Flesh and Stone

"The Angels are laughing."

Writer: Steven Moffat 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 1st May 2010

Series: 5.05

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy, River

Synopsis 

There's no way back, no way up and no way out. Trapped by an army of Weeping Angels and an ever-growing mysterious crack, the Eleventh Doctor and his friends try to escape through the wreckage of a crashed space liner. Meanwhile, surrounded by Angels, Amy faces an even more deadly attack, as she's forced to find her way through the forest vault, eyes closed.

Verdict 

Flesh and Stone was an excellent conclusion of the story already started in The Time of Angels. It wrapped things up nicely and contributed greatly to the series arc as a whole! Where in the first episode I thought Matt Smith absolutely shined in his new role as the Eleventh Doctor, I felt this episode was all about Amy at the centre of attention and Karen Gillan did a fantastic job. As I only bought this DVD recently due to just no luck in finding it in shops, the three episodes on the volume 2 release of Series 5 are probably the Eleventh Doctor stories I have watched the least and I don't think I have watched since my circa 260 day run of going from An Unearthly Child to The Snowmen back in 2012-13. So it's been some time which is definitely positive as there was a lot of this episode that I simply did not remember. After Amy had looked into the eyes of the Weeping Angel in the previous episode, we were now seeing the ramifications that came with that. Continuing the theme of the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel, it had been imprinted in Amy's mind and the Angel was taking over her. The countdown was subtle and good and I just loved the Doctor's reaction to discovering why the Angels were counting down. For fun. That just angered him massively which meant they surely weren't going to succeed in their plans. Father Octavian was a superb guest character once again and I liked how he was laying down his authority to River Song throughout, so much so that he actually revealed to the Doctor that River Song was in Stormcage and that she had killed a good man. That wasn't going to go down well with the Doctor but he'd have to wait to be angry with her and experience the events himself. They were going to be rather eventful! I really liked the references to The Stolen Earth/Journey's End and The Next Doctor, as the crack in Amy's bedroom from The Eleventh Hour, another story that was nicely referenced, made quite the impact. It was the reason for the presence of the Weeping Angels as they hoped to feed off the mass time energy that it carried. The army of Angels was weak and close to death but as we saw throughout the episode, they were rejuvenating and regenerating thanks to the field of the crack. The Doctor slowly working out what the crack meant was excellent and I loved it when he realised time could be unwritten and that was exactly what happened to Octavian's clerics. They all couldn't resist a look at the light and it cost them they're entire existence. I don't think it was really worth it in the end! Matt Smith showing the angry side of the Doctor in this episode was brilliant and he did such a phenomenal job. His outburst to River highlighted just how real the situation was. Amy was in huge danger. They had stopped the Angel coming pretty easily really with Amy just closing her eyes. It presented its problems for Amy escaping the forest but River's brilliance soon dealt with that. The idea of the Angels laughing was astounding and I imagine that would send chills down many viewer's spine. Seeing the Angels move for the first time was excellent and I loved how we almost saw a look of realisation in their stone faces. The climax was fantastic and not too dissimilar to Doomsday with the Doctor keeping the Angels at bay by talking long enough. The gravity of the ship failed, and the Angels were sent back into the crack forcing it closed. They wanted to feed on the crack but instead it fed on them and the Angels had ceased to ever exist. It was an excellent ending to a fantastic two part story! I liked the foreshadowing of The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang with River mentioning remembering the events well. But I loved the inclusion of the Doctor from the future and after the events of said story and told Amy that she had to remember. I remember thinking on broadcast that something was strange about that scene and I would be proved right eight weeks later. Overall as a whole, an excellent return for the Weeping Angels and a superb story! 

Rating: 9/10