Why The Empty Child is better than Blink

Guest contributor Sam Forshaw explains.

Is Blink or The Empty Child the better story? According to the majority of fans on this site, it’s Blink, seeing as it managed to come second in the “Rank the Revival” list a few months ago. However, I disagree. Blink isn’t as good as The Empty Child two-parter, and it definitely doesn’t deserve second place. Here are my reasons.

The Empty Child completely suits the setting

Something I love about both of these stories is how well Moffat managed to combine them with the settings they’re in. However, I think The Empty Child has the edge because it simply does it better. If Moffat had put my beloved two-parter in another century, would it have had the same effect? No, course not: the middle of the Blitz is quite possibly the only place a gas-mask wearing child could be. This is how well integrated Moffat’s villain and setting is in these two episodes: that if we took the setting away, we wouldn’t be able to have the villain.

Can we do this with Blink, can we take away the setting and still be left with the same enemy? Yes, we can: and Moffat has proved this by sticking them in other episodes — in the Byzantium, in Manhattan, and on Trenzalore. Therefore, the setting and villain aren’t interwoven as well in this episode. Why should that matter? I suppose it doesn’t, but it definitely makes it a neater, tighter story. Plus, having the setting crucial to the villain eradicates the possibility of the villain’s return—because a recurring villain isn’t always a good thing. I’ll come onto that.

It’s a two-parter

The number one reason why I’m so ecstatic for Series 9 is the return of two parters: not just one, but possibly SIX. (Or at least, partially connected ones, but I’m still counting them.) Two parters are great; many of us missed them in Series 7 and most of Series 8. It stops episodes from feeling rushed, and while Blink definitely didn’t feel rushed, it still ended up being a very simple story (once you get your head round the Doctor talking to Sally 38 years in the past). The Empty Child allowed room for some expansion of the plot, which made the finale in The Doctor Dances much more climactic. Just face it, two-parters are awesome.

A meaningful impact on the series, as opposed to filler

Blink, however adored by fans, had little to no impact on the series as a whole, which was very unusual for Series 3. Several episodes in that series lead up to the events of the finale in their own ways, either by showing references to Harold Saxon, or even introducing the Master’s laser screwdriver. Blink was very standalone. Maybe you think that’s a good thing, I don’t. I like my stories deeply interwoven within the series. Perhaps that’s just me. Comparing this with The Empty Child, Captain Jack Harkness is introduced in this episode, giving us a companion that will feature in three out of four series finales in the Davies era, and have his own spin-off show. It doesn’t get more impactful than that.

The Empty Child will always be scarier

Crucially, one of these enemies is genuinely creepy, while the other is a depiction of the worst horror technique ever used by directors. What I’m talking about is jump-scares. That’s all the Weeping Angels are, jump-scare monsters. Brilliantly written and executed, no doubt, but still jump-scare monsters. We won’t be traumatised after the episode has ended, but we’ll be scared out of our skin while we’re watching it. With the Weeping Angels, we can laugh about it after the episode’s done, because of the relief that enters us after the initial shock of the jump-scare. We can’t do that with the Child, because there is no jump-scare. No stand-out scene that makes us scream—just a constant terror onscreen for two episodes: a boy in a gas mask.

Convinced yet? You’re stubborn, aren’t you?

Repeat viewings

Connected with the above point, Blink isn’t as scary the second or third (or fourth, or fifth, or sixth, or seventh… I watch a lot of Doctor Who) time around. You’re ready for the jump scare—the loud noise and the Angel popping up on screen with a scary face—and you prepare yourself, and it loses the fear factor. Personally with the Child, the more I think about him, the scarier he becomes. He isn’t an enemy that’ll make you scared to death, but one who’s quietly eerie. Which horror technique affects you more?

Timey-wimey

I’ll say this now: “timey-wimey” has become such an annoying phrase. I won’t have a long rant about it, but seeing as it’s Blink that started the whole trend, I blame it for causing many casual viewers, or viewers who don’t really know what Doctor Who is about going online and just saying “timey-wimey timey-wimey timey-wimey” all the time. It’s so infuriating. I HATE that phrase.

Weeping Angels were sort of run into the ground

The Child can never return. It appeared in one amazing two-parter, creeped out millions of children, and was never to be seen again. Therefore, it doesn’t lose its fear factor. But when Steven Moffat insists on sticking Weeping Angels everywhere, they lose the scariness that they had the first time around in Blink. Sure, Blink still does the best job with them; it’s far superior to Time of Angels and Flesh & Stone in my opinion; but their constant popping up across Moffat’s era starts to wear them down. Less is more.

Which enemy are you able to kill with a sledgehammer?

The Weeping Angels. That’s who. If only you had a sledgehammer on you when they popped up out of nowhere, and then you’d just be able to beat them with your eyes open. They’re made of stone, after all. But you can’t do that with the Child, because at the same time as being impossibly eerie, he’s still a just a little kid. And no matter what scenario, I promise to never hit a child with a sledgehammer.

And on that bombshell…

Thanks for reading this article. I hope this has convinced a few people at least that Blink isn’t the most stunning episode in the history of Doctor Who. I’m surprised to see it come so close to top in polls consistently when there have been plenty more episodes that Moffat has written which top that. To me, Blink is overrated, and The Empty Child is more overlooked. It definitely remains for me to be one of the best things Moffat’s ever written.