The Ultimate Doctor Who Monster or Villain: Nomination #9: The Weeping Angels
The Doctor Who Team
The ninth nominee first appeared in 2007 in a thrilling episode that provided some classic water-cooler moments… In the intervening years they’ve become firm foes with the Doctor, returning to cause terror and heartache everywhere from Manhattan to the ‘Maze of the Dead’. They are the Weeping Angels!
The Tenth Doctor once described the Angels as ‘The only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely’, noting they zap their victims into the past, reflecting, ‘The rest of your life used up and blown away in the blink of an eye. You die in the past, and in the present they consume the energy of all the days you might have had, all your stolen moments.’ But Weeping Angels have been known to use more physical ways of destroying and then use their dead victims to communicate with the living.
They employed this technique on Alfava Metraxis where they also used sneaky techniques to confuse their opposition, messing with Amy Pond’s consciousness to make her believe her hand had turned to stone, for example. But they do have a weakness. The Doctor once observed that Angels have a defence mechanism: they are quantum locked. This means that they can only move when no other creature is looking at them. As soon as they are seen, they instantly turn to stone and cannot be killed. So, if you ever encounter a Weeping Angel, keep them in sight at all times and above all… don’t blink!
You can find out more about the Weeping Angels and see how they first appeared in our Angel gallery. You can also watch clips from their latest adventure or enjoy some memorable moments, photos and more from older episodes including The Time of Angels, Flesh and Stone and their debut story: Blink. Or if you want to show your support for them, simply download our Weeping Angels mask and wear it with pride!
Who will be the final nominee? Find out tomorrow, shortly before voting opens!
