Doctor Who: 12 Cool Details Revealed In Steven Moffat's Blink Commentary
Just how badass are the Weeping Angels? Well, even the scriptwriter struggled to defeat them.
Doctor Who is such a behemoth of a show that it's quite rare for fans to unanimously agree that something is "the best". There are so many Doctors, so many TARDIS interiors and countless companions: everyone has their own favourite series, era, showrunner, sonic screwdriver, and lead actor or actress.
And this is precisely why Blink is such a special episode. Ask any Doctor Who fan what they think of this story, and they're going to say that it's one of the all-time greats. Very few episodes are beloved in every single corner of the Doctor Who fandom, but Steven Moffat's Weeping Angel spook-tacular is one of those rare exceptions.
First broadcast in June 2007, we recently passed the thirteenth anniversary of the episode, so now is the perfect time to reflect on it and talk about it in a bit more detail.
To that end, let's delve into the episode's commentary track (which features writer Steven Moffat and composer Murray Gold), highlighting some of the best details revealed about the Weeping Angels, production problems with side characters like Billy Shipton, and overall, how Blink ultimately clicked into place.
12. The Opening Night-Time Scene Was Actually Shot In Broad Daylight
It goes without saying that it's not always possible to shoot something exactly as it appears on the page - especially in a fantasy show like Doctor Who - and some post-production trickery may be required to pull certain things off.
A small example of this can be found right at the start of Blink. The opening scene where Sally Sparrow approaches and investigates the creepy Wester Drumlins house - which Moffat scripted as a night-time scene - was actually shot during the day.
This was noted by Murray Gold during the commentary, who stated that the scene was "a lot brighter" in the first version of the episode he received.
As a result, special effects were required to make the whole sequence look like it was set at night. If you're ever watching this scene and you feel like the lighting is slightly off, maybe a little too bright in places... this is probably why.