To tie into the Hallowe’en rewatch of Blink, the classic 2007 Doctor Who story which introduced the world to the Weeping Angels, Steven Moffat has released the original draft, which you can download or read online for free now. It features a very different ending – of which the writer said “I hated”.

Originally titled Sally Sparrow and The Weeping Angel, this first draft features a few scenes which Moffat nixed almost immediately after he’d sent it to then-showrunner, Russell T Davies. Moffat said:

“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.”

Interestingly, the script was in an outdated format, so writing duo, Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, retrieved it on Steven’s behalf so we can all read it as a PDF.

Blink has become legendary in the Doctor Who mythos (as ambiguous a thing that might be), but the word “blink” doesn’t appear in Sally and The Weeping Angel as much as you’d think. Steven explains:

“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 Russell 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.”

“The road not taken” is certainly an interesting path, and this is a fantastic resource for fans and wannabe screenwriters.

The script is now available to read and download.