Not to put too fine a point on it, I’d say Village Of The Angels is one of the best Doctor Who episodes, certainly of Jodie & Chibnall’s era, but I’m very happy to cast that net out quite a bit wider. This is an absolutely brilliantly directed hour of creepy sci-fi goodness, and on both a technical, visual level and on a conceptual, script level, this is the best use of the Angels since Blink, retaining all their previous signifiers and lore but expanding them in several extremely satisfying new ways (the sketch angel is so unbelievably cool, the idea of a seer’s premonition being enough to hold an Angel, all the ways they cheat the Angels moving without seeing them move in a single shot, yes yes yes!).

It’s set in the 60s in a foggy village for maximum Hammer vibes, and visually it lingers lovingly on all the reel to reels and readouts littering Jericho’s lab in a way that reminded me of Peter Strickland’s fabulously surreal and haunted film Berberian Sound Studio (starring the great Toby Jones, X from Dark Eyes and The Dream Lord from Amy’s Choice). The overall mystery works perfectly, this was no accident that The Doctor and friends were brought here, it was a cunning trap by a rogue agent to save itself, and we end with, let’s be real, one of the greatest Doctor Who cliffhangers of all time. This is proper “how the hell are we gonna get out of this? Everything is hopeless for every character!” type stuff.

Maxine Alderton needs to come back to the show immediately, her two contributions are uniquely creepy and gothic in tone, and the mere existence of Villa Diodati and the co-written Village in Jodie’s era expands the tone of her Doctor’s adventures hugely. I will always advocate for more creepy episodes, or even outright horror ones, because Doctor Who can hold all tones, so why skip out on some of the most fun and effective? And because Robert Holmes was right, Doctor Who should “scare the little buggers.” This is a fantastic episode in its own right, but it is also a clockwork segment of Flux, moving the whole story into its final phase with real flair and confidence.

Jamie Stone is one of the best DW directors of the whole reboot, he did Spyfall 1, Praxeus, Ascension/Timeless, Halloween, War, Village, and Power, and whatever you might think of them as plots, those are some absolutely delicious looking episodes of this show, they are never boring to look at and he always finds something extra, something unique to do with every shot.

One last thing: Jodie has been perfect in this role for quite some time now, but she is never more MY Doctor than when she’s explaining one of her rogue’s gallery to somebody new. Her explanation of the Daleks in both Resolution and Revolution, her description of the Cybermen in Diodati, her description of the Sontarans earlier in Flux, and this amazing speech about the Angels here, she just goes a bit electric when she’s explaining why the villains are so insanely dangerous. Those are some of my favorite Jodie moments. My finger is twitching over that rare 5/5, my friends!

Village of the Angels

We've reached the best episode of the season. It's the one where Jodie turns into an Angel.

The Angel from the last episode pilots the TARDIS somehow, to Medderton in the year 1967. The town's people are sent back in time by the Angels. There's also the 1901 medderton of the past, space is sinking in. There's a rift in space time allowing both towns to talk to each other at the burial site.

Images of Angels become Angels, the TV CCTV footage which use his voice like flesh and stone and a drawing which is burned creating a flaming Angel.

Bel is still looking for Vinder during this plot and Vinder is looking for her.

Another cliffhanger ending, Thirteen becomes and Angel, a Jodie Angel so to say.

I think I like the idea of Flux more than the execution, and while I don't rate most Flux episodes, I guess I rate this one. It's not bad, it does the Weeping Angels really well, even drawing from their Series 5 characterisation which was a bit surprising, I was expecting a pure 'Blink' redux. It gets ruined slightly when it becomes about stupid Division lore, but I can recommend this one.

Look, it's not brilliant, but "YOU ARE OBSERVED!! And that is my power over you!!" had my friend and I slapping the floor with excitement like lunatic chimpanzees.