Well, I found this episode to be pretty average, very much what-it-says-on-the-tin. Though it probably also suffers from its placement between the awesome Asylum of the Daleks with its Moffat-esque twist in the tail, and the equally striking A Town Called Mercy (Amy, pointing a gun at the Doctor and she looks as if she really means it).
The comedy robots were genuinely funny until, shockingly, they killed a dinosaur just to make a point. That was disconcerting. After that, I didn’t even blink when the Doctor let Solomon get blown up, in fact I thought he deserved it – both emotionally (he was a repulsive character) and rationally (he did murder all the Silurians).
Nefertiti, I loved. I would have dearly liked to see her return as an ongoing companion in later episodes, she would have made a worthy opponent for the Doctor (though, with Amy’s presence, I guess that role might have started to become crowded). I am severely un-woke, but still I disliked the implication that all it needed was a bit of macho egotism from John Riddell to win her interest/companionship. He should have had to work a lot harder than that. I think the episode would have benefitted from rather fewer companions – Amy, Rory, Brian, John Riddell, Nefertiti – too many people! It didn’t leave room to do justice to all of them. (This is reminiscent of Chibnall’s Season 11).
That’s my 2 cents worth, anyway.
Dentarthurdent 2 years ago.
