April 26: "The Time of Angels"

What's particularly impressive about "The Time of Angels" is that this is Matt Smith's first performance as the Doctor, production-wise, as like Christopher Eccleston he got a chance to simply play the Doctor before having to be introduced as him.  This is impressive because there's nothing here to suggest that Smith is in any way unsure of what he's doing or how to approach the character -- he is emphatically the Doctor, fully formed and ready to step in and save the day.

It helps, of course, that he's been given such a good script to work with.  This episode might strike Steven Moffat's best balance yet between flashy, quick-fire moments and longer scenes of slowly mounting dread, as both are on equal display here.  And so we get the bravado opening, with River trusting that the Doctor will rescue her from the Byzantium²¹⁵ (albeit after getting the message 12,000 years in the future) as she ejects herself into space -- but we also get the quiet moments in the Maze of the Dead, as the small exploration party nervously checks the shadows and all the statues for the Weeping Angel.  This leads to the frankly marvellous realization that all the statues are Weeping Angels that are slowly waking up, thanks to the radiation leaking from the crashed spaceship.

"The image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel." ("The Time of
Angels") ©BBC

But then this episode is full of clever moments like this.  There's the idea of how the image of an Angel becomes an Angel, which means that you can't even take a picture of them without it trying to kill you, and the related idea that Angels can essentially reproduce by placing the idea of themselves in your mind, done by looking into their eyes.  There's the fantastic throwaway mention of the last time the Doctor faced down the Angels, but "those were scavengers, barely surviving"; if the Angels in "Blink" were on the verge of death and able to do what they did, then what must an Angel in its prime be like?  The thought is terrifying.  And there's the horrifying yet fascinating use of Scared Bob's voice by the Angels to taunt the Doctor, to make it clear that the Doctor couldn't save him and therefore he won't be able to save the rest.

And we can't talk about this episode without mentioning River Song.  Alex Kingston turns in another fabulous job here, and the moments in the TARDIS are particularly fun, as they show a cheekier side to her before she has to join up with the Church's army and become the River we already know from her debut story.  There are some lovely gags about her knowing how to fly the TARDIS better than the Doctor and how museums are his way of keeping score, but what's particularly great is the chemistry between Alex Kingston and Matt Smith.  Smith chooses to play the Doctor as grumpy and bad-tempered, while Kingston goes for flirtatious.  It shouldn't really work, but it does because these are two actors who clearly already respect each other and are willing to give the scenes space.  It's also great how well they work together when things become serious (such as when Amy is trapped with the image of the Angel), putting aside any differences they might have to work as a well-oiled team.

There's frankly tons to adore about this episode (and it's only the first part!) -- it's put together so well that it remains compelling viewing even when you know the twists that are coming.  This is full of fabulous performances and wonderful imagery, with just the right amount of tension to keep you worried.  The final opinion will partially hinge on how well they can wrap this up next time, but as of right now it would be hard to find a better or more effective episode than what "The Time of Angels" accomplishes in its 45 minutes.







²¹⁵ This therefore being the crash of the Byzantium River mentions in "Silence in the Library".