The Time of Angels (TV story)
The Time of Angels was the fourth episode of the fifth series of BBC Wales Doctor Who. It was the first part of a two-part story. It saw the return of River Song and the Weeping Angels.
Synopsis
The enigmatic River Song hurtles back into the Doctor's life but she's not the only familiar face returning... The Weeping Angels are back! The Doctor is recruited by River Song to track the last of the Angels, that have escaped from the Byzantium starliner, through the terrifying Maze of the Dead.
Plot
A man in a green field on a beautiful day, surrounded by trees, with a lipstick smear on the corner of his mouth, is approached by a well-dressed man and two guards, each armed. The well-dressed man wipes some of the lipstick off, and says that it is hallucinogenic. They are actually in the corridors of a spaceship. Grimly, the well-dressed man says "She's here."
River Song finds a vault and blasts the door open with a firearm, revealing a black box. She uses the firearm to burn a message in the ancient language of the Time Lords into a Home Box, the equivalent of a plane's black box, except it homes. Meanwhile, 12,000 years into the future, the Doctor and Amy Pond are in a museum, the Doctor explaining that most things there are incorrect until they come across the same home box we saw earlier. Amy is told of the power of the language of Time Lords and when Amy asks what it says, he exasperatedly replies "Hello, sweetie". The Doctor and Amy steal the box and retreat into the TARDIS.
They look at the box's data and see a security feed of River Song in front of an airlock, saying a set of space-time coordinates and suggesting she's due at an air corridor; the Doctor promptly takes the TARDIS there as River deliberately opens the airlock and is blown into space. The Doctor pulls her into the TARDIS, where River knocks him down by accident. Amy wonders what is going on as the Doctor says hello. They get back up as the ship flies off into space. River promptly demands "Follow that ship!!".
The TARDIS chases the ship (the Byzantium) as River tells the Doctor not to lose the ship. Activating multiple functions on the TARDIS, River tells the Doctor to press the blue stabilizers. The Doctor says the buttons don;t do anything except being blue. River tells him that they ARE the blue stablizer buttons and presses them. The TARDIS stop shaking and River takes the controls. Amy wonders who River is and why she can fly the TARDIS. The Doctor laughs at River's way of flying the TARDIS as she mentions she had lessons from from the very best. The Doctor smiles smugly, but River replies "A shame you were busy that day", annoying him. River announces what she is doing and the console and with a light "thump" sound, she says she has landing the TARDIS right next to the Byzantium. However, the Doctor tells her they have not landing as the TARDIS did not make the materilization noise; River explains it is not supposed to make that sound as he keeps the brakes on. The Doctor defends himself by saying he loves the sound of the TARDIS and prepares to go outside.
River tells him that the need to do enviroment checks to see if the atmosphere is hospitable to humanoid life. While River looks at the statistics on the TARDIS monitor, the Doctor looks outside and tells her "We're on Alfava Metraxis, seventh planet of the Dundra system in the Gan belt; oxyegon rich atmosphere, eleven hour day.. and chances of rain later". Annoyed, River tells Amy, "He thinks he is so hot when he does that". She walks out, wondeing why they landed there. However, as she exits, the Doctor says it didn't land and she should have checked the Home Box while shutting the door behind her.
Amy wonders who River is and the Doctor partial explains "it's a long story and I don;t know all of it". The Doctor then defends his decsion to run away from River by saying "Time is not the boss of me". Amy then wonders if they have landed on a planet. Much to the Doctor's growing annoyance he explains that they are and he'll give Amy five minutes on the planet before leaving as he does not want to be dragged into River's affairs.
They exit the TARDIS and see the flaming wreckage of the Byzantium sits atop a stony plateau. River calls in reinforcements that she has in orbit and asks the Doctor to boost the power with his sonic screwdriver. The Doctor then introduces Amy to River, accidently letting it slip that she will be a Professor in her future. River takes out her diary and begins asking the Doctor where they are in his timeline. After River confirms where the Doctor is, she jokes with Amy about the Doctor "keeping score" with museums. River's communicator beeps as four men in desert camouflage teleport down. The leader, Father Octavian, has already heard of the Doctor and explains that the dropships will be lowering down from orbit soon. He then asks if River has infromed him of what they're after. River then asks what the Doctor knows of the Weeping Angels.
It's night time by all the troops arrive and the Doctor is growing increasingly nervous as Amy is refusing to return to the safety of the TARDIS
while he helps neutralise the angel with the Church, which he explains to Amy is the religion "moving on". The Doctor puts up with Amy asking questions about his relationship with River, wondering if she's his wife because of how she treats him. River calls them to one of the bunkers and shows them footage of the Weeping Angel they're after; it is four seconds long and has been put on loop. The Doctor and River explain to Amy and Father Octavian the nature of a Weeping Angel. Octavian wonders if the Doctor has enounter the Angel before. The Doctor tells him a bit about his time encountering them on Earth with Martha Jones, but goes on to say they were scavengers barely surviving. Amy then wonders how a statue could cause so much trouble. River says legedn holds it that the Angel can only exist when not being observed; the Doctor corrects her by explaining the quantum lock the Angels have. They leave and River hands the Doctor a book about the Angels, explaining that a mad man wrote it. Surprisingly, the Doctor reads it quickly and comments on various parts of the book.
While the Doctor, River, and Father Octavian make plans, Amy feels left out, and looks around the dropship. The Weeping Angel has changed ever so slightly - its hands are slightly away from its face, and its head has turned slightly to the camera. The four-second loop changes again. The Weeping Angel is now facing the camera, arms spread. Amy turna the television of. It turns itself back on. She tries to unplug the television, to no avail. When Amy looks back up, the Weeping Angel has again moved, its face now filling the screen. Amy tries opening the dropship's airlock, but it is deadlock sealed, and the Weeping Angel is now screaming into the camera.
Outside, River watches in amusement as the Doctor "goes baby face" while examining the book and wonders how early the Doctor is in his timesteam. He vaguely explains it's "fairly early" and River is amused that he doesn't know who she is yet. The Doctor then tells her he is confused on how she knows it's him as he doesn;t always look the same (regeneration). River tells him that she has all his faces recorded in her diary, but he never seems to show up in the right order, saying she needs a "spotters guide". This prompts the Doctor to wonder about the book warning them about the Weeping Angels has not a single picture of one. River then tells him to look at the page about images. The Doctor reads it again -"Whatever holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel". The Doctor then realizes they left the footage of an Angel on in the dropship and Amy is still in it. At the same time, Amy looks back to the screen and the Weeping Angel is projecting itself inside the dropship. The Doctor attempts to open the door with his sonic screwdriver, but it won't work as it is deadlock. River protests to there being deadlocks as the Doctor tries to cut the power, saying it has been deadlocked on, much to River's continued annoyance. The Doctor explains to River there ARE deadlocks NOW since the Angel is coming to life. As the Doctor begins panicing, he tells Amy not to let the Angel move, but then checks the book again, and tells her not to look into the Angel's eyes. River is confused and asks the Doctor what he means. The Doctor reads "The eyes are not the window to the soul, but the DOOR. Beware what might enter there". However, Amy has already looked into the Angel's
eyes, but then rememebers what she was told about "images" and realizes she can pause the footage at the static when it loops. Doing so, Amy freezes the Angel and the television turns off as the doors unlock and the Doctor enters and pulls the power cord to the television. Busy, the Doctor tells River to hug Amy and explains that the Angel was trying to reach out to them through the television and is no longer dormant. The Church soldiers break through into the temple and the Doctor leaves exclaiming "It's begun," but not before Amy rubs her eye, and tells River that there was something in it.
The team climbs down into the temple and discovers a gravity well inside. Amy wonders where they are as he Doctor halfway explains, "Well, if you're a creature of living stone..." and kicks a gravity globe into the well. It floats in the middle of the chamber, showing a room filled with stone statues; this makes it a needle in a haystack for finding the Angel. The Doctor goes off to explore, giving Father Octavian a moment to ask River if he "knows" yet. River tells him it is too soon in the Doctor's timeline, to which Octavian responds "Well, don't let him work it out." She ends the conversation by telling Octavian that she has "no intention of going back to prison." Octavian lets River leave with the Doctor and Amy while sending Clerics Christian and Angelo to the one visible exit from the chamber.
While exploring with the Doctor and River, Amy rubs her eye again. This time, dust runs out of it and through her fingers. River notices Amy looking at her hand, and asks if she is all right. Amy shakes the question off and asks what a Maze of the Dead is. River tells her it's not as bad as it sounds, and that it's just called that because dead people are buried in the walls. She then realizes it was "a little bad" and gives Amy an inoculation to provide protection from radiation, Amy asks River what the Doctor is like in his future. River, not wanting to give spoilers, says "the Doctor is the Doctor." Amy then sarcasticly says it was useful information. River then tells the Doctor that they ARE talking about him, but he appears too distracted to notice them or the fact he is holding a device wrong. River corrects how he is holding the device while Amy suggests River is the Doctor's wife. River asks Amy if it could ever be such a simple thing with the Doctor and Amy stays sure of her thought. River does not answer yes or no to Amy's question, but says she's "good".
Elsewhere, Christian and Angelo complain about the mission. Christian's rifle's light flickers. He turns back to call for Angelo to come to him and looks up to see a Weeping Angel about to attack. Angelo gets a transmission from Christian to come and see something. He continues down the caves and is also attacked.
The Doctor, Amy, and River hear gunfire and head out to investigate. Cleric Bob has fired on a statue thinking it an Angel. They find Ocatavian berating Bob for his cowardice and lack of competence, but the Doctor decides to raise Bob's hope by telling him fear will keep him alert and fast. Octavian then orders Bob to keep guard of the entrance along with Christian and Angelo, and then joins the Doctor in his exploration. None of them know Christian and Angelo are dead.
The Doctor, Amy, River, Octavian, and a few clerics continue deeper into the caverns and into a chamber of statues. The Doctor says they should visit the Aplan's some time and makes a joke/reference that so is Virgina Wolf, but he is on her bowling team. River tells the Doctor she senses something wrong, but is unable to tell what it is. The Doctor tells her that he feels it too and begins going on about how Aplans were relaxed and cheerful and were never short a head for snogging; he then says the Church set up rules about self-marrying - "That's the Church for you". He then appologizes to Octavian, who takes both the offense and appologie. As they continue, Amy says the Church had a point about it as the divorces must have been messy. River the gasps softly as the Doctor realizes what is shocking her. The Doctor tells her "Exactly" River is confused as to how. The Doctor speculates a "low level perception filter", but then decides "or maybe we're just thick". The Doctor tells Octavian he is sorry and that they are in great danger. Octavian wonder why and River tells them that the Aplans had two heads as the Doctor points out that the stautes do not. He gathers everyone behind him and has them turn off their torches. He then turns his off for a split second and when it comes back on, all the statues have moved to the attack. The entire chamber is filled with Weeping Angels. The Doctor deduces they have been without anything to feed off of long enough to degrade. The crash of the Byzantium is releasing enough radiation to feed the army of Angels.
Cleric Bob gets a call from Angelo, telling him to come and see something. Bob does, and is attacked by the undamaged Weeping Angel from the ship.
Octavian radios Bob a warning. Bob explains that he is on his way and that Chisteon and Angelo are dead. The Doctor takes Octavian's commuincator and talks to Bob, wondering how his friends were killed. Bob explains the Angels broke their necks, confusing the Doctor as the Angels normaly displace people in time. However, the Doctor then asks how he escaped, but Bob explains he did not and that the Angel killed him as well. Confused, the Doctor asks how he can be talking to him, to which Bob says the Angel reanimated a copy of his conciousness to speak to them as it has no voice of its own. The Doctor then confirms that when Bob says he is on his way, it is actauly the Angel; everyone else flees towards the Byzantum as the Doctor asks Bob which Angel he is. He confirms that it is the Angel from the Byzantium.
The Doctor runs to catch up with everyone to find Amy holding onto a rope bridge. She explains her hand has turned to stone and she is stuck. The Doctor realizes that she looked into the hologram's eyes, it opend her soul to Angel Bob and tries to convince her that the Angel is just playing with her mind, and her hand is just fine. They argue over whether or not her hand is stone as Angels draw nearer, flickering the Doctor's flashlight to gain ground. The Doctor bites Amy's hand to convince her, and the two run away while Amy complains about the Doctor's teeth and how much they hurt her hand
All the survivors are now gathered below the wreckage of the Byzantium, with no way out. Bob radios again, and tells the Doctor that the Angels are "very keen" that he should know that Bob died in fear and pain. River remarks to Amy that the Angels are trying to make the Doctor angry. The Doctor asks if everyone in the room trusts him and gets positive responses. He then asks for Octavian's sidearm. He instructs them to jump when he does something extremely "stupid and dangerous". He tells Bob that the Angels made one mistake in designing their trap, saying that "There's one thing you never want to put in a trap. If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans of seeing tomorrow then there's one thing that you should never, put in a trap..." River smiles at this. The Angels wonder what the Doctor means. The Doctor then answers "Me." With that, he shoots the ceiling, destroying the gravity globe and plunging them into the dark...
Cast
- The Doctor - Matt Smith
- Amy Pond - Karen Gillan
- River Song - Alex Kingston
- Alistair - Simon Dutton
- Security Guard - Mike Skinner
- Octavian - Iain Glen
- Christian - Mark Springer
- Angelo - Troy Glasgow
- Bob - David Atkins
- Marco - Darren Morfitt
- Weeping Angel - Marie McGonigle (uncredited)
- Weeping Angel - Caroline Royce (uncredited)
- Pedro - Mark Monero (uncredited)
- Phillip - George Russo (uncredited)
Crew
| Executive Producers Steven Moffat, Piers Wenger and Beth Willis |
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| Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources. |
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Reza Karim and Jill Reeves were interviewed on the accompanying Doctor Who Confidential, credited as "Prosthetics Supervisors". Likewise, Ailsa Berk is clearly seen providing choreography for the Weeping Angels in Confidential. However, none of these people were listed in the end credits of The Time of Angels as originally broadcast on BBC One. |
References
Languages
- River leaves the Doctor a message in Old High Gallifreyan on a home box: "Hello, sweetie".
Planets
- The Byzantium crash-lands on Alfava Metraxis.
Spacecraft
- The Byzantium is a spacecraft carrying a Weeping Angel. It crash lands when its warp engines suffer a phase shift.
Races and species
- Over hundreds of years Weeping Angels lose their form.
- The Doctor mentions he had dinner with the Aplans' chief Architect once.
- The Delerium Archive is the final resting place of the Headless Monks
Religion
- The soldiers who accompany River Song are from the Church.
- The angels' overuse of the phrase 'Come and See' is a reference to the Horsemen of the Apocalypse in Revelations, specifically the Angel of Death.
TARDIS
- The TARDIS is capable of creating and extending an air corridor.
- The TARDIS has brakes.
- According to River Song, the TARDIS isn't supposed to make the classic materialization/dematerialization noise; she says it's because the Doctor always leaves the brakes on, to which he counters, saying he likes the sound the TARDIS makes. However other TARDISes make the classic noise when piloted by other Time Lords, such as The Master's and The Rani's. Even when Romana piloted the Doctor's TARDIS, the ship made the same noise when materialising (DW: The Pirate Planet). Given the nature of their relationship, it is possible, even likely, that River Song was teasing the Doctor.
- The TARDIS can operate like a spaceship, following the Byzantium through space before jumping through time to reach the crash site.
- The TARDIS has a blue stabilizer button that the Doctor was seemingly unaware of; however, he then says that they are "boring".
Technology
- A Home Box is like a flight recorder; after a ship lands it can home-in back to the spacecraft's planet of origin.
- The projection of a Weeping Angel is able to deadlock seal the landing pod, despite the pod not having the capability.
- Perception filters are refered to again.
- Gravity globes, first seen in The Impossible Planet, return.
Story notes
- This was the first episode of Series 5 to be filmed, and therefore the first episode featuring Matt Smith and Karen Gillan.[1]
- This is Amy's first meeting with River Song--who, unknown to her, is actually her future daughter, Melody.
- Amy Pond thinks her hand has turned to stone. Actress Karen Gillan had previously appeared in DW: The Fires of Pompeii as a member of the Sibylline Sisterhood, a cult of soothsayers whose flesh was beginning to turn to stone due to the influence of the Pyroviles.
- This is the third appearance of the Weeping Angels if one counts non-TV appearances; they have previously featured in DW: Blink and in Captain Jack's Monster Files. (See WC: A Ghost Story for Christmas)
- The Doctor ripping the strap off the ceiling of one of the small ships was originally an accident; the producers liked the idea so much that they filmed Matt Smith doing it again.
- In this story, River Song is a doctor. She seems surprised (maybe a bit delighted) when the Doctor lets slip that she will one day be a professor. In conversation with Father Octavian, she mentions that she was once imprisoned for a crime, and that the Doctor wouldn't help them if he knew who she truly was. It was revealed shortly before the episode aired that the crime was murdering "the best man she ever knew." It turned out that she was convicted for the "murder" of the Doctor (See DW: The Wedding of River Song). [2]
- River Song is the sixth person seen capable of flying the TARDIS solo since the reintroduction of Doctor Who in 2005. Others have included: the Doctor; Captain Jack Harkness; The Master; Rose Tyler empowered as the Bad Wolf entity; the Meta-Crisis Tenth Doctor; and Donna Noble during her Meta-Crisis with the Doctor. Prior to 2005, several companions and (of course) other Time Lords were seen to be able to operate the TARDIS to varying degrees.
[[Video:Graham gets exterminated for spoiling Doctor Who - The Graham Norton Show preview - BBC One|thumb|250px|right|Graham Norton's response to the furore caused by the appearance of his cartoon avatar during the episode's cliffhanger.]]
- During its airing in some parts of England, an animated advert for the talent show Over the Rainbow began playing over the cliffhanger. This sparked complaints to the BBC who later apologised. The advert contained an animated Graham Norton, who later joked about it on his own show – saying he finally secured a role on Doctor Who. However, his voice had previously been overheard during the first episode of the revived series, Rose, when an error in broadcasting began playing the audio of a trailer featuring Norton for another of his talent shows, Strictly Dance Fever.
- This is the first episode of Series 5 not to feature one of The Cracks, but one does show up in the next episode. This is likely to be because it is the first of a two-part story. However, some have noticed what appears to be a closed crack in the Weeping Angel recording.
- One question commonly asked by fans regarding DW: Blink was why Sally Sparrow and Larry Nightingale did not try closing one eye at a time to keep the Weeping Angels at bay. When the Angel is attacking Amy, she tries this method, but remarks on how difficult it actually is.
- The episode ran short in its original cut because high tides at the beach location forced the abandonment of about three scripted pages — including the scene which had been used to audition Karen Gilian for the part of Amy Pond. In its place, Steven Moffat inserted the scene where River flies the TARDIS, which was filmed as a pick-up. (DCOM: The Time of Angels)
- In Journeys End, the Doctor claims that the real reason the TARDIS makes the sound is because it needs six pilots, though its possible that it was possibly changed due to the TARDIS transformation.
Ratings
6.8 million
Filming locations
- The beach on Alfava Metraxis were filmed at Southerndown beach, Vale of Glamorgan. This was also where scenes in Army of Ghosts/Doomsday and Journey's End were filmed.[3]
Rumours
- River Song's presence in this episode may indicate that it is set in the 51st century, but this is not certain, as it is unknown precisely where in the timeline River Song comes from. The Doctor very briefly mentioned that it was the 51st century.
- A teaser from Digital Spy has implied a Data Ghost device will appear in this episode.[1] This was proved partially true. The same suits which have the devices were spotted in the episode, but were not used.
Production errors
- When Amy is trapped by the recorded angel, after The Doctor rushes to help, River Song's hand can be seen pressing buttons on the door but the scene cuts to show her still where she and The Doctor were before.
- When the Doctor is talking to 'Angel Bob' over the radio, he doesn't have a torch in his hand. But then, in the next shot running past Amy, he is shown with one.If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
- The warning on the dropship door reads "CAUTION: Trip Hazzard". The word "Hazard" is not properly spelt in this manner.
- When River is in space, the TARDIS has white windows. The scene then cuts to a close up of the Doctor, and the windows are black. Also, the St John's Ambulance badge is missing from the door. Steven Moffat admits that it is the "David Tennant police box" on the DVD commentary, but falls gentlemanly short of laying blame at the feet of any particular production member.
- Steven Moffat notes in the in-vision commentary that there are massive continuity errors throughout the episode, with respect to the length of Matt Smith's hair. Indeed, careful examination does reveal that Smith's hair has several different lengths, sometimes within the same scene.
- Before River is sucked out of the Byzantium, unlike the other two, the guard on the left has no pipes on his side of the corridor to hold on to, yet when River is sucked out, he can be seen hanging onto something.
- At the end when The Doctor is seen shooting the gravity globe he does not actually move his finger but the pistol still shoots
- When River Song takes the red high-heel shoes from the Tardis console, it is interesting to note that it was there since The Eleventh Hour.
Continuity
- The same suits River Song and her crew wore when she became an archeologist can be seen in this episode in the pod where Amy encounters her first Weeping Angel. (DW: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead).
- The Weeping Angels previously appeared in DW: Blink.
- River Song previously appeared in DW: Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead.
- The Doctor refers to the events of DW: Blink.
- River Song mentions the crash of the Byzantium in DW: Silence in the Library.
- The Doctor previously used the TARDIS to chase a crashing space ship in DW: The Empty Child.
- A gravity globe was previously used in DW: The Impossible Planet.
- Amy refers to visiting a spaceship and Winston Churchill's cabinet war-rooms. (DW: The Beast Below, Victory of the Daleks)
- High Gallifreyan was previously seen in DW: The Five Doctors; the Doctor declares he is one of the few who understands the language.
- The new sonic screwdriver is as ineffective against Deadlock Seals as its predecessors.
- Perception Filters are mentioned, though the Doctor does mention that the group may have just been "a bit thick".
- The scene where the Doctor refuses to do an environment check is reminiscent of DW: The Power of the Daleks, where a post-regeneration Second Doctor absentmindedly starts to wander out of the TARDIS. When his companions protest that he hasn't checked for oxygen on the planet, the Doctor rattles off the temperature, radiation, oxygen density, and detects a likelihood of mecury deposits.
- Similar to the Fourth Doctor with Romana, the Doctor is annoyed by someone claiming to be better at piloting the TARDIS than he is.
- After flicking quickly through the book on the Weeping Angels, the Doctor remarks "Not bad, bit boring in the middle." He did a similar thing with a book in a Parisian cafe in DW: City of Death and "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold in DW: Rose.
- The Doctor tells River that he is not a taxi service. The Fifth Doctor told Adric the same thing in DW: Earthshock.
- The Book of the Weeping Angels later appears in the Doctor's study in his TARDIS. (VG: TARDIS)
- River Song again uses the hallucinogenic lipstick in The Pandorica Opens.
- River mentions that she learnt to fly the the TARDIS from "the best" and notes that "it's a shame you (the Doctor) were busy that day". It is revealed in Let's Kill Hitler that River learnt to pilot the TARDIS from the TARDIS itself shortly after her regeneration, being recognised as a child of the TARDIS owing to her conception taking place while the TARDIS was in flight.
Timeline
For the Doctor and Amy
- This story occurs after DWAN: Nowhere Man
- This story occurs before DW: Flesh and Stone
For River Song
- This story occurs after DW: The Big Bang
- This story occurs before DW: Flesh and Stone
Home video releases
BBC Video - Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Two was released on Monday 5th July 2010 (UK Only) on DVD and Blu-ray, featuring The Time of Angels, Flesh and Stone and The Vampires of Venice. [4]
External links
to be added
