DW5x04: The Time of Angels
THIS is how much I truly truly truly truly like this episode, for all the prior misgivings about River Song. It has 'INSTANT CLASSIC' stamped all over it. All caps by killcolor.
"The most powerful, most malevolent life form that evolution ever produced"
1. Fear Factor: 15 out of 10, if that's possible. The Weeping Angels are gloriously terrifying. Even more so than they were in 'Blink'. Now we'll even be terrified of our tv screens. WONDERFUL. This is a really really really scary episode reminiscent of The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances that Moffat first presented in New Who. Best episode yet of the new series, surely, with a very clear Moffat signature. Gosh, I loved it. Some parts of Moffat's episodes I've disliked because of various reason, this ep included, but this still stood out from the rest of the new series.
The disembodied voices reminded me of the Data Ghosts from Silence in the Library; poor scared Bob. I knew he wasn't going to survive. Moffat's body count is going up. HA. (Actually, 'Bob' reminded me so much of Rose's red Dalek toy Bob from tw_babiez!) But this time these voices did more than just be creepy, the angels used it to laid an entire guilt trip on the Doctor. Bad call, angels, making the Doctor angry like that (but high points for the villainy of it).
"Hullo, sweetie."
2. I've never hated River Song but nor did I particularly loved her either. In Series 4 I rather liked the ending because there were some great moments in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. But, in this ep, the cheeky bits at the beginning were absolutely fine, if it were not River Song saying it. Honestly. If it was a future incarnation of the Doctor, then I would be all smiles. But because of the 'pre-existing' 'future' (can those words actually be used together?!) relationship between the Doctor and River and all the implications that go with it, I therefore do not like it much. Writing in Gallifreyan? Piloting the TARDIS? Making fun of the Doctor's driving?! The Doctor was left henpecked by River. NOT GOOD. I liked her better AFTER they landed and went searching for the angels. Much better. But, still.
The Doctor-River relationship is weird and confusing, to say the least. The Doctor practically wants to run away from her at first sight (HURRAH!), River has DEEP DARK SECRETS that she's not telling the Doctor (and Father Octavian said the Doctor would probably not help them if he knew ... HIGHLY INTERESTING), and she MIGHT or MIGHT NOT be his wife. Ten/Rose shippers everywhere (aka me and Catey) do not like the notion of River being his wife, and it's not exactly clear cut in the episode either. The bit where the Doctor ambigiously says 'Yes' when Amy asked if River was going to be the future Mrs. Doctor, it was followed by an affirmation that "You're right, I am definitely Mr. Grumpy Face today". AMBIGIOUS. In Moffat's world, River is going to be important to the Doctor, but we're still not being told how. And they keep bickering ALL THE TIME. (We can be happy that this is definitely not Ten/Rose-like.)
"I'm nobody's taxi service and I'm not going to be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a spaceship."
3. Hurrah, Eleven, hurrah. All he wants to do is run away from her! Rolling his eyes at all her cheeky digs, all frowns and sarcasm. Clearly meeting River again is too close for comfort, and a 'destined future' is certainly not the way the Doctor does things. OF COURSE HE WANTS TO RUN AWAY! He ran away from the Time Lords, for crying out loud.
And, just as Matty has proven to be getting better at being the Doctor, he is magnificent in this episode. So very very very Doctor. It's a little surprising because this is the first episode shot in Who series 5. [Oh lordy all the boohahaha when the first pictures of filming came out and fans saw RIVER SONG...on Bad Wolf Bay! (I think).] BUT, he certainly doesn't mind being called 'sir'. Or giving salutes. Definitely not Ten, this one. (This is probably not Matty's fault, probably the writer's!). Yet there's so much of Nine and Ten in this performance that makes me believe in him as the Doctor, especially when he was utterly crushed knowing that 'sacred Bob' died in fear (the angel's reminding him about it, no less) --- just look at all the emotion in his face. And that wonderful wonderful speech at the end...brilliant. Just brillant.
Oh, and he tried to make 'vworp vworp' TARDIS noises. Completely and utterly DOCTOR. ♥
"I don't need you to die for me, Doctor - do I look that clingy?"
4. I love Amy for being such an awesome companion in this episode, but I hate Moffat for using the word 'clingy'. Because that's what he used to describe Rose once (bad Moffat, bad). Anyway, Amy certainly had more to do this week. She was brave and noble and so superbly funny ... it was a combination of Rose and Donna! All mocking the Doctor too. Donna should definitely meet Amy one day and discuss the alien aspects of the Doctor. Space teeth, indeed. xD Mortal danger is the key to a Who companion, and Amy certainly had that meeting the angel recording ... and there's so much that might happen to her next week too! Was the injection that River gave her all that it seemed? Is she going to turn to stone? And what's with the book about the angels? "What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if our dreams no longer needed us?" EXCITING.
5. Random points:
(a) gravity globe, from The Satan Pit! Hurrah for returning props. Matty showed off some football skills there, wonderful. Although, I think I saw it bouncing away to the side before the lit-up globe appeared up top. Haaaaa.
(b) the Confidential: OH SO MANY SHOTS OF TEN!!!!! Hullo TEN!!!!! :) :) :) Oh, and at the beginning they used the Muse track that was in David's episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks! FACT FANS.
(c) Just curious, why now returning directors from Russell's era yet? This episode was well directed, but I still want to see what Graeme Harper or Euros Lyn would do in the new series. Or even James Hawes and James Strong. Alice Troughton too? (OR, maybe they were all directing Merlin. It's happened before. xD)
(d) Murray Gold, your music is made of WIN.
(e) I think Amy 'borrowed' Ten's trainers in this ep.
(f) I need a .gif of air-guitar Matty from Confidential.
NEXT WEEK, CAN'T WAIT!!! 4 episodes done out of 13, can it be so fast? Shiny new episodes are getting less!
"The most powerful, most malevolent life form that evolution ever produced"
1. Fear Factor: 15 out of 10, if that's possible. The Weeping Angels are gloriously terrifying. Even more so than they were in 'Blink'. Now we'll even be terrified of our tv screens. WONDERFUL. This is a really really really scary episode reminiscent of The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances that Moffat first presented in New Who. Best episode yet of the new series, surely, with a very clear Moffat signature. Gosh, I loved it. Some parts of Moffat's episodes I've disliked because of various reason, this ep included, but this still stood out from the rest of the new series.
The disembodied voices reminded me of the Data Ghosts from Silence in the Library; poor scared Bob. I knew he wasn't going to survive. Moffat's body count is going up. HA. (Actually, 'Bob' reminded me so much of Rose's red Dalek toy Bob from tw_babiez!) But this time these voices did more than just be creepy, the angels used it to laid an entire guilt trip on the Doctor. Bad call, angels, making the Doctor angry like that (but high points for the villainy of it).
"Hullo, sweetie."
2. I've never hated River Song but nor did I particularly loved her either. In Series 4 I rather liked the ending because there were some great moments in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. But, in this ep, the cheeky bits at the beginning were absolutely fine, if it were not River Song saying it. Honestly. If it was a future incarnation of the Doctor, then I would be all smiles. But because of the 'pre-existing' 'future' (can those words actually be used together?!) relationship between the Doctor and River and all the implications that go with it, I therefore do not like it much. Writing in Gallifreyan? Piloting the TARDIS? Making fun of the Doctor's driving?! The Doctor was left henpecked by River. NOT GOOD. I liked her better AFTER they landed and went searching for the angels. Much better. But, still.
The Doctor-River relationship is weird and confusing, to say the least. The Doctor practically wants to run away from her at first sight (HURRAH!), River has DEEP DARK SECRETS that she's not telling the Doctor (and Father Octavian said the Doctor would probably not help them if he knew ... HIGHLY INTERESTING), and she MIGHT or MIGHT NOT be his wife. Ten/Rose shippers everywhere (aka me and Catey) do not like the notion of River being his wife, and it's not exactly clear cut in the episode either. The bit where the Doctor ambigiously says 'Yes' when Amy asked if River was going to be the future Mrs. Doctor, it was followed by an affirmation that "You're right, I am definitely Mr. Grumpy Face today". AMBIGIOUS. In Moffat's world, River is going to be important to the Doctor, but we're still not being told how. And they keep bickering ALL THE TIME. (We can be happy that this is definitely not Ten/Rose-like.)
"I'm nobody's taxi service and I'm not going to be there to catch you every time you feel like jumping out of a spaceship."
3. Hurrah, Eleven, hurrah. All he wants to do is run away from her! Rolling his eyes at all her cheeky digs, all frowns and sarcasm. Clearly meeting River again is too close for comfort, and a 'destined future' is certainly not the way the Doctor does things. OF COURSE HE WANTS TO RUN AWAY! He ran away from the Time Lords, for crying out loud.
And, just as Matty has proven to be getting better at being the Doctor, he is magnificent in this episode. So very very very Doctor. It's a little surprising because this is the first episode shot in Who series 5. [Oh lordy all the boohahaha when the first pictures of filming came out and fans saw RIVER SONG...on Bad Wolf Bay! (I think).] BUT, he certainly doesn't mind being called 'sir'. Or giving salutes. Definitely not Ten, this one. (This is probably not Matty's fault, probably the writer's!). Yet there's so much of Nine and Ten in this performance that makes me believe in him as the Doctor, especially when he was utterly crushed knowing that 'sacred Bob' died in fear (the angel's reminding him about it, no less) --- just look at all the emotion in his face. And that wonderful wonderful speech at the end...brilliant. Just brillant.
Oh, and he tried to make 'vworp vworp' TARDIS noises. Completely and utterly DOCTOR. ♥
"I don't need you to die for me, Doctor - do I look that clingy?"
4. I love Amy for being such an awesome companion in this episode, but I hate Moffat for using the word 'clingy'. Because that's what he used to describe Rose once (bad Moffat, bad). Anyway, Amy certainly had more to do this week. She was brave and noble and so superbly funny ... it was a combination of Rose and Donna! All mocking the Doctor too. Donna should definitely meet Amy one day and discuss the alien aspects of the Doctor. Space teeth, indeed. xD Mortal danger is the key to a Who companion, and Amy certainly had that meeting the angel recording ... and there's so much that might happen to her next week too! Was the injection that River gave her all that it seemed? Is she going to turn to stone? And what's with the book about the angels? "What if we had ideas that could think for themselves? What if our dreams no longer needed us?" EXCITING.
5. Random points:
(a) gravity globe, from The Satan Pit! Hurrah for returning props. Matty showed off some football skills there, wonderful. Although, I think I saw it bouncing away to the side before the lit-up globe appeared up top. Haaaaa.
(b) the Confidential: OH SO MANY SHOTS OF TEN!!!!! Hullo TEN!!!!! :) :) :) Oh, and at the beginning they used the Muse track that was in David's episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks! FACT FANS.
(c) Just curious, why now returning directors from Russell's era yet? This episode was well directed, but I still want to see what Graeme Harper or Euros Lyn would do in the new series. Or even James Hawes and James Strong. Alice Troughton too? (OR, maybe they were all directing Merlin. It's happened before. xD)
(d) Murray Gold, your music is made of WIN.
(e) I think Amy 'borrowed' Ten's trainers in this ep.
(f) I need a .gif of air-guitar Matty from Confidential.
NEXT WEEK, CAN'T WAIT!!! 4 episodes done out of 13, can it be so fast? Shiny new episodes are getting less!