Help support me on Patreon! www.patreon.com/harbowholmes

Peter capaldi, on an interview defending moffat after s10, remarked that one of moffat's biggest qualities as a showrunner and that no one knew about was that on top of all the things he did, he received the raw scripts from the writers and rewrote them top to bottom, and still gave all the props to the writers. So, moffat ended up working his a** off for the sake of consistency and character development. We can clearly see now, in hindsight, all of moffat's touches on this particular episode, because we know how a chibnall script actually looks like without outside intervention.

My only notes on this ep are Brian is a delight and we must protect Mark Williams forever because he is just a joyous human and Matt Smith by this point in the show is probably in pain from carrying the show on his back episode after episode. He always delivers. His acting is always brilliant.

It almost feels like Doctor Who mad-libs. The doctor deals with (noun) DINOSAURS on a (location) SPACESHIP, with (historical figure) NEFERTITI

Rory's Dad is basically almost exactly the same as Arthur Weasley in how he talks, acts and thinks, so it was definitely the best casting choice they could have made.

The most Chibnall episode to ever Chibnall and that’s saying something when there’s Chibnall episodes more Chibnall than the last.

Despite being a textbook Chibnall episode, this is better than anything we've gotten in seasons 11-13. By miles.

chibnall knows how to write a fun and engaging middle aged man, brian, graham and dan all being my favourite characters of his.

It's a standard Chibs episode - you watch it, you have a few laughs. a few groans, you can go out into the kitchen and make a snack and when you come back, you really haven't missed anything. But, as you say, Brian is the best thing in the story, and I give credit to Chibs for creating the character.

I think I speak for us all when I humbly request a printable copy of your Chibnall bingo sheet.

Honestly what fucks me up about introducing Rory's Dad is that he, and everyone else in Rory and Amy's lives Would have no idea what happens to them after Angels Take Manhattan They just VANISH and the Doctor doesn't even let them know the bare minimum of where their GRAVES are Like holy shit their friends and family who know of the Doctor would hate him so much and they'd never get closure

Chinibal made 13th use the Master regeneration race against himself and put him in a Nazi camp.. The dude definitely sees the doctor as a mercenary without any morality

Every single episode Chibnall did before taking over and almost killing the series was either mid or bad. How did he get the showrunner job? Apparently no-one wanted to be showrunner after Moffatt left but I've got to ask, if Chibnall was BBC's best choice, did they really look?

The sad thing about the sloppy writing is when you can see what could have easily been fixed. Like the plot hole of the Doctor and Brian never meeting before now. All you had to do was give Matt a line saying "You! You were at their wedding. You're a terrible dancer." Then the audience can haha at the Doctor having attended the whole reception, talking to and dancing with every person but never comprehending that Brian is Rory's father. But noooo, we can't throw away a whole 2 lines to maintain continuity and close the most obvious of plotholes! 🤐

Oh my god the Peep Show hot take! As someone who loves to quote that show semi regularly I’d love to hear why you feel so strongly about it. Maybe a future review?

I completely forgot Pondlife existed. This makes so much sense. I feel like Chibnall just does not like The Doctor. He goes out of his way to make the character thoroughly unlikable. "HERE AMY AND RORY, I BROUGHT YOU AN ENSLAVED ALIEN TO DO YOUR HOUSEWORK!"

One thing this episode and the Snowmen me realise I wanted a historical companion! That would be so fun and different compared to all the companions we’ve had in the modern era

This is my favourite episode ever. I loved it when Chibnall came out of nowhere, said "It's Chibnallin time" and proceeded to Chibnall on everybody. So emotional.

That bingo card is great! Hope it makes a return. I know I'll be using it for the Centennary. Also, if there was a GOOD Chibnall bingo card, the only thing I can think of is "endearing old man", cause Brian, Graham, and Dan are the best characters in all his stories.

This isn't something I really thought about when I first saw the episode, but - if the entire plot is that a Silurian ship is hurtling towards the earth, and there was an earlier episode about a digging crew accidentally disturbing the rest of a group of Silurians, why couldn't the ship just be piloted by Silurians...? Think about it - this ancient ark ship that brought them to a new home in the cosmos, an object of reverence for them, but also in large part forgotten as they never felt the need to leave their beautiful new world. This monument to their ingenuity that really is just that, a monument, until one day, it springs back to life, responding to a distress call no other technology they have is capable of picking up anymore since it's from systems so ancient. The ark ship, some of the native dinosaurs that the Silurians brought with them and carefully prevented from evolving or changing too much from their Earth counterparts (again, likely as remembrance and reverence of their Earthly origins), and a few Silurians, maybe even just a few tour guides and Silurian tourists who were only there to take a walk through this immense demonstration of their species' greatest triumph, hurtling towards Earth in response to an ancient, automated protocol that probably could be stopped if anyone there actually knew how the ship worked. Only, it's not capable of faster-than-light travel. The intention was always for a lifelong journey, not a quick jaunt, and the Silurians never ended up having the technology for anything resembling a warp drive anyway, so by the time the ship gets near Earth, the Doctor isn't dealing with these 'colonist' Silurians with a deep love and reverence for the Earth - he's dealing with their children, or their children's children. In my opinion at least, there's a couple ways to take this kind of story. Maybe these kids were told of Earth, and its glory, and that the ship is heading back there and that they must be "chosen" to reclaim the planet of their ancestors. Maybe they are actual villains, and their ancestors' genuine respect for their history has been twisted into a hatred of this accursed flying prison that they're sure will one day be their doom. Maybe they believe the Doctor when he says they're in danger of being destroyed by the "actual" inheritors of Earth, the humans. Maybe they believe him, but don't think that the "monkeys" as the Silurians have been shown to think of us as would actually be capable of doing any damage to a vessel constructed by the "Earthling Silurians." Maybe they just don't believe him. Overall, even though it seems like the sort of thing that would be a cop-out, having the Silurian ship be piloted by actual Silurians opens up a lot more narrative possibilities than "there's an evil human who's greedy and stole the ship." At least in my opinion.

Found a way to really enjoy some of Chibnall's Jodie episodes (tried it with Arachnids in the UK). Imagine Eleven watching them and doing a running commentary. Like, when the spider burst out the bath to liberate us from Basil Fawlty I heard him in my mind's ear say "That's just SILLY!" :)

This is probably the most I've ever agreed with you. It has some fun moments and Brian is brilliant, but there are so many parts of the episode that I hate. The Doctor rounding up a gang always seemed so stupid to me, I really don't understand why Nefertiti and Safari Lestrade were included. In my opinion, one of Moffat's biggest problems as time went on, was his reliance on 'slutty titles' (his words, not mine) to lure viewers in and this is probably the worst example of it. With a decent writer, that could still work, but unfortunately this episode got Chibnall. Also, thanks to your observations, I've become increasingly adept at playing Chibnall Bingo (if that were a real game, it would definitely have a countdown clock).

'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship' and 'The Power of Three' actually have the same quality that often carried the first RTD era. Even if the main plot and the monsters are largely forgettable, people have some fond memories of the episodes because of the Doctor's interactions with the Pond family, especially the very welcome addition of Rory's dad Brian.

saying you hate peep show brings your whole credibility as a reviewer into question 😂

I hate Chibnail with all my heart but i can forgive him for this episode because it's just insanity in a bowtie and i love it

This man took "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" and turned it into a 3 part series. That's kinda why 13 is forgettable and kinda will be forgotten as time goes on.

A season where the Doctor does bumble into every victory could be interesting if he notices it. Setting up the finale antagonist to be some sort of force willing the Doctor into succeeding. "Nobody's that lucky..."

Not every episode can be epic, it was never going to be great once the title was set. Also I feel like a lot of what was wrong with it would have been more forgivable if we didn't later learn the Chibnall can only write 1 type of story (Pretentiously high stakes, arbitrary timer, rushed ending.) There are dozens of Doctor Who episodes that suffer from these tropes but Chibnall episodes suffer from them so frequently and the reduced episode count of the recent series does not help.

"I have had it with these MFing snakes on this MFing plane!" ---Samuel L. Jackson "You ain't seen nothing yet!" --Chris Chibnall

I love the fact Brian sits and watches the earth with a flask of tea and a sandwich, such simple, pure human things juxtaposed with seeing one of the most awe inspiring sights. A very dad thing to do and like wilf it tells me Brian would be there for Amy and Rory to keep them grounded

Thank you. Even when I first watched the episode I knew I’d seen those robots somewhere I’ve just never remembered where from.

My favorite bit with Brian is when he starts flipping out, and Rory apologizes to the Doctor, telling him that travel makes his dad anxious. Other than that, yeah, not sure what was going on with Nefertiti and Riddell either.

Arthur Darville was educated at Bromsgrove School. I was at North Bromsgrove High School with Mark Williams, though I didn't know him. Mark lived on an estate, not a privileged background, but won a scholarship to Oxford University. Arthur came from Birmingham, not that far away, his parents were rich enough to send him to the prestigious private school. The chemistry between them is the result of shared West Midlands roots and the Bromsgrove connection in particular

"Oh boy! He reviewed my favourite episode!"

Peep Show is brilliant! Each to their own though

Brian at the wedding: "you didn't see me, right?!"

I thought DOAS was ok but what irked me about it most was his choice of "companion" in Riddell. In the UK (there maybe different attitudes in other countries where hunting is more of a thing) we're used to headlines highlighting the sickening trade of big game hunting tourism. Yet in this outing, The Doctor actively seeks out a big game hunter.

Nooo Harbo, I can't believe you'd say it's bad! Peep Show is amazing!

The Chibnall bingo card bit got me laughing so hard!

Imma be honest, when I first saw this episode, Rory’s dad played the part so well that I didn’t even realize this was his first appearance.

Brian williams is actually my favorite companion of this era.

7:03 - that's only if you don't count his Torchwood work coz Day One 😂. Also yeah I agree. When I rewatched this it almost felt like the template for Chibnalls era. I'd still put it above that era though as I like some of the characters particularly Rory and Brian plus Solomon is a good villain. plus the exposition isn't as grating here as it'd later become

The Doctor has a history of being especially ruthless with people who commit genocide, and that certainly was shown in this episode. To my way of thinking, that is more his motivation than having traveled alone for too long

Your take on Peep Show is uh worrying. I disagree highly but I appreciate the boldness of such a statement

I like how rorys dad has a vest like rory did on one of his earlier appearances

Speaking of reused assets from previous bbc shows, the raptors that attack the gang in the spaceship had been originally used in another bbc show called “Primeval” back in 2007. Thought it might be fun to mention.

My brain always autocorrects switching the B and the N, and I always giggle.

Sir, you neglected to mention how Brian Williams actually dresses like Rory did in series 5

YES! totally (apart from the peep show thing). I remember watching this on first run and thinking how poor this episode was. The extra companions were weird, the villain was poor and it lacked the fun you would expect. How could this be boring with such a story concept. Little did I know we would get 3 seasons of the same.

I’m gonna be honest: this is my favourite doctor who episode. The dinosaurs are a fun addition, Brian is the best addition ever, the robots are hilarious imo and the cast all have hilarious interactions with one another. The overall plot is weak and lacking, but I just adore every character and the whole thing

Glad you pointed out the re-use of the 2110 robots. I was glad to see the props getting some use.

I know you're currently going through all the seasons, but I'm really really waiting on Torchwood Children of Earth. I miss my Captain Jack :D

I'm at 3 and a half minutes and I was just thinking, do you think Amy waited the rest of her life to see the Doctor again?

how did this guy write torchwood

The fact your bingo card is five by four and not five by five annoys me to no end. You don't even have a Free Space!

I may be the only one but I genuinely enjoyed this episode 😂 it was such a fun romp

Samuel L Jackson voice: I had enough of these motherf"ing dinosaurs on this motherf"ing spaceship.

Tbh David Bradley is starting to become like Clara playing so many roles in the doctors life

tf did peep show do to you😂

Watching this video while hearing "Chib bad" it's another world experience

6:51 can we just appreciate that he actually made an entire Chibnall bingo card just for this video?

I hated Peep Show, too... until I watched it in recent years. It got me through "the great illness" a couple of years back. Seriously, it was the only thing that entertained me during those couple of weeks, flicking through the streaming services in the UK. It probably helped having seen their sketch shows. I think I didn't understand the humour until I'd done so

I don't think characters just standing around talking is necessarily bad - if done well. The problem is Chibnall can't tell the difference between Dialogue and Exposition. The most powerful scenes of Netflix's Arcane consists of characters just talking (Yes, I just watched it and I loved it, so I'm shoehorning it in as an example to make my point. Get off my back.)

I'm so glad we had bingo cards this time. My liver couldn't handle another shot game

I really wish the episode itself elaborated more on how the dinosaurs got there, cuz only now when you say it (and not the episode itself does) is when I was able to understand it 12:03 oh my god I feel so glad that you would point this out. Also, I dislike the humanisation of the robots, I prefer how most of the robots in doctor who are just big humanoid multi-purpose calculators instead (Mr. Smith doesn't count because they state that he isn't actually a computer, and the way K9 (the actually robot one) and Mr. Smith act is pretty different in some ways)

Chibnall episodes really seem to come down to being collections of genuinely good concepts with pisspoor execution and a bunch of super extra shit getting in the way, bringing everything down as a whole.

chibnall seems to be best at old dads, i don't know why but that seems to be the case

I Keep Thinking he's Called Chinball...

42 was actually good

I remember liking that episode. Because there is no way for Chibnal to ruin the Dinosaurs. On a Spaceship concept.

you'd think moffat promoted chinball out of spite

a fucking hellbenders reference :o

4:34 Element pun? The morality of Chibnall's Doctor was wonky long before season 11

Oh gosh I forgot chibs did Dinosaurs on a Spaceship!

Not the peep show slander!

this is legitimately the first time I've heard anyone acknowledge mission 2110. actual childhood memories there.

7:27 Not really defending the choice, but it did occur to me. Maybe the Doctor is trying to be friends because he wants to convince him to not hunt? Learn what make him tick and then show him why he's wrong? I could be wrong, I just thought maybe that could be a reason. It"s flimsy I admit. Honestly I just like that kind of character. They're charming, rugged, charismatic, and damn good dress sense

I was certain I knew those robot outfits before! Mission 2110. that was something I never thought I would see again, I totally forgot it existed

Nefertiti is only worth more than dinosaurs to nerdy Egyptologists like myself who would have a long list of questions to ask her (not that Chib actually incorporates any of what makes her so historically fascinating). Which is another reason why I hate this episode.

it’s such a shame that david bradley was underused in this story as he’s an amazing actor

Wait, did I hear a forced nefrititi- hunter guy romance, that’s another spot on the bingo card

Why TF would I forgot about it? It is just sheer brilliant tongue-in-cheek fun start to finish.

The Doctor murdering Solomon would have much more emotional weight if we actually saw Solomon's evil deeds, but of course, Chibnall had to abide by his golden rule of "Tell, don't show". He could use all that time wasted on dinosaurs, Nefertiti and Ridell to do that, but did he? Of course not.

Another great review! I'm working my way through your videos as I have just discovered your channel. So - again - many months late. Ok, I'm going to slightly play devils advocate on the Ood. 1. The Doctor did not intentionally leave the Ood at the Pond's house. 2. Once he learns that the Ood is at the Ponds, he knows that they are the most responsible and caring people who could be in this situation. 3. He explains that the Ood is "conditioned" to serve. This seems to be important. He doesn't claim that it is the Ood's "nature" to serve. So he is not fully rationalizing slavery. He is implicitly acknowledging that the Ood is not naturally intended to serve but that the Ood has been conditioned in a way that is at odds to its inherent nature. 4. Having acknowledged this reality and realizing that, in light of this suboptimal situation, the best place for the Ood to be (temporarily) is with the Ponds who would never take advantage of a vulnerable alien. 5. So, in the interim before the Doctor can get there, the best way to protect the Ood is just to let it do what it is conditioned to do - keep things temporarily in status quo - while not making things worse for the Ood. 6. Arguably, it could be harmful for the Ponds to do anything else. They are not qualified to help an Ood overcome its conditioning and embrace autonomy and freedom. And even if they could, where would it go? What would it do? It's on Earth. If it suddenly understood that it was free to pursue its own destiny, it would be in serious danger. It might walk out of the Ponds' house demanding or expecting freedom and autonomy only to be faced with what? A potentially hostile world confronting a creepy looking alien. That would be a disaster. 7. All of this assumes that the Doctor is tied up and can't immediately get back to earth to retrieve the Ood and take him to his people. I concede that this does seem like a stretch. Why can't the Doctor (WHO HAS A *!#* TIME MACHINE) just pop back and pick up the Ood. But, that is one of the eternal questions of Doctor Who, isn't it? There are so may problems the Doctor could solve simply by using his time machine. Sometimes he fixes those things. Sometimes he doesn't or can't for whatever reason. I think as viewers, we just have to accept that for the sake of story line, drama, humor, suspense, or whatever, that the the Tardis will not always be used as the Deus Ex Machina that it could be. Otherwise, a lot of the storylines will be really boring. Theoretically everything could be fixed with a time machine. So, long story short, I think the Doctor's plan was to just temporarily leave the Ood with the Ponds (the safest place it could be for the moment), advise them not to mess with the Ood's conditioning (because the results could be disastrous), assume that the Doctor simply couldn't pick the Ood up immediately for one of a hundred reasons why the Doctor can't show up at a particular place and time, and then (in a relatively short period of time) pick the Ood up and transport him home.

I wonder who ACTUALLY wrote Brian’s part. Because he is so likable and fun as well as a genuinely lovable human being we all know it didn’t come out of the chinball-robot’s vomit pipe.

So I recently rewatched this episode and... I came away loving it but now I realise it's because of Brian. Without him it's pointless but Brian is great.

I remember thinking, At last the Doctor is doing his own killing, rather than manipulating others into doing it on his behalf.

Brian carries this episode

i don't know how the dinosaurs where expensive when they literally repurposed them from primeval from a decade earlier

Brian always carries a trowel, and River does as well!

The question I have is: Did you make that checklist based on the episode or your general knowledge of Chinball episodes? 🤔

I remember watching this in college. This episode made me quit Doctor Who for a while. ... Then Timeless Children make me quit again... huh

10:14 possible origin of the Voth from Star Trek Voyager.

I think the most Chibnall episode is probably praceus or orphan 55

Hating peep show is a red flag

Can’t wait to play Chibnall BINGO for his last episode

No one going to have to stone's to say it? Okay then, I will. That's a checklist, not a bingo card. Bingo has equal Columns and Rows, so you can get a straight line like a game of Tic-Tac-Toe/Noughts and Crosses.

Mission 2110 wow, what a throwback

You don't like Peep Show???

I loved the show 2110. I forgot about it then saw the robot and it all came flooding back.