Doctor Who: Blink

[StickMan]

OK I just saw it and I'm freaking out. First because it was awesome, second because I'm scared to death. I mean my god when some of you England playgrounders told me to watch this one I thought it was like the Doctor finds another time lord or something but my god that was just like unbelievably good. I just wow, its like wow, I'm like warm and fuzzy from the good writing and also so scared of statues right now. I mean that last part at the end is just cruel.

[Otterella]

Freaky. Freaky. Freaky. I'm looking over my shoulder now. I will never look at a statue the same way again.

[The Vanishing Hitchhiker]

No, no, the Doctor finds another Time Lord next week. :smallwink: Aah, I'm just messing with you. Or am I?

Anyway. "Lawrence Nightingale"? I'd hurt my parents for that one.

[tannish2]

ya, good episode, watching it second time right now.

[Muz]

I only caught the second half of it, but I was damn impressed with just the whole premise. One of those things where I think, "Man, I wish I'd thought of that!" (Stupid writer's envy.) :smallbiggrin:

Ah, well. I can't write a story or book with that idea, but I can steal the concept of the angels for a D&D game, right? Hope someone's got blindfighting. :smallwink:

...Then again, WHY can't they destroy them with a sledgehammer or something when they're turned to stone?

[darkninjaoflight]

That was scary. That was really...really scary. I was practically relieved when the episode was over. So good. So good.

[psycojester]

Compare Blink and Family of Blood to RTD's trainwreck 3 parter at the end of the season.

It leaves you with the distinct impression that RTD should die in a fire so Stephan Moffat (sp?) can step up and take control of the series. Imagine it, modern Dr Who with consistantly good writing, no awful deus ex machina and no 'LOLZ GAY JOKE!' moments.

[Archonic Energy]

http://www.eyeofhorus.org.uk/images/photo/10tennant/series-03/10-blink/preview-weepingangle-496.jpg

Don't even Blink.

[Kaelaroth]

Not as scary as they were going for, but a nice and well presented episode.

[Hermit]

Yeah, I definately fall into the rather large camp of people who wonder why we couldn't have Sally Sparrow back for series four rather than Tate again (Who annoyed me a bit in the Christmas ep, so for a whole season, I'm a little aprehensive). Also, from Human Nature right up to the finale season three is absolutely awesome. There were a couple of dodgy eps in the middle (That Dalek 2 parter wasn't great, and 42 was a good idea which didn't really go anywhere), but I still can't wait til the boxset comes out and I can watch the whole thing in a single sitting :p

[StickMan]

I liked the Darlik two parter, part of it may be cause it was in the United States....

[Bookman]

I liked the Darlik two parter, part of it may be cause it was in the United States....

Only part that bothered me was the girl's accent. Possibly the most annoying thing I have ever heard :tongue:

As for Blink I should say.........if I was 10 I'd be freaked out by statues now........

[Castaras]

Blink was awesome.

Blink and Family of Blood were both awesome.

The rest of the episodes? Naaaaah...:smallyuk:

[Pwenet]

Blink was one of the best episodes.

Of course the next few are even better in my humble opinion.

[Kaelaroth]

Yeah, I definately fall into the rather large camp of people who wonder why we couldn't have Sally Sparrow back for series four rather than Tate again (Who annoyed me a bit in the Christmas ep, so for a whole season, I'm a little aprehensive).

I hated Tate in DrWho, she should stick to comedy. And you're right, Sally Sparrow would be a considerably better assistant. With her boyfriend too? I like The Dr to have multiple companions.

[Glawackus]

I had heard reviews of it as the "f***in' scariest thing ever", etc., and sat down feeling somewhat unafraid.

Then, the wallpaper message from the Doctor showed up, and I was just "OMG"
I sent an email to my friends afterwards to the effect of "I don't care if you don't like Doctor Who. Find some way to watch this now."

Sally Sparrow would be a great companion, indeed. I never saw Runaway Bride, so I have no idea what this Tate lady is like.

[Hermit]

I hated Tate in DrWho, she should stick to comedy. And you're right, Sally Sparrow would be a considerably better assistant. With her boyfriend too? I like The Dr to have multiple companions.

Yes. It'd also be nice to have one female companion in the new series who didn't fall madly in love with the Doctor

Edit: As for the Runaway Bride, its not a bad episode by any means, its just Tate's character is too shouty and annoying.
Some Runaway Bride spoilers, but it proves my point (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipGgYVYAv4E)

Really hoping they tone her down a bit for the new series

[Mysticaloctopus]

Now if you liked Blink, go watch the "first new series" episode The Empty Child and the sequel The Doctor Dances. The Empty Child had kids all over the UK doing what our parents did when the Daleks first appeared - cowering behind the sofa during the episode and jumping in fright for weeks.

[Hermit]

Now if you liked Blink, go watch the "first new series" episode The Empty Child and the sequel The Doctor Dances. The Empty Child had kids all over the UK doing what our parents did when the Daleks first appeared - cowering behind the sofa during the episode and jumping in fright for weeks.

Ah, what an awesome 2parter that was. Plus, it had Captain Jack.

[Pwenet]

Ah, what an awesome 2parter that was. Plus, it had Captain Jack.

Plus is had my friends and I quoting "Are you my mommy" weeks later.

[Castaras]

Yeah.

Empty Child/Doctor Dances, Blink, and Family of Blood were the best episodes of the new series.

Freaking awesome.

Some of the others were okay, but quite a few of the others were pretty crap.

[Leon]

I hated Tate in DrWho, she should stick to comedy.

Dunno, her comedy is a bit hit and miss

[Hermit]

Dunno, her comedy is a bit hit and miss

One thing I do like is that she's at least happy to retire characters once they're no longer funny (With the exception of Lauren, who was never funny).
At least she's not like Little Britain where its been three or four series of exactly the same joke every time.

[Archonic Energy]

At least she's not like Little Britain where its been three or four series of exactly the same joke every time.

sorry to re-use the same image but...
http://www.eyeofhorus.org.uk/images/photo/10tennant/series-03/10-blink/preview-weepingangle-496.jpg

Want that one.

anyone want to see a Dr Who / Little Britain crossover

[Mysticaloctopus]

Ah, what an awesome 2parter that was. Plus, it had Captain Jack.

Captain Jack - Yum.

Second only to Bridget on the "Everyone is Gay for Bridget" scale.

[Otterella]

What's creepier, the statues or the french robots? I think the statues are creepier, but the ep with the creepy french robots is still my favorite. And I agree that Sally Sparrow would make a much awesomer companion than the stupid bride lady. I think Sally Sparrow would be better even than Martha. Martha whines too much.

[TheLogman]

It was amazing. Just really amazing. Probably some of the best writing I've seen in a while. It had everything that it needed, plot twists, Scary stuff, near-misses, and just the right amount of Doctor.

"It goes Bing when there's stuff"-LOL!

[Seraph]

oh ****. I just read the wikipedia entry for this episode and it says that the statues were played by real people in prosthetic makeup.

[Eldpollard]

Blink was amazing. Scary as hell as well.

[Hermit]

oh ****. I just read the wikipedia entry for this episode and it says that the statues were played by real people in prosthetic makeup.

You know those Living statue steet performer people who often get painted up in Gold? Now imagine someone doing it with these :p

[The Vanishing Hitchhiker]

Oh yeah, my husband and I agree Sally (and Larry) would make a good companion(s)...I told him who the next companion was gonna be and he was like, "Oh, no."

This episode of "the Doctor's around somewhere and he'll come around at the end to make everything make sense" worked better than the other one (y'know, with the ELO fanclub 'n' all) IMO. Better story I guess.

[Hermit]

Incidentally, for you Americans, Torchwood just kicked off over there on Saturday as I understand it, it's well worth a watch. Not quite as good as Doctor Who itself, but entertaining nonetheless.

[Glawackus]

Incidentally, for you Americans, Torchwood just kicked off over there on Saturday as I understand it, it's well worth a watch. Not quite as good as Doctor Who itself, but entertaining nonetheless.

Unfortunately, it's only on BBC America, which some people don't get. :smallfrown: I was really hoping SciFi would pick it up. The reviews I've heard haven't been so good, but it'd probably be better than half the stuff they're showing now.

[darkninjaoflight]

Wow...they were actual actors? That's really surprising!


What I thought was interesting (and also quite creepy) about the episode was that there were times where none of the characters were looking at the statues (like when that one was creeping up behind Sally's friend), but they were still frozen behind them. Why? Because we were watching them through the TV. Creeepy.

[Glaivemaster]

Wow...they were actual actors? That's really surprising!


What I thought was interesting (and also quite creepy) about the episode was that there were times where none of the characters were looking at the statues (like when that one was creeping up behind Sally's friend), but they were still frozen behind them. Why? Because we were watching them through the TV. Creeepy.

I didn't think that was creeepy so much as stupid. If you noticed it, it completely broke the fourth wall, and thus the tension. If you didn't it didn't make any real sense, making it seem 'unrealistic' that the statues weren't getting people.

I can see they wanted to do it so that the angels would retain an aura of mystery as to what they look like when they're not being watched, but in that case don't show them at all. It works just as well to retain the mystery, or possibly even better.

That's my only real problem with the episode though.


Blink was awesome.

Blink and Family of Blood were both awesome.

The rest of the episodes? Naaaaah...

Yeah, definitely. Assuming that Family of Blood was the human doctor one, that was excellent, just for the end. I almost cried :smallfrown:

[Elliot Kane]

I utterly adore Blink. I think it's far and away the best ep of the new series'. Sally should definitely be a Companion - she's got absolutely the right balance of brains, pluck and vulnerability. Plus - how could anything scare her after that? :D

I loathed Tate's character in Runaway Bride. I felt the character worked well enough as a one-off, because she is intended to be irritating as heck - that's the entire point of her. But would anyone really want to sit through an entire season of that? I'd rather watch paint dry...

One magazine I read described Sally as 'The best Companion there never was' - and I think that's true. I just hope the powers that be at the BBC see sense and ditch the annoying earache for her.

[The Vanishing Hitchhiker]

Unfortunately, it's only on BBC America, which some people don't get. :smallfrown: I was really hoping SciFi would pick it up. The reviews I've heard haven't been so good, but it'd probably be better than half the stuff they're showing now.

I get BBC America, haven't been interested enough and/or too busy to give it a look unfortunately. It does vaguely irk me how the commercials (the American ones, at least) prey on viewer ignorance by stating that Torchwood is "from the creators of Doctor Who", without specifying that they mean Russell Davies instead of, say, Sydney and Verity (that was a cute line, in Human Nature, it was).

...hey, I did just read somewhere that Martha's going to come back though. Maybe she'll save us from Donna. Thank you Martha, thank you! :smallbiggrin:

But yeah, Sally does have that perfect companion vibe. :smallfrown: Ah well.

[Hermit]

I get BBC America, haven't been interested enough and/or too busy to give it a look unfortunately. It does vaguely irk me how the commercials (the American ones, at least) prey on viewer ignorance by stating that Torchwood is "from the creators of Doctor Who", without specifying that they mean Russell Davies instead of, say, Sydney and Verity (that was a cute line, in Human Nature, it was).

...hey, I did just read somewhere that Martha's going to come back though. Maybe she'll save us from Donna. Thank you Martha, thank you! :smallbiggrin:

But yeah, Sally does have that perfect companion vibe. :smallfrown: Ah well.

Yeah, as I understand it Martha's in a fair bit of Season 4, as well as 2 or 3 episodes of Torchwood season 2.

[Susil]

I'm sure I read that the companion for this year's one off is going to be played be Kylie Minogue, which IMO could either be great, or equally annoying as Catherine Tate...

As for Blink, absolutely agree with you... totally fantastic. I also loved the Shakespeare episode, thought it had some of the best one liners. I thought the last three episodes worked well too (I worked out who the professor was beforehand... anyone else get it?) although the whole Jesus thing at the end was rediculously overblown. I mean, the Matrix could get away with it since the whole thing was steeped in Christian imagery, but Dr Who? Stick to the straight sci-fi!

[The Vanishing Hitchhiker]

(I worked out who the professor was beforehand... anyone else get it?)

I missed that episode. :smallredface: Thought to myself, "Ah, well, it's just a filler episode, I didn't miss anything much." Least I know vaguely what it was about, if it comes up later. Not hard to guess when the episode's called "The Lazarus Experiment" - and I suppose that explains the Christianness as well.

Oh! Oh! You know who would be a better companion than Donna? Cassandra! :smalltongue:

[tannish2]

I didn't think that was creeepy so much as stupid. If you noticed it, it completely broke the fourth wall, and thus the tension. If you didn't it didn't make any real sense, making it seem 'unrealistic' that the statues weren't getting people.

I can see they wanted to do it so that the angels would retain an aura of mystery as to what they look like when they're not being watched, but in that case don't show them at all. It works just as well to retain the mystery, or possibly even better.

That's my only real problem with the episode though.

actually thats them hinting at the satelites watching us.... (i am mildly paranoid) so it really makes perfect since, i also take this to mean that at least one of the writers is paranoid

[Elliot Kane]

the whole Jesus thing at the end was rediculously overblown. I mean, the Matrix could get away with it since the whole thing was steeped in Christian imagery, but Dr Who? Stick to the straight sci-fi!

The honest impression I got was that they had painted themselves into a corner they couldn't get out of short of a skate-very-fast-over-it type cheat. The Sound Of Drums was utter brilliance, with The Master defeating The Doctor at every turn, but it kind of left them with nowhere to go. I think Captain Jack getting loose might have worked better than the route they did choose, though. He was a bit underused in the last episode.

The remnants of the human race telepathically empowering the Doctor kind of almost works, but only if you don't think about it much.

[Muz]

And still no one has answered my question about why they couldn't just smash the statues. :smallsmile: (Seriously--I'd like to D&D-up these things and steal them for my campaign.)

[Mysticaloctopus]

And still no one has answered my question about why they couldn't just smash the statues. :smallsmile: (Seriously--I'd like to D&D-up these things and steal them for my campaign.)

The doctor mentioned it being the perfect defence mechanism, so I guess they were a lot harder than regular stone. Besides, right before you hit something you blink or look away (unless you're something like a Monk 20), and then...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/gallery/mobile/176/11.jpg
EXTERMINATE!

wait no, wrong monster, I mean

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/gallery/mobile/176/310-3-176.jpg

[The Vanishing Hitchhiker]

The remnants of the human race telepathically empowering the Doctor kind of almost works, but only if you don't think about it much.

:smallconfused: Hey...didn't Sailor Moon do that once?

[Zweee]

That was the best Doctor Who episode ever. And that is saying something for me cuz I am of a firm opinion that a doctor who eppy without Rose in it is at best second rate. But Blink was brilliant. The weeping angels are so much more interestin than Daleks.

[The Vanishing Hitchhiker]

That was the best Doctor Who episode ever. And that is saying something for me cuz I am of a firm opinion that a doctor who eppy without Rose in it is at best second rate. But Blink was brilliant. The weeping angels are so much more interestin than Daleks.

Yeah, this is probably one of the episodes I'd pull out to recruit friends*. But the angels are more interesting as one-offs - they'd get gimmicky after awhile. Quickly, to the hall of mirrors! At least Daleks can climb stairs...well, since nineteen-eighty-something, at least...

*Then again, I started with Timelash, and here I am still...

[Serpentine]

Wow...they were actual actors? That's really surprising!
I believe that according to the IMDB or something similar, it only had one person listed for the angels or somesuch, so I don't really see how they'd do the scenes with all of them if there's only one person in the make-up...

*sigh* I really need to catch up on Dr Who :smallfrown: The last one I saw was Daleks in Manhatten. As for Torchwood... it seems to be getting a tad silly. I still enjoy it, though it's rather more... adult than Dr Who.

[Elliot Kane]

There were several actors in the suits. There's a 'making of' feature on the BBC web site that shows them all (Carey Mulligan has a gorgeous cut glass accent that sounds rather like Kiera Knightley, BTW).

Blink is the ep I've used to intro people to 'New Who' and the usual result is instant addiction :)

[Greebo]

Unfortunately, it's only on BBC America, which some people don't get. :smallfrown: I was really hoping SciFi would pick it up. The reviews I've heard haven't been so good, but it'd probably be better than half the stuff they're showing now.

ISOHunt is your friend.

[Greebo]

...hey, I did just read somewhere that Martha's going to come back though. Maybe she'll save us from Donna. Thank you Martha, thank you! :smallbiggrin:

But yeah, Sally does have that perfect companion vibe. :smallfrown: Ah well.

I thought she was only going to be on Torchwood in season 2.