Welcome all ye to the start of my very first super awesome series of reviews regarding anything and everything Doctor Who culminating in a special topic review for my 10,000th post. But that's a long time away.
...... well not really. Time travel and all that.
Without further ado, let's jump right in with a favourite of mine. The Weeping Angels!
"Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast! Faster than you can imagine! Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And don't blink. Good Luck." - The 10th Doctor
The Weeping Angels are a brand new enemy for the Doctor created by Steven Moffat and first appearing in the 2007 episode "Blink". They appear as a stone humanoid with stone wings. Their unique feature being that if they are viewed by any sentient creature in the universe, they freeze into rock or become "quantum-locked", occupying a single position in space.
"No choice. It's a fact of their biology." - The 10th Doctor
[img_inline width=275 height=225 align="left" Caption="Rawr!"]http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc159/tau600/Doctor%20Who%20Album/weeping_angel.jpg[/img_inline]The obvious theory here is that when they are not being viewed by a living creature. They can move freely. They are stated and seen to move very fast when not being viewed. Covering distances in short periods of time.
They also appear to be able to fly. As in the episode 'Blink' they follow Sally Sparrow into a city and are seen on top of a roof. However, this has never been confirmed in show but makes sense. However, if they were ever viewed when flying, then they would turn to stone and presumably fall to they death. Although it has not been established whether "quantum-locked" actually means stone for an easy explanation by the Doctor, or it actually means indestructible.
"That's not the way they Angels kill you. They displace you in time" - The 11th Doctor
Their main way of defeating anything in their path is the 'touch of an Angel'. Depending on the individual Angel, once touched by an Angel, you will be transported back in time to a specific year. The Angel then feeds on your potential energy of the moments you would have had in your time stream's future. In theory, if there was another Angel at your arrival point in the past, then they could do the same again and send you back even further. But that would require communication back though time which the Angels do not possess without external technology.
The transference of energy when you are displaced is enough to be traceable by someone with the right equipment.[footnote]The Doctor built himself a "Timey Wimey Detector" that went bing when there's stuff[/footnote]
However, the Angels also possess great strength, as in the series 5 episodes 'Flesh and Stone' and 'Time of Angels' they snap the necks of their victims as they require their bodies. Although it turns out they only need one body for the voice box of 'Sacred Bob'. It is possible that everyone killed before him was incompatible.
This points out the the Angels can't speak. At least not through their mouths. They do communicate with the Doctor through a communicator after using the voice box of the dead Sacred Bob.
.....lovely.
[img_inline width=250 height=225 align="right" Caption="If I can't see you. You can't see me!"]http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc159/tau600/Doctor%20Who%20Album/weeping_angel1.jpg[/img_inline] The Angels cannot look each other in the eye for the reason that they will trap themselves in their stone form forever, as they are both living creatures looking at each other. This is how their name is derived, as they cover their eyes to avoid this, resembling the image that they are weeping. This is how they were defeated in their first appearance in 2007. The 4 Angels were trying to gain entrance to the TARDIS. Each of them on one side of the TARDIS. When the TARDIS disappeared, the Angels were left looking at each other. Trapped forever unless one or more were moved away by human hands.
"That which holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel." - The 11th Doctor
An ability established in 'Time of Angels', if there is an image of an Angel then if it not being viewed, the Angel can literally immerge from the image, removing themselves from it's original place. This is seen to happen when a 4 second, looped recording of an Angel literally moves when not viewed by Amy Pond. Despite being a looped recording, the Angels moves in real time and moved right up to the camera before beginning to transfer itself outside the screen into the room. It also controls the TV screen, forcing it to stay on when Amy attempts to turn it off to stop the Angel. The Angel is defeated when the TV is switched off at the point when the loop starts. This, however, does not kill the Angel, it merely takes it back to the vault in the Bysantium where it started. Which leads me to my next point.
"It's turning out the light!" - Sally Sparrow
Weeping Angels appear to have the handy ability to disable an electronic light source so the can move freely. In 'Blink' they turn out the single light in the basement of the house. In 'Time of Angels' and 'Flesh and Stone', they are seen to disable the gravity globe, artificial forest and various torches.
"The crash of the Bysantium wasn't accident. It was a rescue mission!" - The 11th Doctor
The Angels gain energy by absorbing a power source. In the case of attempting to gain access to the energy of the TARDIS. Or absorbing the energy of the Bysantium?s reactor. Draining the power from the rest of the ship.
'Blink' established that the Angel's ability to turn to stone was based on a biological fact. Something they couldn't change. However 'Flesh and Stone' show the Angels as stone without Amy Pond viewing them, as they "think" they are being viewed by her even though she walks with her eyes closed.
The problem I see here is that if the Angel?s ability was beyond their control, then they wouldn?t be stone to start with, as they were not being viewed. Showing that the Angels have a choice over the ability.
"...and they have survived this long because they have the most perfect defence system ever evolved. They are Quantum Locked. They don't exist when they are being observed. The moment they are seen by any other living creature they freeze into rock. No choice, it's a fact of their biology. In the sight of any living thing, they literally turn into stone." - The Doctor
It would seem that despite both stories being written by Steven Moffat, he still contradicted himself in this way. Unless there is a story that has yet to be released that better explains this ability.
The added video is of extremely poor quality, but it was the only one I could find and proves my point.
As stated above, in 'Flesh and Stone' the Angels quantum-lock themselves while Amy is walking blind through them. At the point where Amy falls and cannot find the communicator, the Angels cotton on that she is blind and begin to move. All great in theory. Until the action of the Angel moving is seen on screen. Basically, the Angels move while apparently still stone coloured/textured, although they do not blink themselves, and show no other features other than basic movement. Personally; this was a bad move. Ever since the Angels were introduced in 2007, I have wondered how they move. I didn?t want to find out, because that would ruin the mystery of them. When the simply jumped from one place to another. It was super freaky! But being able to visualise how they do it ruins that fact about them.
My exact word to describe this when it happened and the word I will use in the future for it will always be this exact phrase: "Ehhhhh"
Another point made by fellow TARDIS Crew member [user]Hiraeth[/user] is that while the audience is watching the episode, they are holding the Angels still by viewing them in the same way Amy did in 'Time of Angels'. This holds true for Blink but not for 'Time of Angels'/'Flesh and Stone' and is something very disappointing that it wasn't kept constant and was a missed opportunity by Steven Moffat.
Still here? Excellent!
All of what I am complaining about is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. The Angels are a fantastic new enemy for the new series and they don't rely on guns or military force.
'Blink' still rates high in my top 5 Doctor Who episodes of all time as the episode itself was a perfect mix of mystery, enemies and appearances by the Doctor. But any other enemy would not have made it as brilliant an episode as it was. They story felt more tailored around the Angels rather than the story being written and the Angels brought in to fill in a gap.
Which is fantastic, and I hope to see more of them in times to come.
Here's some added info about the Angels from Mr.10 himself
