Episode 8 of Series 5 of Doctor Who sees the Eleventh Doctor encounter enemies last seen by the Third Doctor. In it, a really big drill makes the Earth hungry. And the previous oeners of teh planet prepare to perform a repossession. So, is the episode good? Read on and find out.

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS A FULL PLOT SUMMARY AND IS SPOILER-HEAVY.  READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK!

SPOILERS AHEAD…SPOILERS AHEAD…SPOILERS AHEAD…SPOILERS AHEAD…SPOILERS AHEAD

This episode, the 8th in Series 5, is part oneof a two part story

Here is the plot summary.

The Doctor, Amy and Rory land in the small Welsh village of Cwmtaff in 2020, as opposed to their intended destination of Rio de Janeiro. They encounter a mining operation, led by Doctor Nasreen Chaudry, studying minerals deep in the earth that have not been seen for over 20 million years. Nasreen is accompanied by a local, Tony Mack, whose daughter and grandson, Ambrose and Elliot, are examining the disappearance of bodies from underground at the graveyard of a nearby church. An earth tremor causes the ground to open and send Tony and Amy falling into it; Tony is rescued but Amy is pulled under by unknown forces. The Doctor surmises the minerals form a bio-reactive defense system that was triggered by the drilling operation. The group is soon alerted to the presence of three life forms traveling up the drilling shaft from 21 kilometres below the earth, and they barricade themselves in the church. The Doctor explains Amy’s disappearance to Rory and assures him he will get her back.

The three beings turn out to be reptilian humanoids, and in a scuffle, they capture Elliot and strike Tony with a venomous forked tongue; the Doctor and the group are able to subdue one of the beings while the other two retreat with Elliot back into the earth. The Doctor realises the beings are a new form of Silurians, and that they have relented in their attack since both sides hold a hostage. The captured Silurian calls herself Alaya, a member of the warrior caste awoken by the intrusion of the drill. Alaya believes, as with all the other Silurians, that the Earth still belongs to them, the drilling was a form of attack by the humans and they will defeat humanity eventually. Tony, suffering from the effects of the venom, believes they should dissect Alaya, but the Doctor warns that it will be seen as an act of war. The Doctor decides to travel in the TARDIS down the drilling shaft to talk to the rest of the Silurians and work out a truce, with Narseen desiring to come along.

Amy awakens to find herself strapped to an examining table, near to where Ambrose’s husband Mo is also ensnared. Mo apologizes to Amy that the Silurians intended to vivisect them. The Doctor and Nasreen descend in the TARDIS, where the Doctor explains about the Silurians and that he only expects to encounter a small number of the aliens. The show ends on a cliffhanger as the Doctor and Nasreen are surprised to find an immense Silurian civilisation stretching out for miles in the caverns below the earth.

This episode has a serious pacing problem. It moves so slowly at points and there is almost no action at all. This is very much a “set-up” episode, with all of the real meat of the story held for next week’s concluding part. The most significant story pieces in this episode are Amy’s abduction early on, Elliot’s abduction, Tony’s poisoning and the capture of Alaya. This episode features the return of the Silurians, humanoid reptiles not seen since Jon Pertwee’s run as the Third Doctor. The reinvented Silurians are considered a different species of Homo-Reptilia the ones encountered by the Third Doctor. Rory’s attitude towards the Doctor takes a turn once Amy is abducted, with Rory becoming hostile towards the Doctor. The standoff between Alaya and the humans is well done, with the animosity on both sides palpable. The biggest problem with this episode is the fact that the story doesn’t really get going until about 10 minutes before the end of it. You don’t actually see what the new Silurians look like until that point. One of the best sequences in this episode is the scene when Amy is swallowed by the ground. Karen’s fear during the stunt is, as anyone who has watched the Confidential for this episode can attest, quite real. Perhaps the worst aprt of the whole thing, however, is that the second part fo this story has more than enough action to make up for the lack of action in this one. This creates a sad imbalance to the whole story. it also, unfortunately, makes this an episode you can actually skip if you need to. But, I promise, the next one is much better.

The Hungry Earth gets a 3 out of 5

NEXT WEEK: Far beneath the Earth, The Doctor discovers the hidden city of the Silurians, two deaths change everything and the Doctor uncovers something terrifying

For more information, visit www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho or www.bbcamerica.com/doctorwho

Here is a gallery of images from the episode. Click on an image to enlarge it.

[nggallery id=131]