The Time of Angels
Encyclopedia
"The Time of Angels" is the fourth episode in the fifth series
of British science fiction
television series Doctor Who
, first broadcast on 24 April 2010 on BBC One
. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by showrunner Steven Moffat
and directed by Adam Smith; the second episode was "Flesh and Stone
". Moffat utilized the two-part episode to bring back a couple of his previous creations: the Weeping Angels
from his series three
episode "Blink
", and River Song
(Alex Kingston
) from the series four
episodes "Silence in the Library
" and "Forest of the Dead
".
The Doctor
—a time travelling
alien played by Matt Smith—and his companion
Amy Pond
(Karen Gillan
) are summoned by River Song, a mysterious woman from the Doctor's future. She takes them to the planet Alfava Metraxis, where the spaceship Byzantium has crashed. Hidden inside is the last Weeping Angel, a creature that can only move when unobserved by others. With the help of Father Octavian (Iain Glen
) and his militarized clerics, the Doctor, Amy and River Song travel through a stone labyrinth to reach the ship. On the way, they discover that all the statues in the maze are Angels, which are slowly restoring and planning to trap them in the labyrinth.
Inspired by the relationship between the film Alien
and its sequel, Aliens
, Moffat wrote the episode as a more action-oriented sequel to "Blink". It was the first episode to be filmed in the series; filming began 20 July 2009 at Southerndown
beach, Vale of Glamorgan
which was used as the surface of Alfava Metraxis. Most of the Weeping Angels in the episode were portrayed by painted young women dressed in costumes, which director Adam Smith found difficult to work with as they had to remain still for long periods of time. The episode was watched by 8.59 million viewers in the United Kingdom and received the highest Appreciation Index
given to the fifth series at time of broadcast. During the cliffhanger and at the end of the original broadcast, the BBC placed a banner promoting the upcoming show, Over the Rainbow
, over the bottom of the frame. The incident garnered over 5,000 complaints and angered several celebrities. Nevertheless the episode received many positive reviews, and little criticism.
and Amy
travel to a museum in the distant future and discover a message from Dr River Song
, engraved in Old High Gallifrey
an, the language of the Doctor's home planet, on a damaged flight recorder
from the starship Byzantium 12,000 years in the relative past. The Doctor takes the TARDIS
to rescue her before the ship crashes on the planet Alfava Metraxis. After the TARDIS lands on the planet via River's guidance, Amy learns from both the Doctor and River that they have a unique relationship owing to the nature of time travel; Dr. Song has met the Doctor numerous times before in her timestream, while the Doctor still barely knows who she is, having met her only once
before.
River warns the Doctor that the Byzantiums cargo hold contains a deadly Weeping Angel, which can move only when unobserved by others. She calls down the orbiting Father Octavian and his militarized "clerics" to help her capture the Angel before the radiation leaked from the ship makes it too powerful, and to protect a large human colony on the planet. River, the Doctor and Amy review a four-second loop of security footage of the Angel in the Byzantium vault as the soldiers set up base camp. Outside the trailer, the Doctor and River look through a book written by a madman about the Angels and find the words, "That which holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel". Meanwhile, Amy has returned to the viewing room; each time she turns away the Angel from the footage moves and it begins to emerge from the screen, trapping her in the room. The Doctor and River attempt to free Amy; the Doctor warns Amy not to look directly into the eyes of the Angel because the book compared eyes to the doors of the soul and the Angels may enter there. Amy is able to turn off the image on a loop break, causing the Angel to disappear and saving herself. As they head toward the crashed ship, Amy continually feels that something is in her eye.
To access the Byzantium and locate the Angel, the group must travel through a "Maze of the Dead", a stone labyrinth with numerous statues erected by the native race, among which the Angel could easily hide. After launching a gravity globe near the roof of the Maze to provide illumination, the group splits up, with some soldiers left to guard the entrance. While the Doctor and River Song discuss the two-headed natives who built the catacombs, it suddenly occurs to them that all the statues have only one head: they must therefore be Weeping Angels. Each of these is slower and weaker than the Byzantiums captured Angel, having had no beings to consume over the centuries, but they are now absorbing energy from the crashed ship; the Doctor surmises that the Angel purposely crashed the Byzantium to rescue its kind. As the group tries to escape, Amy believes that she cannot move because her hand has become stone and she cannot release its grip on the wall of the cave. The Doctor explains that her perception has been influenced by the Angel through her direct eye contact, and she is still fine; he proves it by biting her hand, which allows her to flee. The group soon finds that the Angels have killed their rear guard and are using the consciousness of one soldier, Bob, to speak to the Doctor. The Angels reveal they have lured the group to the highest point of the maze, directly under the crashed ship, and are planning to kill and use their essences to further regenerate. The Doctor tells the Angels that they should have never put him in the trap, and prepares the group to jump once he destroys the gravity globe.
, the woman from the Doctor's future who was previously seen in "Silence in the Library
" and "Forest of the Dead
". "The Time of Angels" takes place in her relative past, where she is a doctor
, having not yet become a professor
. She shows the ability to fly the TARDIS, which she says she learned from "the best" and then teases the Doctor it was not him. In "Let's Kill Hitler
", it is shown that the TARDIS taught her to fly it. In addition, the words she inscribed on the home box in Old High Gallifreyan ("Hello, Sweetie!") are the same words by which she greets the Tenth Doctor
in "Silence in the Library"
. He designed the two-part episode as a more action-oriented sequel to "Blink
", an episode he had written for the third series
. He compared the relationship to the film Alien
and its sequel Aliens
, with the former being more low-key and the latter more "highly coloured". Moffat thought that Aliens was "the best conceived movie sequel ever" and decided to use it as a model. He also intended to portray the Angels and their actions differently; in "Blink" they were barely surviving and resembled scavengers, while in "The Time of Angels" he wanted them to have a plan that could become "almost like a war". The two-part story was intended to show the worst possible instance that could occur with the Weeping Angels, which was the inability to see, as explored in the second part, "Flesh and Stone", when Amy must keep her eyes closed. Executive producer Piers Wenger
thought that the Delirium Archive, the museum the Doctor and Amy visited at the beginning of the episode, needed to be explained, therefore Moffat named it "the final resting place of the Headless Monks" and sent it to him via text message
. The Headless Monks themselves appeared in the mid-series finale of the next series
, "A Good Man Goes to War
".
Moffat also brought back the character of River Song
from his fourth series
episodes "Silence in the Library
" and "Forest of the Dead
". In the former, River asks the Doctor if he had done the "crash of the Byzantium" with her yet. Actress Alex Kingston
did not expect the return, but stated that Moffat "always intended that she would come back". Moffat was influenced by Audrey Niffenegger
's novel, The Time Traveler's Wife
, in which a woman falls in love with a man who unintentionally moves through time. Moffat used this inspiration in his episode "The Girl in the Fireplace
", but Alex Kingston, as well as reviewers have compared River to The Time Traveler's Wife.
for the episode took place on 15 July 2009. Filming began on 20 July 2009 on Southerndown
beach, Vale of Glamorgan
, which was used as the surface of Alfava Metraxis. Torrential rain halted filming the following day, and about three pages of the script were never filmed, including the scene Gillan had read for her audition. The gap was replaced by the scene of River flying the TARDIS after the Byzantium, which was filmed as a pick-up. Steven Moffat later reflected on the replacement being "a lovely scene, and a much better start to the show". During the CGI
shot of the TARDIS flying through the Time Vortex in that scene, an older TARDIS image from the David Tennant
era was accidentally used instead of the new one.
Director Adam Smith, new to Doctor Who, felt pressure in making the episode be a worthy sequel to "Blink", which he called a "brilliant, brilliant, brilliant episode", but also said that it was great to work with the Weeping Angels. He decided to have the interaction between the Doctor and River Song resemble that of an old married couple, bickering like "mum and dad arguing over directions in the car". Actress Alex Kingston stated that it was "great fun" on set and she enjoyed working with Matt Smith, although her relationship with Smith was different from his predecessor and her former co-star, David Tennant. In the script it was not written in that River would land on the Doctor when she flew into the TARDIS; it was an idea that Matt Smith came up with in rehearsal that proved difficult to film. In the episode, there is a moment in the viewing room where the Doctor hangs on a strap attached to the ceiling and it breaks. This was originally an accident during one of the takes, but director Adam Smith liked it and filmed it again, with Matt Smith doing it on purpose.
Most of the Weeping Angels are not statue props but young women wearing masks, costumes, and paint that took two to three hours to apply. Adam Smith called them "an absolute nightmare to film with" because it took a long time for them to get ready and they had to stand still for long periods of time. Smith wished River Song's entrance to be a shocking surprise to the audience. A stunt double was used for some shots of the scene where River flies out of the Byzantium airlock, but Kingston wished to do some of it herself. The scene was filmed on a greenscreen with Kingston hooked up on wires that pulled her up and backwards as a wind machine was blown to create the effect of the airlock. Kingston said she "absolutely loved" filming the scene. For the scene in which sand pours out of Amy's eye as she rubs it, an eye patch containing sand that would be released when Gillan rubbed it was placed over her eye.
on Saturday, 24 April 2010 from 6:20 p.m. to 7:05 p.m. In the United States it was shown on sister station
BBC America
on 8 May 2010. In the UK, preliminary overnight viewing figures showed that 6.8 million viewers watched the episode, which made it second for the night behind Britain's Got Talent
. This was also the second highest overnight figure for a fourth episode over the last five series, "The Girl in the Fireplace
" taking the top position. When final consolidated ratings were calculated, another 1.81 million timeshifted viewers were added, bringing the total up to 8.59 million, the highest viewing figure for the series since "The Eleventh Hour
". This made it the fifth most watched programme on BBC One and the 12th most watched across all UK TV channels for the week ending 25 April 2010. It was also given an Appreciation Index
of 87, the highest for the fifth series so far at its time of broadcast.
A Region 2 DVD and Blu-ray containing "The Time of Angels" together with the following episodes "Flesh and Stone
" and "The Vampires of Venice
" was released on 5 July 2010. It was re-released as part of the complete series five DVD on 8 November 2010.
revealing a banner trailing his show Over the Rainbow
. The BBC apologised after receiving over five thousand complaints. The incident received attention on Twitter
, with SFX magazine reporting that it had "caused a minor Twitter earthquake", citing tweets from Charlie Brooker
, Matthew Graham
and Simon Pegg
. The incident was lampooned on Brooker's panel game
You Have Been Watching
, where he described it as "a travesty". BBC drama writer and co-creator of Life of Mars
and Ashes to Ashes
Matthew Graham criticised the BBC for "cheapen[ing] itself and mentioned he wrote emails to "a few interested parties".
Graham Norton himself went on to parody the incident in his own show
by placing a similar banner at the bottom of the screen and having a Dalek
exterminate his own cartoon caricature.
online at guardian.co.uk
, called it "an astonishing achievement" and "absolutely bloody terrifying". He praised the way Moffat handled River Song's story, as well as for making it an "intricate romp jammed with ideas that make a truly cinematic piece of drama". Gavin Fuller's review for The Daily Telegraph
praised the suspense and "the revelation that all the statues were Angels" which he called "genuinely shocking". Though he commented it "took a while to get going", once it did he thought it had turned into the "first genuine chiller" of the series. He wrote that the "only real disappointment" was the "inference that the TARDIS
doesn't really have to make its celebrated 'vworp, vworp' noise on landing", asking "How can you do that to us long-time fans, Steven Moffat – that sound is part of the warp and weft of the programme!".
Patrick Mulkern, writing for the Radio Times
, described the episode as "simply superb television" and claimed that "Matt Smith really is shaping up to be the best Doctor since Tom Baker
", praising him for being "simultaneously intense and subtle". He thought it started out with "arguably the most impressive opener to any Doctor Who yet" and also praised Amy for being "cheerfully free of the emotional baggage that mired her predecessors" so far. Matt Wales of IGN
gave the episode a 10 out of 10 rating, calling it "huge, silly, scary, gorgeous, gripping and – most importantly – fun". Although he wrote it "never quite matched the relentless tension of 'Blink'", he commented that it was "flawlessly paced and, when it mattered, genuinely scary". Unlike Fuller, he praised the TARDIS "vworp vworp" joke, asking "Who could possibly not love the sheer audacity in suggesting the TARDIS's iconic whirring noise was the result of the Doctor leaving the brakes on for the last 45 years?"
SFX magazine reviewer Dave Golder gave the episode five out of five stars, praising it for being "superbly paced, the changes in tone happening gradually and organically". He also commended the directing and sound effects. Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club
gave the episode a grade of A-, praising the scary atmosphere and the development of the Weeping Angels. He commented that he was a little "fuzzy" on the Doctor and River Song's relationship, but he expected that he was supposed to be.
Doctor Who (series 5)
The fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 3 April 2010 with "The Eleventh Hour" and ended with "The Big Bang" on 26 June 2010. The series was led by head writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, who took over after the departure of Russell T Davies. The...
of British science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, first broadcast on 24 April 2010 on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by showrunner Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
and directed by Adam Smith; the second episode was "Flesh and Stone
Flesh and Stone
"Flesh and Stone" is the fifth episode of the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by showrunner Steven Moffat and directed by Adam Smith, the episode was first broadcast on 1 May 2010 on BBC One...
". Moffat utilized the two-part episode to bring back a couple of his previous creations: the Weeping Angels
Weeping Angels
The Weeping Angels are a fictional ancient race of aliens from the Doctor Who television series, featured in the Tenth Doctor episode "Blink", and the Eleventh Doctor episodes "The Time of Angels", "Flesh and Stone" and in a cameo appearance in Series 6's "The God Complex"...
from his series three
Doctor Who (series 3)
The third series of British science fiction series Doctor Who was preceded by the 2006 Christmas special "The Runaway Bride". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast, starting with "Smith and Jones" on 31 March 2007...
episode "Blink
Blink (Doctor Who)
"Blink" is the 10th episode of the third series of the new production of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 9 June 2007, and is the only episode in the 2007 series written by Steven Moffat; the episode is based on a previous short story written by...
", and River Song
River Song (Doctor Who)
River Song is a fictional character played primarily by Alex Kingston in the British science-fiction series Doctor Who. River Song was introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS...
(Alex Kingston
Alex Kingston
Alexandra Elizabeth "Alex" Kingston is an English actress. She is most widely known for her roles as Dr. Elizabeth Corday on the NBC medical drama ER and as River Song in Doctor Who.-Early life and education:...
) from the series four
Doctor Who (series 4)
The fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2007 with the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes aired, starting with "Partners in Crime" on 5 April 2008 and ending with "Journey's End"...
episodes "Silence in the Library
Silence in the Library
"Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 31 May 2008. It is the first of a two-part story, followed by "Forest of the Dead", and is the second two-parter Steven Moffat contributed to...
" and "Forest of the Dead
Forest of the Dead
"Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008...
".
The Doctor
Eleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
—a time travelling
Time travel in fiction
Time travel is a common theme in science fiction and is depicted in a variety of media. It simply means either going forward in time or backward, to experience the future, or the past.-Literature:...
alien played by Matt Smith—and his companion
Companion (Doctor Who)
In the long-running BBC television science fiction programme Doctor Who and related works, the term "companion" refers to a character who travels with, and shares the adventures of the Doctor. In most Doctor Who stories, the primary companion acts as both deuteragonist and audience surrogate...
Amy Pond
Amy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
(Karen Gillan
Karen Gillan
Karen Sheila Gillan is a Scottish actress and former model who is best known for her current portrayal of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
) are summoned by River Song, a mysterious woman from the Doctor's future. She takes them to the planet Alfava Metraxis, where the spaceship Byzantium has crashed. Hidden inside is the last Weeping Angel, a creature that can only move when unobserved by others. With the help of Father Octavian (Iain Glen
Iain Glen
Iain Glen is a Scottish film and stage actor.Iain Glen was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and trained at RADA where he won the Bancroft Gold Medal. He was married to Susannah Harker from 1993 to 2004; they have one son, Finlay...
) and his militarized clerics, the Doctor, Amy and River Song travel through a stone labyrinth to reach the ship. On the way, they discover that all the statues in the maze are Angels, which are slowly restoring and planning to trap them in the labyrinth.
Inspired by the relationship between the film Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
and its sequel, Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
, Moffat wrote the episode as a more action-oriented sequel to "Blink". It was the first episode to be filmed in the series; filming began 20 July 2009 at Southerndown
Southerndown
Southerndown is a village in South Wales to the southwest of Bridgend, close to St Brides Major, Llantwit Major and Ogmore-by-Sea. It is mostly known for its beach , which is a popular tourist destination during the summer months and since 1972 has been designated a Heritage Coast and is part of...
beach, Vale of Glamorgan
Vale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...
which was used as the surface of Alfava Metraxis. Most of the Weeping Angels in the episode were portrayed by painted young women dressed in costumes, which director Adam Smith found difficult to work with as they had to remain still for long periods of time. The episode was watched by 8.59 million viewers in the United Kingdom and received the highest Appreciation Index
Appreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
given to the fifth series at time of broadcast. During the cliffhanger and at the end of the original broadcast, the BBC placed a banner promoting the upcoming show, Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow (2010 TV series)
Over the Rainbow is a British television talent series which aired on BBC One from March to May 2010. It documents the search for a new, undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Dorothy in the forthcoming Andrew Lloyd Webber stage production of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and a...
, over the bottom of the frame. The incident garnered over 5,000 complaints and angered several celebrities. Nevertheless the episode received many positive reviews, and little criticism.
Plot
The DoctorEleventh Doctor
The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh incarnation of the protagonist of the BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two"...
and Amy
Amy Pond
Amelia Jessica 'Amy' Pond is a fictional character portrayed by Karen Gillan in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who...
travel to a museum in the distant future and discover a message from Dr River Song
River Song (Doctor Who)
River Song is a fictional character played primarily by Alex Kingston in the British science-fiction series Doctor Who. River Song was introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS...
, engraved in Old High Gallifrey
Gallifrey
Gallifrey is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who and is the homeworld of the Doctor and the Time Lords...
an, the language of the Doctor's home planet, on a damaged flight recorder
Flight recorder
A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of an aircraft accident or incident. For this reason, flight recorders are required to be capable of surviving the conditions likely to be encountered in a severe aircraft...
from the starship Byzantium 12,000 years in the relative past. The Doctor takes the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
to rescue her before the ship crashes on the planet Alfava Metraxis. After the TARDIS lands on the planet via River's guidance, Amy learns from both the Doctor and River that they have a unique relationship owing to the nature of time travel; Dr. Song has met the Doctor numerous times before in her timestream, while the Doctor still barely knows who she is, having met her only once
Silence in the Library
"Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 31 May 2008. It is the first of a two-part story, followed by "Forest of the Dead", and is the second two-parter Steven Moffat contributed to...
before.
River warns the Doctor that the Byzantiums cargo hold contains a deadly Weeping Angel, which can move only when unobserved by others. She calls down the orbiting Father Octavian and his militarized "clerics" to help her capture the Angel before the radiation leaked from the ship makes it too powerful, and to protect a large human colony on the planet. River, the Doctor and Amy review a four-second loop of security footage of the Angel in the Byzantium vault as the soldiers set up base camp. Outside the trailer, the Doctor and River look through a book written by a madman about the Angels and find the words, "That which holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel". Meanwhile, Amy has returned to the viewing room; each time she turns away the Angel from the footage moves and it begins to emerge from the screen, trapping her in the room. The Doctor and River attempt to free Amy; the Doctor warns Amy not to look directly into the eyes of the Angel because the book compared eyes to the doors of the soul and the Angels may enter there. Amy is able to turn off the image on a loop break, causing the Angel to disappear and saving herself. As they head toward the crashed ship, Amy continually feels that something is in her eye.
To access the Byzantium and locate the Angel, the group must travel through a "Maze of the Dead", a stone labyrinth with numerous statues erected by the native race, among which the Angel could easily hide. After launching a gravity globe near the roof of the Maze to provide illumination, the group splits up, with some soldiers left to guard the entrance. While the Doctor and River Song discuss the two-headed natives who built the catacombs, it suddenly occurs to them that all the statues have only one head: they must therefore be Weeping Angels. Each of these is slower and weaker than the Byzantiums captured Angel, having had no beings to consume over the centuries, but they are now absorbing energy from the crashed ship; the Doctor surmises that the Angel purposely crashed the Byzantium to rescue its kind. As the group tries to escape, Amy believes that she cannot move because her hand has become stone and she cannot release its grip on the wall of the cave. The Doctor explains that her perception has been influenced by the Angel through her direct eye contact, and she is still fine; he proves it by biting her hand, which allows her to flee. The group soon finds that the Angels have killed their rear guard and are using the consciousness of one soldier, Bob, to speak to the Doctor. The Angels reveal they have lured the group to the highest point of the maze, directly under the crashed ship, and are planning to kill and use their essences to further regenerate. The Doctor tells the Angels that they should have never put him in the trap, and prepares the group to jump once he destroys the gravity globe.
Continuity
This episode sees the return of River SongRiver Song (Doctor Who)
River Song is a fictional character played primarily by Alex Kingston in the British science-fiction series Doctor Who. River Song was introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS...
, the woman from the Doctor's future who was previously seen in "Silence in the Library
Silence in the Library
"Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 31 May 2008. It is the first of a two-part story, followed by "Forest of the Dead", and is the second two-parter Steven Moffat contributed to...
" and "Forest of the Dead
Forest of the Dead
"Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008...
". "The Time of Angels" takes place in her relative past, where she is a doctor
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
, having not yet become a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
. She shows the ability to fly the TARDIS, which she says she learned from "the best" and then teases the Doctor it was not him. In "Let's Kill Hitler
Let's Kill Hitler
"Let's Kill Hitler" is the eighth episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, Space and BBC America on 27 August 2011. It is the second episode of a two-part story, continuing stories from "A Good Man Goes to War"...
", it is shown that the TARDIS taught her to fly it. In addition, the words she inscribed on the home box in Old High Gallifreyan ("Hello, Sweetie!") are the same words by which she greets the Tenth Doctor
Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials...
in "Silence in the Library"
Writing
The episode was written by lead writer and executive producer Steven MoffatSteven Moffat
Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
. He designed the two-part episode as a more action-oriented sequel to "Blink
Blink (Doctor Who)
"Blink" is the 10th episode of the third series of the new production of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 9 June 2007, and is the only episode in the 2007 series written by Steven Moffat; the episode is based on a previous short story written by...
", an episode he had written for the third series
Doctor Who (series 3)
The third series of British science fiction series Doctor Who was preceded by the 2006 Christmas special "The Runaway Bride". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes was broadcast, starting with "Smith and Jones" on 31 March 2007...
. He compared the relationship to the film Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
and its sequel Aliens
Aliens (film)
Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, William Hope, and Bill Paxton...
, with the former being more low-key and the latter more "highly coloured". Moffat thought that Aliens was "the best conceived movie sequel ever" and decided to use it as a model. He also intended to portray the Angels and their actions differently; in "Blink" they were barely surviving and resembled scavengers, while in "The Time of Angels" he wanted them to have a plan that could become "almost like a war". The two-part story was intended to show the worst possible instance that could occur with the Weeping Angels, which was the inability to see, as explored in the second part, "Flesh and Stone", when Amy must keep her eyes closed. Executive producer Piers Wenger
Piers Wenger
Piers Wenger is a British television producer who has been Head of Drama at BBC Wales since January 2009. His work includes the BAFTA-winning Victoria Wood drama Housewife, 49 and the 2007 adaptation of Noel Streatfeild's novel Ballet Shoes....
thought that the Delirium Archive, the museum the Doctor and Amy visited at the beginning of the episode, needed to be explained, therefore Moffat named it "the final resting place of the Headless Monks" and sent it to him via text message
Text messaging
Text messaging, or texting, refers to the exchange of brief written text messages between fixed-line phone or mobile phone and fixed or portable devices over a network...
. The Headless Monks themselves appeared in the mid-series finale of the next series
Doctor Who (series 6)
The sixth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who was shown in two parts. The first seven episodes were broadcast from April to June 2011 and the final six episodes from August to October. Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill continued their roles as The Doctor, Amy...
, "A Good Man Goes to War
A Good Man Goes to War
"A Good Man Goes to War" is the seventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One on 4 June 2011...
".
Moffat also brought back the character of River Song
River Song (Doctor Who)
River Song is a fictional character played primarily by Alex Kingston in the British science-fiction series Doctor Who. River Song was introduced to the series as an experienced future companion of series protagonist the Doctor, an alien Time Lord who travels through time in his TARDIS...
from his fourth series
Doctor Who (series 4)
The fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who began on 25 December 2007 with the Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned". Following the special, a regular series of thirteen episodes aired, starting with "Partners in Crime" on 5 April 2008 and ending with "Journey's End"...
episodes "Silence in the Library
Silence in the Library
"Silence in the Library" is the eighth episode of the fourth series of the revived British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 31 May 2008. It is the first of a two-part story, followed by "Forest of the Dead", and is the second two-parter Steven Moffat contributed to...
" and "Forest of the Dead
Forest of the Dead
"Forest of the Dead" is the ninth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast by BBC One on 7 June 2008...
". In the former, River asks the Doctor if he had done the "crash of the Byzantium" with her yet. Actress Alex Kingston
Alex Kingston
Alexandra Elizabeth "Alex" Kingston is an English actress. She is most widely known for her roles as Dr. Elizabeth Corday on the NBC medical drama ER and as River Song in Doctor Who.-Early life and education:...
did not expect the return, but stated that Moffat "always intended that she would come back". Moffat was influenced by Audrey Niffenegger
Audrey Niffenegger
Audrey Niffenegger is an American writer, artist and academic.-Writing:A film version of Niffenegger's debut novel, The Time Traveler's Wife , starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams, was released in August 2009.She has also written a graphic novel, or "novel in pictures" as Niffenegger calls it,...
's novel, The Time Traveler's Wife
The Time Traveler's Wife
Once their timelines converge "naturally" at the library—their first meeting in his chronology—Henry starts to travel to Clare's childhood and adolescence in South Haven, Michigan, beginning in 1977 when she is six years old...
, in which a woman falls in love with a man who unintentionally moves through time. Moffat used this inspiration in his episode "The Girl in the Fireplace
The Girl in the Fireplace
"The Girl in the Fireplace" is the fourth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 6 May 2006, and is the only episode in the 2006 series written by Steven Moffat...
", but Alex Kingston, as well as reviewers have compared River to The Time Traveler's Wife.
Filming and effects
"The Time of Angels" was the first episode of the series to be produced. The read-throughRead-through
The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film and theatre production when an organized reading around a table of the screenplay or script by the actors with speaking parts is conducted....
for the episode took place on 15 July 2009. Filming began on 20 July 2009 on Southerndown
Southerndown
Southerndown is a village in South Wales to the southwest of Bridgend, close to St Brides Major, Llantwit Major and Ogmore-by-Sea. It is mostly known for its beach , which is a popular tourist destination during the summer months and since 1972 has been designated a Heritage Coast and is part of...
beach, Vale of Glamorgan
Vale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...
, which was used as the surface of Alfava Metraxis. Torrential rain halted filming the following day, and about three pages of the script were never filmed, including the scene Gillan had read for her audition. The gap was replaced by the scene of River flying the TARDIS after the Byzantium, which was filmed as a pick-up. Steven Moffat later reflected on the replacement being "a lovely scene, and a much better start to the show". During the CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
shot of the TARDIS flying through the Time Vortex in that scene, an older TARDIS image from the David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
era was accidentally used instead of the new one.
Director Adam Smith, new to Doctor Who, felt pressure in making the episode be a worthy sequel to "Blink", which he called a "brilliant, brilliant, brilliant episode", but also said that it was great to work with the Weeping Angels. He decided to have the interaction between the Doctor and River Song resemble that of an old married couple, bickering like "mum and dad arguing over directions in the car". Actress Alex Kingston stated that it was "great fun" on set and she enjoyed working with Matt Smith, although her relationship with Smith was different from his predecessor and her former co-star, David Tennant. In the script it was not written in that River would land on the Doctor when she flew into the TARDIS; it was an idea that Matt Smith came up with in rehearsal that proved difficult to film. In the episode, there is a moment in the viewing room where the Doctor hangs on a strap attached to the ceiling and it breaks. This was originally an accident during one of the takes, but director Adam Smith liked it and filmed it again, with Matt Smith doing it on purpose.
Most of the Weeping Angels are not statue props but young women wearing masks, costumes, and paint that took two to three hours to apply. Adam Smith called them "an absolute nightmare to film with" because it took a long time for them to get ready and they had to stand still for long periods of time. Smith wished River Song's entrance to be a shocking surprise to the audience. A stunt double was used for some shots of the scene where River flies out of the Byzantium airlock, but Kingston wished to do some of it herself. The scene was filmed on a greenscreen with Kingston hooked up on wires that pulled her up and backwards as a wind machine was blown to create the effect of the airlock. Kingston said she "absolutely loved" filming the scene. For the scene in which sand pours out of Amy's eye as she rubs it, an eye patch containing sand that would be released when Gillan rubbed it was placed over her eye.
Broadcast and reception
"The Time of Angels" was first broadcast on BBC OneBBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
on Saturday, 24 April 2010 from 6:20 p.m. to 7:05 p.m. In the United States it was shown on sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
BBC America
BBC America
BBC America is an American television network, owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, and available on both cable and satellite.-History:The channel launched on March 29, 1998, broadcasting comedy, drama and lifestyle programs from BBC Television and other British television broadcasters like ITV and...
on 8 May 2010. In the UK, preliminary overnight viewing figures showed that 6.8 million viewers watched the episode, which made it second for the night behind Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...
. This was also the second highest overnight figure for a fourth episode over the last five series, "The Girl in the Fireplace
The Girl in the Fireplace
"The Girl in the Fireplace" is the fourth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on 6 May 2006, and is the only episode in the 2006 series written by Steven Moffat...
" taking the top position. When final consolidated ratings were calculated, another 1.81 million timeshifted viewers were added, bringing the total up to 8.59 million, the highest viewing figure for the series since "The Eleventh Hour
The Eleventh Hour (Doctor Who)
"The Eleventh Hour" is an episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 3 April 2010....
". This made it the fifth most watched programme on BBC One and the 12th most watched across all UK TV channels for the week ending 25 April 2010. It was also given an Appreciation Index
Appreciation Index
The Audience Appreciation Index is a score out of 100 which is used as an indicator of the public's appreciation for a television or radio programme, or broadcast service, in the United Kingdom. Until 2002, the AI of a programme was calculated by BARB, the organisation that compiles television...
of 87, the highest for the fifth series so far at its time of broadcast.
A Region 2 DVD and Blu-ray containing "The Time of Angels" together with the following episodes "Flesh and Stone
Flesh and Stone
"Flesh and Stone" is the fifth episode of the fifth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by showrunner Steven Moffat and directed by Adam Smith, the episode was first broadcast on 1 May 2010 on BBC One...
" and "The Vampires of Venice
The Vampires of Venice
"The Vampires of Venice" is the sixth episode in the fifth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was broadcast on 8 May 2010. It was written by Toby Whithouse, who previously wrote "School Reunion". Rory Williams returns to the series in this episode, this time...
" was released on 5 July 2010. It was re-released as part of the complete series five DVD on 8 November 2010.
Banner incident
During the cliffhanger ending of the first broadcast of "The Time of Angels", an animated graphic was shown in some regions, showing Graham NortonGraham Norton
Graham William Walker, known by his stage name Graham Norton , is an Irish actor, comedian, television presenter and columnist...
revealing a banner trailing his show Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow (2010 TV series)
Over the Rainbow is a British television talent series which aired on BBC One from March to May 2010. It documents the search for a new, undiscovered musical theatre performer to play the role of Dorothy in the forthcoming Andrew Lloyd Webber stage production of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and a...
. The BBC apologised after receiving over five thousand complaints. The incident received attention on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, with SFX magazine reporting that it had "caused a minor Twitter earthquake", citing tweets from Charlie Brooker
Charlie Brooker
Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...
, Matthew Graham
Matthew Graham
Matthew Graham is a British television writer, and the co-creator of the BBC/Kudos Film and Television science fiction series Life on Mars, which debuted in 2006 on BBC One and has received international critical acclaim....
and Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg is an English actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and director. He is best known for having co-written and stared in various Edgar Wright features, mainly Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the comedy series Spaced.He also portrayed Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the 2009 Star Trek film...
. The incident was lampooned on Brooker's panel game
Panel game
A panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Panelists may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by guest contestants, such as on Match Game/Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait.....
You Have Been Watching
You Have Been Watching
You Have Been Watching is a British comedy panel game presented by Charlie Brooker, produced by Zeppotron for Channel 4 and filmed at BBC Television Centre and Riverside Studios in London. It first aired on Tuesday 7 July 2009, for a weekly eight-episode run...
, where he described it as "a travesty". BBC drama writer and co-creator of Life of Mars
Life on Mars (TV series)
Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural....
and Ashes to Ashes
Ashes to Ashes (TV series)
Ashes to Ashes is a British science fiction and police procedural drama television series, serving as the sequel to Life on Mars.The series began airing on BBC One in February 2008. A second series began broadcasting in April 2009...
Matthew Graham criticised the BBC for "cheapen[ing] itself and mentioned he wrote emails to "a few interested parties".
Graham Norton himself went on to parody the incident in his own show
The Graham Norton Show
The Graham Norton Show is a British comedy chat show that is broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom. It was originally shown on BBC Two from February 2007 to May 2009 until it moved to BBC One from October 2009...
by placing a similar banner at the bottom of the screen and having a Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
exterminate his own cartoon caricature.
Critical reception
The episode received positive reviews from critics. Daniel Martin, writing for The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
online at guardian.co.uk
Guardian.co.uk
guardian.co.uk, formerly known as Guardian Unlimited, is a British website owned by the Guardian Media Group. Georgina Henry is the editor...
, called it "an astonishing achievement" and "absolutely bloody terrifying". He praised the way Moffat handled River Song's story, as well as for making it an "intricate romp jammed with ideas that make a truly cinematic piece of drama". Gavin Fuller's review for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
praised the suspense and "the revelation that all the statues were Angels" which he called "genuinely shocking". Though he commented it "took a while to get going", once it did he thought it had turned into the "first genuine chiller" of the series. He wrote that the "only real disappointment" was the "inference that the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
doesn't really have to make its celebrated 'vworp, vworp' noise on landing", asking "How can you do that to us long-time fans, Steven Moffat – that sound is part of the warp and weft of the programme!".
Patrick Mulkern, writing for the Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
, described the episode as "simply superb television" and claimed that "Matt Smith really is shaping up to be the best Doctor since Tom Baker
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
", praising him for being "simultaneously intense and subtle". He thought it started out with "arguably the most impressive opener to any Doctor Who yet" and also praised Amy for being "cheerfully free of the emotional baggage that mired her predecessors" so far. Matt Wales of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode a 10 out of 10 rating, calling it "huge, silly, scary, gorgeous, gripping and – most importantly – fun". Although he wrote it "never quite matched the relentless tension of 'Blink'", he commented that it was "flawlessly paced and, when it mattered, genuinely scary". Unlike Fuller, he praised the TARDIS "vworp vworp" joke, asking "Who could possibly not love the sheer audacity in suggesting the TARDIS's iconic whirring noise was the result of the Doctor leaving the brakes on for the last 45 years?"
SFX magazine reviewer Dave Golder gave the episode five out of five stars, praising it for being "superbly paced, the changes in tone happening gradually and organically". He also commended the directing and sound effects. Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
gave the episode a grade of A-, praising the scary atmosphere and the development of the Weeping Angels. He commented that he was a little "fuzzy" on the Doctor and River Song's relationship, but he expected that he was supposed to be.