Former Doctor Who boss Steven Moffat shares early Weeping Angels concept

The writer, whose latest drama Inside Man has just finished its run on BBC One, took to Twitter to share an email he'd written to producer Julie Gardner dated 5th October 2006.

The email contains an early description of his new monsters as "Statues that come to life when, but only when they're unobserved."

It continues: "So when we look at them, they look like stone statues – motionless, weather-beaten stone. They are weeping angels, with folded wings on their backs, and their faces always buried in their hands. But when you look away, their hands drop and they look at you. And maybe do a bit sneaking-up."

He then goes on to discuss logistics – explaining they'll need "five or six of them" but adding that "doubling up shouldn't be hard" given that they are motionless whenever seen.

And he adds: "The challenge here will be to make them REALLY look like statues, and not dressed-up people – which is what they'll be, obviously. Quite a lot of cunning freeze-framing involved I'd think."

Although Moffat claimed that he had "no memory of writing" the email, he said it "made [him] smile when [he] realised what [he] was talking about."

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