Series 13 Flux Chapter 4 Village of the Angels Review

Chapter 4 of the Flux and the cliff-hanger from last week was a Weeping Angel who had control of the Tardis. After the divisive episode last week, one could be forgiven for thinking the focus of the story on a larger landscape would continue but this week the story centred on a small village and a mystery of a missing girl. As a complete change of tone from last week, I welcomed the nostalgia of a typical 1960’s sleepy village called Medderton (I did get slight vibes of The Daemons) and using a known scary monster.

However did the story spirit me away to another time or was I turned to stone? Let’s get into it.

Its time the Weeping Angels came back 

It’s a really interesting choice to bring the Weeping Angels into Flux as they haven’t been as over-exposed as with other monsters and still maintain some mystique. The traditional image of an angel is as a benevolent being with a higher purpose so it’s interesting to subvert the image and make them cruel creatures. Given the current disruption with time and where a planet was created to regulate time, it’s probably the logical choice. The time sensitive Weeping Angels feed off the potential life energy of the years which a victim would have lived in the present.

The early scene in which the vicar counted the stones and there was an angel in the graveyard felt like an acknowledgement to their creator Steven Moffat who had the inspiration for the Weeping Angels following a stay in a hotel. He saw a nearby churchyard where there were chains on the gates telling people to keep out as it was dangerous. There was an angel amongst the stones which planted the thought for one of the most mysterious “monsters” in modern Who.

Here they come, ready or not

The script used the tried and tested “base under siege” format to create a taut, tense story but enjoyable story. Having a script including Maxine Alderton is exciting after the fantastic “The Haunting of Villa Diodati” and I don’t know if it was her influence or just the magic of the BBC but the period felt authentic. I loved all the touches of old telephone boxes, bulky box television, scratchy polygraph testing equipment to convey 54 years ago. Thankfully the direction by Jamie Magnus Stone was intuitive drawing on elements from the horror toolbox creating an unsettling situation. Opening the pre-credits sequence with a shot of windswept houses at night and Professor Jericho’s house with Claire as part of a psychic experiment created the connection to her first appearance in Chapter 1.

Being set at night notched up the scare dial where the Angels were able to be depicted as unobserved in a more stealth like way with shadows and moonlight which made the most of the script. When Dan spots the “scarecrow” in the field and turns to Yaz the speed of the angel moving within ten feet and scaring them was so well done as was the side view of the angel coming out of the television at Professor Jericho. A couple of favourite moments are Claire in the bathroom as she bends down to wash her face and the camera pans in on her head and then as she lifts her head pans out again to show a pair of angel wings! The other is the image of an angel becoming a fire angel when the Doctor lights the drawing, visually really thrilling moments.

Some of the events where the villagers were touched by an angel felt obvious moments because we have seen them before, so Peggy’s guardians Gerald and Jean, the vicar disappearing but overall I really liked how the Angels existing characteristics were used effectively to create some jump scares. There was something new where if an Angel touches you twice you turn to stone and disintegrate which we saw and Peggy mentioned but how did she know unless the Angels put the thought in her head?

A cubicle hotel opposite the Academy 

Possibly the weakest element of the script, which feels more Chris Chibnall’s input was including the space drama of Bel’s segments as she visits Puzano and finds Namaca because it just felt distracting to the Angel’s story. I would question taking the audience away from the spookiness of the village to a space adventure that could have been included next week. The strange in end credits Puzano sequence really was another opportunity to push the Bel and Vinder love story. Maybe I’m a bit cynical but yes we, the audience, know they love each other. They said it last week. Bel didn’t get her coordinates out to Vinder this week so the scene felt meaningless.

I had to chuckle as the Independent described Thaddea Graham as Bel a stand-out within the cast this week. Were they not watching Kevin McNally or Annabel Scholey? The hints being teased seem to be Bel and Vinder are Gallifreyan. I’m sorry but I still really find it hard to care that much as I’m bashed over the head with their simperingly sweet relationship. 

Your are observed

Professor Esutacius Jericho

Village Blues 

Looking at the main village characters I liked the old arguing couple Jean and Gerald (played by Vincent Brimble who was a Silurian called Tarpok in 1984 Warriors of the Deep). I loved the scene where Gerald is using the Tardis phone to call the police and the Doctor, Dan and Yaz pop out. Gerald and Jean were a bit one-note at times, under-developed and basically were cannon fodder really for the angels which was a shame. But I was struck how young Peggy displayed little real warmth towards them. Being generous perhaps the child was suffering some kind of delayed shock with the death of her parents and just needed a lot of kindness from Gerald. But as she isn’t revealed as the older Miss Hayward until later but it made it difficult to like her and completely feel sympathy for her.

Miss Hayward didn’t feel very fleshed out acting as a portent of doom although finding out she would only return to 1967 by living through the 20th century must have felt disorientating growing up so I suppose her closed off-character was a deliberate decision. Miss Hayward’s confrontation with the vicar did feel slightly clumsy as she told him what to do and we then saw the vicar doing it. If her note to him earlier had just said “count the stones” instead of “leave now” without saying who it was from it would have felt more natural if she herself revealed it later.

The really interesting characters were Kevin McNally as Professor Jericho and Annabel Scholey as Claire Brown. I liked how Claire was a precipitant who had premonitions of meeting the Doctor as she gave clues to in Chapter 1 and through her gift had allowed an angel in her mind. Her rogue Angel displayed the same cunning and cruelness as its brethren and so due to its manipulative nature meant a dual personality from Claire vseemed to come out at times.

Kevin McNally has been in Doctor Who before playing Hugo Lang in the “Twin Dilemma” in the 1980s and here he was excellent as Professor Eustacius Jericho. I loved how Kevin McNally used his voice and stature to portray the scientifically curious but strong ex-soldier. When he first started talking there was a certain timbre in his vocal delivery that reminded me of Dinsdale Landen who played Dr Judson in Curse of Fenric or even John Hurt. He feels like an old school actor in the best sense instinctively knowing how to convey intent and emotion in his performance. 

Angels and Demons

I enjoyed how some of the imagery of the story had shades of religious allegory with the Doctor was being tempted by Claire’s angel in a beach wilderness to make a bargain (Jesus being tempted in the desert) and we had Azure in a “sermon on the Mount setting” promising to save people if they got into the Passenger. Appropriate considering the other religious imagery of a church and the general angels as demons, demons such Azure seeming as angels (saviours) theming.

I was also struck by the seductive devilish nature of the angel voices, tempting both Professor Jericho and the 13th Doctor. In “The Time of Angels” we had Angel Bob and again the Weeping Angels used humans or mimicked their voices to effectively communicate in this story. I thought it was really effective having the Angel voice talking through Claire on the beach rather than just a voice in the 13th Doctor’s head.

Thank you again Jamie Magnus Stone for the stunning black and grey tones of the beach scenes inside Claire’s mind. I loved how visually dramatic it made those moments as Jodie channelled 13 being angry and that’s when the 13th’s serious side is actually really interesting. I think I also mentioned it previously during her confrontation with the Sontaran Skaak. Despite some of the slightly sillier elements of her personality (so the comedy of using her senses and smelling Gerald’s coat has become a very Doctorish trait after the 10th & 11th Doctor used to taste quite a bit), the speed of her delivery Jodie Whittaker does raise her game acting wise when with good guest actors.

I honestly believe now that with a good script the 13th Doctor thrives when without her companions. Quickly separated from The Doctor, Yaz and Dan didn’t really get that much to do after they were touched by the Angel. They found Peggy and explored outside the village. I did like that Yaz initially showed off her modern police search-and-rescue skills with Gerald and it’s about time. Dan got some good lines in this chapter and seems to just be taking to life in the Tardis without too many questions.

I really liked the idea of quantum extraction and the Angels separating the village out of time and space. Seeing the blackness of space looked great although I wasn’t too sure about the special effect of the barrier between 1901 and 1967 which looked a little ropey. The end of the episode revealed more information about the Division and the Angels trap was expertly sprung on the timelord as the Doctor was recalled. It was a cracking cliff-hanger but still many questions need to be answered. Why are the Division still operating, who controls them, are they only here because of the disruption of time? Why was the Doctor made an Angel? Is the Flux still causing disruption? As Flux moves into the final third of the story next week we need more answers now than any other questions.

8/10 Stone cold classic bar the unnecessary space drama elements

What did you enjoy most about Village of the Angels? Post your comments on here, The Big Blue Box Discord Server or on Twitter. Let’s talk!