I've always been a fan of Stephen Moffat's writing. I didn't watch press gang when I was a kid like a lot of other people in my High School but some friends showed me some episodes a few years later and I could tell the writing was of a very different standard to what we're used to.

Sally Sparrow climbs over a gate and walks into an old house to take photos. She sees a word under some wallpaper and peels it off, revealing cryptic words - beware the weeping angel.

After peeling more of the wallpaper off she finds a message to herself from the Doctor in 1969 and manages to duck in time to avoid being hit by the angel.

She goes to visit her friend to get her help and they both go back to the old house to investigate.

Sally realises the angel has moved but Cathy doesn't believe it. Suddenly the bell rings. Cathy goes to stay out the back but Sally boldly opens the door.

He hands her a letter that he'd promised to give Sally Sparrow on this date at this time from his grandmother.

The statue follows Cathy and she suddenly finds herself in 1920.

In the present the man reveals himself to be Cathy's grandson. The letter is from Cathy who explains she was sent back to 1920, met a nice man, had several children. Sally can't believe it, drops the letter and photos and runs around the house trying to find Cathy.

She finds a room with 3 weeping angels and one of them is holding the key to the TARDIS. She takes it and there's a great seen where the angel is looking at Cathy but as she turns around and the angel is not seen by the camera for a few seconds, it is back in its form of hands over face. Scary!

She hears the door slam and rushes back downstairs but the man has left. She picks up the letter and photos and runs out the door. We see the angels watching her as she leaves.

The reads the rest of Cathy's letter in a cafe then visits her brother to tell him Cathy has gone away for a bit.

She sees a strange man saying half a conversation on a video. Lawrence explains it's an easter egg, a dvd extra hidden on 17 DVDS that have no relation.

Sally watches a bit of it and finds herself answering the man's questions and comments exactly. She gets upset about it just as Lawrence brings her a list of the 17 DVDS.

As she's leaving the guy watching a video at the front counter yells at the TV screen. "Go to the police, you stupid woman. Why does nobody ever go to the police!". This line plus Sally's look of realisation had me laugh out loud!

The weeping angels are following her. They're perched on a building opposite the Police station and Sally sees them through the window. She blinks and they're gone.

She's met at the station by a tall, dark handsome police officer named Billy who shows her a garage full of cars that were left empty in the area where the old house was. They also have a blue Police box but none of the keys fit.

When Sally gives him her phone number and leaves he turns around to see 4 angel statues gathering around the Police Box.

Billy is surprised and walks over to look at them. Unfortunately he blinks... 

Sally remembers she has a key and runs back to the garage but the Police Box and Billy are gone.
 

...and ends up in 1969. The Doctor and Martha find him explain to him that the weeping angels sent them back to 1969 and they're trapped. They need him to get a message to Sally in 2007, the long way.

In 2007 Sally's phone rings. It's Billy and he's in hospital. 

She goes to talk to him. He's 38 years older and dying. Their conversation is full of emotion and it is a great scene. He says to her to look at the list and that Billy only has time until the rain stops.

The next scene is of Sally looking through the window where there's no rain, and an empty bed beside her. She reads the list and realises what the connection is.

She rings lawrence and tells him that the Easter Egg was meant for her because the list is of the 17 DVDs that she owns. Lawrence is more amazed that she only has 17 DVDS! Very funny!

They go back to the house and set up a portable DVD player to play the Easter Egg of the Doctor.

Sally finds she easily fills the gaps in the conversation and Lawrence takes it all down in shorthand. The Doctor explains that the angels are quantum locked so they don't exist while they're being watched.

The Doctor explains the situation and they suddenly find the angels moving in for the attack.

They escape to the cellar where the Police Box is located and are surrounded by the angels. One of the angels tries to affect the light so that they can't be seen and as the light flickers the angels move closer.

Sally grabs the key and tries to get into the time machine and the angels surround it. They get in just in time and a security hologram of the Doctor recognises an authorised entry disk. One of the DVD disks Lawrence has on him glows and they enter it into the console. The TARDIS starts to disappear but it leaves them behind...

I think I've watched this 4 times now and I just can't believe that this is a Doctor-lite story. There's energy, a confident attractive star, great new monsters, great ideas, claustrophobia, pathos, wit and all packaged into a 44 minute story that could have been a feature film. Fantastic stuff.

I could analyse this scene by scene but you really have to watch it. There are some great shots, some great reactions, the acting is superb and Moffat really knows how to write for women. I think he should write all the Doctor-lite stories from now on, if they're going to be as good as this.

Trying to introduce Doctor Who to your new girlfriend? This is definitely one of the episodes to do it with. Then play Smith and Jones! 9/10
 
 

In an old, abandoned house, the Weeping Angels wait, as Russell T Davies's Doctor Who continues. However, when people start disappearing, a young woman called Sally finds cryptic messages bleeding through from 1969 – messages from a mysterious stranger called the Doctor. But can she decipher them before the Angels claim their prize?

David Tennant plays the Doctor and Freema Agyeman plays his companion, Martha Jones. Carey Mulligan guest stars.