History Recap / DoctorWhoS7E2DoctorWhoAndTheSilurians

* AdapatationExpansion: The novelisation adds a prologue tells of the Silurians going into hiding to avoid catastrophe.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Between the moral ambiguity, extremely depressing ending and biological horror this could easily pass for a Torchwood story.

->'''Elder Silurian:''' ''I have decided that it is possible for the two species to live together on this planet.''
->'''Young Silurian:''' ''This planet is ours!''
->'''Elder Silurian:''' ''This other species has developed its own civilisation. We must accept them as equals.''
->'''Young Silurian:''' ''I disagree! We must destroy them!''

->'''The Doctor:''' ''Brigadier, at all costs we must avoid a pitched battle.''
->'''The Brigadier:''' ''You don't still think we can co-exist with the Silurians, do you?''

The only Doctor Who TV story to be officially titled "Doctor Who and...". Legend has it this was due to an error by the production team in putting the prefix onto the onscreen titles. (The title format stuck for the Target Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations, and was parodied by BigFinish a few times.) While [[IAmNotShazam "Doctor Who" isn't his name]], the actor was credited as playing "Dr Who" until 1970 and "Doctor Who" until 1981 (and again in 2005), so the WordOfGod on the subject is clearly a bit suspect. However, this could still be backed up by the fact that nearly all '60s stories were submitted under the title "Doctor Who and the...", even though they weren't televised as such until this story.

** HumansAreFlawed: It's played on both ends of the spectrum, too - the Silurians are just as xenophobic as their human counterparts, and yet neither side completely looses all sympathy when all their actions are examined in hindsight.

* ScienceMarchesOn: Very much a mixed bag, as the reason the Silurians went into hibernation - the Moon crashing into easrth, them paincing and it taking up orbit around the Earth instead - has since become a discredited theory, since when we checked moon rocks with earth rooks, it proved that they all came from he same place, proving that the moon were created when a metroite ''really'' early in earths development forced out a pile of rock that then formed the moon. Discussion of plate tectonics, however, works with what's accepted in the scientific community.

* ScienceMarchesOn: Very much a mixed bag, as the reason the Silurians went into hibernation - the Moon taking up orbit around the Earth - has since become a discredited theory. Discussion of plate tectonics, however, works with what's accepted in the scientific community.

* ThePlague: Unleashed on humanity by the Young Silurian in Part 5.

'''WARNING! THERE MAY BE UNMARKED SPOILERS!'''

The Doctor tries to broker peace and gains the trust of the Silurian leader, but the leader's rebellious son takes power and releases a virus that will destroy humanity. The Doctor and Liz find a cure, but are then told that the Silurians have taken over the underground lab and are going to destroy the Van Allen Belt, bombarding the Earth with radiation deadly to mammals, but not reptiles. The Doctor gets them to retreat back into the caves by overloading the reactor and threatening an explosion. The Brigadier - to the Doctor's disgust -- then orders the Silurian base destroyed.

The only Doctor Who TV story to be officially titled "Doctor Who and...", legend has it this was due to an error by the production team in putting the prefix onto the onscreen titles[[note]]Six later got a Creator/BigFinish audio adventure called "Doctor Who And The Pirates", entirely on purpose[[/note]]. While [[IAmNotShazam "Doctor Who" isn't his name]], the actor was credited as playing "Doctor Who" (and until 1970, the even less correct "Dr Who") until 1981 (and again in 2005), so the WordOfGod on the subject is clearly a bit suspect[[note]]However, this could still be backed up by the fact that nearly all '60s stories were submitted under the title "Doctor Who and the...", even though they weren't televised as such until this story.[[/note]].

Anyway, the Brigadier sends for the Doctor and Liz to take a look at an underground laboratory working on a new kind of nuclear reactor. They're getting odd power losses and a bizarrely high level of stress-related illnesses among the staff.

The Doctor investigates and discovers that a neighbouring cave system is the base for a group of intelligent reptilian bipeds which are (inaccurately, as it turns out) named "Silurians" from the geological period from which they date. They have been in hibernation for millions of years, but the power and heat from the new reactor have reactivated them, and they now wish to emerge and reclaim "their" world from the mammals.

The Doctor tries to broker peace and gains the trust of the Silurian leader, but the leader's rebellious son takes power and releases a virus that will destroy humanity. The Doctor and Liz find a cure, but are then told that the Silurians have taken over the underground lab and are going to destroy the Van Allen Belt, bombarding the Earth with radiation deadly to mammals, but not reptiles. The Doctor gets them to retreat back into the caves by overloading the reactor and threatening an explosion. The Brigadier - to the Doctor's disgust - then orders the Silurian base destroyed.

* FantasticRacism: The Silurians frequently refer to the humans as "apes", and they treat humans as a lesser species.

The only Doctor Who TV story to be officially titled "Doctor Who and...", legend has it this was due to an error by the production team in putting the prefix onto the onscreen titles[[note]]Six later got a BigFinish audio adventure called "Doctor Who And The Pirates", entirely on purpose[[/note]]. While [[IAmNotShazam "Doctor Who" isn't his name]], the actor was credited as playing "Doctor Who" (and until 1970, the even less correct "Dr Who") until 1981 (and again in 2005), so the WordOfGod on the subject is clearly a bit suspect[[note]]However, this could still be backed up by the fact that nearly all '60s stories were submitted under the title "Doctor Who and the...", even though they weren't televised as such until this story.[[/note]].

* CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase: The only one (not counting Six' awesomely silly BigFinish story [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho043DoctorWhoAndThePirates "Doctor Who and the Pirates, or The Lass That Lost A Sailor"]]), due to an error in the script department.

The only Doctor Who TV story to be officially titled "Doctor Who and...", legend has it this was due to an error by the production team in putting the prefix onto the onscreen titles[[note]]Six later got a BigFinish audio adventure called "Doctor Who And The Pirates", entirely on purpose[[/note]]. While [[IAmNotShazam "Doctor Who" isn't his name]], the actor was credited as playing "Doctor Who" (and until 1970, the even less correct "Dr Who") until 1981 (and again in 2005), so the WordOfGod on the subject is clearly a bit suspect.

The only Doctor Who TV story to be officially titled "Doctor Who and...", legend has it this was due to an error by the production team in putting the prefix onto the onscreen titles[[note]]Six later got a BigFinish audio adventure called "Doctor Who And The Pirates", entirely on purpose[[/note]]. While [[IAmNotShazam "Doctor Who" isn't his name]], the actor was credited as playing "Doctor Who" until 1981 (and again in 2005), so the WordOfGod on the subject is clearly a bit suspect.

The only Doctor Who TV story to be officially titled "Doctor Who and...", legend has it this was due to an error by the production team in putting the prefix onto the onscreen titles. [[hottip:note:Six later got a BigFinish audio adventure called "Doctor Who And The Pirates", entirely on purpose.]] While [[IAmNotShazam "Doctor Who" isn't his name]], the actor was credited as playing "Doctor Who" until 1981 (and again in 2005), so the WordOfGod on the subject is clearly a bit suspect.

* EvilEye: The Silurians can project some kind of invisible beam from their third eyes to kill humans and each other.

* ThirdEye: On the Silurians' heads. It's also a weapon.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: Except for the Doctor and Liz - and perhaps the Elder Silurian - nobody comes out looking particularly good in this story, not even [[spoiler: the Brigadier]]. Most characters on both sides retain sympathetic qualities, however. This sort of complexity - that people in general aren't good or bad - was a staple of Malcolm Hulke's scripts - he was also involved in writing 'The War Games' a story dealing with DeliberateValuesDissonance.

Watch it [[http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/xwcwf_tardismedia_doctor-who-and-the-silurians/1 here]]

* CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase: The only one (not counting Six' awesomely silly BigFinish story "Doctor Who and the Pirates, or The Lass That Lost A Sailor"), due to an error in the script department.

* DoomsdayDevice: The Younger silurian intended to use a weapon to destroy the Van Allen Belt and make the Earth's environment hostile to humankind

The only Doctor Who TV story to be officially titled "Doctor Who and..." (legend has it this was due to an error by the production team in putting the prefix onto the onscreen titles). [[hottip:*:Six later got a BigFinish audio adventure called "Doctor Who And The Pirates", which is already one of the sillest episodes ever made and very much on purpose.]] While [[IAmNotShazam "Doctor Who" isn't his name]], the actor was credited as playing "Doctor Who" until 1981 (and again in 2005), so the WordOfGod on the subject is clearly a bit suspect.

* Doomsdaydevice: The Younger silurian intended to use a weapon to destroy the Van Allen Belt and make the Earth's environment hostile to humankind

* FantasticRacism: The Silurians frequently refer to the humans as "apes", and they treat them as a lesser species.

* EvilEye: The Silurians can project some kind of invisible beam from their third eyes to kill humans and each other.