The classic Doctor Who episode “Blink” originally had a different ending

“Blink” introduced Doctor Who fans to the terrifying Weeping Angels. Writer Steven Moffat shared the original draft with fans; check out the differences.

Doctor Who fans absolutely love the Weeping Angels. All they do is inch towards you when you cover your eyes, but the effect is terrifying like little else in the history of the show.

And Weeping Angels were introduced in the classic episode “Blink,” starring David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor. Fans got together to watch the episode virtually on Halloween alongside Steven Moffat, who was writing for the show at the time. And he had something exciting to share with everyone: the original script for the episode.

“A few things before you read,” Moffat said in a statement. “I hated the last scene so much that the morning after I emailed the script – before I’d even heard a note – I wrote a new ending and hurriedly sent it in. No one has seen this version in years, and hardly anyone saw it at the time. Forgotten history, I suppose. The road not taken.”

You can read that draft here, courtesy of Doctor Who Lockdown.

I was definitely interested in finding out what ending Moffat had initially envisioned. But before we get to that, you may be interested to hear that the title was even “Blink” at first. It was “Sally Sparrow and The Weeping Angel,” a reference to main character Sally Sparrow (Carey Mulligan), who tangles with the monsters throughout the episode.

I think we can agree that the simple title “Blink” is better. In addition, the episode also didn’t have as many mentions of the word “blink,” but that soon changed:

"The proper title hadn’t arrived yet, so no one says ‘don’t blink!’ Weird, really, looking back. When I changed the title, it was [showrunner] Russell [T Davies] who suggested I hit the word “blink” over and over again, like a cheesy old trailer. As you know, I ran with note for all I was worth – and what a brilliant note it was."

Finally, the original ending seemed to imply that Sally ended up with a woman rather than with Larry Nightingale (Finlay Robertson), with whom she pursues a relationship at the end of  the episode. “Mind you, Russell always rather liked this ending – because, in his words, ‘it was a bit more lesbian,’” Moffat said.

After reading the original script, I’m happy they made the changes they did. “Blink” has become an iconic Doctor Who episode, and it just doesn’t seem right that it could have gone another way.

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h/t RadioTimes