History Recap / DoctorWhoS11E2InvasionOfTheDinosaurs

Sarah Jane, being both smart ''and'' a reporter, manages to solve the plot before anyone else, getting kidnapped and almost murdered for her troubles... until she wakes up from an alleged "cryogenic sleep" on an eco-warrior spaceship headed for the planet "New Earth". When she tries to explain to its occupants that the nearest star is ''four light years away'' and they couldn't possibly get there within one generation, they lock her in the propaganda room to cool down. She escapes, naturally, and simply walks out of the "airlock" and up a flight of stairs to rejoin the plot back in London. The whole thing turns out to be a conspiracy led by a government minister, Charles Grover, who is using a MadScientist, Professor Whitaker, to clear London of people by bringing dinosaurs forward in time. They then plan to use a rudimentary time machine to return the Earth outside London to a pre-technological age, erasing most of the human race from history so that they can repopulate the planet with eugenically-selected "colonists". These are the eco-warriors, who are currently in a mocked-up spaceship in the minister's basement, believing they are on their way to colonize a new world.

Sarah Jane manages to solve the plot before anyone else, getting kidnapped and almost murdered for her troubles... until she wakes up from an alleged "cryogenic sleep" on an eco-warrior spaceship headed for the planet "New Earth". When she tries to explain to its occupants that the nearest star is ''four light years away'' and they couldn't possibly get there within one generation, they lock her in the propaganda room to cool down. She escapes, naturally, and simply walks out of the "airlock" and up a flight of stairs to rejoin the plot back in London. The whole thing turns out to be a conspiracy led by a government minister, Charles Grover, who is using a MadScientist, Professor Whitaker, to clear London of people by bringing dinosaurs forward in time. They then plan to use a rudimentary time machine to return the Earth outside London to a pre-technological age, erasing most of the human race from history so that they can repopulate the planet with eugenically-selected "colonists". These are the eco-warriors, who are currently in a mocked-up spaceship in the minister's basement, believing they are on their way to colonize a new world.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: A soldier can be seen reading a porno magazine.

* ObviouslyEvil: DoubleSubverted. General Finch's dour attitude and sinister mustache immediately mark him as the "inside man" the Doctor hypothesizes--but then Captain Yates, a longstanding ally of the Doctor, is seen conspiring with the villains, which seems to suggest that General Finch is okay after all--but then he has Sarah Jane kidnapped. Turns out they were both bad.

* EpicFail: The Doctor and Sarah-Jane try escaping from being sent to a detention center. They make it to a vehicle, but are unable to find any keys... and as soon as the Doctor steps out to look, it turns out they've found the transport to the detention centers. Oops.

* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: General Finch to Sarah Jane. She didn't, but she left a note on the desk.

* CreepyMonotone: Whitaker.

* ItWasRightHereISwear: Having found the entrance to Golden Age's base in a London tube station, the Doctor tries getting the Brig to take a look at it. Of course, by the time he does, they've removed the mechanisms.

* GhostTown: Central London has been evacuated entirely. That's eight million people.

* LateToTheDisaster: Thanks to the Old Girl's wonderful sense of timing, the Doctor and Sarah wind up in London after Bad Things have already happened, and the few people they find are twitchy and bad-tempered, and in no mood to just explain what the heck is going on to them. The audience, meanwhile, gets a good idea when they first see a ''T-Rex'' smashing its way through a house.

* LackOfEmpathy: General Finch seems to think civilians[[note]]the people he swore an oath to protect - not that it makes him any less psychopathic but Finch, like all army officers (but not the Navy because... history) would have sworn this oath: "I... swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King George VI, His Heirs and Successors, and that I will, as in duty bound, honestly and faithfully defend His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, in Person, Crown and Dignity against all enemies, and will observe and obey all orders of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, and of the generals and officers set over me."[[/note]] are, as he put it "wretched people".

Note: Episode 1 only existed for many years as a black and white film recording. For the DVD release a color restoration was attempted, with partial success, and the disc includes both versions.

* AffablyEvil: Charles Grover. So courteous to everyone he meets, all the while planning to RetGone the Silurians and nearly all the human race in the name of Gaia.

* BeingEvilSucks: By siding with Operation Golden Age, Yates not only alienates his friends, but also finds himself reluctantly doing things that would harm them.

* MakeItLookLikeAStruggle: Benton is told to take the Doctor into custody. Once Yates has gone, and Benton has ordered the other soldiers away, comes this exchange:

* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Operation Golden Age, believing that the environment could not be saved, sent a shipload of volunteers on a FauxtasticVoyage to "another world", to disembark after time had been reversed back to the Mesozoic and the rest of humanity (as well as all the Silurians) written out of history.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Operation Golden Age. Desperate to save the planet, people mean to move back time and RetGone everyone save their chosen few.
* WhamEpisode: The suspenseful tone of the first episode, as well as the morally ambiguous villains and Phillips' bloody death heralded the darker tone the series would take in the Creator/RobertHolmes era. However, probably the most devastating event in the story is Yates's betrayal, not only marking the first time a regular companion had outright turned on the Doctor but also shattering the secure, cosy feeling of the UNIT family and heralding the series' return to the Doctor's more nomadic lifestyle. It's also a bit of a [[BookEnds book-end]], being the last Creator/MalcolmHulke script, one of the defining GreyAndGreyMorality writers and of the Pertwee era.

* FiveBadBand
** BigBad: Grover
** TheEvilGenius: Whitaker
** TheDragon: Finch
** TheBrute: Butler
** TheDarkChick: Mike Yates. (Also colonist leader Ruth).

-> ''"Good grief, it's a triceratops! Look Brigadier, try and keep it occupied while I'm finishing this off, will you?"''

The Doctor brings Sarah back to 20th Century London, only to find it deserted. They're soon arrested as looters and, after a very nice photo session at the police station, duly try to escape. Although their attempt to run away fails rather miserably, the Brigadier is soon handed the files of all captured criminals of the day and fixes the "typical, ''absolutely typical''" situation as soon as he can. Back with UNIT, the Brigadier explains that the city has been evacuated due to the sudden, random and unexplained appearances of dinosaurs.

Sarah Jane manages to solve the plot before anyone else, getting kidnapped and almost murdered for her troubles... until she wakes up from an alleged "cryogenic sleep" on an eco-warrior spaceship headed for planet "New Earth". When she tries to explain to its occupants that the nearest star is ''four light years away'' and they couldn't possibly get there within one generation, they lock her in the propaganda room to cool down. She escapes, naturally, and simply walks out of the "airlock" and up a flight of stairs to rejoin the plot back in London. The whole thing turns out to be a conspiracy led by a government minister, Charles Grover, who is using a MadScientist, Professor Whitaker, to clear London of people by bringing dinosaurs forward in time. They then plan to use a rudimentary time machine to return the Earth outside London to a pre-technological age, erasing most of the human race from history so that they can repopulate the planet with eugenically-selected "colonists". These are the eco-warriors, who are currently in a mocked-up spaceship in the minister's basement, believing they are on their way to colonise a new world.

To make things even more difficult for Sarah Jane and the Doctor, the head of the army controlling London, General Finch, is involved. Once the Brigadier and Sergeant Benton realise that Mike has become a MinionWithAnFInEvil to Grover, they allow the Doctor to escape (Benton by allowing a Venusian neck pinch and voluntarily letting the Doctor knock him out cold) and go confront the minister and his lackeys. Also, the Doctor drives Creator/JonPertwee's car for a bit, which is ''the most awesome vehicle in the universe''.

The Doctor and the Brigadier raid the underground HQ of the conspiracy, helped when Sarah enlightens the "colonists", who rebel. In a struggle with the Doctor over the controls of the time machine, the Doctor uses his BizarreAlienBiology to withstand the time reversal and ReverseThePolarity. Grover accidentally transports himself and Whitaker back to the time of the dinosaurs.

Note: Episode 1 only existed for many years as a black and white film recording. For the DVD release a colour restoration was attempted, with partial success, and the disc includes both versions.

* ActionGirl: Sarah tackles a knife wielding thug and stops him from stabbing the doctor.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Once she realises she's not in space, Sarah Jane walks out of the mock-spaceship, goes upstairs and rejoins the main plot.

* MisplacedWildlife: ''Tyrannosaurus rex'', ''Apatosaurus'', and ''Triceratops'' were never indigenous to Great Britain, so a purely time-travel-based technology shouldn't have been able to bring them to London. Only the (unnamed) pterosaur averts this trope.

* MisplacedWildlife: ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' and ''Triceratops'' were never found in Great Britain, so a purely time-travel-based technology shouldn't have been able to bring them to London.

* MisplacedWildlife: ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' was never found in Great Britain.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The stegosaurus which briefly appears just before the Doctor's arrest isn't shown to vanish back to the past ''or'' be killed or captured by UNIT's forces. For all we know, it could still be standing there in the warehouse at the end of the story.

* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Operation Golden Age, believing that the environment could not be saved, [[spoiler:sent a shipload of volunteers on a FauxtasticVoyage to "another world", to disembark after time had been reversed back to the Mesozoic and the rest of humanity (as well as all the Silurians) written out of history.]]

* MakeItLookLikeAstruggle: Benton is told to take the Doctor into custody. Once Yates has gone, and Benron has ordered the other soldiers away, comes this exchange:

-->'''Benton:'' Right then, Doctor, you'd better get busy.\\

* WhamEpisode: The suspenseful tone of the first episode, as well as the morally ambiguous villains and Phillips' bloody death heralded the darker tone the series would take in the Creator/RobertHolmes era. However, probably the most devastating event in the story is Yates's betrayal, not only marking the first time a regular companion had outright turned on the Doctor but also shattering the secure, cosy feeling of the UNIT family and heralding the series' return to the Doctor's more nomadic lifestyle.

The one with dodgy dinosaurs.

The one with crummy toy dinosaurs.