The Angels Take Manhattan Review

“The Angels Take Manhattan” promised a lot and delivered some of it. A story that claimed to “make people cry” has never really appealed to me, but I decided to sit down and watch it anyway because it’s Doctor Who, so you can’t really complain.

The Weeping Angels themselves were on top form (despite some inconsistencies about how they work that sent fans running to the closest forum). I felt that the Statue of Liberty angel seemed like a good idea on paper but was not so effective in real life. However the new cherub angels more than made up for this, and the original angels were used to great effect – the “time farm” idea being a particularly creepy one.

The main substance of the story of course revolved around the departure of Amy and Rory. While I personally feel that because they kept getting dropped off back on Earth at the end of most adventures and Rory had died so many times I had just stopped caring, although the final scenes managed to remain emotional.

Steven Moffat’s Radio Times interview explains “why Amy had to die!” which in my opinion is a massive piece of overreaction. She died in the same way that many companions did, after a long life rather than on screen. Does that really count as a death as opposed to Barbara’s departure or Jamie’s? Logically those characters would also pass away after they stopped travelling with the Doctor – that hardly warrants a “companion death” status. 

I personally enjoyed the majority of the story, despite its flaws. Join us for the BBC3 repeat on Friday 5^th to give us your own views. Bar opens at 6.45pm and the repeat is broadcast at 7.15pm. Hope to see you there.