Very good point, sorry about my slight error there. Nonetheless, my point still stands- poor Ambrose is faced with a non-human entity that she is not familiar with, ths making her scared and justifying her foolish actions.

The Doctor was trying to convince the Lizards that the Humans were not the vermin that the Lizards considered them to be.

After all if we hid ourselves underground and hibernated for millions of years and woke up to find the rats had taken over many of us would see them as vermin and would want to exterminate them (even if they were intelligent and had developed a civilisation).

So the Doctor needed the Humans to behave as rational intelligent being and not act in a way that confirmed the Lizards low opinion of Humans.

Unfortunately Ambrose failed to do this and nearly caused a war.

Actually, my main problem was that the actress playing Ambrose didn't convey the emotions she was feeling very well IMHO which perhaps effects how you related to the situation.

Plus I was still marvelling at just how good the make up was on Alaya

But Alaya's sister killed her own kind, and threatened many humans along the way before ultimately killing Rory, highlighting that neither species are ready for each other. If I recall correctly, Alaya's sister also killed the Silurian Scientist before she found her sister dead, so unlike Ambrose was not fuelled by grief or despair concerning her loved ones

As some comedian said (Ed Byrne I think) about annoying mothers: "Do you have children? No. Well you wouldn't understand then!"

That's an excuse, nothing more. A multitude of sins seem to be excused by the parenthood get-out clause. It won't wash with me.

Yes it was Ed Byrne who said that on live at the apollo

If somebody kidnapped a family member of mine, I'd want to kill them, for sure. Obviously Ambrose was stupid because she knew the Silurian was a bargaining chip, but apart from that, her reaction is totally understandable to me.

If I thought I'd lost everything that was important to me, I think I'd be pretty irrational.

Irrational enough to doom the human race?

Who knows? I'd be pretty pissed off.

But to be fair, she didn't know the extent of the danger they were in? She hadn't seen the size of the Silurian civilization and didn't know what they were capable of.

I agree, It wasn't Ambrose's actions that nearly caused a war but Alaya's sister. Even if Ambrose hadn't killed Alaya Alaya's sister would still have found an excuse for war.

Who say's we'd be doomed? We would probably have won, we did last time

The mother was a complete idiot. All she had to do was what she was told to do. She KNEW that Aleya was vital because it gave them someone to trade in order to get her son back. Yet she decided that it was a good idea to go and kill Aleya instead - leaving them with no bargaining tool whatsoever. She simply wasn't thinking, she was putting her own feelings first instead of putting her son first. She's an idiot.

In the context of Dr Who 'alien' means from another planet i.e. the Doctor is an alien. To use the term for a being either in or under the earth is emotionally loaded. The Silurians did live on the earth before humankind drove them underground.

The use of language is important. The Silarians who labelled the humans 'apes' regarded them as inferiors and showed aggression.

As far as the mother was concerned, they were aliens.

Obviously we know different and the Doctor knows that they are not aliens to us because they're from the same planet. But this was irrelevant to the mother so, for all intents and purposes, they are aliens to her.

We never drove them underground, it was the approach of the Earth's moon that did that, millions of years before we even evolved.

Because she's a moron.


Something they clarified again in this episode.

A bit harsh, her husband and son have been kidnapped, her father is dieing and yet she's supposed to know the exact taxonomy for classification of creatures from millions of years ago.

Considering the climate we live in....and looking around the state of the world around us, and things we here on the news everyday...I'd say Humans can become irratonal enough to doom the human race...when our own needs and of our loved ones are threatend....its a battle of the fittist...no room for calming down and thinking of "another way".....its a shame but true.....

O.k. so I need to watch this episode again. I think I'm right in saying though that the humans didn't come out of it well when they last encountered the Silurians?

No, we came out very badly in that one. And less of an excuse, because we can't blame it on a actions of a terrified mother.

Then you would be wrong and people would be right to condemn you.

"protecting the family" seems to be used as a get out clause to hide a multitude of sins. Just because you gave birth it doesnt give you carte blanche to get away with murder.

Unless you are Mr Sulu of course

I dont think the Doctor has the right to dictate what is and isn't 'the best of humanity' after his behaviour in The Waters of Mars. Yes he might have regenerated since, but that just proves that he has a death get-out-clause. The human situations are different as death is usually very final.

Given his track record, I'd agree with you.