Rate and Discuss 3.10: Blink

[Pip Madeley]

SPLINK!

Erm, I mean, Blink. The angels are watching out for you, Sally Sparrow.



You know how it works by now, no poll touching before 7.55pm and absolutely no spoilers before the episode has finished airing. Otherwise it'll still be damp. And we don't like damp spoilers.

[WileyKat]

That was...fabulous.

[Pip Madeley]

I thought that was another fantastic episode, we're really in the middle of a great run, I'll get more in depth later.

(and oh my God, when I saw the end titles squashed into the corner, I thought "OG will melt" )

[Dave Tudor]

OK, that was excellent, and gets a 9 from me. I'll post a proper review when I can get round to it, but there's one thing I want to say now:

SALLY SPARROW HAS TO BE THE NEXT COMPANION!!!

If that wasn't the finest ever audition for the role of companion, I don't know what was.

[Alex]

Wow!!! And wow again!!!

I absolutely adored that, it hooked me in from the word go and was just so gripping! It was a fascinating mystery that kept me glued to the screens, and bar the first five minutes or so I didn't even notice how Doctor-lite it was.

This sort of time travel mystery is so my kind of thing, and it was just so brilliantly written and directed that I've nothing bad in the slightest to say about it. All the cast were brilliant, the villains one of the most disturbing I've seen in anything, and eeeeee, I just loved it! It might also have something to do with fancying the arse off of Sally Sparrow (who looked like a British Drew Barrymore, which gets a big mmmmm from me), but she managed to carry the whole episode superbly, and quite frankly I'd love to see her as a new companion. Well, you never know. As for Mr Stephan Moffat, well I think he has proved how superb a writer he is consistently for me now, it really is time RTD was fired and Moffat was allowed to take over as show runner!

Anyhoo, this gets my first 10/10 for the whole of the new series!


(And I know, I've used far too many explanation marks but I enjoyed that so much I just can't help it!)

[Alex]

OK, that was excellent, and gets a 9 from me. I'll post a proper review when I can get round to it, but there's one thing I want to say now:

SALLY SPARROW HAS TO BE THE NEXT COMPANION!!!

If that wasn't the finest ever audition for the role of companion, I don't know what was.

Absolutely! I'm thinking of starting the online petition right now!

[Carol Baynes]

Great episode, and very scary!

[Trudi G]

WOW! Clear 10/10 from me - i couldn't take my eyes off the screen, lol!
That's the kind of sci-fi i adore - it was very Phillip K Dick.
I loved the end bit when she saw the Doctor, but he had no idea what she was talking about - it was just the cherry on a very tasty cake, lol!

[Simon R]

It's a heavily modified version of Moffat's "Sally Sparrow" story from the 2006 (released in 2005) Doctor Who Annual.

FACT!!!

[Dave Tudor]

Ah, I thought the name sounded familiar, but I thought Rob Shearman wrote that story?

[Paul Hayes]

10 out of 10, superb. Wonderful. Excellent.

"I love that one! I've got it on a t-shirt!"

Best ever episode of Confidential on at the moment, too.

[Paul Hayes]

Ah, I thought the name sounded familiar, but I thought Rob Shearman wrote that story?

No, he wrote the killer rain one.

[Simon R]

Ah, I thought the name sounded familiar, but I thought Rob Shearman wrote that story

I thought that too! I really liked the story in the annual although there's no "angels" from what I recall.

[Paul Clement]

A 10/10 from me for this one. It's almost as good as the last two episodes.

[Lissa]

A well reasoned and highly educated dissenter on OG.

Unfortunately, these are the same fans who know the whole "letter from the past" thing was ripped from Back to the Future part 2.

Get. Some. Original. Ideas. You. Goddamn. Hack.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

Back to the Future - the true pioneering works of time-travel science fiction.

Time-travelly paradoxy stuff is cool though and that was everything Father's Day should have been but wasn't.

I would have given it a 10, but I didn't really get why she was poking around in that house in the first place and nor could I ever bring myself to vote for anything to do with spurting wee.

[Logo Polish]

I thought it was alright, but think I might want to watch it again once or twice before I'm sure how I feel about it. Generally high quality though, and the leads helped give it quite a fresh feel. Some of the concepts didn't entirely appeal, but that's just me. Not really much I'd want to criticise it for.

[Milky Tears]

"... and the windows are the wrong size!"

11/10

[Martin Penny]

I thought it was very good!
All rather cleverly done as well, and as others have said, I really wish Sally could be the next companion, she reminded me a bit of Lalla Ward.

Scary Angels too! Loved the little bit at the end suggesting all statues were secretly trying to kill you

[Pip Madeley]

I gave it an 8 - thoroughly enjoyable, but yes, I did notice the obvious rip off from Back To The Future II, which rather niggled at me. But a really bold idea for a Doctor Who story, and although it was well acted by the guest cast, I was glad that Tennant made more than a fleeting appearance. The DI stuck in the past, and dying as an old man the same day, was a touching idea, although Doctor Who being the breakneck show it is nowadays, I felt his bit was just a little bit too rushed for us to totally feel any proper emotion for him.

[Rob McCow]

That's the kind of sci-fi i adore - it was very Phillip K Dick.

I'm not so sure... the message from 'someone' who can help was a bit like that, but it wasn't paticularly trippy.

SALLY SPARROW HAS TO BE THE NEXT COMPANION!!!

We suspected that you might be a fan of hers, Dave!

Was this really scary? Did I blink and miss the scary bits?

It was alright though. What was Sally doing in that house?

I really liked the subplot with Shipton, but the whole thing could have been edited out without really affecting the plot. All he does is say 'Look at the list that you already have!'

More thoughts of randomness....

It was an intriguing set up, the scenes with them watching the Doctor's message were quite fun, but aside from that, there was very little that was special about this episode. Lots and lots of technobabble too, although 'Timey-wimey' is cool! But the technobabble is creeping into Who more and more.

It gains extra marks for not having bananas and a silly 'Dancing' metaphor!

Next weeks looks like it'll be AWESOME!!!! With extra awesome bits

[Martin Penny]

One thing I will mention, thats never bothered me before, was the music. I really like Murray Golds music, but it ruined some of the early scenes for me in this one, when it would have been far more effective just having silence.

[MinaHarker]

10/10 for me. It was a thrilling ride - suspense, scary aliens we don't quite understand, clever time travel confusion ..... everything a good Dr Who episode should be.

I did shriek a few times, and jump a lot .... I think I'll sleep with the lights on.

LOVED IT!

[Captain Tancredi]

Well, that was rather good, wasn't it?

I like to think that the statue of Eric Morecambe on the seafront at Morecambe would send you back to the 1970s so that you could spend the next ten years watching decent light entertainment.

[SiHart]

Sorry to rain on everyone's parade, but I really didn't like that much at all. On the positive side, I agree that Sally was really well played and the central time travel mystery was pretty good, but other than that, well I have to say it didn't grip me, didn't scare me, didn't thrill me and I just didn't get all the things that everyone else is getting from this story.

The Easter Eggs thing had no emotional resonance at all. Like the episode for me really. I'm sorry but I wasn't impressed with the "romance" between Sparrow and Nightengale, and their coming together at the end was so predictable. People coming together because of the Doctor was done far better last year in Love and Monsters.

The staues would have terrified me if I was 6 though.

I don't enjoy not liking Doctor Who, but this episode just didn't do anything for me at all. It's the first time the new series has been like this for me.

Si xx