Doctor Who, “Blink”: A Hell Of A Good Episode Of Television
What it is: The tenth episode of the third series of Doctor Who, a Steven Moffat-written “Doctor-lite” episode commonly considered to be one of the best in the show’s history. It tells the story of a woman who stumbles across some terrifying monsters that happen to look like statues, and unfolds from there into a well-arranged time-travel thriller.
What I’ve watched: Watched it for the first time last weekend. The entire series is streaming on Netflix.
Is it good? Hell yes it is. I can’t think of the last time I enjoyed a single episode of TV as much.
Quick thoughts: I don’t have much to add that hasn’t already been said in the copious articles that I’ve subsequently read about this episode. I mainly just wanted to say 1) it’s good, 2) if you don’t watch Doctor Who you should still watch it, and 3) if you do watch Doctor Who you should rewatch it sometime. It has a killer central idea that I kind of can’t believe hasn’t turned up elsewhere. The statues are monsters, but they can’t move if you look at them! They eat your potential life and warp you back into the past! They move so fast that if you blink, they can get you! The idea could’ve supported a full-length movie, but by cramming it into an hour-long TV episode format, Moffat and company were forced to cut it down and make it lethally focused. The result is one of the most tightly scripted episodes of TV I’ve seen. Every five minutes or so, some surprising new element of the plot reveals itself. I never had time to relax and figure out the twists and turns ahead of time, like I might’ve in a longer production. The final 10 minutes are a mix of bittersweet romance, yell-out-loud horror, and metaphysical trickery just clever enough to convince you not to think about it long enough for the illusion to break. Just really good shit.
Comments
14 responses to “Blink Is A Brilliant Episode Of Doctor Who”
Too right. My old room mates were huge Doctor Who fans and played this episode first for me to view having seen none.
Even though it’s a Doctor lite episode you see the passion in davids performance and how much he loves playing this role.
Something so simple as a statue prop mixed with an audio tune every time they appear make it so creepy.
Next up, silence in the library.
“Hey who turned out the lights”?
Sounds great, I’ll check it out.
Matt Smith is by far my favourite doctor and Amy is the best companion and furthermore the seasons they they were in it were the best!
Sounds like you’re a Whovian so you probably already know. But for the benefit of those who don’t, ‘Blink’ is a 10th doctor episode (David Tennant) and the companion at the time was Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman).
However this episode has possibly the least amount of screen time for any of the lead actors in the series. And yet it’s still fantastic! Far and away my favourite episode. I just wish they let the Angels be and didn’t bring them back in later episodes.
[Minor spoilers]
They’re far less scary now that they also turn to stone if they think someone can see them – even when you can’t. Part of what makes ‘Blink’ brilliant is that the audience also prevents the Angels from moving – even if the characters in the show look away for a moment, the Angels are still stone whilst the camera is on them. They do away with that in later episodes when you see them move…Whoah! I didn’t even think of that! I always wondered why they couldn’t just get you, if they were that fast!…
And just for the record: David Tenant as the Doctor and Catherine Tate as the assistant Donna Noble were THE BEST DOCTOR- ASSISTANT COMBO. Hands. Down.
You know why? Because she wasn’t romantically attracted to him and was pretty much his equal in a lot of respects. Even mocking him occasionally.
Agreed so much. My favourite companion by FAR
Ah yah durn youngins brainwashed to think that companions having an attraction to the Doc was the norm thanks to the new seasons =P
A lot of the really geat companions pre Eccleston were great foils to the Doctor at times without the whole romantic nonsense =P
Thank you! Just as I was about to get on my Tom Baker-Lis Sladen high horse, some sanity prevailed.
Yep, I didn’t sleep that night. Sadly I missed the episode after it which I think was a continuation of that story?
Utopia is a new story, and is my second favourite after Blink.
Go watch it, as well as the last two episodes after it. Also watch the two parter before Blink as well.
Blink’s just a stand-alone episode. I just had to look up what actually was the following episode because it’s been so long but that one (Utopia) is actually all setup for the two-part finale.
Blink is still the best of all if them, just a perfect episode. Can’t believe it is now 10 years old.
But the whole second half of season 3 is amazing.
42, Family of Blood/Human Nature, Blink, Utopia, Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords. All brilliant episodes, and Utopia and Sound of Drums round out my top 3.
Family of Blood and Human Nature combo was INCREDIBLE.
I can’t tell you how many people I got into Dr Who by showing them Blink.
Blink is the best episode of Doctor Who.
Fixed the headline for you.
It’s a very good episode. My fav by far is Vincent and the Doctor, rips my heart out every time.