Doctor Who Review: Blink (10th Doctor)
Because of the way that the shooting schedule for Doctor Who works out, at least in series 2 & 3, there is an episode that hasn’t got much Doctor in it in each series. May I just say that I hope that Steven Moffat writes every single one of those episodes in the future? This episode was originally a short story by Steven Moffat called What I Did On My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow. It appeared in the 2006 Doctor Who Annual. The baddies featured in this episode have been recently voted the scariest monsters of the year. Okay, enough build up already. On to the good stuff!
Episode: Blink by Steven Moffat
Rating (1 to 5): 4.999999 (not quite enough Doctor for a 5)
Time: Nowish and 1969 and 5 December 1920
Place: London and Hull
Baddie: The Weeping Angels
The Doctor’s Death Wish: No time for it.
The Doctor enjoys: Big balls of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff (or really his Timey-Wimey detector) and having his TARDIS.
The Doctor dislikes: Being stuck in the past without the TARDIS
The Doctor apologizes to: Billy Shipton, for the fact that carrying a message to Sally Sparrow will take a while.
Saxon? Mentioned in Martha’s Myspace Blog post for the eisode.
Rose? Mentioned in Martha’s Myspace Blog post for the episode.
Who fancies Martha? No time for that in this ep.
Doctor-y Strangeness: The freaky DVD Easter Egg. Also, the authorized control disc and the Timey-Wimey detector.
Scary Stuff: The Weeping Angels, eek!
Does someone local help out? Sally Sparrow, Kathy Nightingale, Larry Nightingale, Billy Shipton
What we learn: The Doctor painted a message on the wall of the house and presumably wallpapered over it. Kathy is sent back to 1920 on Hull by the Weeping Angels. Over the last 2 years many people have disappeared at Wester Drumlins. They’ve left everything behind and just disappeared. The Doctor and Martha have seen the moon landing 4 times. The Weeping Angels are the only psychopaths in the Universe that kill you nicely. They zap you back into the past and let you live to death. They’re as old as the Universe, or very nearly, and no one knows exactly where they came from. The TARDIS has a security protocol 712 that deals with authorized control discs. The TARDIS can dematerialize and leave people behind. The Doctor is rubbish at weddings, especially his own. The Doctor can use a bow?
My Favorite Bits: Sally uncovering the message on the wall. “-Pants? -No.”Sparrow & Nightingale: Girl Investigators. Kathy’s arrival in Hull. “Go to the Police, you stupid woman.” “Sally Shipton…Sparrow!” The Doctor trying to explain to Billy how he arrived in the past. Billy Shipton, young and old. “A big ball of Wibbly-wobbly Time-Wimey stuff.” “Things happening. Well, four things. Well…four things and a lizard.” Sparrow & Nightingale: Antiquarian Books and Rare DVDs. All statues could be like the Weeping Angels?
Observations and musings:
According to Martha’s blog, she ended up having to work in a shop to support The Doctor while they were in 1969. Not much to say about Martha for this episode other than that. She knows how to carry a quiver of arrows, though.
The Doctor is rubbish at weddings especially his own? I wonder if we will ever learn the story behind that. Not much Doctor this week. He’s stuck in 1969 with Martha and his Timey-Wimey detector. His “Easter Egg” is apparently going to be on the DVDs for series 3. So, there’s that to look forward to. I suppose that if he waited long enough, and he hadn’t had the reassurance of the packet of info from Sally, The Doctor could have contacted UNIT at some point.
I’m actually quite impressed with how well “Banto” (of the DVD store) was played. He did a lot with such a wee part. Did anyone else note the lack of bananas and dancing in this Steven Moffat episode? Okay. How fabulous was this episode? Freaky scary monsters, excellent acting, and interesting concepts, this episode had them all. The girl who played Sally did a particularly good job. She carried the episode quite handily. Interesting how the two folks that we actually saw get stuck in the past managed to start a new life for themselves, wasn’t it? Here’s hoping that Steven Moffat writes every almost Doctor-less episode to come in future series.
Oh, and next week? Jack’s back!
Image Source: http://www.time-and-space.co.uk/
Blink, Steven Moffat, What I Did On My Christmas Holidays, Sally Sparrow
September 17th, 2007 at 9:55 am
I just got off the phone with a friend from law school. He freaked out, the angles scared the heck out of him
So How about Sally Sparrow as the companion in series 6?????
September 17th, 2007 at 11:28 am
So Friday night my mom and I watched “Blink”(LOVED it, by the way. Freakin’ brilliant!!). Next day we’re walking up the road to get some coffee downtown and pass by the little house that has a pretty little garden with two or three angel/cherub statues in it. We always used to pause to “ooh” and “ahh” and love that pretty little garden and the pretty little angel statues. This time? We were a little creeped out and walked by quickly!!
September 17th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Seriously, those statues are freaky. The freakiest part? Those Weeping Angels were actually people in costumes. That’s right. People who can stand very still, I’m guessing.
September 18th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
As related to The Vig … these baddies, or more specifically their concept, absolutely freaked my brain.
VERY well conceptualized and written.
I especially liked the near final scene with their attack on the Tardis while the lights strobed. Well Done.
Of course you know, some idiot is going to find them and move them, which will allow them to resume their misdeeds.
While you can’t “kill” a stone, you can pulverize it. I wonder if anyone’s tried to eliminate them that way?
October 12th, 2007 at 12:17 am
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. I’m beginning to think that not only should Steven write every Doctor-less ep, he should write ALL of them…at least the ones that Paul Cornell doesn’t write.
Oh, and why the heck isn’t Sally Sparrow the companion next season?!?!?!
October 12th, 2007 at 12:35 am
CrazyDave - Good question. And yes, ver freaky.
Hi Erik. Catching up, eh? And now we see why I was so upset not to get his autograph. I hope we see Sally again someday. Le sigh.
October 12th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Yep. Trying to rejoin the land of the living.
October 12th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Welcome back, Erik. Mind you…I’m not sure that this counts as the land of the living.
October 12th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
If you’re here…it’s the land of the living.
October 16th, 2007 at 12:40 am
[...] from. I confess, however, that my favorite Doctor Who series 3 baddie is The Weeping Angels from Blink. They were just such a creepy and clever idea. I’m not sure that I will ever look at statues [...]
December 4th, 2007 at 1:10 am
[...] 10. Blink [...]