TV Review: Doctor Who 7.05 - The Angels Take Manhattan

When the Angels come for Amy and Rory, we'll be the ones Weeping...

When it comes down to it, The Angels Take Manhattan is one of the most important episodes of Doctor Who in a very long time. Certainly the most important since Matt Smith made his debut as the eleventh Doctor alongside Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill as Amy Pond and Rory Williams respectively in Steven Moffat's brilliant introductory tale as newly crowned show-runner, The Eleventh Hour. Over two years following the stellar debut, one that would introduce us to who would become two of the franchise's most beloved companions - not to mention one of the quirkiest incarnations of The Doctor himself - it's time for the former to say goodbye in the epic finale of the first half of broadcast series 7. Naturally, this particular 45 minutes of televised media has a lot resting on its shoulders, which begs the question: Does it succeed in offering a worthy farewell to the Doctor's two most active companions since the reintroduction of the show seven years ago? Short answer: Yes. As for the long answer, well, you'll just have to read on...

Naturally penned by head writer Steven Moffat and directed by the brilliant Nick Hurran, who both also crafted this series' thrilling opener Asylum of the Daleks as well as two of the best episodes from last year's series, The Angels Take Manhattan immediately held a huge amount of promise prior to its broadcast, and not just because of the key plot-point that is Amy and Rory's leaving. Granted, good ol' Moffat has had his fair share of slip-ups over the years as head writer, but the Ponds' final voyage is no such thing. In fact, it makes you realise Moffat's strengths as a writer of more dark escapades as opposed to his usual timey-wimey business, which he went rather overboard with in last year's finale. Some of Moffat's best stories thus far have been the chilling, slow-paced ones; The Empty Child two-parter in Christopher Eccleston's series; the legendary Weeping Angels debut Blink; and two of my all-time favourites, The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon (perhaps my top Moffat stories altogether). His latest goes for a film noir style, fitting in with the series' blockbuster theme. With the aforementioned Nick Hurran as director in tow, you can expect it to look pretty amazing. And you know what? It absolutely does.

The post-opening credits sequence is something of a 'calm before the storm' moment. It establishes just how much Amy, Rory and The Doctor's relationship has grown over the years, before they're torn apart at the end of the episode.

Some of the shots in Angels look, put simply, absolutely downright stunning. This is clearly a high-budget episode, and it flippin' deserves it, too. Nick Hurran is truly one of the greatest directors of new Who, if not the greatest. One thing's for certain, and that's the fact that they couldn't have picked a better man for the job. The episode was, naturally, filmed in New York, with some shots in the later stages of production being filmed in Cardiff albeit with some thoroughly convincing CGI work filling in the gaps. Nick Hurran makes situations as simple as two characters sitting in the backseats of a car look amazing, making more complex shots even more bedazzling. I honestly struggled to pick out which screen-caps to use in this review for captions, as there are so many amazing clips that have the audience glued to the screen with their sticky bursts of style. Here's hoping Hurran makes a return for more than a few episodes in the latter half of series 7 in Spring next year.

So, Angels looks beautiful, but how well is it played out, exactly? Well, it may surprise those who've been following the Steven Moffat era of Doctor Who to hear that this episode is actually a surprisingly simplistic affair. It's easy to wrap your head around and for the first time in a while with a series finale, Moffat doesn't overplay his allegedly standardised timey-wimey business and instead goes for something the whole family can follow... Probably so that the sadder moments towards the end have an impact on as large an audience as possible. The story begins with a short subplot in the pre-opening credits sequence. A detective by the name of Sam Garner is sent to investigate a haunted hotel in Manhattan, Winter Quay. Sent to 'the place where the Angels live' by devilish collector Grayle, Garner finds himself trapped inside a mysterious setting with only terrifying living statues for company. It's in Winter Quay that he finds himself... Quite literally. Garner is sent back in time to live out his days in the abode ruled by the Angels, now tied to his fate having witnessed his future. Flash to the future, and these events will before long have a knock-on effect on the TARDIS crew, this time consisting of the three constants along with returning companion River Song. This episode shows River at her best, and she's clearly in a more matured state than when we last saw her at this point in the chronology. Bubbly as always but intelligent as a professor should be, River comes across as a much more likeable presence in Angels. She even refers to her parents as 'Mum' and 'Dad' for the first time, which is somewhat fulfilling in a way.

Watch Angels Take Manhattan in the dark with some earphones/headphones, and the scene in which Rory is trapped in a basement with the creepy baby Angels is guaranteed to make you shiver.

The Angels Take Manhattan makes for some very bittersweet viewing, that's for sure. The ever-daunting hints at the premise of the companions' demise planted throughout the episode emit particularly chilling vibes, possibly even more so than the heartless Angels themselves. That's not to say the main adversaries of the piece aren't well handled this time around, however. As a matter of fact, this might just be their creepiest outing yet, with a few new additions to the Angel family complimenting the horror. 'The Babies', as dubbed by the cold-hearted Grayle, generate terror through use of sound as well as their dastardly looks. Sadly, the episode does have one rather large problem in regards to the use of Angels, and that's that the Statue of Liberty herself happens to be one of the silent assassins. Take a moment to think about how utterly ridiculous that is and I needn't explain why it's a terrible concept. In terms of ridiculousness, it's almost up there with the ginormous Cyberking in Russell T. Davies' 2009 atrocity, The Next Doctor, which Steven Moffat himself in some way physically removed from Who lore in 2010's Flesh and Stone, an episode ironically also focused on the Weeping Angels. The Angels we've gotten to know and love since their introduction in Blink are as creepily soulless and just downright brilliant as ever in Manhattan, mind, which more than makes up for the utterly beguiling concept that is the Statue of Liberty Angel. They spend more time pointing and laughing than weeping, making them come across as utterly hateful creatures, essentially mocking the fate of the beloved companions. And yes, that is a segue...

"Doctor, why is it smiling?" asks River, as Amy and Rory's fates are seemingly sealed...

Now it's time to tackle what I've been dreading the most throughout the process of writing this review. The most important part of the episode as a whole is undeniably the terrible fate of the companions. Terrible... And utterly brilliant. Without spoiling anything, the leaving of the companions in this episode is truly a stroke of genius, and Steven Moffat's been building up to it ever since the beginning. It's easily the smartest timey-wimey concept the man has ever come up with, and I'll with no doubt in my mind go as far as stating that the exit in this episode is easily the best of the newly revived series of Doctor Who. Even more dramatic than Donna Noble's aborted memories. Thrice as tear-inducing as Rose Tyler's permanent prison in the parallel world (well, if we can forget her atrocious return a number of years later). While Russell T. Davies went for dramatic effect in those events, good ol' Steven Moffat does so much more. The loss of Rory is wholly understated, which sums up the character as a whole in an all new way. In the end it's perhaps the most overlooked member of the TARDIS crew who basically saves everyone, only to leave out of the blue without a chance to say goodbye. Amy Pond, on the other hand, has a contrasting exit, with her making a choice between her best friend and her love interest, having to lose one of the two for the rest of her days. Her last farewell brought tears to my eyes, and I'm not ashamed to admit that.

Angels is cleverly layered with dark, melodramatic undertones, which compliment the saddening moments. Hurran's masterful direction also helps this bittersweet aspect out.

The brilliant thing about it all is that, on many occasions over the past two years, these elements have been explored before. There have been times in which Amy has to choose between her fellow travelers, there have been adventures in which Rory is lost and the others have to save him, and most importantly, the third-wheel of the series has died so many times up until this point that it's basically become an inside-joke. Why is this all so brilliant and how does it leave a stroke of genius on Angels' bonnet? I'll tell you: In basic terms, the inside jokes and recurring themes basically get flipped over and into a whole new perspective in the later stages on this episode, and it's utterly brilliant writing and a thrilling conclusion to the Pond storyline. Bravo, Steven Moffat. Forget the stunning direction, the emotional endeavors and epic action set-pieces, the near-perfect musical score and brilliant acting - This is the best thing about The Angels Take Manhattan, and 'stroke of genius' truly doesn't do it justice. Not only this, but there's also the fact that there is essentially more than one saddening moment in which the companions are set to leave, perhaps in order to appeal to as many people as possible so fewer find themselves let-down.

The final scenes of the episode can be summed up with one short and simple word: Heartbreaking.

Series 7's mid-series finale, The Angels Take Manhattan, is by no means a perfect story. There are niggles, one or two confusing scenes about halfway through the episode that seem to be there for the sake of drama and of course the beguiling concept that is the Statue of Liberty being a Weeping Angel, but when everything else is so amazing these flaws are overshadowed enough to slip out of the way faster than you can believe, just like the Angels themselves. If there's one stand-out flaw that has to be addressed, it's the time frame of the episode. Given another ten minutes this rollercoaster could've reached even greater heights and even earned itself a rare five-star rating from yours truly. Regardless, Steven Moffat has penned an excellent farewell tale to two of Doctor Who's greatest time-traveling companions, and they will be missed for months to come. Here's to the last centurion and the girl who waited, and to the future of Doctor Who, which is set to continue this Christmas. And yes, I will definitely be reviewing the Christmas special after it has aired, hopefully in time for New Year. Until then, let's take a moment to remember the girl who saved a Star Whale, gave hope to the greatest artist who ever lived, did anything to save the man she loved and cemented herself, along with her loving husband, as one of Doctor Who's greatest main companions. Until next time...