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dbskylerIt's time for the next installment in my countdown to Eleven: #6 in my 10 favorite Tenth Doctor episodes (going in broadcast order) is Blink!
For a show about a time traveler, Doctor Who uses actual time travel as a plot device surprisingly rarely. Oh, it's often used as part of the initial set-up -- planet x or quarry y is said to be z number of years into the future, or the past -- but other than that, and aside from the occasional chronic hysteresis, the whole traveling-in-time thing doesn't really come into play all that often.
Enter "Blink."
It's brilliant. The whole idea of it is brilliant. The way the plot unfolds is brilliant. The Doctor appearing on a hidden DVD extra is brilliant. It's just . . . well, brilliant. And I say that in its meaning of "incredibly, impressively smart" as well as its meaning of "wonderful."
Favorite parts:
-- The characters. Let's face it, a Doctor Who episode with hardly any of the Doctor in it better have good guest characters, and this episode delivers. Sally Sparrow is one of my all-time favorite one-episode characters, with Larry Nightingale and Billy Shipton not far behind.
-- I said this already, but I'll repeat it: the plot. It's strong, it's original, it's engaging, and it follows the old Classic Who trajectory of starting as a mystery and ending up as a fate-of-the-world-at-stake adventure.
-- The Doctor's speech on that DVD extra. And how clever was it that that one little bit of filming let the Doctor appear in multiple scenes? Just wonderful writing that really worked.
-- And yes, I loved everything about the DVD extra whenever it came on, but the best part was of course when the whole thing was finally played with all that marvelous interaction between Sally and Larry and the recording of the Doctor: "Are you going to read out the whole thing?" "Look to your left," etc.
-- Resolving the plot by having the Doctor trick the Weeping Angels into looking at each other. Again, I have to use the word "brilliant."
Next up in the countdown: we move into the fourth series with Fires of Pompeii!
For a show about a time traveler, Doctor Who uses actual time travel as a plot device surprisingly rarely. Oh, it's often used as part of the initial set-up -- planet x or quarry y is said to be z number of years into the future, or the past -- but other than that, and aside from the occasional chronic hysteresis, the whole traveling-in-time thing doesn't really come into play all that often.
Enter "Blink."
It's brilliant. The whole idea of it is brilliant. The way the plot unfolds is brilliant. The Doctor appearing on a hidden DVD extra is brilliant. It's just . . . well, brilliant. And I say that in its meaning of "incredibly, impressively smart" as well as its meaning of "wonderful."
Favorite parts:
-- The characters. Let's face it, a Doctor Who episode with hardly any of the Doctor in it better have good guest characters, and this episode delivers. Sally Sparrow is one of my all-time favorite one-episode characters, with Larry Nightingale and Billy Shipton not far behind.
-- I said this already, but I'll repeat it: the plot. It's strong, it's original, it's engaging, and it follows the old Classic Who trajectory of starting as a mystery and ending up as a fate-of-the-world-at-stake adventure.
-- The Doctor's speech on that DVD extra. And how clever was it that that one little bit of filming let the Doctor appear in multiple scenes? Just wonderful writing that really worked.
-- And yes, I loved everything about the DVD extra whenever it came on, but the best part was of course when the whole thing was finally played with all that marvelous interaction between Sally and Larry and the recording of the Doctor: "Are you going to read out the whole thing?" "Look to your left," etc.
-- Resolving the plot by having the Doctor trick the Weeping Angels into looking at each other. Again, I have to use the word "brilliant."
Next up in the countdown: we move into the fourth series with Fires of Pompeii!