Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Dr. Who - Blink (SPOILERS)

Well, I've just caught up with this one and have to say that I just loved every minute of it. I didn't care that the Doctor and Martha hardly featured - probably because I found the other characters so engaging and because when they did appear they were used to good effect. Especially the Doctor.

The Angels were genuinely creepy - possibly the scariest critters I've seen in some time. The subtle - and not so subtle - changes in their positions and movements were really freaking me out by the end. LOL! Some of the set pieces were beautifully rendered - such as the whole sequence where Sally spots the Angels across the street, through the window of the police station and then they vanish and are revealed to be on either side of the window, where she can't see them. And I loved the way that the Doctor tricked them into looking at each other. Though for a moment there I thought Sally and Larry had bitten the dust. My heart was in my mouth.

LabRat

The last three episodes have really shown how good this show can be - agree about the last minute or so, but everything up to Sally's last scene was amazing. I'm always a sucker for stories where they play with the metaphysics of time travel, rather than just using it to get the Doctor to a given place and time, and that one was particularly good. About as non-linear as it's possible for a story to get.

And next week the Captain is back!

Agreed. This was one of the best episodes I've seen. The first where I was actually *scared*. And:

"I have 'til the rain stops."

Is the best and the creepiest line ever.

Yes, that was one of the elements I forgot to mention earlier - it had just the perfect mix of humour, chills and there were some desperately poignant moments in there, too. Billy was a wonderful character. All three were. (Or all four. Kathy was only there briefly, but even she made her mark and was a character you could care about and empathise with. I was glad that she took so well to her new life and was happy.) I know that the dynamics of the show mean they can't be explored much more than they were, but they're the type of characters that I'd love to see more of in fanfic. It would be fun to see them travelling with the Doctor, I think.

I've just watched it again as I was transferring it over to DVD and had forgotten the whole 'it also boils eggs, whether you want it to or not...I've learned to stay away from hens' speech.

LabRat

I've had a very different reaction from everyone else to this episode, it seems. I probably sound a bit crazy, but... I'd have loved this as a film - a 90-minute drama with much more time to explore Sally's story, and the stories of those sent back in time. I liked Kathy and Billy, and wanted to see more of them - and I was really sad for the way Billy and Sally's fledgling relationship turned out. I would have liked to see the problems they had in fitting in and how they eventually managed it, how they struggled with wanting to get home and eventually accepting that they never would.

And I'd prefer it without the Doctor

Seriously, I really liked the story - but not as a DW episode. We get few enough episodes per season as it is, and I don't like the 'Doctor-lite' ones. There's so much left unsaid about the Doctor and Martha in this one - as usual, of course, they move on from HN/FoB without any consideration of consequences (which is as normal in DW, but still irritates me) and we hear that the Doctor and Martha spend some considerable time - weeks? months? - in 1969 and Martha has to get a job to support them. What are they doing? Do they get a flat? What's he doing with his time? Making crazy inventions and waiting for Billy to appear? I just wanted to know more.

So, very mixed feelings - really liked the storyline, but felt it was wasted as a DW episode. It doesn't feel as if it'll form part of the season's character or dramatic arc - where does it fit in Martha's growth, for example, or the Doctor getting over his brokenness? From the trailer, it seems as if next week he's right back to hard and cold. So what purpose did this episode serve, other than filler?

I don't dislike it the way I did Love and Monsters last year (though there was about five minutes of that episode I really did love, because it did contribute to Jackie's character arc), or the way I loathed Random Shoes in Torchwood. I just find it... forgettable in the context of DW, because you could stuff it anywhere, in any season, with any companion and probably any Doctor, and it would look just the same: not out of character, yet not part of any character development either.

So that's why I didn't enjoy it the way everyone else seems to have. And again this season I've rated Stephen Moffat's episode worse than any other, despite loving his Season 1 two-parter (The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances).

But roll on next week! Captain Jack!

Oh, and for anyone who's interested, don't forget our LiveJournal DW converts forum - you have to be a member (both of LiveJournal and the community) to post, but Julie and I are forum mods and will approve membership very quickly. It's only member-only to keep out trolls


Wendy

'Twas vintage Dr Who and I loved every minute of it. As my sister said, it was all the better because it required you to think. It was also clever and humorous, exciting and scary, and blissfully free of loud, effects-heavy action scenes where everyone screams hysterically. Fantastic.

Incredibly good, high-quality entertainment, Wendy.

Yvonne

There's already at least one piece of Doctor / Martha / 1969 flat-sharing fanfic

And apparently the episode is based on a short story in one of the Dr. Who books, not sure which one, so there may be more in that.

PS I've just noticed my garden gnome has an awfully sinister grin on his face...

Yvonne

Arggh! Don't blink! Don't blink!



You're telling me - I'm going out armed with a sledgehammer from now on, just in case.

LabRat (reminded of just how long she was terrified of shop window dummies as a kid....)

I really enjoyed this episode, too. I have been disappointed in this season so far -- I miss my Rose, darn it, and though I want to like Martha, I just don't -- but the last three episodes have been brilliant and have reminded me why I fell in love with this show in the first place.

I was riveted to the screen by this storyline and the fact that it didn't have much in the way of the Doctor didn't bother me. I liked Love and Monsters from last year, so I have no problem with having one episode per season focus more on the people impacted by the Doctor rather than the Doctor himself. It makes for some interesting story-telling, I think.

Now I'm just hoping the show can keep this up for the next three episodes and I can end the season on a positive note. Roll on, Captain Jack!

Well, yeah, for you. And, of course, you're entitled to think that way.

For me, though, it fell short on both satisfying entertainment and a DW episode. The former because I actually liked the guest characters so much that I wanted to see more of them and how they dealt with what life threw at them. The latter because, with so few DW episodes in a season, the character arc is important, dammit!

So, for me, while the episode had a lot of potential, it fell short of achieving it, and this is why it felt like filler.


Wendy

Sorry, W - I didn't mean to sound critical. I guess I was just taken aback by the huge difference in how we viewed and valued the episode.

Yvonne

I absolutely loved this episode... and I'll echo Dave: first episode where I was actually scared! Terrified! They were incredibly creepy creatures. Mt heart was in my mouth a few times. <g>

The episode is based on a short story by Steven Moffat, like Marcus said, and the story is up on the BBC website if you're interested. Here. It was originally printed in the 2006 Annual.

Julie

Blink was the first DW espoide that made me want to hide around the corner or a advailable brick wall