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.

Blink is another high water mark for the series. A perfectly paced, beautifully acted piece of drama that proves that the show has no defined formula and can even survive without its lead actors! Carey Mulligan delivers one of the best (if not the best) guest cast performances of all time. She is perfect dream casting companion material. Finlay Robertson’s Larry is the perfect companion to her companion - a brilliant comic foil.

The Weeping Angels, in a single 45 minute story, solidify themselves as a top tier classic villain - and there are only three of those. One introduced in 1963, another in 1966, this one in 2007. Quite an achievement, further cementing “new” Doctor Who’s legitimacy - it is here to stay.

Even after watching this story at least 50 times since I was 14 I found myself engrossed. The line about The Doctor’s timey wimey machine cooking an egg at 30 paces genuinely made me laugh out loud. Don’t think I’ve ever properly appreciated that line before. All these years later, still new details to take in.

WOW WOW WOW THIS IS THE BEST EPISODE EVER EVER!!!!

We've seen every episode and this is all three of us' favourite Doctor Who adventure ❤️❤️

Hassan's thoughts:

Come on, it's a story where you're not allowed to blink! Who wouldn't love that?

Lizzie's thoughts:

An absolute epic!

Robyn's thoughts:

It hasn't been this good since. #RIPDoctorWho

- Lizzie, Hassan, and Robyn. xxxxx

Next up: The Church on Ruby Road

Blink is one of the all-time great Doctor Who horror stories. It used to be my go-to as an introductory story for the franchise for newcomers, but I've since shied away from that a little bit. Blink is almost too scary and too good to the extent it feels as though it might leave new viewers with the wrong impression for the larger franchise. It's better for something fans discover on their own time, and let its work its magic more naturally without the weight of being somebody's first episode.

I love the framing of this story and it does a really good job of featuring the Doctor in a very limited role. Sally Sparrow is extremely entertaining and well done as a protagonist. I can totally see why she was considered for a more full-time companion part.  That would have been very cool.

The Angels are every bit as terrifying as when I first saw this episode. Blink is extremely re-watchable and holds up really well against the test of time. Even the DVD extras don't feel culturally irrelevant all these years and innovations later. It's easy to forget how ingenious these monsters were right out of the box, too. Moffat had a really good idea here and it is explored excellently across the episode, with so much care and attention given to building suspense and tension as we learn more and more about the Weeping Angels. It's a really strong build-up to a scary ending I really didn't know how our characters were going to survive, and the little trick with the TARDIS at the end works well for a quick resolution. Fine content overall, especially because you can figure out how everything fits together right at the ending in a way that is immensely satisfying for any story.

Blink is one of the most well-liked Doctor Who television stories and for good reason. It's gripping. It's well paced. The directing is excellent. There are multiple genuinely scary moments (not to mention the ending...). The characters are likeable. The plot feels interesting and clever. All of these and more work together to make Blink one of the best Doctor Who stories out there. The only thing holding me back from giving it a full 5 stars is that there are a number of plot holes and unexplained/nonsensical things which, when noticed, do detract from the immersion a little.

When I first watched Blink, for 9-year-old me, it was absolutely pants-sh***ingly terrifying!!! I will never forget the first time I watched this, or half watched to be precise as I spent most of the episode hiding behind a pillow as I’m sure just about everyone watching this for the first time experienced.

The only problem Blink has is the fact that it’s become a victim of its own success and that the Weeping Angels have become the only Modern Who monster the show bothers pushing, which unfortunately goes against the mysterious and supernatural nature of these creatures. Because of their overexposure in both the show and Big Finish, they’ve kind of lost their initial sting of being frightening. When this episode first aired the Weeping Angels were probably the only Doctor Who monsters to feel like creatures that came from our nightmares whereas now, they just seem like another monster the Doctor runs into every so often.

But at the end of the day, yeah, the Weeping Angels are still one of the best creations in Doctor Who history, such a simple idea of these statues that resemble benevolent religious protectors, only to reveal that these creatures are in fact one of the deadliest life forms in the universe. Creatures that very little is known about and can never be properly understood thanks to their gift/curse of freezing into rock at the sight of any living creature (including themselves) and are capable of moving at great distances in the blink of an eye to kill their victims. Although not in a conventional way, but rather sending them back in time and letting them live out the rest of their lives in a new time and place.

Right from the get-go in this episode the Weeping Angels have this eerie and unnerving presence that skyrockets to full on horror in the climax when they show their feral side, it was one of the most traumatising experiences for 9-year-old me, made more terrifying by the Doctor’s absence who psychologically is always a source of comfort when things start to get scary. How the Doctor plays into the story and being absent for the majority of the episode is some of Moffat’s best writing of all time, perfectly incorporating the looping nature of time travel.

I’d say you should definitely give this a watch but let’s be honest, you probably have already, it’s one of the most well-known bits of television ever put out even for those who aren’t fans of Doctor Who.

New Who Review #38

Blink

This story was really good. It was a doctor lite episode but unlike Love & Monsters it was actually really really good. It follows a normal girl from London called Sally Sparrow and she has to investigate the Weeping Angels. The whole idea of No blinking is an idea that's so popular in so much media now a days. In games like five nights at freddys security breach. Everyone knows the weeping angels even if your not a doctor who fan which gives them iconic status much like the daleks themselves. 10/10

Fun fact, this is the first Doctor Who episode I “watched”. Technically, I caught a few brief moments of it on TV (specifically the scene where Sally sees the Angels on the cathedral outside the police station) before I went on with whatever child me was doing. It’s been a bit since I’ve rewatched, so I had figured that however good it was, and I’ve always liked the story, it might be overrated. I have to admit it though, this is such a fantastic episode. Weeping Angels are by far one of the best monsters introduced in NuWho and this introduction cements them as a formidable foe. Carey Mulligan as Sally Sparrow just knocks it out of the park, deserving of the reverence she gets for her guest role here. The core of this episode is what the Doctor so eloquently describes as timey-wimey: people being shot back in time, a conversation via DVD special features, and our iconic quantum-locked statues. There’s a perfect balance of the mystery on Sally’s side to confrontation with the Weeping Angels that ensures the monsters don’t overstay their welcome yet still leave a great impact. A decade or so earlier, I could see this being an episode of The X-Files, given the similar atmosphere it provides. But it is so specifically Doctor Who, and that is was what elevates it. It has just the right amount of absurdity combined with sincerity that really shows what the series is all about, telling creative stories that you’d see nowhere else.

A story where you’re not allowed to blink?

Well, that sounds like an absolute epic…

It's a great episode but it's so overrated

Arguably one of the best episodes ever made. Even though the Doctor doesn't feature very much in it, Sally Sparrow is a fun protagonist, and this episode introduces one of the most well known villains in the show.

Every non-fan's favourite episode. I mean, there are worse choices.