So the production team has decided to honor Barry Letts' memory by commissioning a story that's basically a rehash of the first story he produced (Doctor Who and the Silurians) without making any concessions to anyone who didn't see it.
I wholeheartedly approve of this as a Doctor Who fan, because I don't think that the Doctor really needs to relate all of his adventures from when he had curly hair and a silly dress-sense to anyone who isn't KAREN GILLAN'S LEGS his companion.
(Speaking of the companions, by the way, and more specifically about KAREN GILLAN'S LEGS, why all that talk about Rio? She would have dressed like that no matter where they went.)
Besides, Silurians was so good they already re-made it as The Sea Devils and plundered its Humans-vs-Lizardmen-while-the-Doctor-tries-to-make-peace bit for Frontier in Space, so anyone without any idea as to the plot is really not paying much attention to the show's history.
Having said that, though, these Silurians (and no, I will not refer to them as homo-reptilians) have undergone a few changes, which seems like an odd move, considering how much this story tries to pander to the old viewers after the inane misdirection that was the whodunit (pardon the pun) part of "Amy's Choice" (was there anyone who didn't think, just for a moment, that it might have been the Monk or the Valeyard?) The Silurians have lost their third eye and are now fundamentalist zealots instead of Commies (what, you thought that "I will die to start a war" part was just posturing?) On the plus side, this is probably Doctor Who's most politically aware moment since, er, Captain Jack Harkness set off to distract a guard in "The Doctor Dances," and perhaps since Barry Letts was the producer. On the minus side, a story that relies so heavily on continuity from forty years ago probably shouldn't try recasting the villains like that, even if it is to suit contemporary feelings. (I can imagine another Silurian rehash thirty years from now, where they're - gasp!- right-wing Americans! Except wait, then the Doctor wouldn't have any qualms about wiping them out.)
I do like the fact that we finally see a female Silurian (stop me if I'm wrong, but after the Vinvocci scientist in "The End of Time," that's only the second girl-in-a-mask in the entire new series and maybe the third or fourth overall? ...although dwelling too long on either The Web Planet or Time and the Rani makes my head hurt). (Edit: forgot about Jade in "The End of the World" and the cat-people in "New Earth." Chan and Chan'tho tho.) I also like that the production team finally has enough money to show us an entire Silurian city. The pacing is excellent - we get our first real look at a Silurian a third of the way through this two-parter, just as we got our first real look at the end of Silurians' third of seven episodes. The gimmick with the creaky door was fairly well done, but the initial plot - the earth is eating you - was very poorly realized. In fact, I may have to chalk this one up as the worst-directed episode of the season, which is funny, because it also gives us the clearest view of what the interior of the TARDIS actually looks like, and this is including the previous episode, which spent half its time there.
Oh, and there's no dinosaur. I actually honestly feel cheated by that.
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