“Village of the Angels” is the best episode of Doctor Who this season

Season thirteen of the British television series Doctor Who, entitled Doctor Who: Flux is almost over. There are only two more episodes left before the series finale on December 5th. This season’s “Village of the Angels” is the best episode so far. The episode was filled with tons of mystery, scares, and an exceptional guest cast.

Spoiler Warning Applies

Village of the Angels

In the previous episode, audiences were left on a cliffhanger with a Weeping Angel at the controls of the TARDIS console. My first thought was a mix between how do Weeping Angels know how to fly the TARDIS and this Angel clearly wasn’t after the Doctor, it was after the TARDIS. Although not right away, this episode gave us a ton of answers as to why the Angel needed the TARDIS.

The episode doesn’t provide a full origin story for the Weeping Angels, but it is really interesting to see a different side of the Weeping Angels. During the David Tennant era of Doctor Who in the episode “End of Time Part 2,” the Time Lord leader Rassilon (played by Timothy Dalton) mentions the Weeping Angels when he says, “The vote is taken, only two stand against and will stand as monument to their shame like the weeping angels of old!” Then, two of the high council Time Lords cover their eyes like the Weeping Angels. That is one of our first clues that the Time Lords have a lot of knowledge of these beings. When the 12th Doctor tries to escape Gallifrey with another TARDIS in the 9th season, he even runs into a Weeping Angel in the Time Vaults.

So, it made sense that The Division, a covert organization formed by the Time Lords, would use these beings in secret operations. However, there was one Weeping Angel, who once worked for Division, who is now, like the Doctor, a fugitive. It was a brilliant tie-in to previous lore. The fact that the Angel used Claire Brown (played by Annabel Scholey), a human, to trap the Doctor in an effort to negotiate its own escape speaks to how intelligent these beings are. Everyone knows that the Doctor would do anything for humanity.

The storyline this episode was excellent. It kept us on our toes, introduced new dangers, and provided proper scares. Also, little moments like the Weeping Angels ringing the doorbell kept it silly in proper Doctor Who fashion. Truly what will have audiences talking about this episode for years to come is the moment when the Angels agreed to capture the Doctor alive, turning the Doctor into an Angel, and leaving the others in 1901. Just incredible!

The casting in this episode was perfect. Kevin McNally as Professor Jericho is perfect. You find yourself rooting for him the entire episode. He is the audience, trying to make sense of the most impossible situations and trying to be brave under terrifying conditions. Annabel Scholey as Claire Brown is fantastic. She fits perfectly into the 60s era motif and her performances are believable and perfect. The costuming in this episode is also pretty perfect. The visuals all across the episode are gorgeous and outstanding. Truly, this is one of the most cinematically breathtaking episodes of Doctor Who.  

I can’t wait for the next episode to see what has happened to Yaz and Dan who are stuck in 1901, and what happens to the survivor Namaca, Bel, and Vinder who are struggling to survive the damage of the flux. Will we see the return of more Time Lords next episode?

Doctor Who: Flux airs weekly every Sunday night on BBC America, with series 1-12 available on HBO Max.