What is there to even say about this episode? It’s ‘Blink’ for crying out loud. One of the most beloved and iconic stories in all of NuWho, and for good reason too. It absolutely lives up to its hype.

I’ll start with the Weeping Angels, probably the most popular new alien species to be introduced in the modern era. They’re a wonderful creation with an interesting gimmick. The fact that they’re only ever seen here as stationary statues, that can only move when they aren’t being observed, is such a fun gimmick. Hettie MacDonald does a fantastic job directing this episode in such a way as to draw a ton of tension from this idea. Just slowly moving their positions and poses in the background of frames, and using sound affects when you can’t see them to make them feel dangerous.

Carey Mulligan also deserves praise for her performance as Sally Sparro. Such a charming and likeable performance, it’s easy to see how she ended up having a successful movie career after this. Her characters intellect and defiance make her easy to root for. She’s not prepared to take nonsense from the Doctor either, as one of my favourite lines of hers spells out when she’s arguing with a recording of the Doctor:

“I’m clever and I’m listening. And don’t patronise me because people have died, and I’m not happy. Tell me.”

Sally Sparrow is the character who is trying hardest to fight against the fatalism of this episode. She doesn’t want to accept the inevitable cause and effect that has to happen in the story. But even she comes around, and by the end is actively working to maintain the timeline of events.

Ultimately what this story is, is that it’s a closed loop story (really there’s kind of multiple closed loops happening here) and that’s great for me because I love a good closed loop. Everything that happens has to happen in this way, otherwise the story and the timeline just fall apart. For example I love the idea that it’s Kathy’s grandson knocking on the door in Wester Drumlins that causes Kathy to hide in the room with the Angels. If Malcolm hadn’t knocked at that exact moment, Kathy possibly wouldn’t have ended up being sent back in time to Hull, 1920 and therefore wouldn’t have met his Grandfather, meaning Malcolm would never have been born. Events had to happen exactly as we see them.

Stephen Moffat is a very clever writer. It’s his biggest strength, although at times arguably one of his weaknesses. The script he’s put together here is full to the brim with creative and clever ideas, as well as the witty banter and quotable dialogue that he’s known for. The story is so perfectly engineered that it’s hard not to be somewhat in awe of it. This is also a minor problem I have with the episode though. As much as I love the story construction, it feels perhaps more mechanical in construction than natural. Not a huge problem by any stretch, I still love the episode. But it puts me at a slight remove from the events of the story, meaning I don’t think I connect with them as fully as I maybe could. But I wouldn’t change that, because even if I could’ve felt more connected, I couldn’t be more appreciative of how well put to together this whole thing is. Also, if nothing else it’s an incredibly enjoyable and rewatchable episode of television.