What might have been...

I loved last night's episode (The Hungry Earth) in it's entirety save for one aspect: the redesign/update of the Silurians (or Eocenes if you prefer) - they look nothing like their original design, or their Sea Devil cousins for that matter. Although this is explained away by the Doctor as them being a different branch of the species, I still feel a little let down by the fact they look nothing like Silurians! They look like humans with scales, no third eyes and (wait for it) they have ...BREASTS??! I don't see what a reptile would do with breasts? Beats me...but hey, you can't win 'em all!

A screencap from this week's Doctor Who Confidential reveals what might have been:


But instead, we got this:


I had been looking foward to seeing the Silurians return for years, I loved them in the New Adventures novel Blood Heat and had hoped that their return would be something more akin to that...but I guess that is pure fanboy squee wank material! I understand that they have to update certain elements for today's audience, since apparently kids won't connect with anything that doesn't look human.

I hate to sound like a little bitch! Other than this minor gripe I am loving this series so far!!! I hope next week's Cold Blood holds up, I think this is Chris Chibnall's best Doctor Who script so far, it does feel very much like a classic series episode - which isn't a bad thing at all!

A whole new generation of children will grow up hiding behind the sofa from Malcolm Hulke's creation, 40 years since they first appeared on our television screens which is a testament to the legacy of this show...