The Ark in Space Salmon of "SFX" rated the serial four and a half out of five stars, calling it "brimming with confidence". Salmon wrote that the concept of the Wirrn were so terrifying that the poor effects did not matter. In an analysis of apocalyptic themes in "Doctor Who", academic Andrew Crome highlighted the explicit religious influences on the writing of "The Ark in Space". He considered the eponymous Ark to be an analogue of the Biblical story of Noah's Ark, the ancient flood myth related in the Book of Genesis, and that the naming of the Nerva Beacon commander as Noah was
Noah's Ark (miniseries) did, and God rips the roof of the temple off and sends thunder and snakes into the building, while striking the three priests with dumbness, blindness and deafness. God later reveals his plan to flood the world as well, and tells Noah to build an ark. The animals going to the ark pass through the village, which makes the villagers angry. The day the world floods, the angry villagers gather in front of the ark and mock him. When the rain starts, the villagers start to celebrate as it had not rained in years, but Noah and his family quickly