New Who Review for “Blink”
Posted By Kathleen David on September 15, 2007
This one is a lot like “Love and Monsters”. It is what happens to the people that cross the Doctor’s path but are not companions. They really have no direct (or little direct) contact with the Doctor but are affected by him all the same because of something that the Doctor has to deal with. And I think that Sally Sparrow would make a bang-up companion for the Doctor.
Not much more I can say without hitting some form of spoiler so the rest is behind the cut.
I am grateful for having seen this one in one shot. The tension is much greater than when broken up with commercials. I recommend watching this one on DVD when the set comes out.
Der Commissar in town Uh-oh (Not my joke but tell me that it doesn’t work for the look of the Doctor on the telly?
Not at the statues were statues. A number of them were actors dressed up to look like statues which is cheaper than what they would have to have done to make this episode look right. The writer’s explanation of the weeping angels was fascinating. In fact the premise gets a big thumbs up from Peter for original thinking. I have seen a number of “The Angels have the Blue Box” t-shirts floating around conventions.
That a fandom had sprung up from a DVD Easter egg doesn’t surprise me. You get fans of the strangest things out there. That Sally just happened to find one of them in her best friend’s brother doesn’t seem that weird when you factor in the Doctor. I love that the 17 DVDs have one thing in common, they are all the DVDs that Sally owns. And how they wrapped around how the Doctor knows what to say was just brilliant. Consider all the work that the Doctor and Martha had to do to get their plan to work. How much planning and pipe laying had to be done so when it did all come together, the Doctor was controlling the situation. And getting the Angels to look at each other which froze them when the TARDIS moved. We cheered.
Overall it is well done and works on so many levels.
This one had a Caroline scare factor of hiding under her blanket but peeking out to watch what was going on with occasional gasps being emitted.
And I’ll never look at a statue the same way again especially those weeping Angels.
And of course, the greatest “BOOGABOOGA!!” moment at the end of the episode, designed to permanently freak out all the British kids in regards to statues everywhere else…
It’s probably gonna get Stephen Moffat *another* Hugo come this time next year… 🙂
That was a great episode. Since these were basically one-off characters we had no idea which of them would survive the episode, so the tension was very high. I hope in the DVD set for this season they have the Doctor’s DVD easter-egg to Sally Sparrow as an actually easter-egg on some disc. It would be cool to see that one-sided coversation as such.
Like Love & Monsters, it was filmed at the same time as another episode was being filmed. So, I guess these two were budget savings exercises. On the commentary they say the filming of the Doctor and Freema took about a half a day. The people on the commentary are Julie Gardner (executive producer), Andy Pryor (casting director), and Finley Robertson (Larry). It is Larry’s first time seeing it. He tells how he got himself prepared to not blink during the shooting.
It was based on a short story that you can read at http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/episodes/2007/blink_annual.shtml
Also on the BBC site, they also have some of the DVD covers that they had to make for the episode. Since they weren’t allowed to publicize any real DVDs they had to make them up for the store.
I was surprised to hear that most of the angels were people. They did a marvelous job with them.
Neil
I watched this one through twice (as usual, thanks to SciFi). As i watched the second time through i noticed camera work and music more. I knew the first time i was watching there was something making the back of my brain itch.
Maybe its just me..but it tasted of Hitchcock to me. I kept hearing a little snatch of the Psycho music now and then. And really loved how they worked the close ups etc.
I think i’m going to have to spent some time over at the BBC site again..i know i’m missing a lot lately!
jeane
This is a little off topic. I just watched the DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL episode that coincided with “Blink” entitled “Do You Remember The First Time?” (which really turned out to be a nice nostalgic look at the history of the series.) At the beginning there’s a brief montage of David Tennant’s other roles. One was obviously CASANOVA, one looked like a modern setting and in the third he was dressed as some kind of 18th Century clergyman and was addressing the camera directly. Anyone know what that third one might be? The brief clip alone made me want to investigate further.
“Like Love & Monsters, it was filmed at the same time as another episode was being filmed. So, I guess these two were budget savings exercises. On the commentary they say the filming of the Doctor and Freema took about a half a day. The people on the commentary are Julie Gardner (executive producer), Andy Pryor (casting director), and Finley Robertson (Larry). It is Larry’s first time seeing it. He tells how he got himself prepared to not blink during the shooting.”
These episodes aren’t budget saving, they are time saving at least for the stars. All three of the new series have had the same time to shoot all the episodes, but whereas the 1st series only has 13 episodes, the 2nd and 3rd have the 13 regular episodes plus the Christmas specials to fit in. So they have to have a story with minimal Dr and companion appearances which they can shoot at the same time as another episode.
If you must do a “Doctor-lite” episode, then “Blink” is how you go about doing it.
Oh, and if you don’t know what to expect from the next episode, “Utopia”, do try and AVOID the previews Sci-Fi is showing.
I saw a commercial for “Utopia” last night, and they half-way spoiled something in the episode; I swear, American TV just doesn’t get it.
Yes, “Blink” was absolutely brilliant! If there was one episode I would have someone watch who wasn’t really into DOCTOR WHO, it would be this one. This wasn’t just a good DOCTOR WHO episode, this was a good hour of dramatic television period.
Thank you, Mr. Moffat!!
Gotta pull out the disk and watch that one again.
I absolutely loved the beginning and the writing on the wall…
Oh – favourite line: “You told him you were eighteen – you lying cow!”
Ranks right up there with Rose on the roof with the Doctor, talking about how she’s seen spaceships and aliens and all like that, and no-one else in the world even imagines that they exist…
And then she’s almost brained by an alien spaceship roaring in over london, crashing very visibly in the Thames… Moment of stunned silence and Rose says “That’s just not fair!”
Rank right up tere with George Lazenby’s first line in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”: “This never happened to the other fella.”
I liked “Blink.” A lot. And I agree with PAD about the originality of the premise re the weeping angels.
I get why the Doctor couldn’t bring the cop back to the present once he’d retrieved the TARDIS, as he needed the cop to help him put together the message to Sally that would let him retrieve the TARDIS. However, it’s less clear why he couldn’t rescue Kathy from 1920. In fact, that aspect of the story pretty much shows the writer at work. Sally receives the letter that directs her to Kathy’s brother. In the shop where he works, she again sees the Doctor on the DVD (having previously seen him on the DVDs in Kathy’s apartment), which eventually leads to her getting the TARDIS back to him. So Kathy’s letter is pretty much a plot point meant to get Sally and Larry together again after their brief meeting.
Would Kathy have still written a letter if she didn’t have a brother? Sure. It’s just a part of the Doc Brown School of Etiquette When Unexpectedly Sent Back in Time One-Way; but the part about having Sally see her brother was clearly a plot point. I’d have preferred Sally going to see Larry on her own, perhaps in search of that prank playing sister of his, who ran off when they were at the old house (or so she assumes).
In fact, the story could have remained pretty much as is if Kathy had written the letter a few days after arriving in 1920, and then been picked up by the Doctor a few days after that.
Still, despite that one weakness in the storyline, “Blink” is very, very good, and I’d be surprised if it doesn’t at least earn a Hugo nomination.
And yes, Sally would make a great companion.
Craig, re the previews for “Utopia”, I wonder if the Sci-Fi Channel assumed most viewers are new to the Whoniverse and thus don’t recognize the significance of the kinda-sorta spoiler in the teaser. But you’re right, American TV often doesn’t get it. Either teasers give away too much or they don’t tell you enough.
Consider the teaser for “Chrysalis”, the season one finale of Babylon 5. While it dropped absolutely no hints about Santiago’s assassination or Delenn’s transformation or Garibaldi getting shot (all at JMS’ edict, to catch the viewers off guard, if I recall correctly), what they did show seemed pretty bland and not at all what you’d expect in a teaser for a season finale. I wonder how many people didn’t tune in to that episode because the teaser made it look run-of-the-mill.
By the way, I recently checked the CBC website to see when it would start showing Doctor Who, only to learn it’s already been showing it. As it happens, they’re a week ahead of the Sci-Fi Channel; so after watching “Blink” on videotape yesterday, I turned to the CBC, curious to see what episode they’d be showing, which is when I discovered they’re one episode ahead. So I got to enjoy an unexpected Doctor Who double feature. Albeit with a snowy picture with “Utopia.”
On another note, I wonder if anyone–
Hey, where’d that statue come fr
Man o man. I now understand what everyone was saying back a few months ago about the second half of the season really picking up. First the Family of Blood two-parter, one of the better character pieces the series has ever seen, and then a wonderfully plotted story like “Blink.” Me like. More, please?
And even this physics teacher thought the “they’re quantum locked” explanation for the angels was terrific. I hope this Moffat guy sticks around — even if he does get tired of having all those Hugo statuettes warping his bookshelves.
TW(blink)L