Doctor Who/Recap/S31/E08 The Hungry Earth: Difference between revisions

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It's 2020, near a small Welsh hamlet. The most ambitious drilling project in history has reached deeper beneath the Earth's crust than man has ever gone before, but now the ground itself is fighting back.
It's 2020, near a small Welsh hamlet. The most ambitious drilling project in history has reached deeper beneath the Earth's crust than man has ever gone before, but now the ground itself is fighting back.


The episode starts with Mo, the aforementioned drill worker, spending some quality reading time with his dyslexic son Elliot, before being reminded by wife Ambrose that his shift at the local major mining project starts soon. Having witnessed this fairly tender family life scene, it makes us feel all the more for the poor sap when something starts going wrong with the drill during 'off-hours' when he's the only one on duty, since it's his misfortune [[Red Shirt|to have to fill the quotient]] of someone getting killed horribly in order to demonstrate how serious the situation really is.
The episode starts with Mo, the aforementioned drill worker, spending some quality reading time with his dyslexic son Elliot, before being reminded by wife Ambrose that his shift at the local major mining project starts soon. Having witnessed this fairly tender family life scene, it makes us feel all the more for the poor sap when something starts going wrong with the drill during 'off-hours' when he's the only one on duty, since it's his misfortune [[Red Shirt|to have to fill the quotient]] of someone getting killed horribly in order to demonstrate how serious the situation really is.


The Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive. (They were aiming for Rio, but the TARDIS disagreed.) The Doctor, never to be dissuaded from something of interest, tunes out Amy's complaints as he examines the strange feel of the ground beneath him and patches of blue grass all over the place. And there are people in the distance waving at them. According to the Doctor, who's the only one to have binoculars on him, it's a ten years older Rory and Amy, come to visit the place out of a sense of nostalgia. The Doctor explains that it would be a bad idea to meet up with them, and instead goes to have a look at the big mining thing.
The Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive. (They were aiming for Rio, but the TARDIS disagreed.) The Doctor, never to be dissuaded from something of interest, tunes out Amy's complaints as he examines the strange feel of the ground beneath him and patches of blue grass all over the place. And there are people in the distance waving at them. According to the Doctor, who's the only one to have binoculars on him, it's a ten years older Rory and Amy, come to visit the place out of a sense of nostalgia. The Doctor explains that it would be a bad idea to meet up with them, and instead goes to have a look at the big mining thing.


Rory puts Amy's engagement ring in the TARDIS for safekeeping. He stashes the ring away before setting out after them, but gets somewhat waylaid by Elliot and Ambrose. Judging from the Police Box, they assume that he's a plainclothes police officer come to investigate the disappearance of people buried in the graveyard, coffins and all. And since on the surface the graves to all knowledge and appearances haven't been touched, it's as if the ground has all but swallowed them up.
Rory puts Amy's engagement ring in the TARDIS for safekeeping. He stashes the ring away before setting out after them, but gets somewhat waylaid by Elliot and Ambrose. Judging from the Police Box, they assume that he's a plainclothes police officer come to investigate the disappearance of people buried in the graveyard, coffins and all. And since on the surface the graves to all knowledge and appearances haven't been touched, it's as if the ground has all but swallowed them up.
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Amy and the Doctor sonic-and-enter the premises of the drilling project, and come across Dr. Nasreen Chaudhry and Tony Mack, the two people directing this project. They're trying to work out what's wrong with the drill, where Mo went to, and where that big hole in the floor came from. The Doctor's most worried by the last, especially since it's started to steam. And of course he's ''right'', as the ground situated under the room begins to tremble and more holes appear in the floor in quick succession. Nasreen and the Doctor make it to safety, but Tony gets stuck; Amy dashes to help him instead of making her own escape, and ''she'' starts getting pulled down into the earth for her trouble. She just gets pulled out of his grasp and under the earth.
Amy and the Doctor sonic-and-enter the premises of the drilling project, and come across Dr. Nasreen Chaudhry and Tony Mack, the two people directing this project. They're trying to work out what's wrong with the drill, where Mo went to, and where that big hole in the floor came from. The Doctor's most worried by the last, especially since it's started to steam. And of course he's ''right'', as the ground situated under the room begins to tremble and more holes appear in the floor in quick succession. Nasreen and the Doctor make it to safety, but Tony gets stuck; Amy dashes to help him instead of making her own escape, and ''she'' starts getting pulled down into the earth for her trouble. She just gets pulled out of his grasp and under the earth.


The Doctor and Nasreen decide to head underground to bargain with the Silurians ([[Doctor Who/Recap/S7 E2 Doctor Who and The Silurians|remember]] [[Doctor Who/Recap/S21 E1 Warriors of the Deep|them]]?), one of whom is under the watchful eye of Rory, crazed mother Ambrose and Tony, Ambrose's father; they have taken at least three people hostage so far and stung Tony with something nasty. And green. Also, in the middle of all that, Nasreen and Tony discover that they're in love.
The Doctor and Nasreen decide to head underground to bargain with the Silurians ([[Doctor Who/Recap/S7 E2 Doctor Who and The Silurians|remember]] [[Doctor Who/Recap/S21 E1 Warriors of the Deep|them]]?), one of whom is under the watchful eye of Rory, crazed mother Ambrose and Tony, Ambrose's father; they have taken at least three people hostage so far and stung Tony with something nasty. And green. Also, in the middle of all that, Nasreen and Tony discover that they're in love.


The Doctor quickly mobilizes the ragtag family into a makeshift army. The reptilians put a pitch-dark barrier dome around the area and kidnap Ambrose's son, but not before he manages to draw a very accurate map of the area and tremendously helps the Doctor. The Doctor realises that he should have watched the boy more carefully and vows to rescue him.
The Doctor quickly mobilizes the ragtag family into a makeshift army. The reptilians put a pitch-dark barrier dome around the area and kidnap Ambrose's son, but not before he manages to draw a very accurate map of the area and tremendously helps the Doctor. The Doctor realises that he should have watched the boy more carefully and vows to rescue him.


Amy is revealed to be in the Silurians' underground science lab, soon to be dissected while still completely conscious, as frantically warned by Mo, who hasn't completely healed from his ordeal. Also, it's not just one little tribe, as the captured Silurian [[Damsel in Distress]] says. It's an entire civilization.
Amy is revealed to be in the Silurians' underground science lab, soon to be dissected while still completely conscious, as frantically warned by Mo, who hasn't completely healed from his ordeal. Also, it's not just one little tribe, as the captured Silurian [[Damsel in Distress]] says. It's an entire civilization.
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* [[Campbell Country]]: Cwmtaff, Wales, a dreary hamlet apparently on loan from ''[[Torchwood]]''. Complete with hills, mists, and an old church.
* [[Campbell Country]]: Cwmtaff, Wales, a dreary hamlet apparently on loan from ''[[Torchwood]]''. Complete with hills, mists, and an old church.
* [[Chekhov's Boomerang]]: One is thrown at the beginning of the episode with Amy and Rory standing on the hill, waving at their future selves. [[It Got Worse|It got worse.]]
* [[Chekhov's Boomerang]]: One is thrown at the beginning of the episode with Amy and Rory standing on the hill, waving at their future selves. [[It Got Worse|It got worse.]]
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]:
* [[Chekhov's Gun]]:
** What do you want to bet the engagement ring's gonna be significant by the end of the series? {{spoiler|It is. Sort of. Twice.}}
** What do you want to bet the engagement ring's gonna be significant by the end of the series? {{spoiler|It is. Sort of. Twice.}}
** Ambrose's pile of weapons.
** Ambrose's pile of weapons.
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"[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E4 The Girl in The Fireplace|No. They're scared of me.]]" }}
"[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E4 The Girl in The Fireplace|No. They're scared of me.]]" }}
** When she enters the TARDIS, rather than the customary "It's bigger on the inside!", Nasreen describes it as "Fantastic!"
** When she enters the TARDIS, rather than the customary "It's bigger on the inside!", Nasreen describes it as "Fantastic!"
** Yet another Moff reference - the sonic screwdriver still doesn't do wood (but don't say that that's rubbish within earshot of the Doctor).
** Yet another Moff reference - the sonic screwdriver still doesn't do wood (but don't say that that's rubbish within earshot of the Doctor).
{{quote|"Oi! Don't diss the Sonic!"}}
{{quote|"Oi! Don't diss the Sonic!"}}
** And as in [[Doctor Who/Recap/S7 E4 Inferno|Inferno]]/[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E8 The Impossible Planet|The Impossible Planet]]/[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E9 The Satan Pit|The Satan Pit]], [[Dug Too Deep|everything begins to go wrong when scientists want to drill very far down]], be it to the center of a planet or simply through the crust.
** And as in [[Doctor Who/Recap/S7 E4 Inferno|Inferno]]/[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E8 The Impossible Planet|The Impossible Planet]]/[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S2 E9 The Satan Pit|The Satan Pit]], [[Dug Too Deep|everything begins to go wrong when scientists want to drill very far down]], be it to the center of a planet or simply through the crust.
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* [[Foreshadowing]]: [[Doctor Who/Recap/S32 E13 The Wedding of River Song|"The man who dies again and again"]] is standing in a grave.
* [[Foreshadowing]]: [[Doctor Who/Recap/S32 E13 The Wedding of River Song|"The man who dies again and again"]] is standing in a grave.
* [[Gender Blender Name]]: Ambrose.
* [[Gender Blender Name]]: Ambrose.
* [[Genre Blind]]:
* [[Genre Blind]]:
** While preparing for the Silurians' imminent arrival, the Doctor waves off the dyslexic kid when he mentions he left his headphones at home - letting him run off on his own while quite-possibly hostile <s>aliens</s> ''natives'' are about to emerge. The Doctor's [[Oh Crap]] face when he realises he was the last one to see the kid shows that he's aware of it.
** While preparing for the Silurians' imminent arrival, the Doctor waves off the dyslexic kid when he mentions he left his headphones at home - letting him run off on his own while quite-possibly hostile <s>aliens</s> ''natives'' are about to emerge. The Doctor's [[Oh Crap]] face when he realises he was the last one to see the kid shows that he's aware of it.
** Just as bad, Ambrose refuses to believe any of what the Doctor is saying, even though she was just outside looking up at a weird giant force field.
** Just as bad, Ambrose refuses to believe any of what the Doctor is saying, even though she was just outside looking up at a weird giant force field.
* [[Green-Skinned Space Babe]]: Alaya, albeit a green-skinned subterranean babe.
* [[Green-Skinned Space Babe]]: Alaya, albeit a green-skinned subterranean babe.
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* [[Hot Mom]]: Ambrose.
* [[Hot Mom]]: Ambrose.
* [[Hot Scientist]]: Nasreen Chaudhry, in a distinguished, [[Christmas Cake]] kind of way.
* [[Hot Scientist]]: Nasreen Chaudhry, in a distinguished, [[Christmas Cake]] kind of way.
* [[Idiot Ball]]: The [[Mama Bear]] grabs hold of it quite firmly from minute one.
* [[Idiot Ball]]: The [[Mama Bear]] grabs hold of it quite firmly from minute one.
* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: They're deep under the earth, it ''should'' be very, very hot. Nasreen asks why it's not. The Doctor says "I don't know" and they both shrug it off.
* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: They're deep under the earth, it ''should'' be very, very hot. Nasreen asks why it's not. The Doctor says "I don't know" and they both shrug it off.
* [[Last of His Kind]]: The female Silurian warrior [[Blatant Lies|claims to be the last of her species]]. The Doctor replies that he ''is'' the last of his species, he knows "how that sits in the heart", and that faking it is an insult.
* [[Last of His Kind]]: The female Silurian warrior [[Blatant Lies|claims to be the last of her species]]. The Doctor replies that he ''is'' the last of his species, he knows "how that sits in the heart", and that faking it is an insult.
* [[L Is for Dyslexia]]: Elliot is dyslexic and compensates through drawing a map of the area to help with surveillance, and is extremely attached to his audio books (which include [[Sherlock Holmes]]). The writers got a bit [[Anvilicious]] with how it's okay to be dyslexic.
* [[L Is for Dyslexia]]: Elliot is dyslexic and compensates through drawing a map of the area to help with surveillance, and is extremely attached to his audio books (which include [[Sherlock Holmes]]). The writers got a bit [[Anvilicious]] with how it's okay to be dyslexic.
* [[Mad Doctor]]: {{spoiler|The Silurian at the end}} was certainly a visual example of this trope, {{spoiler|but [[Subverted Trope|he turns out to be]] a [[Mad Doctor]] [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|With A Heart Of Gold]].}}
* [[Mad Doctor]]: {{spoiler|The Silurian at the end}} was certainly a visual example of this trope, {{spoiler|but [[Subverted Trope|he turns out to be]] a [[Mad Doctor]] [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|With A Heart Of Gold]].}}
* [[Mama Bear]]: Elliot's mother goes a little nuts after he's kidnapped.
* [[Mama Bear]]: Elliot's mother goes a little nuts after he's kidnapped.
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* [[Ridiculously-Fast Construction]]: There is no ''way'' it only took them nine minutes to set up their makeshift surveillance system.
* [[Ridiculously-Fast Construction]]: There is no ''way'' it only took them nine minutes to set up their makeshift surveillance system.
* [[Rousing Speech]]: The Doctor gives one, following which Nasreen even starts clapping. She's the only one, unfortunately.
* [[Rousing Speech]]: The Doctor gives one, following which Nasreen even starts clapping. She's the only one, unfortunately.
* [[Shout-Out]]: The [[Night Vision Goggles|Night Vision Shades]] were extremely reminiscent of ''[[They Live]]''.
* [[Shout-Out]]: The [[Night Vision Goggles|Night Vision Shades]] were extremely reminiscent of ''[[They Live!]]''.
* [[Slow Clap]]: Nasreen unsuccessfully tries to start one after the Doctor's [[Rousing Speech]].
* [[Slow Clap]]: Nasreen unsuccessfully tries to start one after the Doctor's [[Rousing Speech]].
* [[Some Kind of Force Field]]: Albeit revealed with a slingshot rather than by someone walking into it.
* [[Some Kind of Force Field]]: Albeit revealed with a slingshot rather than by someone walking into it.
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* [[Title Drop]]: Sort of. The Doctor references the episode's working title, ''The Ground Beneath Their Feet''.
* [[Title Drop]]: Sort of. The Doctor references the episode's working title, ''The Ground Beneath Their Feet''.
* [[Tranquil Fury]]: When Alaya, the Silurian prisoner, tries to gain sympathy from the Doctor by lying about being the last of her species, his expression stays quite polite, until he begins talking, "I know what it's like to be the last of a species, because I'm the last of mine. I know how it sits in the heart so, ''please'', don't insult me." And his expression goes [[Death Glare|Icy Cold]]..'
* [[Tranquil Fury]]: When Alaya, the Silurian prisoner, tries to gain sympathy from the Doctor by lying about being the last of her species, his expression stays quite polite, until he begins talking, "I know what it's like to be the last of a species, because I'm the last of mine. I know how it sits in the heart so, ''please'', don't insult me." And his expression goes [[Death Glare|Icy Cold]]..'
* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Political?]]: The Silurians' motivation is reminiscent of Zionism, and conflicts between native peoples and immigrants in countries such as America and Australia.
* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Political?]]: The Silurians' motivation is reminiscent of Zionism, and conflicts between native peoples and immigrants in countries such as America and Australia.
{{quote|'''Alaya:''' We lived here long before the apes!
{{quote|'''Alaya:''' We lived here long before the apes!
'''The Doctor:''' Doesn't give you automatic rights to it now, I'm afraid. }}
'''The Doctor:''' Doesn't give you automatic rights to it now, I'm afraid. }}

Revision as of 01:04, 6 October 2014

The Doctor: Oh look, a big mining thing. Oh, I love a big mining thing. See, way better than Rio. Rio doesn't have a big mining thing.

The second two-part story of the the Eleventh Doctor's first series. Written by Chris Chibnall, head writer of Torchwood's first and second series and the Doctor Who series 3 episode "42".

It's 2020, near a small Welsh hamlet. The most ambitious drilling project in history has reached deeper beneath the Earth's crust than man has ever gone before, but now the ground itself is fighting back.

The episode starts with Mo, the aforementioned drill worker, spending some quality reading time with his dyslexic son Elliot, before being reminded by wife Ambrose that his shift at the local major mining project starts soon. Having witnessed this fairly tender family life scene, it makes us feel all the more for the poor sap when something starts going wrong with the drill during 'off-hours' when he's the only one on duty, since it's his misfortune to have to fill the quotient of someone getting killed horribly in order to demonstrate how serious the situation really is.

The Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive. (They were aiming for Rio, but the TARDIS disagreed.) The Doctor, never to be dissuaded from something of interest, tunes out Amy's complaints as he examines the strange feel of the ground beneath him and patches of blue grass all over the place. And there are people in the distance waving at them. According to the Doctor, who's the only one to have binoculars on him, it's a ten years older Rory and Amy, come to visit the place out of a sense of nostalgia. The Doctor explains that it would be a bad idea to meet up with them, and instead goes to have a look at the big mining thing.

Rory puts Amy's engagement ring in the TARDIS for safekeeping. He stashes the ring away before setting out after them, but gets somewhat waylaid by Elliot and Ambrose. Judging from the Police Box, they assume that he's a plainclothes police officer come to investigate the disappearance of people buried in the graveyard, coffins and all. And since on the surface the graves to all knowledge and appearances haven't been touched, it's as if the ground has all but swallowed them up.

Amy and the Doctor sonic-and-enter the premises of the drilling project, and come across Dr. Nasreen Chaudhry and Tony Mack, the two people directing this project. They're trying to work out what's wrong with the drill, where Mo went to, and where that big hole in the floor came from. The Doctor's most worried by the last, especially since it's started to steam. And of course he's right, as the ground situated under the room begins to tremble and more holes appear in the floor in quick succession. Nasreen and the Doctor make it to safety, but Tony gets stuck; Amy dashes to help him instead of making her own escape, and she starts getting pulled down into the earth for her trouble. She just gets pulled out of his grasp and under the earth.

The Doctor and Nasreen decide to head underground to bargain with the Silurians (remember them?), one of whom is under the watchful eye of Rory, crazed mother Ambrose and Tony, Ambrose's father; they have taken at least three people hostage so far and stung Tony with something nasty. And green. Also, in the middle of all that, Nasreen and Tony discover that they're in love.

The Doctor quickly mobilizes the ragtag family into a makeshift army. The reptilians put a pitch-dark barrier dome around the area and kidnap Ambrose's son, but not before he manages to draw a very accurate map of the area and tremendously helps the Doctor. The Doctor realises that he should have watched the boy more carefully and vows to rescue him.

Amy is revealed to be in the Silurians' underground science lab, soon to be dissected while still completely conscious, as frantically warned by Mo, who hasn't completely healed from his ordeal. Also, it's not just one little tribe, as the captured Silurian Damsel in Distress says. It's an entire civilization.

Tropes that this episode provides:

"Have you met monsters before?"
"Yes."

"Are you scared of them?"

"No. They're scared of me."

    • When she enters the TARDIS, rather than the customary "It's bigger on the inside!", Nasreen describes it as "Fantastic!"
    • Yet another Moff reference - the sonic screwdriver still doesn't do wood (but don't say that that's rubbish within earshot of the Doctor).

"Oi! Don't diss the Sonic!"

Doctor: ...ah. Maybe more than a dozen.

  • Playing with Syringes: The Silurian doctor as he approaches Amy.
  • The Reptilians: The Silurians, Doctor Who's most famous lizard-people, are back.
  • Ridiculously-Fast Construction: There is no way it only took them nine minutes to set up their makeshift surveillance system.
  • Rousing Speech: The Doctor gives one, following which Nasreen even starts clapping. She's the only one, unfortunately.
  • Shout-Out: The Night Vision Shades were extremely reminiscent of They Live!.
  • Slow Clap: Nasreen unsuccessfully tries to start one after the Doctor's Rousing Speech.
  • Some Kind of Force Field: Albeit revealed with a slingshot rather than by someone walking into it.
  • Strapped to An Operating Table: Amy and the drill worker.
  • Sunglasses At Night: Justified; they're slimmed-down Night Vision Goggles.
  • Taxonomic Term Confusion: Homo reptilia would mean they were descended from apes, the same way humans are. They'd be something along the lines of Reptilia sapiens (except reptilia is a class, not a genus).
  • Title Drop: Sort of. The Doctor references the episode's working title, The Ground Beneath Their Feet.
  • Tranquil Fury: When Alaya, the Silurian prisoner, tries to gain sympathy from the Doctor by lying about being the last of her species, his expression stays quite polite, until he begins talking, "I know what it's like to be the last of a species, because I'm the last of mine. I know how it sits in the heart so, please, don't insult me." And his expression goes Icy Cold..'
  • What Do You Mean It's Not Political?: The Silurians' motivation is reminiscent of Zionism, and conflicts between native peoples and immigrants in countries such as America and Australia.

Alaya: We lived here long before the apes!
The Doctor: Doesn't give you automatic rights to it now, I'm afraid.

  • What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Played straight and inverted. The straight play comes to the fore in the following episode.
    • The inversion comes in the Silurans. They're more than happy to kill stinking apes...and vivisect them...while they're awake.
  • Who Wears Short Shorts?: Amy was dressed for RIO!
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