Blink

Blink marked the return of the popular Steven Moffat with his third script for Doctor Who, making him and Russell T Davies the only writers to have penned stories for all three series of 21st-century Doctor Who (and both will be back for Series 4).

Moffat's previous contributions - The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances and The Girl In The Fireplace - were lavish-looking episodes, which would have taken a decent chunk of the show's budget to bring to life, especially the former. Blink, by contrast, was probably the cheapest episode since the series returned, with no CGI required. It was also notable for being what has become known as the season's "Doctor-lite" episode, designed to give the lead actors a break in a hectic shooting schedule.

It is widely known that showrunner Davies provides his writers with a "shopping list" of ingredients to weave into their stories - but "don't write anything which will cost us money - oh, and keep The Doctor and his companion out of as many scenes as possible!" means you're off to Lidl's rather than Harrods. Therefore, it's essential that the script is of the highest quality, which is pretty much a given when the name Steven Moffat is attached to it.

And, having given us faces which transform into gasmasks, followed by clockwork droids which hide under the bed, Moffat has added another ingredient to his own growing Doctor Who "scare list" . . .

Blink was the story of Sally Sparrow, a 21st-century girl who enters an abandoned old house, and is stunned to find warnings to her written on the walls. She returns to the house with her friend, Cathy Nightingale, who mysteriously vanishes as Sally answers to the door to a young man claiming to be Cathy's grandson.

It transpires that Cathy was transported back to 1920, from where she lived her life, and left instructions for her grandson to take a letter explaining this extraordinary situation to Sally. At first, she doesn't believe it, until she sees Cathy's grave.

A similar thing happens to a policeman Sally meets, him being transported back to 1969, where he encounters The Doctor and Martha, also trapped there after being separated from the TARDIS, which is being held by Weeping Angels, a race in the form of statues who feed off energy from other beings. To avoid being consumed by the Angels, and sent back in time, you must stare at them. They can never be looked upon by each other, or they are frozen forever.

The Doctor fears the Angels will attempt to devour the huge energy force from the TARDIS if they gain entry to it, and leaving messages for Sally in the future to help him is the only way he can stop them. He also sends her the TARDIS key.

The Doctor manages to "converse" with Sally in the form of a hidden extra in a batch of DVDs, which Sally owns. Together with Cathy's brother, Larry, Sally returns to the house in search of answers. As the Angels close in on them, Larry and Sally find the TARDIS, and get inside and enter a DVD provided by The Doctor into the console, which enables the TARDIS to ensnare the Angels into looking at each other, and being frozen.

A year later, Sally encounters The Doctor in the street outside the shop she and Larry now owns, and provides him with a transcript of the meeting they'll have in his future, which will enable him to set into motion the chain of events which she has already lived.

Phew. Holy Paradox Batman . . .

A fantastically-clever script from Moffat again. Not just in fulfilling the dual obligations of keeping the costs down and The Doctor's role to a minimum, but for still giving him an integral role and actually making it look like he was in it more than he actually was. And for coming up with a rattling good story, perfectly paced with decent, likeable characters - especially lead girl Sally - and a new, scary monster in the shape of the statues.

More stunning work from the prosthetics team and the performance artists within to realise the statues, to come across as genuinely creepy. Good, fast-cutting work from director Hettie MacDonald to close up on the Angels as their expressions changed, too. Definitely added to the fear factor, along with some understated work from Murray Gold.

Like Marc Warren last year in Love & Monsters, Carey Mulligan was a delight in the guest lead role. And like Elton, Sally Sparrow would, you feel, make a great companion given the chance.

A few chuckles along the way - nice cameo from Martha, muscling into The Doctor's DVD appearance, complaining about having to work in a shop to support him! And a gentle, playful prod at the world of the Internet geek, in the shape of Larry. Would you wear a T-shirt with a Doctor Who quote on it? Hmm . . . still, Moffat gave him the pretty girl in the end - geeks of the world rejoice!

And a nice touch at the end, reminding us that all statues are evil!

Only downside for me was that, brilliant as this script was, I don't really like any "Doctor-lite" episodes in the season, although I appreciate the good reasons behind it. As it's done out of necessity rather than choice, I would rather see just 12 episodes where the eponymous hero is prevalent, if the season schedule is so tight. Doctor Who isn't just about The Doctor, but I missed the dynamic between him and the new characters, which is an important area of the show. And I can't really mark Blink above other episodes in the run which have fulfilled that criteria so well.

Nine and a half out of 10 as a piece of quality TV in its own right, but seven and a half out of 10 as a Doctor Who episode - solid nonetheless, in a cracking season which looks set to be clunker-free, with three weeks to go.