Doctor Who: Episode Blink Review

I have always been a big Doctor Who fan. From the old series to the new version, I looked forward to seeing what intrigue and trouble our favorite "doctor" would find himself in from week to week.

This episode is what has been come to be called affectionately, a doctor-lite episode. The doctor and his companion (Martha Jones) were not given a lot of screen time so that they could film more than one episode at the same time. However, it says a lot that this episode is, unequivocally, my favorite episode of the new series. And, what little time we do see the doctor onscreen is utilized to its maximum effect.

The episode begins with a young photographer named Sally Sparrow sneaking in to photograph a dilapidated old house called the Wester Drumlins.

Snapping pictures, of all the surroundings, including antiques and these angel statues, Sally notices some words peeking out from under the peeling wallpaper. Ever curious she keeps peeling to reveal all in capital letters:

BEWARE

THE WEEPING ANGELS.

OH AND DUCK. REALLY DUCK SALLY SPARROW

DUCK NOW

At this point, she ducks and is just missed by a heavy projectile thrown through the window. Looking again behind the wallpaper she is sent:

Love from

the Doctor 1969

A little rattled by what happened, she goes to her friend, Kathy Nightingale's house. They will both be visiting the place in the morning. During this time she also has a run-in with Kathy's brother Larry.

The next morning Sally and Kathy go to the old house. Checking it out both ladies are jumpy when the doorbell rings. Kathy hides and Sally answers the door. Turns out, it's a person with a message for Sally Sparrow. This is her friend, Kathy's grandson, who promised her to deliver the letter at this date and time. Running to check, she discovers that Kathy is missing. She also finds a key hanging off one of the statues she noticed during her earlier visit. She takes it, not really knowing what else to do. Reading the letter, she discovers her friend was transported back the 1920s, led a full life, and died many years before these events happened. In the letter, Kathy asks her to tell her brother about her disappearance.

Sally visits Larry at the DVD store in which he works. She finds him watching an easter egg, a hidden message within the extras section of a DVD. In it, a dapper, young man named "The Doctor" is having what appears to be a one sided conversation. She learns this same Easter egg is hidden in 17 seemingly random DVDs. She gets this list from Larry and leaves. As she is going out the door, she hears the store clerk yelling at the screen of a horror show, "Why do they never go to the police?"

Which is where she heads next.

With such a wild story, no one takes her seriously. She then meets Detective Inspector Billy Shipton, who decides to listen to her because "Life is short and you are hot."

He shows her a funny old locked police box found in the area of that old house, where people have been disappearing. After some brief flirting, Sally gives Billy Shipton her phone number and leaves. After leaving the storage area, she remembers the key and returns to see if it fits the lock. Both the detective and the police box are gone and the scene shifts to Billy Shipton, who seems to have been transported somewhere else. As he tries to get his bearings, the doctor and Martha run up to him and let him know:

"Tracked you down with this. This is my timey-wimey detector. Goes ding when there's stuff. Also, it can boil an egg at 30 paces. Whether you want it to or not, actually, so I've learned to stay away from hens. It's not pretty when they blow. "

The doctor lets Billy know that he is now in 1969, transported there because of a dangerous race of creatures called the Weeping angels. As usual, he shows how intrigued he is by other races:

"Fascinating race, the Weeping Angels. The only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely. No mess, no fuss, they just zap you into the past and let you live to death. The rest of your life used up and blown away in the blink of an eye. You die in the past, and in the present they consume the energy of all the days you might have had, all your stolen moments. They're creatures of the abstract. They live off potential energy."

Simultaneously, Sally gets a call from Billy. He tells her where he is and that she should come see him. Billy has waited since 1969 to be able to see her again. He is married to another "Sally," but he spent his life doing some things for the Doctor. Turns out, he got into the DVD business and he is the one who put the Easter eggs into those 17 DVDs. He gives her the message from the doctor to look at the list of DVDs. Shortly after that, Billy dies, and Sally stays with him until he passes.

She goes back to the DVD store and gets Larry, telling him that the 17 DVDs have one thing in common. HER! They are the only DVDs she owns. They go back to Westerly Drummins and play the easter egg. She now realizes that the other half of the conversation is hers. And the reason the doctor knows what to say is because Larry is writing down her half of the conversation, which the doctor is apparently reading on a teleprompter.

When the doctor (on the recording) seems to hesitate answering some questions she had asked, Sally proves to have some backbone, seemingly getting a bit of respect from the doctor:

"I'm clever, and I'm listening. Now don't patronize me, 'cause people have died and I'm not happy. Tell me"

He proceeds to let her know that he is a time traveler, stuck in the year 1969. But he tries to explain this concept to her:

"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff."

Sally finds out that these creatures are "quantum locked," meaning they turn to stone if someone looks at them. You can't hurt them as stone but the same is true in reverse. However, should you stop looking at them, that is when they are the most dangerous. He tells her that it is up to her to deal with them and to stop what is going on, but he leaves her with one final admonishment:

"Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And don't blink. Good Luck. "

Soon, both Larry and Sally realize they are alone with these creatures. They try to keep looking at them, but it's hard not blink. After some very close calls they end up in the cellar with the Police box. The statues are smart and cause the lights to go out. However, Larry and Sally make it into the police box (the Tardis, The doctor's ship, of course) just before they are touched by the weeping angels.

It turns out that the DVDs with the easter eggs triggers communication with the computer on board it starts to go to the doctor, exactly as planned, leaving Larry and Sally where they are. As the Tardis is dissolving the two of them are surrounded by the weeping angels, and it seems as if they are going to be caught by them.

The Tardis is gone and...nothing happens. The weeping angels are caught by their own talent. They are frozen forever in time looking at each other. Sally and Larry realize their good fortune and run off.

It's now a year later. Sally and Larry have a store together. Larry wants to be closer than friends, but Sally is still too obsessed with all that happened and won't let him closer. When she sends Larry for groceries, a taxi drops two very familiar people off right in front of the store.

Running out she calls to the doctor and Martha, who are both carrying bows and arrows. When the doctor doesn't seem to know her she realizes it was she who gave him the folder with the conversation in full. She hands it to him, telling him that he will be needing it soon enough. Thanking her, he is about to dash off to solve some crisis for a change:

"Yeah, listen, listen, got to dash... things happening. Well... four things. Well... four things and a lizard."

Just then, Larry returns. He sees the doctor and says hello with reverence. Sally grabs hold of his hand, ready to move on now that things are in motion, just as the doctor and Martha leave to do their battle.

The episode ends with a repeat of the doctors warning about not blinking, except aimed at us, the audience, with a montage of current day statues.

Blink is the tenth episode of the third season (or third series) of the science fiction series Doctor Who. This episode was written by Steven Moffat. Not only was it a fan favorite, but also well received by critics. Moffat won the BAFTA CRAFT¹­ and BAFTA Cymra² awards for Best writer and the Hugo Award to Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.³

He deserved it and then some. Blink was an episode that was both scary and funny. The concept of the weeping angels is provocative, the fear of what you can't see coming after you is what nightmares are based on. When Larry and Sally turn to find the angel statue scant inches away and poised to strike, we hold our collective breaths. And, yet, because the tension remains very taut, the humorous moments are well timed and needed.

If you never see another episode of the new Doctor Who series, this one is a must see. And remember, when you turn on the DVD, do not look away and never blink!

¹http://www.writersguild.org.uk/public/003_WritersGuil/227_WGGBNewsBAF.html, retrieved April 24, 2009

²http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/2008/04/27/dr-who-wins-big-at-bafta-cymru-awards-91466-20828201/, retrieved April 24, 2009

³http://www.thehugoawards.org/?p=146, 2007, retrieved April 24, 2009