 Moffat had held the idea of the Weeping Angels since seeing an angel statue in a graveyard whilst on a family holiday, and had planned to use them for the next series in the episodes that became "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead".However, after withdrawing from the writing of series three's first two-part story—Helen Raynor took over these episodes, writing "Daleks in Manhattan" and "Evolution of the Daleks"—Moffat volunteered to write the series' Doctor-lite episode and opted to use the Weeping Angels in what would become "Blink".Moffat was also inspired to write the episode based on the popular children's game Statues, which he always found "frightening".