Matt Smith, in his run as the 11th Doctor on Doctor Who, has had a myriad of enemies. Perhaps the most frightening were his encounters with the Weeping Angels.
Ask any Whoian of the reboot era what the scariest Doctor Who monster is and they are likely to answer “the Weeping Angels.” They are described as the lonely assassins. They kill you by throwing you back in time and eating up your energy as you disappear.
In his first encounter with the Weeping Angels, the 11th Doctor discovered that he could talk with the Weeping Angels for the first time. Somehow, they thought it advisable to anger the Doctor and to attempt to trap him. Their misguided plans lead to one of Matt Smith’s most epic Doctor Who speeches. This speech is fairly brief, but the contained anger and intensity is gripping.
Angel Bob: Sorry, can I ask again? You mentioned a mistake we’ve made.
The Doctor: A big big mistake. Really huge. Didn’t anyone ever tell you? There’s one thing you never put in a trap—if you’re smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow—there’s one thing you never ever put in a trap.
Angel Bob: And what would that be, sir?
The Doctor: Me.
One of the best parts of the scene is what Matt Smith doesn’t say. His facial reactions to what Angel Bob is saying are incredibly nuanced and detailed. The scene is also notable as it’s one of the very few times the Doctor ever handles a firearm.
Unfortunately, this would not be he last time the Doctor dealt with the angels. They came back to haunt him in “The Angels Take Manhattan.” Though he was able to save Amy once from the Weeping Angels, the second time he couldn’t, as Amy chose death by Weeping Angel to be with Rory rather than to stay with the Doctor.
