048. The Girl Who Waited (Doctor Who)

"I don't care that you got old. I care that we didn't get old together"

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 10th September 2011
EPISODE NUMBER: Season 6, Episode 10
WRITTEN BY: Tom MacRae

Karen Gillan's tenure on Doctor Who may have just ended, but here's a look back at one of the strongest episodes from the Moffat era, the Amy-centric The Girl Who Waited, which was really driven by a great performance from our favorite Scot sidekick and one of her best contributions to the series.

Waiting has been a recurring theme for Amy and Rory throughout the series. Amy had to wait years for the Doctor to come back. Rory had to wait even longer to get Amy back when he was a Roman Centurion. And now it's Amy's turn to wait again, as a time travel glitch means that when the Doctor and Rory leave Amy behind, they only manage to catch up to her 36 years later.

Karen Gillan gives a great performance as the bitter and bedraggled older Amy, the make-up effects really helping to sell it. But The Girl Who Waited also uses time travel paradoxes as a way to introduce a complex moral dilemma. If Rory saves the younger Amy, the older Amy will cease to exist.

The set design for this episode is also really great, with the bare white walls of Apapucia' kindness centres creating a very futuristic look in a minimalist way. Amy also has some great fight scenes with the roots. But what sends the episode over the top is the extremely emotional ending which will move you to tears.

004. Blink (Doctor Who)

"This is my timey-wimey detector. It goes 'ding' when there's stuff"

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 9th June 2007
EPISODE NUMBER: Season 3, Episode 10
WRITTEN BY: Steven Moffat

Blink owes much of its existence to the considerably less popular Love And Monsters, from season 2. The episode may have had many flaws but introduced an interesting idea...the concept of a non-Doctor centric had potential. Coming in between a wave of formulaic episodes, it felt very fresh. Blink took the early promise and ironed out the creases to present one of the best episodes of the series.

The lead role goes to Carey Mulligan, a fantastic young actress who has now gone over to Hollywood and is receiving Oscar nominations. The plot is also a nice change of pace, as Sally Sparrow tries to piece together the nature of the Angels, the mysterious Doctor and how she fits into their plans. And Moffat's writing shows just why he was given the job as showrunner after season 4.

The Doctor is nothing without his enemies, and the monster design of the Angels was excellent. So many Doctor Who monsters look outdated...sorry, "classic". The Angels were refreshingly modern. They had an interesting and unique backstory - they don't kill people, but send them back in time. (Of course, the emotional impact from their victims isn't lost. The scene where Sally visits a Policeman as an old man is very moving, as they were never allowed to spend any time together.) They're also very scary.

The scares of the episode are mainly due to the expert direction of Hettie MacDonald, who manages to create the impression of the statues moving even when they're not. Close-up shots rack of the tension as the characters try to avoid blinking. The scene near the climax with the Angels getting closer and closer in the flickering light is a very effective scene.

You'll never look at a statue the same way again.