Blink

The simple question here is this: is Blink as good as everyone says it is? And the answer is yes, of course it is. Blink is instantly brilliant, evoking a tangible connection with the past as soon as Sally Sparrow walks into Wester Drumlins: reverence amongst decay. The past becomes the vanished present, a place full of the things we had in our grasp just a moment ago, now unreachable, pushed there by the passage of Time, or the touch of an Angel. Again and again, Sally is forced to accommodate a sense of loss for something she doesn't yet know has been taken from her: she has to accept Kathy's old age and death when she has just left her in the next room; Billy tells her the story of his life from his deathbed just minutes after they first meet. The Angels didn't harm either of them, but they hurt Sally terribly. They are bereavement itself, robbing those left behind of the chance to appreciate their loved ones before they disappear.

Much as I love returning villains, nothing has excited me during this entire run of Doctor Who as much as the success of the Weeping Angels. They are proof that the series will continue to invent and evolve and renew itself. Their true genius, especially here in Blink, is that Moffat has created a race which is capable of terrifying both adults and children. So much of it is brilliant simplicity, the parlour game antics of blindfolds and peeking, the childlike power of being able to nullify a threat by simply seeing it. With every blink, the statues move, they creep closer to you. But this isn't a game and they will get you. Children know all this instinctively. For the adults, the horror is different. It is the question of how much time is left, how long have we got? Unlike the children, we hear the ticking of the clock, getting faster and faster as the years begin to race past. Whatever time we have left, it is not enough, and the Angels could steal even that.

The fairy tale sensibilities of Moffat's work have been evident in his previous stories and they're here in Blink too. The moment where the Doctor's DVD easter egg starts talking back is completely magical and it might as well be an enchanted painting or mirror springing to life. Then there are the gorgeous shots of the angels, posed like supplicant victims of Medusa. There's one tableau in particular where they have arranged themselves about the TARDIS in the garage which is gobsmackingly beautiful, like a Renaissance painting.

Best of all though, Blink is just clever. It must be a terrible headache writing for the Doctor. Nobody is as clever as him and the pressure to think up cunning reversals and witty retorts on his behalf must be crucifying. Far too often, RTD has him throw a switch and say "Oh, I'm brilliant, didn't I mention that?" (Gridlock and Utopia to name two examples off of the top of my head.). This has the advantages of being quick and of avoiding stupid technobabble but it does leave us without any sense that something clever has actually happened. There's no, 'of course!' moment. Moffat has a different tactic which I find much more satisfying. He has the Doctor do simple, straightforward things, but doesn't give me any time to anticipate what they are going to be. What's more, these reversals tend to hinge upon things we understand instinctively. Flesh & Stone is a brilliant example of this, where Moffat/the Doctor shows we are in a ship that has artificial gravity and then switches it off so that all the Angels fall down what is now a shaft rather than a corridor. The climax here works the same way: the dematerialisation of the TARDIS leaves all the Angels looking at each other, transfixed. As soon as we see it, it makes perfect sense, even blindingly obvious! Except we didn't think of it in time and the Doctor did.

Chris gave it a 9 and particularly liked all the statues at the end. "Everyone should know what cool statues Cardiff has." William complained that the Doctor was largely missing again but (full disclosure) the Weeping Angels bit of the Doctor Who Experience was the bit he found most frightening, so make of that what you will...


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