The Time of Angels ( TV story ) Synopsis . The enigmatic River Song hurtles back into the Eleventh Doctor ' s life , but she ' s not the only familiar face returning — the Weeping Angel s are back ! Following River ' s calling card , the Doctor is recruited to help track down the last of the Angels , which has escaped from the " Byzantium " starliner and into the terrifying Maze of the Dead . Plot . A man spins dazedly in a green field on a sunny day . There is a lipstick smear on his mouth . He is approached by two armed guards and a man in evening clothes . He tells them what a beautiful day it is . The man wipes the hallucinogenic lipstick off , revealing the dazed guard is actually standing in the metallic corridor of a spaceship . He states grimly , " She ' s here . " Elsewhere in the ship , a woman in high heels blasts through a steel door with a firearm ; behind it , is a room with a black box suspended in the centre . She changes the gun ' s settings , and uses it as a torch , burning a message onto the box ' s face . Meanwhile , twelve thousand years later , the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond explore the Delirium Archive , the final resting place of the Headless Monks . Amy is bored . The Doctor promised to take her to a planet next , and the museum is on an asteroid . She wonders why they are at a museum while the Doctor announces that most of the displays are " wrong " until coming to one that he says is " one of mine " . Amy deduce s that this is how he keeps score . The Doctor is fascinated by the box seen earlier . He says it ' s a home box , which works like an airplane ' s black box except it homes . He says the message scrawled on the box is for him . It is written in Old High Gallifreyan . Amy asks what the message says , and the Doctor exasperatedly replies , " Hello , sweetie . " They steal the box and run to the TARDIS , pursued by guards . The Doctor connects the home box to the TARDIS console , and explains that someone is trying to get his attention . Getting a visual , he sees River Song smiling at the camera . Changing the footage , River is now cornered in front of an airlock by the man in evening clothes and two guards . She explains coolly she needed to see what was in the vault , and warns them that the ship will not reach its destination . As the guards prepare to shoot her , River rattles off " 7775 / 349x10 , 012 / acorn " — coordinates — and requests an air corridor . The Doctor sets the TARDIS controls for River ' s location . Meanwhile , River tells the men they ' d better find something to hold on to . They grab for handholds as alarms sound , and the airlock blows open . A calm River floats out into space just as the TARDIS materialise s . She flies inside , knocking the Doctor to the floor . Surprised to see her again , the Doctor greets her . But the " Byzantium " s getting away . River yells " Follow that ship ! " As the TARDIS chases after the ship , River suggests using the stabilisers . The Doctor notes that the TARDIS doesn ' t " have " stabilisers . . . until she presses a blue button , and the TARDIS stops shaking . As River takes over the piloting , the Doctor sits down and complains about the " blue boringers " . Amy asks him who River is and how she can fly the TARDIS , prompting the Doctor sneer at River ' s style of piloting . River says she had lessons from the very best . The Doctor looks smug until she adds , " A shame you were busy that day . " River announces that she ' s plotted all possible landing locations , and , with a soft thud , that she ' s parked the TARDIS next to the " Byzantium " . However , the Doctor protests to the TARDIS having landed ; the dematerialisation noise didn ' t sound , so he ' s sceptical . River replies that it only makes that sound because he leaves the brakes on , though he insists it ' s a brilliant noise . The Doctor , grumbling , opens the door — despite River ' s warnings that they must do environmental checks — and announces they have landed on Alfava Metraxis , which has an oxygen - rich atmosphere , an eleven - hour day , and a chance of rain later . River sneers , " He thinks he ' s so hot when he does that . " River exits the TARDIS before the Doctor gets ready to leave . He tells Amy that River is his future , and can run away from it if he wishes to , but Amy reminds him that he promised her a planet and insists on spending 5 minutes there . The Doctor reluctantly accepts , though insists River is not dragging them into anything . They exit the TARDIS to see the smouldering wreckage of the " Byzantium " atop a stony plateau . On Amy ' s request , the Doctor introduces her to Professor River Song . Happy to learn that she ' ll be a professor one day , Rivers states her trademark , " spoilers " ; the Doctor is annoyed he just gave away foreknowledge . River asks the Doctor to boost the signal of her radio with his sonic screwdriver , so that she can use it as a homing beacon for reinforcements in orbit . She also mentions there was one survivor of the crash , something that can never die ; she notes that " now he ' s listening " . She produces her diary , and asks the Doctor where she ' s landed in his timeline . The Doctor orders Amy to keep away from it , as it is " Her past , my future " . Before River can read off any past adventures , four men in combat uniform teleport in and approach them . Their leader , Father Octavian , is rather cross ; River had promised him an army . However , she corrects him , saying that she promised the " equivalent " of an army . He takes back his complaint once introduced to the Doctor . They then reveal their enemy . Turning to the Doctor , River asks him what he knows of the Weeping Angel s . By nightfall , the Doctor is fed up with Amy ' s persistent questions about his relationship with River and with her disobedience of his order to wait in the TARDIS . River calls them to a drop - ship to show them footage of the Weeping Angel they ' re chasing . It is a four - second clip on a loop . The Doctor and River explain the nature of the Weeping Angel to Amy and Father Octavian , including their quantum - lock defence mechanism ; the Doctor also briefly recounts his previous encounter with the Weeping Angels on Earth . The Angel that they ' re after had been patient and feigned dormancy since it was discovered . All but Amy depart the drop - ship as River offers the Doctor a book about the Angels ; he reads the whole book in seconds . He is perplexed ; something is missing , but he doesn ' t know what . While the others make plans , Amy is left with nothing to do . Looking back at the tape , she realises the Weeping Angel has changed its position slightly . When she asks River if she has more than one clip of the Angel , River says no , it ' s just the one . When Amy looks back , the Angel has moved again ; it now faces the camera with its arms spread out . The door behind her shuts without her noticing . Amy tries to turn off the television , but it quickly switches back on . She then tries and fails to unplug it . When she looks back up , though , the Angel ' s face has filled the screen . She tries to leave , but the door won ' t budge . She looks back again to find the Angel is now baring its fangs at her . Outside , River wonders how early the Doctor is in his time stream . When he replies it is fairly early , she is amused because he doesn ' t know who she is yet . The Doctor wonders how she knows who he is as he doesn ' t always look the same . River says that she has all his faces in her diary , but he doesn ' t show up in order ; River thinks she needs a spotter ' s guide . The Doctor then realises what the book of angels is missing : pictures . Why would there be no visual on what to look out for ? River says there was a mention about images in the book . The Doctor returns to the sentence and reads it aloud : " Whatever takes the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel . " He ponders its meaning . Back in the dropship , Amy looks away again . This time , when she looks back , the Angel has projected itself into the drop - ship as a hologram . Amy shouts for the Doctor . He runs to the door and tries to opening it with the sonic screwdriver , but fails . River tries burning through the hull as the Doctor fails to cut the power ; the Angel has added a deadlock seal , though , and neither succeed , River noting it ' s " not even warm " . The Doctor warns Amy not to blink , then looks back into the book , and adds she is not to look into the Angel ' s eyes ; however , Amy already has , though doesn ' t mention it . The Doctor explains to River the book says that the eyes are the " doors " to the soul , not windows . Realising there is a blip in the loop where there ' s no picture , Amy freezes the recording at that moment , ending the " image " and shutting off the screen . The Doctor and River enter ; the Doctor orders River to hug and comfort Amy because he ' s busy scanning the plug to the television . He explains that it was a projection of the Angel they ' re after , not the Angel itself ; it was scoping out its foes , and remarks that " it ' s no longer dormant " . An explosion sounds outside , and Octavian enters to tell them the Clerics have blasted into the structure . The Doctor departs , convinced things are going to get even worse . Amy rubs her eye . She tells River there ' s something in it . The group climbs down into the temple , finding a gravity well inside . The Doctor says it is the perfect hiding place for the Angel . He kicks a gravity globe high into the air . With the space lit , the interior is revealed : hundreds of disintegrating stone statues . Finding the Angel is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack . The Clerics wonder how they are going to neutralise the Angel . The best strategy the Doctor can think of is to " Find it , and hope . " The Doctor and Amy rush off to explore , but Father Octavian holds River back , warning her they need the Doctor on their side ; the Doctor must never know why she ' s imprisoned , or he won ' t help them . As she leaves , Octavian sends Clerics Christian and Angelo to investigate the one exit visible from the chamber . In one of the tunnels , Amy has stopped some distance away from the Doctor to rub her eye . This time , dust runs between her fingers ; Amy is shocked by this , but the dust vanishes . River appears behind her and gives her an inoculation to protect her from the radiation from the ship . Amy asks River about her relationship with the Doctor . River is evasive and Amy continues to believe they are married . The Doctor hears them , but denies it . River points out that he ' s holding a device upside - down . This reassures Amy that she is right ; River doesn ' t confirm this , but simply says Amy is " good " . Elsewhere , Christian and Angelo are complaining about the mission , even preferring to go back to hunting lava snake s . Christian decides to investigate another passage , but soon finds his torchlight flickering . He turns to call for Angelo to come to him , but the Weeping Angel kills him . Oddly , Angelo receives a transmission from the now - deceased Christian to come and see something . When he does , he also finds his torchlight flickering . He turns to see the Angel just as it kills him as well . The Doctor , Amy and River explore the maze . He remembers the Aplan s who built the crypt , saying he had dinner with the chief architect . According to him , the species had two heads . He changes the subject , asking River about the last line in the book — it ' s a rather ominous prophecy : " " What happens when ideas have thoughts of their own ? What happens when dreams no longer need dreamers ? When these things have come to pass , the time will be upon us . The Time of Angels . " " The Doctor grimly tells River he hoped he mis - remembered that . They hear gunfire and return to the main chamber . Cleric Bob has fired at a statue , thinking it looked at him . Octavian berates him , telling Bob that according to the Doctor , they are facing an enemy of unimaginable evil and it would serve them best not to be scared of decor . However , the Doctor insists Bob ' s fear will keep him alert and fast ; " anyone who isn ' t scared is a moron . " The Doctor becomes embarrassed when he realises he insulted the cool - headed Octavian . Octavian orders Bob to guard the entrance with Christian and Angelo , while he and the four other Clerics join the Doctor ' s exploration . As they ascend to the second - to - last level , River tells the Doctor that something ' s wrong , but doesn ' t know what . The Doctor ' s feeling the same . He then tells Amy that they should go meet the Aplans some time ; Amy counters that they ' re dead . " So is , Virginia Woolf . I ' m on her bowling team . " the Doctor laughs . The Doctor explains that the Aplans were a relaxed happy race , and then the Church prevented self - marriage . Examining a statue while Amy points out that divorce of self - marriage must have been messy , the Doctor and River have a terrifying epiphany . As they explain , the Aplans had two heads . . . So why don ' t the statues ? Gathering everyone behind him , the Doctor has them turn off their torchlights . When they turn back on after a second , all of the statues have turned to face them ; every single statue is an Weeping Angel ! River wonders how they didn ' t notice , to which the Doctor says it is either because of a low level perception filter or because they were too thick to notice the oddity . Amy notes how slow the angels are , as they should ' ve had them by now ; the Doctor puts this down to starvation after being there for centuries without a supply of energy . Elsewhere , Cleric Bob gets a call from Angelo over his radio , begging him to come and see something . Angelo becomes increasingly annoyed that Bob won ' t come , telling him it ' s something he " has " to see . Finally , Bob does so , and he ' s killed by the same Angel . Back to the Doctor ' s group , he ' s deduce d the angels are slowly being restored by the radiation leaking from the wreckage ; the " Byzantium " was crashed by the healthy Angel to save it ' s species . Apparently , the Angels caused the extinction of the Aplans by displacing too many of them in time , leaving hardly enough left to reproduce and keep the species alive . Octavian radios Bob to warn him . Bob says he ' s on his way and that the others are dead ; the Angels have broken their necks . The Doctor is surprised ; Angels normally displace their victims in time , unless they need bodies for something . He asks Bob how he got away , but Bob explains the Angel killed him as well . River and Amy share a grim stare . The Doctor asks how he can be talking to him , and learns that the Angels stripped the cerebral cortex from Bob and reanimated a copy of his consciousness to speak to them as it cannot speak their language . When Bob said that " he " is on his way , he really meant the Angel . The group flees to the " Byzantium " while the Doctor chats with Bob , confirming he is speaking to the original Angel ; thus as it ' s not in the ship , it ' s the safest place . . As the Doctor runs to join the others , he finds Amy frozen in the corridor . She tells the Doctor that , because she looked into the Angel ' s eyes earlier , her hand has turned to stone . He must leave her . Her hand is not stone , though , and it ' s just the Weeping Angels playing with her mind . As the lights in the cavern flicker and the Angels approach , the Doctor apologises , but Amy tells him she understands why he must leave her ; he doesn ' t mean for " that " , and bites her hand , taking her out of the trance . They meet up with the others , who are standing on a rocky ledge some fifty feet beneath the " Byzantium " wreckage ; they ' re trapped . " Sacred Bob " radios the Doctor again . He says there is nowhere for the Doctor to go and the Angels will kill them all . The Angels are also keen to have him know that the real Bob was afraid when he died ; the Doctor had assured Bob that his fear would keep him fast , but he died alone and afraid . They are trying to make the Doctor angry , and angering the Doctor is a " very " bad move . The Doctor tells Bob that he ' s sorry for his death , promising what ' s left of him that the Angels will pay . But they ' re trapped with no chance of escape . The Doctor tells Bob that there is something wrong with the trap : a great , big mistake . He asks the group if they trust him . He takes Octavian ' s sidearm and orders them to jump on his signal . The Doctor warns the Angels , " 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 is one thing you never , ever put in a trap . " " " Me ! " " The Doctor then shoots the gravity globe with Octavian ' s sidearm , plunging them into total darkness . . . Home video releases . BBC Video - " Doctor Who Series Five - Volume Two " was released on Monday 5 July 2010 ( UK Only ) on DVD and Blu - ray , featuring " The Time of Angels " , " Flesh and Stone " and " The Vampires of Venice " .