Doctor Who: The Time of Angels
Snapshots from a frankly awesome episode of Doctor Who:
The Doctor
"Yes, you're right. I am Mr Grumpy Face today."
Matt Smith's Doctor has been great so far, but it is in this episode that his true character starts to come through. And he is an old/young Doctor. On the one hand, he is wise, and old, and dismissive of those who would waste his time. On the other hand, he is a bundle of energy, an awkward child of a man making things up as he goes along and hoping that it all turns out for the best. Smith is perfect as the Doctor - he is simultaneously powerful and powerless. Just as the Doctor should be.
"Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron."
Plus he's not that fond of authority. And if you had to define Doctor Who in a nutshell - or at least successful Doctor Who - then it should aspire to scare everyone in the room. Or at least leave them unsettled. And The Time of Angels did this. So, so, so well.
"This trap has got a great big mistake in it."
A perfect cliff-hanger. The Doctor and his friends are cornered, but the Doctor has a plan. Possibly a reckless, stupid plan, but he has a plan. And you want to know what it is? Well, you're going to have to wait. For a week, at least...
Amy
"Look at my hand. It's stone."
Amy Pond has had a good run in the TARDIS thus far. She's been crucial to the Eleventh Doctor's victories thus far. And she challenges the Doctor; in this episode, over his relationship with River Song. And Amy defeats a Weeping Angel. Except... she looked into its eyes. And there is something wrong. There is a Weeping Angel in her mind. The most self-possessed of companions is being menaced mentally by some of the most formidable enemies faced by the Doctor. Talk about raising the stakes of the story...
"I'm not that clingy."
Amy respects the Doctor, but unlike other recent companions, she doesn't love him. She also knows that he has to survive. She is in awe of him, but not over-awed by him. I don't know where the Amy story arc is going, but I am pretty sure that it is going to be original and ground-breaking journey.
River Song
"Sweetie."
Are the Doctor and River Song married? Will they be in the future? Who exactly is she? It is wonderful to see the Doctor - and particularly a Doctor as arrogant and sure of himself as this one - unsure of someone, because they know more about him - and them - than he does. Besides, River Song has an interesting past. As she tells the Bishop:
"I have no intention of going back to prison."
The Weeping Angels
The Weeping Angels are splendid monsters. They are moving statues, who stalk you when you close your eyes. And we all close our eyes a lot. But now... now they have more powers.
"The Angel killed me too..."
They make the dead talk.
"They are Angels. All of them."
They can change their appearance - all the talk about two heads, which seemed to be just padding, was actually an awesome twist. But finally:
"That which holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel."
The Angel emerging from the video recording is the stuff that horror movies are made of. In particular, The Ring. But the implications of this are awe-inspiring. After all, what have we all been watching other than the image of an Angel? The genius of this statement is that the image, the very TV programme we have been watching, could become an Angel. If that isn't an idea to get kids scuttling behind the sofa, then I don't know what is.
This was a spell-binding episode of Doctor Who; one that people will be talking about, and remembering, for a long, long time. We are in a golden age of Doctor Who; let's hope it continues for as long as possible.
Labels: Doctor Who, Reviews, TV
posted by The Nameless Libertarian @ 6:37 pm
15 Comments
15 Comments:
aye, steve davis winning at the snooker and being scared absolutely shitless by Dr Who, it's like i'm 12 all over again. splendid times.
A brilliant episode. One that will bear watching a few more times. There was a lot going on.
I wonder if River Song is related to River Tam...
The story so far doesn't seem to have any logical flaws, and I am really looking forward to finding out how it pans out. Was a tad cross with the caption for the following program appearing on the bottom of the screen just before the cliff hanger. And the preview for next week. I suppose it's for the American audience.
I'm pretty sure this episode - judging by the Doctor's dialogue - was originally written for David Tennant and was then adapted for Matt Smith. Regardless, it does exactly what Doctor Who should so. It is scary.
And I know what you mean, TonyF, about the banner at the bottom of the screen for the next programme. It is unnecessary and intrusive. And, worst of all, it is also for a bullshit programme!
Great episode but it seems the DOG at the end has pissed a few people off
Both myself and NickM & Spouse at Counting Cats to name another three
The mention of the two heads had more to do with the indigenous people that were the original inhabitants and builders of the place. The statues had only one head, therefore, they realized what those statues really were... Degraded and decrepit Weeping Angels that haven't had much to eat in a long time...
Anonymous, yes I know all that. Can't really see what your point is.
"The Angel Killed Me Too" - if the universe is a sensible place it must be on a t-shirt by now. Brilliant episode.
Re: Two heads
I think what anonymous was getting at was that you said
"They can change their appearance - all the talk about two heads, which seemed to be just padding, was actually an awesome twist."
They don't change appearance
The twist was that because they don't have two heads then they must be angels
The only reason they looked different to the first angel was because they hadn't been "fed" for a long time
I think
Great review though btw!
But by definition, if they can become decayed and emaciated because they haven't been fed, they can change appearance... Their appearance was different to what the Doctor and co expected - which is why the heros wandered through a maze of the Angels without realising it.
But that's like saying a dead man changes his appearance?
He doesn't...his appearance changes, because he is dead.
Yes, and a living person can change their appearance... by not eating. Which is what has happened to the Angels.
In the first Weeping Angels story, Blink, the Angels all looked the same, making them easy to identify even when they were close to other statues. At no point was it implied that they could change that appearance - by design or otherwise. Which is why the twist worked so well in last night's episode - suddenly we (and the Doctor and co) learned that their appearance is not, if you pardon the terrible pun, set in stone.
It is a clear development of the abilities of the Angels from their first appearance.
You've just hit the nail right on the head
They are two separate things....one is an intentional act
Changing your appearance by not eating
the other isn't
Your appearance changing through starvation
It's the same as a man changing his appearance by cutting his hair
or mans appearance changing because he's going bald
I wasn't actually saying it didn't have anything to do with the plot twist. If they looked as same as the first Angel then two heads or not it would have stood straight out!
You asked anon what his point was, I was just explaining what I thought that was.
The way it was described implied that the Angels had intentionally altered the way they looked.
I think your point is probably more subtle that the one offered by anonymous, who simply seems to be pointing out what the plot twist was... even though it is obvious to anyone who watched the programme.
Person kills someone. Person subsequently is erased from time and never existed. How is their victim still dead? The Weeping Angels being erased from history should've undone everything they had an effect on (Byzantium crashing, extinction of the planet, etc.).
Don't know - maybe because the Doctor, Amy and River all survived, the timeline isn't fully reset. Or maybe just the "wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey" get-out is the one to invoke here.
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