Series 5 - Matt Smith - The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood

This two part story is the first episode to include the Silurians since the show’s 2005 re-launch. The Silurians are a species of Homo-reptilia who inhabited the earth long before the human race evolved. Legend has it that they took to their stasis chambers to sleep in order to avoid a disaster that they have predicted would affect the Earth in the coming years. The Silurians are a vastly advanced race when compared with humans, their technology and medicine outstrips the achievements of Earth by miles and they have seen more of the universe than humans have dreamed of so far. The Silurians have an army of female homo-reptilia who are fierce resourceful warriors with venomous tongues, camouflaged armour and pretty impressive blaster guns.

This episode sees the Doctor, Amy and Rory arrive in a small village in Wales where recent drilling activity in the area seems to have resulted in some mysterious disappearances. It transpires that the ground is actually swallowing people in a quick sand-esque way. The lovely thing about this story is the joy in the Doctors eyes when he realises that he stands on the cusp of a beautiful treaty of cooperation between two species who he truly believes can live in harmony. Unfortunately the Doctor’s happiness is short lived.

This episode is one of those episodes where the human race let the Doctor down, a concept that Matt Smith is notoriously wonderful at playing. One of the wonderful things about the Doctor is his ability to be compassionate and proud of every species of the universe, he sees potential in every race no matter how petulant or pedantic they can sometimes be. To a Time Lord the human race is like a toddler, an infant still learning to walk and making its way in a universe of wonders beyond its wildest dreams. The Doctor recognises this, understands it and acts as teacher as he helps hone the skills of the human race and points them down the best path as much as he can. 

 

Matt Smith is one of those actors who, despite his age can come across as old and worldly, maybe it is something in his eyes or something in his mannerisms but there is a moment in this episode when he just looks incredibly world weary. When the Doctor looks at the humans and Silurians and we see him realise that sometimes, no matter how hard he tries he just cannot fix everything the audience breaks its heart for him because as humans we so don't want to disappoint our very own raggedy man.

SPOILER ALERT! This is the second episode in which Rory is killed, however in a twist on the story Rory is not only shot down by a Silurian gun-woman but he is also erased from history when the crack from Amy's bedroom appears beside the Tardis and the fumes that emit from it engulf the unconscious companion and wipe him from the memory of everyone except the Doctor. Even Amy can't hold on to the memory of the man she loved. Absolutely horrifying as a concept and truly tragic for the young love-birds who were fast becoming fan favourites. 

A really heart felt performance by Matt Smith and a great re-introduction from the brand new Silurians.