Doctor Who (2005)

Flesh and Stone (2)

Season 5, Episode 5, Aired 5/1/10

Episode Summary

Trapped among an army of Weeping Angels, the Doctor and his friends try to escape through the forest dome. Meanwhile, Amy finds herself facing an even more deadly attack.
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8.9

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Cast & Crew

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Matt Smith

The Eleventh Doctor
Karen Gillan

Amy Pond
Alex Kingston

River Song

Fan Episode Reviews (13)

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the weeping angels and hunting the doctor and Amy but a bigger threat soon makes itself known.

9.5

"Superb"

By alexjones555, Jun 15, 2011 Report Abuse

This was an awesome conclusion to an epic to parter, the doctor and Amy are being hunted by the weeping angels but it soon turns out that they have bigger problems when A crack in time appears that can wipe someone out of time and make it so they never existed. There was a pretty scary bit where Amy had to pretend she could see the angels even though she had to keep her eyes closed. those soldier dudes were wiped out of time but i don't really mind since I didn't really like them anyway. the angels were devoured by the time crack so their no longer a problem but something tells me we haven't seen the last of those cracks in tine.moreless

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3 2
The Doctor and co. must escape a large group of the Weeping Angles, in the decent conclusion of this two-parter...

9.0

"Superb"

By Jay-Spacedust, Jun 15, 2011 Report Abuse

This review contains spoilers.

Everyone I know, who even just watches 'Doctor Who' casually, has been on all week about it (and not just the infamous intrusive on-screen animation at the end of last week's ep) and looking forward to the second part.

I liked this one. It had a good plot, and Amy having to keep her eyes clothes was creepy and yet strangely sexy at the same time. Both Karen Gillan (IMO the best modern 'Who' companion by far) and Matt Smith put in top-notch performances once again. Although I respect David Tennant for what he did in the role, I just believe in Smith so much more in the part.

One of my (few) gripes of last week's instalment was that I found Alex Kingston was hamming it up as River. Thankfully, this week she didn't seem to as much, and the story was better for it. I know there are legions of River fans, but personally I find her interesting but am rather take-or-leave-her. I took her hints about killing a man to mean that some time in her future she tries to kill the Doctor. We will have to wait and see for that, but I hope they resist temptation from bringing her back TOO often.

So were they right to bring the Weeping Angels back? I mentioned last week that I was worried it might tarnish the classic, stand-alone original, 'Blink'. ... Well, 'Time of the Angels' and 'Flesh and Stone' aren't as spectacular as 'Blink', but they do very well and do not spoil the original IMO.

I also wondered with Part 1 if this Angels story should have been a single parter, and the badly cramped down 'Victory of the Daleks' been allowed to instead develop into the two-parter it was clearly designed to be. Well, in a perfect world, both would have been two-parters, but in a series of thirteen episode slots, it sadly wasn't to be.

Anyway, overall I liked this episode, though if I must pick fault, I found some of it, particularly the first half, to be a bit over-talky and stretched. However, this was made up for by a great second half. As with all of this new fifth series, I'll have to watch the episode again to fully take it all in (a good sign, as seldom did I watch any Tennant-era more than once).
I wasn't sure about Amy trying to get it on with the Doctor at the end, but I think I was more jealous than anything!! =)

All-in-all, not quite perfect, but a decent two-parter, and as always, I can't wait for next week's episode, 'The Vampires Of Venice'.moreless

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6 1
Moffat proves that he was the perfect man to take over Who with the second part of this story that continues with the scares and pace with the Doctor and Amy realising that the Angels are not the worst thing out there.moreless

10

"Perfect"

By kingnige, Jun 15, 2011 Report Abuse

If it was anyone other than Moffat writing this two parter I might have been worried after last week that such a perfect first episode could be followed at the same level.

However 45 minutes later Moffat is confirmed as one of the best writers on television. This episode had scares, energy, a decent link to the main story (and a nice revelation at the end which you know is going to be something amazing when revealed) and along with the excellent Matt Smith and Karen Gillen Moffat has produced something wonderful.

Alex Kingston also deserves praise for her performance as River Song, a character who has managed to become even more mysterious now that we know more about her. Can't wait to see when she appears again.

Without wanting to give anything away about the story this episode as such wonderful touches and writing that produce so many stand out and memorable moments (two are the conversation between the doctor and amy before he leaves, and when the doctor and the father as they discuss how to deal with a sticky angel problem).

I also like that some things from the previous episode are not answered (why did the angels kill and not zap though time like before) and the sense of dread that you get from the cracks.

Looking forward to the next episode and the eventual resolution of the crack saga (no doubt with many different alien creatures along the way to make things more difficult for the doctor and amy).

long live new who...moreless

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8 1
Wooo

9.5

"Superb"

By angim350, Jun 15, 2011 Report Abuse

Building from the superb episode last week, this episode was really something. Bringing in the crack in reality was clever; alot of questions were answered here. We can sort of guess why Amy didn't know the Daleks; time is being re-written because of some huge explosion at some point in time. But does that mean the whole world has forgotten them? It's certainly an excuse for Moffat to make the world forget about all the invasions (Slitheen, Daleks, Cybermen, Racnoss, Toclafane, Titanic, 456, Bane etc.) although I don't want to think he's going to destory the development that RTD put the Planet as a whole through. The Earth learned and grew through the invasions. The past 5 years cannot just be erased. I loved everything about this episode; Matt Smith is perfect for the Doctor and is fast becoming a good contender for Tennant (huge shoes to fill, that Smith is filling wonderfully well while also making the part his own). Karen Gillan was very good today too and Alex Kingston did her usual superb job as River Song. If I have to pick one favourite moment form the episode its where we finally see the Angels move. Properly. I never thought they'd show that but I'm glad they did it now or they never would. The Angels are superb monsters and Moffat should be very proud; they will go down in DW history and will no doubt return under future Producers. Ultimatelly I'm loving Moffat's DW as much as RTD's, maybe even more so. RTD made DW my favourite show and Moffat is building on that sucess yet making it different, seeming to improve on RTD's weaknesses while exploiting his strengths. Keep up the good work!!moreless

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10 1
Oh, I knew they had it in them.

9.5

"Superb"

By noelveiga, Jun 15, 2011 Report Abuse

I've been critical of Doctor Who so far this season. Too much talk, too little action, not enough creepyness, too much Amy, too little Doctor. And yet, I always liked the ideas, the characters and the cast, which only made it more disappointing that the whole thing didn't quite work as a whole.

That's over now. This episode is the best Doctor Who not just this season, but since the season 4 finale. Things happen, plot lines move forward, characters take action... sure, the situation kind of solves itself at the end, but I'll let that pass just on the episode's cool factor. It's pure joy to see Doctor Who firing on all cylinders after so many weird specials and unpolished scripts and at this point my only concern is whether upcoming episodes will be able to keep this up.

You can stop reading the review here if you want, what's coming is more gushing, but if you have seen the episode or don't mind spoilers, here's a brief list of things that are great in this that weren't in the season so far:

Matt Smith emoting. We got glimpses in The Beast Below, but Mr. Smith, I really do like you when you're angry. But besides those fierce flashes of cosmic rage the Doctor here gets to be desperate, brilliant, rambling, sad, scared and surprised.

Amy Pond. Amy has been great all around, but perhaps to set her up she has been overplayed, too. She's been given the key actions in every episode, and has overshadowed the Doctor. Here she plays the damsel in peril without losing her wit and strength. It's also a guilty pleasure to see a companion get openly sexual with the Doctor, if only to prove why it doesn't work. TV is going back to URST in a very cheap way, and Amy's sexy aggressiveness is a nice counterpoint. And it moves the plot forward, to boot.

Oh, Rory is coming back next week. Doctor Who needed more Rory. We like Rory.

The cracks work! So far the cracks in time motif had been a serious candidate to take the "worst foreshadowing ever" award away from the Bad Wolf graffiti, but here it gets resolved and brought to the forefront, seriously rising the stakes and making the plot of the episode spill over to the next despite providing closure. Cool.

Creepy stuff. Amy's "infection" is scary, and it only gets scarier when the time cracks add surrealism to the situation. There's no gore or any usual horror tropes, but the episode is still scary. That's the Doctor Who tone, and this episode nails it.

Action! Finally. I don't know if it's splitting the team in two, but the episode felt action packed compared to all the previous ones. While the Doctor still talked people through stuff more than get his hands dirty and spent most of his own time cracking doors open with the sonic screwdriver, the sense of scope was helped by the different locations and the physical movement. The Doctor had to leave Amy, then Amy had to get to the Doctor, the whole thing was framed as a long chase sequence... physical action matters, and this episode shows why.

On the flipside of this last one, some cut corners on the effects were obvious. Amy gets teleported just offscreen to save on a CG shot, camera tricks replace effects for all the gravity play in the story... but I don't care. Nobody cares. It's Doctor Who, bad effects are a given and they don't annoy anybody. If there's an audience that can be trusted to fill in the gaps with imagination, it's certainly Who fans.

So yeah, there you go. This was the one. It was great fun and it has renewed my hopes for the season. Let's keep them coming.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- According to the DVD in visual commentary of the Eleventh Hour, Steven Moffat said the TARDIS crashing scene with the Millennium Dome in the background was a mistake, at first. However, he decided to keep it in because he thought since the TARDIS is a time machine, right after the Doctor avoided Big Ben it would pop back in time to 1996. Edit
- At the very end of the episode, a clock in Amy's room is shown changing from 11:59am to 12:00pm, which should be in the middle of the day, however it is night outside. This may not be a production error, because when the clock changes to 12:00pm, the date changes as well which should only happen when the clock changes to 12:00am. Edit
- At the end of the episode it is revealed that Amy is from 2010. However this doesn't add up. At the start of "Eleventh Hour" the Doctor can be seen hanging from his damaged TARDIS above London. The O2 Arena (previously the Millenium Dome) can be clearly seen making it at least 1999. The current time Amy is from 14 years after that (as clearly stated at the end of that episode) so the earliest time she could be from is 2013. Edit
Notes
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Quotes
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- The Doctor: It's nice in here. Consoles, comfy chairs, a forest. How's things with you? Angel Bob: The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we'll be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel. This world and all the stars, and worlds beyond. The Doctor: Well, we've got comfy chairs, did I mention? Angel Bob: We have no need of comfy chairs. The Doctor: I made him say "comfy chairs." Edit
- Father Octavian: Doctor, we're too exposed here. We have to move on. The Doctor: We're too exposed everywhere, and Amy can't move. And anyway, that's not the plan. River Song: There's a plan? The Doctor: I don't know yet, I haven't finished talking. Right, Father, you and your clerics are going to stay here and look after Amy. If anything happens to her, I'm hold every single one of you personally responsible, twice. River, you and me, we're going to go find the primary flight deck, which is... (licks his finger and sticks it in the air) a quarter of a mile straight ahead. And from there we're going to stablize the wreckage, stop the Angels and cure Amy. River Song: How? The Doctor: I'll do a thing. River Song: What thing? The Doctor: I don't know, it's a thing in progress. Respect the thing. Edit
- The Doctor: (fighting off Amy's advances) Amy, listen to me. I am 907 years old. Do you know what that means? Amy: It's been a while? The Doctor: Ye... No, no, no! I'm nine hundred and seven, and look at me. I don't get older, I just change. You get older, I don't, and this can't ever work! Amy: Oh, you are sweet, Doctor. But I wasn't really suggesting anything quite so... long-term. Edit
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