Saturday, July 6, 2013

Don't Blink -- Beware of Weeping Angels

Holy ... uh ... moly.

Watching Dr. Who, season 3, and finally got to the famous "Blink" episode. I now understand why friends and well-wishers always inquired whether we'd seen it yet.

I actually was shouting at the tv at one point, I was so unnerved ... and Sally Sparrow was so slooooow!

I will just say that I woke up several times last night and each time what leapt to mind were stone angels looming over me. Not weeping ones, folks. I only wish they had been ...

(I'd elaborate but I know Rose hasn't seen this yet and I'm trying to be spoiler-free.)

On another note, I did like what the writer of that episode said about Dr. Who. As a relatively new series viewer, I like the distinction Moffat makes between childish and childlike. Of course, what he says about monsters is true no matter what.
You have to remember that being scared of the dark and being scared of monsters is basically a childish impulse. There's always something of the nursery about horror....Adults never quite grow out of their childhood fears. They just belong in a different part of our heads. Doctor Who isn't a childish programme, but it is childlike: it's a programme for children. And many, many adults who watch and love it watch it as that: as something like Harry Potter.
Steven Moffat on writing horror fiction for Doctor Who
By at

8 comments:

  1. Melanie Bettinelli7/6/13, 12:35 PM

    I would never have thought of calling Dr Who a programme for children.

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  2. Kendra Tierney7/6/13, 12:52 PM

    The original series WAS meant for children, to entertain them while educating them about science and history. His original companions were often teachers. I love Doctor Who, but my children are NOT allowed to watch the reboot episodes. Raise your hand if you'd like to explain what Captain Jack is talking about -- ever -- to a ten year old.

    Me neither.

    It's a shame too, there really are NO whole family shows anymore. I guess when most people have a TV per person no one has to/gets to share entertainment.

    Weeping angels really is a great episode!

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    1. Julie D.7/6/13, 1:02 PM

      I didn't know that about the original Dr. Who. I now feel better about only liking the reboot. I never thought about there not being any "whole family" tv shows now and that is sad.

      We always would tape things and then watch them together but I can't think of any shows that were "current" when my kids were little that we watched together. In earlier days it would have been The Cosby Show but we watched that as adults before we ever had any kids.

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    2. Kendra Tierney7/6/13, 9:48 PM

      I do think it's sad, shows like Bonanza and the Lone Ranger and the Cosby Show we meant to be shared by the whole family, but I think people view tv differently now.

      And, just to be a pest, it's Doctor Who (a question) not Dr. Who (a name).

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    3. Julie D.7/8/13, 8:14 AM

      Unless one continually writes Doctor Who (a question) or "the Doctor" which is what I should've written probably ... then yes I suppose fans must be nitpicky. However, based on what I've seen thus far I don't believe the Dr. would care. I therefore go my merry way ... :-)

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  3. JoAnna7/6/13, 6:10 PM

    So glad you finally made it this far! A college friend got me hooked a couple years ago. The Weeping Angels are definitely one of the more creepy species of Dr. Who 'monsters.' And don't worry, this isn't they're only appearance :) Enjoy the next couple seasons ahead of you-IMHO, the series has gone downhill with new actors, writers, and a US audience. They continue to force obnoxiously obvious references to things like homosexuality into the show, without even trying to be clever or subtle about it, and they don't contribute at all to the story.

    And fun fact: a few years ago the BBC played a fun April fools joke, spreading news that scientists had discovered a way to recover 50-year old TV signals reflected back from space, among them lost episodes of the original Dr. Who series (it's 50th anniversary is this year). It was so apropos, many believed it!

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  4. Jeff Miller7/7/13, 9:59 PM

    I've liked most of the reboot, though it has been rather uneven based on the writers. Still overall they captured both the fun and the campiness.

    I was another person captured by Dr. Who via PBS during the Tom Baker years. Although I knew of it earlier, but not yet pulled in. My father was one of the hosts for Sinister Cinema in Portland, Or and as a result I ended up doing research on the two movies they showed on Saturday night. So I learned about Dr. Who via a movie featuring the Daleks but did not yet have access to the series.

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    1. Julie D.7/8/13, 8:12 AM

      Wow, you got all sorts of great connections through your dad. You lucky duck!

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