The Time of Angels

"That which holds an image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel." 

Writer: Steven Moffat 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 24th April 2010

Series: 5.04

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy, River

Synopsis 

The enigmatic River Song hurtles back into the Doctor's life, but she's not the only familiar face returning - the Weeping Angels are back! Following River's calling card, the Doctor is recruited to help track down the last of the Angels, which has escaped from the Byzantium starliner and into the terrifying Maze of the Dead. 

Verdict 

The Time of Angels was an excellent first episode to the first two-part story of Series 5! This was still in the very early days of Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor but boy didn't he settle in quickly! Considering this was actually the first episode he shot as the Doctor, his performance was nothing short of astounding really. He had all the traits of his incredible Doctor and it just reaffirmed to me that on screen, he is absolutely my favourite incarnation of the Doctor. If this was Smith's first episode then it must surely have been Karen Gillan's as Amy as well. She too has settled in very nicely and this is actually a bit of a rarity in the grand scheme of things as this is one of very few episodes where Amy is the sole companion. She has come to be associated with Rory and rightly so, but I must admit it was nice seeing Amy travelling on her own. The arrival of River Song to the story was just magnificent and I loved how the Doctor echoed the words of his granddaughter in An Unearthly Child by correcting not a book, but a museum about its history. River's message in Gallifreyan to hike a ride with the Doctor was magnificent and something so typical of the enigmatic and enthusiastic women. I loved how Amy picked up on River being the Doctor's wife in his future and she did foreshadow The Wedding of River Song very nicely. There was a whole lot of foreshadowing in this episode actually which I thought was really clever of Steven Moffat and I have no doubt that it was intentional! The man is a genius after all and it was just another piece in his master plan that started with Silence in the Library and ended with The Husbands of River Song. The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon would be foreshadowed massively which was excellent as for the viewer, very little was actually known about River at this point. That in itself offered quite a lot. Father Octavian was a fantastic character and as this was the first time I've watched the episode since I became acquainted with Game of Thrones, I was delighted to see Ser Jorah appear! Of course, Octavian was a much different character but Iain Glen is such a good actor and he really does offer a lot to the role. I'm currently in the middle of writing an essay on the importance of religion during the Georgian period so I found it quite fascinating to see what had come of religion in the 51st century. It certainly seemed a lot more violent and outgoing! Surely it would have died out by now and people would have realised its stupidity? It's just so ridiculous. I'm not sure watching this episode in the early hours of the morning was a good idea or not given the creepy atmosphere the episode provided, but I thought the mood was superb. The Maze of the Dead is just the perfect setting for the Weeping Angels. It's vast, dark and scary. What more do you want? The Doctor referencing Blink was very good but dialogue about him only meeting the Angels once certainly contradicts the events of The Weeping Angels of Mons and the upcoming audio release of an Angel story. Bob was a good character while he lasted and I just how his death was put to use. The Angels speaking through him was brilliant and I loved how they tried to anger the Doctor. The way he just bluntly revealed that he too had died was magnificent. A chilling moment. Amy being haunted by the projection of the Angel was excellent and I loved how they just got added threat from the image of an Angel becoming an Angel. They were scary enough already! I loved the revelation that all the statues that surrounded them in the Maze of the Dead were actually Angels. It was marvellous and it immediately shifted the dynamic of the episode. They were dying Angels but they still carried a threat, and there were thousands of them surrounding. It seemed that the Doctor, River and co were trapped. The Angels were coming and the lights were flickering. The Doctor uncharacteristically grabbed a gun and shot high above towards the Byzantium. It was a pretty good cliffhanger and it certainly left me intrigued! Overall, a superb start and I'm now looking forward to the conclusion of the story in the next episode, which is of course where the rating will appear.