kept getting in his face to remind him he was screwing up. The use of the Eleventh Doctor's uptempo theme music was effective here, adding to the "race against time" mood.
Sarah -
That scene was so tense. Even knowing Amy was going to be safe, I still myself at the edge of the sofa, holding my breath. With Amy out of the scene, we get a bit more time with Rory, who still isn't sure about the Doctor. By this point in a new companion's (or companion's companion) time with the Doctor they have usually warmed up to him more than this. Rory still doesn't fully trust the Doctor and it seem reasonable after all he's experienced. I completely understand when he yells at the Doctor,“You should have tried harder.”
Harry -
Thankfully, as he suspected, Mo, Amy and Elliot have not been killed but only taken hostage. This set up a cut to another full-on horror moment. The masked surgeon creeping towards Amy with a giant needle. So simple, yet always effectively terrifying.
Sarah -
That's quite a moment. Fortunately, the Silurians are civilized and reasonable...or are they?
Harry -
Soon enough, we see that the Silurians have good and bad eggs among them. The scary surgeon turns out to be a gentle scientist who has spent centuries quietly researching life on the planet's surface. It's the military Silurians who want to start a war and destroy humanity.
Sarah -
Silurians and humans have a lot in common, don’t they?
Harry -
Amid the hostage taking and gun-pointing, the Doctor sees a glorious opportunity for homo sapiens and homo reptilia to negotiate a peace and share the planet. But after a promising start, it all comes undone when the Silurians learn of Ambrose's act of violence against Alaya. The Silurian military goes on a war footing and the peace talks collapse. There's nothing left to do but run.
It's very tragic, especially for Ambrose. One moment of fear condemned her to a lifetime of guilt. Hopefully Elliot grows up to be the best of humanity.
Watching this story as North Americans, can't help but think about the analogy to Indigenous peoples and imperialist settlers, and how humans got it so wrong. We can only try to be the best of humanity going forward.
After the chaotic escape from the mess left below, the story appears headed for a quiet, reflective conclusion. Then Rory dies.
I honestly forgot this happened at the end and it blew my mind. Especially as there was no magic wand solution forthcoming from the Doctor or the sonic screwdriver. Amy losing all memory of him was just awful to watch.
Sarah -
I’d almost forgotten the whole Rory dying story arc. It’s heartbreaking that Amy doesn’t know why the Doctor is sad about Rory’s death. We move from heartbreaking to crushing when Amy waves to herself off in the distance and thinks she sees someone else – and then forgets.
Harry -
I can only imagine the shock and horror that fandom must have experienced between this story and the next one. I'm so eager to find out what happened, let's go to it!
Best Line:
ELLIOT: Have you met monsters before?
DOCTOR: Yeah.
ELLIOT: You scared of them?
DOCTOR: No, they're scared of me.
Favourite Moment: Malohkeh turns out to be friendly. What a relief.
Lasting Image: Restac and her warriors.
7/10
Sarah -
Best Line:
"Not got any celery, have you? No. No, not really the climate. Tomatoes, though. You'd do a roaring trade in those."
Favorite Moment: Amy and Rory waving to themselves
Lasting Image: The imprisoned Alaya
7/10
Our marathon continues with Story #210: Vincent and the Doctor...
