Weeping Angels and the "boo" ghosts from Super Mario Bros

[Whofan]

It just struck me that they're kind of similar. If you look at the ghosts in the popular game series, they freeze and cover their eyes. However look away and they chase after you.

http://mario.wikia.com/wiki/Boo

I wonder if Moffat ever played the Mario games

 

[Snick27]

You dont get out much do you?

 

[Guartho]

Hey now, I thought the exact same thing when the nature of the weeping angels was revealed.

It therefore occurred to me that those boo ghosts would be a lot scarier in 1st person view than they are in the usual 3rd person video game view.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Haha, I never thought about this before

 

[The Wormhole]

Actually, it's funny. Back when the Weeping Angel two-parter aired I was talking to a guy at work who has some familiarity with classic Who, but none with nu Who about the Weeping Angels. After I described them to him, the first thing he did was compare them to these ghosts from Mario. Having never played Mario games, I needed an expalantion about these ghosts.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I can see the comparison.

 

[Bones2]

You dont get out much do you?

You're posting about Doctor Who on a Star Trek forum. This kind of observation (that of the topic) is what internet forums are all about, and that kind of comment doesn't relect well on anyone.

 

[Whofan]

Thanks, Bones. And I get out plenty.

 

[MetalPants]

If you could put a mirror in front a weeping angel, would it still be in statue form or would it freeze?

 

[Bones2]

Going by the Series 5 Angels two parter, they do whatever the bloody hell the writer wants.

 

[Jax]

they do whatever the bloody hell the writer wants.

Wow you've got just described every single enemy or plot device in every single TV show, Movie and book.

 

[Bones2]

I meant outside of the constraints of reasonable logic, obviously. I mean all that nonsense of whatever bears the image of an angel becomes an angel. Similarly, the resolution of the magic (and still unexplained) cracks showing up and gobbling up the angels was extremely disappointing. Which is a shame, because that two-parter had some great and effective moments. That bit where the captain soldier guy (or whatever his rank was) has to die and says to the Doctor about "you see me at my best" or whatever was terrific, as was that reversal of the Blink-type thing with Amy not being able to open her eyes. Credit where it's due.

 

[FlapJoy]

Similarly, the resolution of the magic (and still unexplained) cracks showing up and gobbling up the angels was extremely disappointing. Which is a shame, because that two-parter had some great and effective moments.

The "cracks" were explained (kinda) in the Who season finale. They were caused by the explosion of the TARDIS which hadn't happened yet, but caused ripple effects and altered the timeline (but in Who, that's routine). It's destruction caused cracks and opened dimensional rifts all thru the time periods where the newest Doctor had been, right up the the first episodes meeting the young Amy Pond, most of this activity revolved more around Amy than the Doctor himself it seems. (It actually makes me wonder if the last season only existed in Amy's head) ...And there seemed to be some dialogue that the Angels came thru the cracks initially but I may be wrong about that, there was something different about these Angels, but I can't recall what it was... But eventually, our heroes prevented the TARDIS from being destroyed, and the cracks were sealed.

... OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT !?!

I love Doctor Who, it's fun to just let it go... great stuff!!

 

[The Wormhole]

Well, the bit about "that which contains the image of an Angel, becomes itself an Angel" is a rather glaring screw-up. Especially since in Blink we see Sally Sparrow took pictures of the Weeping Angels. What prevented those pictures from becoming Weeping Angels?

 

[Bones2]

^
Sense and logic, only they disappeared the moment Moffat decided he wanted an excuse to copy The Ring. The bit with Amy in the truck (or whatever it was, probably not a truck really but...) and the tape is an excellently shot and effective bit, but I can't get over the underlying stupidity of it.

 

[The]

How do we know there aren't Angels from Sally's pics roaming Earth, gobbling up lifetimes as we speak? We don't. So, why bitch?

 

[The Wormhole]

^^The final scene of Blink took place a year later, implying Sally had those pictures for a year. So in a year the Angel pictures never manifested themselves into actual Angels, or else you'd think they'd go after Sally and Larry, being the closest people on hand.

 

[The]

Possibly, but we don't know. It's all conjecture. The Daleks were revamped a couple of times, if I'm not mistaken. The Angels being retconned into a greater threat works fine for me. I'm willing to use my imagination and suspension of disbelief to enjoy the show on those merits. Every little item doesn't need to be spoon-fed to me. That's why it's fun.

 

[Thestral]

Possible "reaching for it" explanation?

As I recall, it was established in The Time of Angels that the ones from Blink were weaker scavengers, needing to feed off people's temporal energy to sustain themselves - which is why they threw people back in time instead of outright killing them like the one in The Time of Angels.

Which of course makes some of Ten's lines in Blink no longer make sense (he implies that they always "kill" by temporal displacement, the nicest psychopaths in the universe), but we'll go with it.

Maybe because the Angels in Blink were weaker, they weren't able to "transfer" onto the pictures Sally Sparrow took?

That's assuming you have to make it work out perfectly. I think "that which holds the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel" is better left not too closely examined, just use it where it's effective.


Or, for a totally other possibility - and I have to thank TVTropes for this one - what if the images DID become Angels? Specifically, the very Angels that ambushed the Doctor and Martha, sending them back in time but stranding the TARDIS. Thus creating a stable time loop.

 

[The Wormhole]

Which of course makes some of Ten's lines in Blink no longer make sense (he implies that they always "kill" by temporal displacement, the nicest psychopaths in the universe), but we'll go with it.

To be fair, this one was actually acknowledged by having the Doctor completely surprised that these Angels were actually killing people as opposed to temporally displacing them.