C+Q - Flesh and Stone (2010)

I'm a big fan of the way Series 5 handles its overarching story. Episode 1 introduces the cracks in time and we find out about the explosion that created them in Episode 12 and 13, but Episode 5, 9, and to a lesser extent 6 gives us enough extra information throughout the series to keep us interested. It would've been way easier for them just to throw a crack into the background of every episode like in The Beast Below, Victory of the Daleks, or The Lodger, but instead the mystery is well paced and provides us with enough details at regular intervals to keep it at the forefront of our attention. After their complete absence from The Time of Angels, Flesh and Stone deals with the cracks in time heavily and even goes so far as to use them to defeat the Weeping Angels at the end.

Looking at this episode retroactively after having seen the end of the Matt Smith era, it's incredible how much of this story stands up in hindsight and how much it's enhanced by being a show about time travel with so many references to things that haven't happened yet. Thing Number 1: the cracks in time. Not only are their presence in this story a reference to the events of The Pandorica Opens, but their creation is part of an attempt by Madame Kovarian to stop the Doctor from reaching Trenzalore in The Time of the Doctor. Thing Number 2: the jacketed Doctor. I'm actually quite proud of myself for noticing on transmission that the version of the Eleventh Doctor who comforts Amy in the forest after the others have left is wearing his tweet jacket when he wasn't a second ago. That's because this version is from the future during the events of The Big Bang when he's rewinding back through his own timeline. Thing Number 3: River Song. Like with The Time of Angels, everything we see of River in this story is consistent with who she turns out to be.

In the same way The Time of Angels explains the mechanics of the Weeping Angels, Flesh and Stone cuts between the Doctor giving the theory and Amy giving a practical demonstration to explain the mechanics of the cracks in time. While the Doctor works out in his head that time can be unwritten, Amy has to deal with the soldiers who start to forget that their friends existed when they walk into the light. There's also a pretty neat retconing of the CyberKing from The Next Doctor which serves to clear up a plot hole while making Matt Smith seem more like the Doctor by having him remember something he did while he had David Tennant's face. Nowadays, Smith is as much the Doctor to me as Hartnell is, but back in 2010, I really needed convincing. Going back and watching this episode made me realise how different he looked between Series 5 and the rest of his tenure; his hair was a lot darker and fluffier, his tweed jacket was genuine tweed instead of the imitation he wore in Series 6 and 7, and he just looked so much younger. It wasn't until A Christmas Carol that I really saw him as being a 900-year-old Time Lord from Gallifrey.

One of the most controversial moments of this episode is when we actually see the Weeping Angels move. While I loved Hettie MacDonald's direction in Blink and the idea that the camera was like a character, stopping the Angels from moving when the characters couldn't see them, I personally don't mind seeing them move. It's such a chilling moment and for the production team it must have been completely irresistible. The best way to bring back old enemies to have them doing things we didn't see them do the first time around, so to get a Weeping Angel visually moving in a Blink sequel was almost inevitable. It's definitely a cool effect and the sound design really sold the idea that these were solid statues moving around.

I'd call the Angels moving the most controversial moment outright if it weren't for the ending, in which Amy Pond takes the Doctor back to her bedroom and straight-up tries to fuck him. Here we see an important stage in Amy's arc as a character. She starts off trying to fuck some guy on the night before her wedding, and ends up sacrifices travelling all of time and space just so she can be with her husband. I really don't think Moffat gets enough credit for how amazingly well-handled Amy is. Instead, her erratic and spontaneous behaviour (like the fact she has had five canonical jobs in two and a half series) is put down to being a product of inconsistent writing rather than being a part of who she is as a character (I myself have been guilty of making that mistake). The story of Amelia Pond is about a girl who learns the harsh truth that life is not a fairytale and that we all need to grow up some day, and it's beautifully told.

I really love this two-parter, not only as a self-contained piece of fiction but for its contribution to the overall story of Doctor Who. It makes many meaningful additions to the lore, including new powers for the Weeping Angels, new details about River's backstory, and a partial explanation for the cracks in time. The existence of these two episodes mean that "the crash of the Byzantium" mentioned as a throwaway line in River Song's diary now has an entire adventure associated with it. This whole story is just one big continuity-fest and I love it.