Skip to content
DVDfever.co.uk – Doctor Who Series 5 Episode 4 review by Dan Owen
“The Time of Angels”Broadcast on BBC1, Saturday April 24th, 2010 As premiered ondanowen.blogspot.com
Series 5 Vol.1 Blu-ray:
Series 5 Vol.1 DVD:
2009 Specials (Blu-ray):
Director:
- Adam Smith
Screenplay:
- Steven Moffat
Cast:
- The Doctor: Matt Smith
Amy Pond: Karen Gillan
River Song: Alex Kingston
Father Octavian: Iain Glen
Alistair: Simon Dutton
Security Guard: Mike Skinner
Christian: Mark Springer
Angelo: Troy Glasgow
Bob: David Atkins
Marco: Darren Morfitt
Expect spoilers
Any concerns about Steven Moffat’s creative direction that’s arisen these past few weeks (thanks to two post-premiere episodes of middling quality), were swiftly erased by Moffat’s own “The Time Of Angels”, a suitably adrenalized sequel to his superb, award-winning episode “Blink”.
In a brilliant dual time-period teaser, intrepid archaeologist River Song (Alex Kingston) escaped from the spacecraft Byzantium, having alerted The Doctor (Matt Smith) to her whereabouts 12,000 years later by lazering a message into a stone cube that she knew he’d read in a museum — effectively summoning him for a rescue as she’s blown out of an airlock into the materializing TARDIS.
Reunited across time and space, The Doctor, River and Amy (Karen Gillan) immediately fell into an adventure when the Byzantium crashed on the alien world Alfava Metraxis. The Doctor was told that a deadly Weeping Angel resides in the bowels of the ship, which itself has become embedded in a cliff-side labyrinth known locally as the “Maze Of The Dead”. River and her team of paramilitary priests, led by Father Octavian (Iain Glen), need The Doctor’s help in capturing the “dormant” Angel, which has now awakened…
Well, what can you say? This was absolutely great. Undoubtedly one of Doctor Who’s most filmic episodes, it oozed expense with its cavernous underground location and sweeping score (particularly the use of that excellent new track that’s been used as the series trailer.) The story also contained three gripping sequences: River’s aforementioned airlock escape, Amy coming face-to-face with an Angel via a video-feed (a terrifying ordeal, playing like something from The Ring), and the realization that all the existing statues inside the maze are actually dying Angels who are stalking River’s team whenever their lights flicker out.)
Kingston was clearly having great fun with the irrepressibly River, who’s already one of the most fascinating recurring characters because she has so much future knowledge (or “spoilers”) of The Doctor’s life. Whenever she’s around The Doctor becomes somewhat demoted, and it was fun to see Amy immediately sensing a marital vibe between them although the truth behind River’s identity appears to be more complex than simply being his wife, and would apparently result in her imprisonment if she ever told him. Did she do something terrible that he’d be obliged to punish her for?
The only slight disappointment about the return of River, but something I hope next week’s conclusion will tackle, is the fact we know The Doctor’s previous adventure with River (“Silence In The Library”/”Forest Of The Dead”) resulted in her death, so there’s a bittersweet element of him seeing her alive again. And he ultimately has the biggest “spoiler” he can’t possible reveal to her. Nothing here reminded us of that fact, but we’ll have to see if it’s mentioned next time.
Matt Smith was back on good form after what I felt was a slight blip in last week’s Dalek episode. You can’t help enjoying his crazy young professor with wishbone legs take on the role, clumsily making his way through the adventure. And, while Amy and River both had their little victories that overshadowed The Doctor a few times (not least River’s prowess flying his own TARDIS!), he had more opportunities to take the lead and remind us why he’s so revered by River and is, after all, the star of the show. I was beginning to wonder if this new incarnation of The Doctor would become too goofy, but while he’s certainly not as cool as David Tennant’s version, Eleven’s foibles make him more relatable, unpredictable and humourous.
Overall, with new facets of the Weeping Angels introduced to make them even deadlier (they cause hallucinations if you look in their eyes, for instance), and a compelling action-based tone throughout (Moffat says this was designed as the Aliens to “Blink”‘s Alien), “The Time Of Angels” was a real treat and a definite success. The only negative is that it had to end so soon, yet it’s always fitting when a cliffhanger’s involved.
Asides:
- I love the witty, playful dialogue and banter Moffat crafts: phrases like “what if our dreams no longer needed us?”
- After he was killed and his consciousness recreated by the Angels, wasn’t Sacred Bob essentially a “data ghost” of the type seen in “The Silence In The Library”? Moffat seems to like certain ideas he’s had, and has reused a few already. I just hope this means he won’t run out of new ones.
- Did you notice that the St. John’s Ambulance sticker on the TARDIS door was missing when it materialized on the beach? The production designer must have added that detail later, ready for the premiere.
- The “crash of the Byzantium” was referenced by River Song during her debut in series 3’s “The Silence In The Library”.
- While on the subject of River Song, I wonder how far her character will be taken. It was risky of Moffat to include someone like her in his series 3 episode (a character whose entire premise begs reuse), but despite the fact Moffat’s now in charge of Doctor Who and can bring her back, River Song’s “back-story” seems to demand that she become a hugely significant presence. A companion at the very least, right? Is Moffat going to keep threading River into his era? Is Alex Kingston able to keep returning, or becoming a regular one day? I somehow don’t think Moffat will risk leaving all of River’s questions unanswered on his watch, as his successor in 4-5 years time may not pick up the ball, so I’m hopeful everything will be answered and a distant eighth series adventure will loop back to “Silence In The Library”.
- You may recognize Iain Glen (or his distinctive voice) from Hollywood action movies like Resident Evil 3, Kingdom Of Heaven and Tomb Raider.
- Did The Doctor really read an entire book in a second, or was he just joking?
- The iconic whirring sound the TARDIS makes when it appears/disappears isn’t supposed to happen, it’s just because The Doctor leaves the “handbrake” on! Indeed, he appears to even fly the TARDIS badly because it’s just more fun that way, as there are buttons (or “boringers”) that make the ride a lot smoother!
- Yes, that was The Streets singer Mike Skinner as the guard who’d been kissed by hallucinogenic lipstick.
Join in the discussion about this episode atDan’s Media Digest
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.