Who: The Hungry Earth Retrospective (R: 3/5)

I haven't seen all of the classic era (1963-1989) of Doctor Who by a long shot, but from the stories I've watched so far one beneficial development in the present series is the use of more sets and the faster pace of adventures consisting only of one or two parts as opposed to four or six. The Hungry Earth stumbles, then, by bucking this trend and for the most part proving tediously uneventful. Arriving in a Welsh village in the year 2020, the Doctor and his companions investigate a mining project that has disturbed old foes the Silurians beneath the surface of the planet, sparking the possibility of a war for the ownership of the Earth. Chris Chibnall's script is wholly reminiscent of those found in the days of Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee, with even the Time Lord remarking "I love a big drill!" having encountered so many in the past, and I wouldn't be surprised if the show's target audience of children and teens got bored of simply seeing their favourite characters walking up and down the same sets over and over again for an entire episode, especially when the 'cliffhanger' of the two-parter was just the Doctor discovering an army of Silurians preparing to awaken. Thankfully, the cast are great despite not exactly being famous, with particularly compelling contributions coming from Meera Syal as Nasreen and young Samuel Davies as dyslexic Elliot. As ever, Matt, Karen and Arthur give it their all too, and there is still a genuine sense of danger when Amy is sucked beneath the Earth and the Doctor asks his team to be the best of humanity in the coming battle, but it feels like the danger is merely brought towards boiling point as opposed to reaching it, leaving Cold Blood with the challenge of speeding things up...