Doctor Who: "Blink"...

[fajrdrako]

I watched the Doctor Who episode "Blink" this evening. At the risk of sounding repetitive again, I loved it.

Comparisons to "Love and Monsters" are inevitable, and yet it was different in tone and style. There was an Elton-like character, for sure - Laurence, Kathy's dorky brother - who gets the girl in the end. But having Sally Sparrow as the point of view, and having he survive, gave the story a whole different feel.

I've always loved stone angels. I will look at them more carefully in future.

Love the way they got scarier and scarier as the story continued.

Loved the way Sally realized at the end that she was the missing link who had given the necessary information to the Doctor (in the future) so he could give it to her in the past.

I liked Billy a lot and was sorry that, after his relationship with Sally had such a lovely, promising beginning, he then bypassed her for almost forty years.... I certainly liked Billy more than Laurence!

And my favourite bit? Sally's conversation with the Doctor via the DVD easter egg, when he knew what she would say because Laurence had written her conversation down and then she'd given him the transcript - no, she will have given him the transcript at the end of the episode - all that timey-wimey stuff.

Cute. I love it when they use time travel, not just to visit a time or place, but to really use timelines and the logical (or illogical) possibilities that follow from the concept.

Another favourite bit: Kathy turning up in a field in 1920. Hull? As silverwhistle commented, Hull's an industrial city, isn't it? Maybe there's a field or hill or something somewhere in Yorkshire with the same name. Couldn't Kathy's boyfriend have just said "Yorkshire"? ...Doesn't really matter, he was cute. Maybe there's some in-joke there.

I also really love the idea of people going to photograph old abandoned buildings. There are several LJs and websites with the picture these people take - I find it fascinating. A glimpse of not just other worlds and times, but a private glimpse, like seeing something forbidden. And something therefore unknown, forgotten.

Loved the way Sally found the Doctor's message to her on the wall under the wallpaper.

Loved the concept of the Stone Angels: predators that can't be looked at. Couldn't they find planets without visible light? Or planets where the inhabitants don't have eyes? Well, perhaps such planets are difficult to find, or perhaps they found themselves on earth by accident. There did seem to be only four of them.

And I totally loved it that the Doctor tricked them. Loved he effect of seeing the TARDIS moving in space and time while Laurence and Sally, inside the TARDIS, didn't go with it. How did that work? More timey-wimey stuff, I guess. Probably better not to ask. It was just so scary to see the Angels through the walls of the TARDIS, from the inside.

Was I supposed to understand how the Angels got their hands on the TARDIS? How was it that they had the TARDIS and the key, and not both together? and not the Doctor or Martha? I think I missed a plot point there...

Loved it that Martha worked "in a shop" to support the Doctor in 1969. (Memory flash to her being a maid scrubbing floors for his sake. He owes her big time and he knows it.) I couldn't help thinking about a crossover with Life on Mars

And, yes, then the trailer for "Utopia". And it didn't overlap with the clip John Barrowman showed on Jonathan Ross, which was nice, too.

"Doctor."

"Captain."

Face to face. Woo.

Seven days to wait.

And Derek Jacobi is looking scary. Now, much as I quite liked the Brother Cadfael series, I don't like Derek Jacobi or his acting style. Are those heretical words? Everyone I know seems to think he's wonderful. I don't see it. But here... I'm looking forward to him. Looks like a strange and wild plot.

Also looks as if Jack will get bashed around a lot. Again. He's getting plenty of practice at those electricity-zapped moments.

Comments

[suzy_queue]

I think they used Hull because it kind of sounds like hell. And I'm sure 1920 ended up being an adjustment and felt like hell, even with her cute boy. *g*

As for the key and Tardis, could the Doctor and Martha have planted the key for her to find after the fact? After the Tardis had been taken from the home and the Angels didn't know where it was, so they never had the key and the Tardis at the same time?

I'm rewatching the ep with my friend now, and still loving it. *g*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

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<i.And I'm sure 1920 ended up being an adjustment and felt like hell, even with her cute boy. *g*</i>

Well, it must have been a shock, at the very least!

<i>could the Doctor and Martha have planted the key for her to find after the fact?</i>

Presumably not if they looked away from the statues at any point. Makes my head hurt to think too much about it...

<i>so they never had the key and the Tardis at the same time</i>

That seems to have been the case, I'm just not sure yet how to track how it happened - how the Doctor's slight of hand worked. I have it figured out with regard to Sally, not the Angels.

I'm going to watch it with friends tomorrow.

[suzy_queue]

Well, after the 1969 adventure, they know not to look away from the statues. They've talked to Billy, so they know when the Tardis is taken to the police station, and from Cathy's letter, know when Sally will be there. So after they get the Tardis back, they go and drop it off, without blinking, back in the timeline before Sally gets there and grabs it? If Sally and Larry could stand off on the four statues, the Doctor and Martha could do three once they knew the trick. It's all I can think of! *g*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well, you know, that sounds pretty clever. I think it works. If I read it a couple more times and tilt my head the right way. I'll try it on for size when I watch the episode again.

[suzy_queue]

That's the fun of time travel! Sometimes it only makes sense if you tilt your head the right way, and even cross your eyes a bit. *g*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

...And particularly if you do funny things to your stopwatch.

Those people the Angels put into the past - they must have had an intersting time explaining themselves!

[suzy_queue]

Wow, do I ever love that picture of John Barrowman in your icon! Yum. (Also love your header a lot.)

I wonder where everyone else ended up! Like, is it related to how much of their life is still left to be lived, the time that the Angels ate? Billy went back 38 years and lived 38 more years, and Kathy went back 87 years and lived 67 more (but died at age 87, I bet, adjusting for her lying about her age), but I'm not sure what that means for the Doctor and Martha. *g* Unless they only took Martha's time? Hmm. But depending on how far back/not far back people went, it would get super tricky with ID and explanations.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

do I ever love that picture of John Barrowman in your icon!

he does take a pretty picture, doesn't he? That icon is by jhava. And the "You've gotta be ready" banner was designed by [Unknown site tag], and I adore it.

Like, is it related to how much of their life is still left to be lived, the time that the Angels ate?

My guess is that people live whatever length of time they would have anyway, but - surely the Angels can't prevent mishaps or disease? Well, it's hardly an important point, and I rather like the idea.

it would get super tricky with ID and explanations

I wonder if there was any rationale as to what times people were sent to, or if it was all random.

[suzy_queue]

More fun of time travel - I said where instead of when. LOL So I wonder if when they got sent back to relates to how much of their life is still left. The where completely baffles me - although, did we find out where Doctor/Martha/Billy ended up? Maybe they all ended up in the same place, but different times, relative to how much longer they had to live?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I said where instead of when.

Yes, and how do you get the tenses straight when the future is in the past and vice versa? We know the Doctor, Martha, and Billy met, but no, we don't know where they initially were... fun to speculate.

[liliaeth]

I'm not sure, but I think the Doctor probably helped Billy to get an ID, since he's the one in a period most likely to give him a problem with not having proper identification.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I would guess that in 1920 it wouldn't matter as much. And being forewarned - yes, the Doctor could have helped Billy. Nice thought.

[sollersuk.livejournal.com]

Also, Hull is small. A very few minutes gets you right outside in the countryside.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

But you have to go a few miles to reach hills (such as we saw). It's alarmingly flat. Come global warming, it'll probably disappear! I lived there till I was nearly 18, and then again 1991-96. My parents still live there.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I never actually went to Hull (despite the name). I did love Yorkshire, but most of it that I saw looked like in the show - hills and fields.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

North and West Yorkshire are hillier. East Yorkshire only has the Wolds. It flattens out around York (the Vale of York), and then there's some gentle higher ground (the Yorkshire Wolds), and then around Hull and east thereof it's very flat. Hull is at the confluence of the rivers Hull and Humber. The Hull divides it in two, and East and West Hull have their own rugby league teams, Hull Kingston Rovers ('the Robins') and Hull FC respectively. The Holderness area is especially low-lying, and has a frequently changing coastline.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

What is a Wold?

And which team did you support? (Suddenly picturing the Hospitallers and the Templars as opposed Rugby teams in the same league.... Eeek!)

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Wolds - gentle hills. There are the Lincolnshire ones and the Yorkshire ones. I think they're part of the same band of chalk.

I'm not really into sport of any kind, but as we've lived in both West and East Hull (parents currently in East), either.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm not really into sport of any kind

I've been known to say "The Senators? Who are they?" Since the city has been hockey-mad lately (the Senators were in the Stanley cup playoffs, but lost) I have been forced to remember who they are...!

As a fan of The Professionals, and of Bodie in particular, I have been known to mutter, "Liverpool for the cup." That's my idea of sports - fannish transference.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

That's my idea of sports - fannish transference.

For me, they'd have to bring back jousting…

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Jousting - yes! I've seen it done a few times, with different levels of competence, and always got a thrill from it.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Very like the Hull in my vicinity... minutes from a provincial park and a lot of wilderness. But they've changed the name of Hull officially to Gatineau, which doesn't have the same ring to it.

[aryas_zehral]

I assumed the Doc and Martha got zapped back in time by one of the angels touching them thus separating them from the tardis with no way of getting back to her (without just living it- though can you see Ten waiting around anywhere that long?). Although, now you mention it, I've no idea how they got the key but not the box... weird.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

though can you see Ten waiting around anywhere that long?

Not without causing major damage to an infinite number of timelines - and to Martha's nerves!

Re getting the TARDIS and not the key and/or vice versa: I don't even know if that's an unexplained plot point, or if I failed to understand an explanation. And with this episode, I'm not sure how I could tell the difference anyway! Maybe watching it a few dozen times more will help.

[raissad.livejournal.com]

I loved, and I'm not going to freak out over the "timey-wimey" bits. The Doctor's detector was adorable!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed it all. I really did.

[kittyfisher.livejournal.com]

yes yes! scary and good and (don't look at the logic) exciting and YES - the Captain next week!!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

the Captain next week!!

Is it next week yet?

(Tapping my foot impatiently.)

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Another favourite bit: Kathy turning up in a field in 1920. Hull? As silverwhistle commented, Hull's an industrial city, isn't it? Maybe there's a field or hill or something somewhere in Yorkshire with the same name.

No, because the boy showed her a newspaper that mentioned the 2 city rugby teams, Hull FC and Hull KR. Hull in the 1920s was a major fishing and merchant port, and its immediate hinterland is extremely flat. I can only assume that she had landed on a bit of the Yorkshire Wolds a few miles out of town, and that Hull was mentioned as it's the nearest city.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well, that works. It's nice country, anyway.

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

I loved the episode so much that I paused it mid-way through and got my husband to watch with me (he doesn't usually). If it had ended with them holding hands outside the shop, I would have thought it was nearly perfect. But I absolutely hated the last bit, where we are shown all kinds of statues and the Doctor's Easter egg essentially breaks the 4th wall to tell us not to blink.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I absolutely hated the last bit

Why, because it was extraneous to the story? Artificial? Or because of the 'breaking the 4th wall' thing?

I'll have to see what I think when I watch it again.

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

All of that. I wondered if it were some sort of homage to the common ending of
horror science fiction, in which the characters who survive head off into the sunset, happy in the knowledge that the last alien/fungus/slug/virus/zombie
has gone, while we in the audience see that this isn't true.
I think most of my objection is the 4th wall part, specifically the idea that
the Doctor is speaking directly to all of *us* (maybe especially to those of us who watch on a laptop screen). Ten's Earth is a lot like our current Earth, but it really isn't the same place. The last time I went to London, I went to check out Canary Wharf and it was business as usual...
Unlike some of the posters on lizbee's journal, I was tense while watching but then did not have trouble sleeping/nightmares.
What did occur to me while I was drowsy was how much this style of fiction reminds me of the Bush administration's plan to keep us in a constant state
of fear, but it predates his regime by decades.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I wondered if it were some sort of homage to the common ending of
horror science fiction,

That's pretty much the way I saw it.

I think most of my objection is the 4th wall part, specifically the idea that the Doctor is speaking directly to all of *us*

I don't think I interpreted it that way. I saw him as speaking to 'someone else' - another adventure (like the one with the bows and arrows) that we really don't get to see.

I was tense while watching but then did not have trouble sleeping/nightmares.

I was more scared by the ending of "A Family of Blood" - the scene where the Doctor put the Sister in the mirror. I find mirrors very scary and that's the kind of king that creeps me. Still, no nightmares. And statues? No problem. I liked the episode very much, but not becuase it frightened me. And just as well: I don't watch horror, and I don't like to be frightened.

What did occur to me while I was drowsy was how much this style of fiction reminds me of the Bush administration's plan to keep us in a constant state of fear

Hee - bringing cultural issues to bear! Not something I'd have thought of.

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

I liked the episode very much, but not becuase it frightened me. And just as well: I don't watch horror, and I don't like to be frightened.


What I liked most was Sally's cleverness and determination, and the fact that she acted on what she knew/what she learned. The bit when she acted on the video store guy complaining that nobody ever goes to the police was wonderful.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

What I liked most was Sally's cleverness and determination

Yes. Often the Doctor (or is Companion) seems to be the only one in a story with real brains. Sally made a worthy protagonist - smart enough to be heroic, but not so clever she was unbelievable. The perfect balance.

The bit when she acted on the video store guy complaining that nobody ever goes to the police was wonderful.

Oh, yes - I loved it! And then had to face the bureaucracy.

[raissad.livejournal.com]

Here's Martha's blog entry for Blink (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=166447207&blogID=274851774&MyToken=3370a3ca-17b3-4c2f-9514-95c6251b2f2b). I liked the banana reference. Moffat's previous eps. (TEC/TDD, TGITF) contained banana references. Since there wasn't one on screen this time, they put it in the blog.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's good to get a banana in there somewhere!

I like Martha's description of home life with the Doctor - all but the sleeping-on-the-sofa bit. (Not so friendly.)

[raissad.livejournal.com]

Here's the short story Steven Moffat wrote upon which he based Blink (http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/episodes/2007/blink_annual.shtml).

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I look forward to reading it - the art is good.

I loved it too!

[meret.livejournal.com]

Couldn't Kathy's boyfriend have just said "Yorkshire"? ...Doesn't really matter, he was cute. Maybe there's some in-joke there.

Until I saw it on the paper, I thought he was saying "hell" with a really thick accent!

don't like Derek Jacobi or his acting style.

Have you ever watched the I Claudius series? I've adored him ever since. :)

Re: I loved it too!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Until I saw it on the paper, I thought he was saying "hell" with a really thick accent!

Kind of a pretty version of hell. Unless you really dislike cows.

Have you ever watched the I Claudius series? I've adored him ever since. :)

I loved I, Claudius - watched it several times. Didn't like Derek Jacobi, though. Liked him best in the Cadfael series, I think, because I loved that series - but still didn't like Jacobi much and wished they'd cast someone else. When I'd read the books I always pictured Cadfael as resembling Sean Connery. I thought the best actor in that series was Sean Pertwee.

I suppose I can now say there's another role I liked Derek Jacobi in - as the Professor in Doctor Who's "Utopia"!