Monsters of Dr. Who… Weeping Angels

As old as the universe. No one knows where they come from.

The Weeping Angels of Dr. Who.

In 2007, the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) met these creepy statues in the episode “Blink”. Created by Stephen Moffat, these aliens quickly became the scariest monsters on the show.

The Weeping Angels attacking in the Dr. Who episode “Blink”

Look at them and they are unable to move, quantum locked, which protects them… the ultimate defense. However, look away and they attack, moving extremely fast, surrounding their victim in the blink of an eye. Their serene faces twist into an evil snarl with vampire-like teeth. They kill you nicely, as the Doctor likes to say, with a simple touch, they send you back in time before you were born and feed on the potential energy of the years you would have lived. No problem. Just don’t stop looking at them and they can’t get you. Don’t blink.

They return in 2010 in the two part show “The Time of Angels/ Flesh and Stone” with the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith). The Doctor and his companions find crumbling statues. Weeping Angels. Dead. Starved without paradoxical energy to devour. Except they’re not. And they have sensed the return of food.

In this episode, we learn that not only do we need to fear the statues, but images of them. An image of an Angel IS an Angel. Seriously… posting these pics is SO HARD TO DO! I am having anxiety.

An video image of a Weeping Angel coming to life in the Dr. Who episode “The Time of Angels”

Amy Pond learns this the hard way, when she comes across a video of one.

Geez. Oh, my beloved Dr. Who. This is why I hate statues… why I stare at them. Thanks for that.

In 2012, the Eleventh Doctor faces them again in the episode “The Angels Take Manhattan”. Yup. These lovelies are right here in America! And a new horror has joined them. Weeping Angels are silent, adult sized creatures. Well, not anymore. Welcome the Cherubim. Cute, chubby child-like statues appear, their giggles echoing along the corridors and their footsteps tapping along the stone floors.

Cherubim coming after Rory (Arthur Darvill) in the Dr. Who episode “The Angels Take Manhattan”

Seriously. My worst nightmare.

The thought of inanimate objects moving on their own is a fear of mine. Dolls. Statues. These episodes play on that fear so beautifully. So, the sci-fi show Dr. Who has not only touched horror, but brought us face to face with it. Not bloody gory fear of having our limbs torn painfully from our bodies, not fear of death, but fear of being torn from our lives and having to start over out of place in time. Fear of turning our backs, of what happens when we stop watching.

So plug in the night lights, kids. And listen to Dr. Who…

The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) giving sound advice in the Dr. Who episode “Blink”

Information from:

Wikipedia

Doctor Who Character Encyclopedia written by Jason Loborik, Annabel Gibson, and Moray Laing, DK Publishing, 2013; pg. 194

Images from Google Images, from the Dr. Who episodes “Blink” and “The Angels Take Manhattan”