History Recap / DoctorWhoS31E4TheTimeOfAngels

[[caption-width-right:350:''Doctor Who'' meets ''Film/{{Aliens}}'']]

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'''Original air date:''' April 24, 2010

'''Production code:''' 1.4

Written by Creator/StevenMoffat.

To be continued in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E5FleshAndStone Flesh and Stone]]".

** "''That which holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel.''"

JustForFun/{{The one w|ith}}here Moffat gives you '''more''' reasons to be afraid of statues.

* TimeyWimeyBall: Once again, River Song has this effect on the Doctor's life. Such as dragging him back 12,000 years by leaving a message on an an artifact for him to retroactively save her so they can have a meeting before the Library and "the bone meadows" and after some other stuff.

“''[[BadassBoast Me.]]''”

The one where Moffat gives you '''more''' reasons to be afraid of statues.

%% Doesn't explain what the button or the reaction is. Please do not unhide until further context has been added.* BerserkButton: The Angels taunt the Doctor.

** It's the second time Graham Norton has turned up in ''Series/DoctorWho'' when he's not wanted, the first time being some wire mix-up leaking sound from [=BBC3=] during [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose "Rose"]].

** It's not just archaeologists; the Doctor points and laughs at museums too.
*** One of the glass cases in the museum in question has a detonation pack from "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E3PlanetOfTheOod Planet of the Ood]]".

* EarlyInstalmentWeirdness: This was the first Eleventh Doctor story to be written and filmed, meaning that the Doctor comes across as noticeably more short-tempered and prone to moments of {{jerkass}}ery than in the rest of Creator/MattSmith's run in the role, while Amy seems a little more subdued (outside of the final scene) compared to the rest of the season. In the Doctor's case, it's justified--as he explains, he's about to head into radioactive catacombs in search of a Weeping Angel, so it's understandable that he's fairly nervous.
* EldritchAbomination: The Angels were already bad news in their original appearance; here it's explained that they can survive for centuries without sustenance, they eat all forms of energy, they're strong enough to snap necks with ease, they can materialise out of television images of themselves, they can ''steal your voice'' and, oh, yeah, the one way to stay ahead of them, by keeping a steady eye on them, backfires if you stare them in the eye too long, since then they get inside your head! The prophecy (mentioned at the top of the page) implies that the Angels are, in fact, ''sapient ideas''. Which makes sense, since perception is so important to their existence.

* FantasticAesop: The Church's opposition to the Aplans' "same-person marriage" would appear to be a metaphor about gay marriage, but this is then played for laughs when Amy says that they have a point — the divorces would be ''messy''.

-->'''The Doctor:''' I mean what's all that about? But then that's the church for you! No offence... bishop.\\

'''River:''' [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler Shame you were busy that day!]]

** Sacred Bob shoots a statue which he says he thought looked at him. He's promptly told off for panicking and shooting at the décor. We later find out that all these statues ''are'' Angels.
* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: The image that River captured on the security camera ''becomes'' an Angel, which then comes out of the monitor and tries to attack Amy.

* HappilyMarried: Amy assumes that the Doctor and River Song are married and interprets their banter as proof that they have been married for a long time.[[note]]The truth is complicated. She's married to him but, he isn't to her, ''yet''; and the ceremony happened in an alternate reality that was aborted and on a world that never existed. But, since both remember it, it is real to them.[[/note]]

'''River:''' It's not supposed to make that noise. ''You'' leave the brakes on.[[note]]According to WordOfGod she's pulling his leg. Given that ''every other'' TARDIS ever seen makes the same noise, it's clearly just the engine sound — which can be muted.[[/note]]\\

* MistakenForGranite: All the ''other'' Angels were thought to be Aplan statues.

* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: InUniverse, the TARDIS' *rnnnnnt* or *vworp* is explained by River as the Doctor leaving the brakes on; normally, it lands silently. However, the Doctor claims that he keeps the brakes on specifically to hear it. [[invoked]][[note]]Except that ''[[WordOfGod actually]]'', River's winding him up — if the noise really was because of the brakes, then why does every other TARDIS ever seen make it too?[[/note]]

* NeckSnap: Horrifying in their own way: obviously, you'd never be able to ''show'' something like that in ''Doctor Who''[='s=] time-slot, but you get a fleeting shot of a Weeping Angel that [[GoryDiscretionShot cuts to black]] [[SoundOnlyDeath and a crunching noise]].
* NeverGiveTheCaptainAStraightAnswer: The Weeping Angel uses this trope (and Christian and Angelo's voices) to lure Angelo and Bob to their deaths. The victims comment on how annoying it is, but give in after continued nagging.
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink Blink]]", the Angels' MO and abilities were fairly straightforward. In this outing they get a whole raft of new powers: creating themselves from images, growing inside someone's mind if that person looks them in the eye and feeding off all forms of energy instead of just "potential energy". It's explained by way of saying that the Angels in "Blink" were starving and possibly dying, hence their reduced abilities. (The Doctor explicitly describes the "Blink" Angels as "scavengers".)

* OddNameOut: Octavian, Christian, Angelo, and Bob. Sacred, Scared, ''Angelic'' Bob.

* OminousTelevision: The screen with the looping recording of an Angel. Attempts to turn off its power, of course, do ''not'' work.

* {{Retcon}}: Back in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd Journey's End]]", it was stated that the reason the TARDIS tended to be so shaky and wildly unpredictable during flight was because [=TARDISes=] have to be operated by six people in order to fly stably. This episode does away with that and establishes the existence of "Blue Stabilizers", which allow the TARDIS to fly entirely smoothly with one pilot with the simple touch of a button, presumably meaning that the Ninth and Tenth Doctors either didn't bother using said stabilizers, or they were non-functional and conveniently got fixed after the Tenth Doctor's regeneration blew up the console room.

* StupidEvil: Angel Bob knows full well who and what the Doctor is, and still goes out of his way to antagonize the Doctor.

* ThrownOutTheAirlock: River airlocks herself to escape the ''Byzantium''... right into the TARDIS. For added points, she does that on the off-chance that the Doctor will find her message thousands of years later, and travel back in time to catch her.

%% Doesn't explain what the button or the reaction is. Please do not unhide until further context has been added.* Berserk Button: The Angels taunt the Doctor.

* FeetFirstIntroduction: River is introduced with a shot of her [[NiceShoes red stilettoes]] striding down the corridor of the ''Byzantium''.

* NiceShoes: River's red Christian Louboutin heels get a close-up during her introduction. They became very popular among the fandom after the episode aired.

* BerserkButton: The Angels taunt the Doctor.

* EarlyInstalmentWeirdness: This was the first Eleventh Doctor story to be written and filmed, meaning that the Doctor comes across as noticeably more short-tempered and prone to moments of {{jerkass}}ery than in the rest of Creator/MattSmith's run in the role, while Amy seems a little more subdued (outside of the final scene) compared to the rest of the season.

** Angel!Bob repeatedly tells the other cleric to [[Literature/{{BookOfRevelation}} "Come and See"]].

* ActionizedSequel: Moffat described this as ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' to the ''Film/{{Alien}}'' of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink Blink]]". "Blink" was a haunted house story built around a StableTimeLoop and a spooky atmosphere, with a couple of unarmed civilians trying to evade four angels. Here, we have the Doctor, River, Amy and several trained soldiers[[note]] Who although are from the 51st century, do not know to mount their torches on their helmets, to leave both hands free. Something already being done in contemporary militaries even as the episode was filmed. [[/note]] against an entire army of angels.