Yeah, sorry :P
This is the first time I've actually sat down and watched more than 5 minutes of an episode, due to the fact I didn't want to get addicted to another show, like I have with so many shows I'm currently mid-completion on.
HOWEVER, It is interesting to me that the two episodes today are commonly presented as some of the scariest Doctor Who episodes, ever. "Blink" is always first. I'm not going to lie, I had to look away at certain points and I did partially scream at one point during the episode. That being said, I absolutely loved it.
What makes creatures within science fiction such as the weeping angels and the..... creepy looking puppet clock things (for lack of a better word) so scary? Is it the unknown nature of them? Is it the startling difference between humans and these things, even in the existence (and acceptance) of a time traveling David Tenant, that roots fear within the episodes?
I personally enjoyed "Blink" much more than "The Girl in the Fireplace". Although the time travel aspect is seen as a cause to the later event instead of directly interfering in the main character's life, It seems much more involved. There is more emotion and depth within "Blink". That may be because I'm attributing that to the fact it was more emotionally startling to deal with an everyday existence instead of a clockwork robot harvesting human body parts.
Anywho, thoughts? Comments? Any other episodes I desperately need to see?
I personally liked "The Angels Take Manhattan." It's one of the few newer episodes I've seen (mostly because it featured the Weeping Angels). Be warned though, the ending is rather melancholy.
ReplyDeleteThis was also my first time watching Dr. Who and I have to agree with you about the Angels ... they were rather frightening. I found myself trying not to blink whenever they appeared on screen; I even tried blinking one eye at a time. I suppose it would be useful to keep a mirror handy when dealing with the Angels.
ReplyDeleteI think what's frightening about many of the monsters in Doctor Who are their lack of empathy. The clockwork repair drones are simply programmed to repair their ship in any way they can, and the weeping angels are just after the time energy of the TARDIS.
ReplyDeleteYou'd probably like The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (Eccleston) and Human Nature/The Family of Blood (Tennant).
These were also my first Doctor Who episodes and I agree with your thoughts. I was particularly interested in the drones and angels, who were just if not more frightening than most "scary things." I also agree with you on the fact that I am not sure what makes them so frightening, but I think it probably has something to do with how alien they seem. I would never imagine a drone looking like that under someone's bed or an evil angel.
ReplyDeleteAs confusing as I know this is going to sound, I feel like Blink definitely elicited more emotional response in general, but whenever The Girl in the Fireplace really tugged at the heartstrings ("...a world of monsters for the sake of an angel") it definitely struck a chord with me more than Blink did.
ReplyDeleteBut they're both excellent episodes and it's hardly a competition between them.
This was also my first time to watch Doctor Who and I enjoyed Blink more as well. I think the scariest part about the angels is that the writer of Doctor Who made an otherwise peaceful creature into a villain. Angels almost always play the role of the good guys (or girls) and the depiction of angels as monsters was pretty cool.
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