The Silurians make a return to our screens as the stupid humans dig too deeply into the Earth yet again. When will the inhabitants of the Whoniverse learn that the safest strategy is just to stay at home and maybe grow some onions or something?
Cast and Crew
Matt Smith as the Doctor
Karen Gillan as Amy Pond
Arthur Darvill as Rory
Neve McIntosh as Alaya
Meera Syal as Nasreen Chaudhry
Robert Pugh as Tony Mack
Nia Roberts as Ambrose
Alun Raglan as Mo
Samuel Davies as Elliot
Written by Chris Chirnall
Produced by Peter Bennett
Directed by Ashley Way
Originally aired on the 22nd of May 2010 on BBC One/BBC HD in the United Kingdom.
Premise
Wales, 2020. Having missed the intended destination of Rio, the TARDIS arrives just in time for the deepest drilling operation ever to achieve record depth and wake up a dormant underground civilisation.
High Points
- Elliot educates Rory on Sherlock Holmes
Low Points
- Amy yet again wants the Doctor to promise that he’ll keep her safe. I thought she might have realised by now that he can’t, although she does get some excuse for being a little paranoid due to his habit of being a little bit late for appointments.
The Scores
Originality: Stupid humans dig a big hole, find something that doesn’t appreciate their actions and which wants to kill the lot of them. Three out of six.
Effects: Not much in the way of effects, but a very pretty energy barrier. Silurian makeup was a bit too human-looking, but really nicely done paint on it. Five out of six.
Story: Well, it remains to be seen how it turns out. So far, it’s not particularly surprising but it’s been quite interesting. Four out of six.
Acting: Good contributions from the guest cast. Five out of six.
Emotional response: Unfortunately, despite being interested in the story I’m finding it a fairly intellectual kind of interest rather than any sort of emotional engagement. Three out of six.
Production: It looks like a Welsh village, but since Doctor Who is filmed in Wales that’s not particularly difficult. I thought the TARDIS interior was looking very fine in this episode, but the drilling operation looked too much like a hastily prop-filled warehouse. Four out of six.
Overall: I’ve got a great deal more positive feeling about this episode than the last one, if only because it’s a two parter and thus has room to develop a bit more story. Five out of six.
The Hungry Earth receives a grand total of twenty-nine out of forty-two.
Can you please list the name of the episode so i know not to read things i shouldn’t.
Another good episode. I really like the Doctor telling Rory that he needs him with him. This Doctor does a lot more asking of folks to follow him and a lot less of the demanding/assuming they will.
I think Amy is turning out to be the best companion of the new incarnation of Doctor Who, and Rory is getting a lot more character development than Mickey did.
It was interesting that this first part of a two parter didn’t have a big cliffhanger ending. But I was OK with that.
I am very very annoyed, however, that by the 8th episode of Doctor Who we’ve seen humanoid lizards, but after an entire SEASON of V we haven’t see a full realized lizard V yet. At one point in the final episode, I said out loud, “if I don’t see a lizard, I’m done watching.” I would have even accepted just seeing the baby lizard, but nooooo, they couldn’t do that even . I think I may actually be done watching V…..
But back on topic, Doctor Who this year has been really solid.