Death in Heaven

252b – "Death in Heaven"
Doctor Who episode
File:Doctor Who - Death in Heaven.jpg Promotional image for the episode
Cast
Doctor Peter Capaldi (Twelfth Doctor)
Companion Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald)
Guest Samuel Anderson – Danny Pink Michelle Gomez – Missy Chris Addison – Seb Ingrid Oliver – Osgood Jemma Redgrave – Kate Stewart Sanjeev Bhaskar – Colonel Ahmed James Pearse – Graham Antonio Bourouphael – Boy Shane Keogh-Grenade – Teenage boy Katie Bignell – Teenage girl Jeremiah Krage – Cyberman Nicholas Briggs – Voice of the Cybermen Nick Frost – Santa Claus
Production
Directed by	Rachel Talalay
Written by	Steven Moffat
Script editor	David P Davis
Produced by	Peter Bennett
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Brian Minchin
Music by	Murray Gold
Series	Series 8
Running time	2nd of 2-part story, 60 minutes
First broadcast	8 November 2014
Chronology
← Preceded by "Dark Water" Followed by → 2014 Christmas special

"Death in Heaven" is the twelfth and final episode of the eighth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. It is the second episode of a two-part story involving the return of the Cybermen and the Master in the form of 'Missy', the first part being "Dark Water", written by Steven Moffat and directed by Rachel Talalay. The episode stars Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Samuel Anderson, Michelle Gomez, Chris Addison, Jemma Redgrave, and Ingrid Oliver.

Plot

In a direct continuation from "Dark Water", Clara Oswald is trapped with a Cyberman in the headquarters of 3W in St. Paul's Cathedral, and when it tries to 'delete' her due to her irrelevance, she uses her knowledge to claim she is the Doctor. Outside, the Doctor reels from the revelation that Missy, the woman controlling the Cybermen, is a female incarnation of the Master. She reveals that 91 Cybermen, one for every major population area in the United Kingdom, have been released from St. Paul's and will explode over graveyards in each population area, releasing 'Cyberpollen' which will reincarnate the dead as Cybermen. In the Nethersphere, the dimension where Missy has trapped the souls of the dead, Danny Pink discusses what happens next with virtual assistant Seb, but fails to 'delete' his emotions before the souls are released back to their decomposing bodies via rainclouds.

UNIT, led by Kate Stewart, surround the Doctor, Missy, and her group of Cybermen. While UNIT renders both the Doctor and Missy unconscious, the Cybermen take to the air using jets attached to their lower legs. Clara fails to convince the Cybermen within 3W that she is truly the Doctor, but she escapes deletion when Danny, reincarnated as a Cyberman, arrives and destroys them.

Aboard a protected UNIT Airbus A330, Kate reveals to the Doctor that, per United Nations protocols, he has been nominated as 'President of Earth' and has control of the planet's armies. He objects to this, and, on detailing Missy and the Cybermen's plans to her, despairs that there is nothing they can do for Earth now. Missy escapes her captors and kills UNIT scientist Osgood, claiming insanity; the Doctor faces her while a horde of Cybermen attack the plane. Missy then detonates one of the plane's cargo doors, sending Kate and the Doctor plummeting toward their deaths while she teleports to safety.

The Doctor narrowly escapes by calling the TARDIS to break his fall, and joins Clara at a graveyard, where she has discovered that the Cyberman that has saved her is Danny, and he still possesses his human emotions. She begs the Doctor to delete Danny's emotions by switching on his inhibitor, but the Doctor refuses in fear that Danny will kill Clara. The Doctor asks Danny about Missy's plans, but Danny tells him that the Cyberhive cannot be fully accessed without full upgrade of emotions. The Doctor reluctantly agrees and Clara uses his sonic screwdriver to turn the inhibitor on. When he does, Danny reveals that a second rainfall is coming; one which will convert living humans into Cybermen.

Missy teleports to join them and gives the Doctor control of the Cyberarmy as his birthday present, telling the Doctor that he can lead his own personal army of Cybermen as a conquering force to save the universe from tyranny such as that of the Daleks, as he has always wanted. The Doctor protests that no one should have such power, and Missy recognises that he does not trust himself. He refuses control and passes the control bracelet instead to Danny, who is revealed to have kept hold of his personality through his love for Clara. Danny leads the Cyberarmy into the sky, where they explode, incinerating the Cyberpollen clouds, and stopping the second rainfall.

Although angry that her plan has been ruined, Missy suggests that she and the Doctor become friends again and travel to the returned Gallifrey, to which she gives him the co-ordinates. Furious over what has happened, Clara aims to kill Missy with Missy's weapon, chastising the Doctor for not doing so earlier. The Doctor agrees to kill her in Clara's place to keep her hands clean, telling Missy "You win", but before he can fire, a rogue Cyberman vaporises her. Clara soon finds Kate alive, having been saved from her fall by the same Cyberman; the Doctor realizes that it is the conversion of Kate's father, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, also still with his human personality, and the Time Lord bids goodbye to his old friend with a salute.

With Missy's control bracelet, Danny has enough power for one trip back to the living world, but instead sends through a child that he had accidentally killed while serving in the army. Clara is devastated, but agrees to see the child home. She meets with the Doctor to tell him about Danny's ultimate fate, but the Doctor interrupts her with the news he has found Gallifrey at the co-ordinates given to him by Missy. This is later revealed as a lie, as not to make Clara feel bad about not wanting to travel with him anymore. They part ways, each unaware of the other's lies, and when the Doctor is back in the TARDIS, he is interrupted by Santa Claus, asking what he wants for Christmas this year.

Continuity

As the first full episode since The End of Time to feature the Master with her true identity revealed, "Death in Heaven" features various references to previous episodes featuring the character. Osgood refers to previous incidents on Earth featuring the Master, including his tenure as Prime Minister in "The Sound of Drums". When boarding the airbase, the Doctor believes he is going to the Valiant, an airborne aircraft carrier built by the Master in "The Sound of Drums". Missy uses the phrase "Oh, my giddy aunt", a catchphrase frequently used by the Second Doctor.

When Clara assumes the identity of the Doctor, she claims that he has been married four times: to Susan's grandmother (prior to An Unearthly Child), Marilyn Monroe (in "A Christmas Carol"), River Song (in "The Wedding of River Song") and Elizabeth I (in "The Day of the Doctor"). Jenny, the Doctor's genetically created daughter from "The Doctor's Daughter", is also referenced. Osgood is also wearing a pair of Converse trainers and a bow tie, as a tribute to the Doctor's Tenth and Eleventh incarnations, respectively, whom she met in "The Day of the Doctor"; she also says "Bow ties are cool", a catchphrase frequently used by the Eleventh Doctor. The Cyberman head that Kate reveals is from the 1968 episode The Invasion, which also featured Cybermen invading near St. Paul's Cathedral.

In the credits sequence that follows Clara's claim that she is the Doctor, the credits for Jenna Coleman and Peter Capaldi are switched (with Coleman's appearing first), and an image of Coleman's eyes replaces Capaldi's. This gives the appearance that Clara is indeed the Doctor, though this is later established as untrue.

The episode ends with Nick Frost's 'Santa Claus' entering the TARDIS and asking what the Doctor would like for Christmas this year. This will lead onto the 2014 Christmas special. Santa Claus was mentioned in A Christmas Carol when the Eleventh Doctor jumped down a chimney in the 44th century; he told a child that the "big fat guy" would be down later. He showed the child a picture of himself, Santa and Albert Einstein at Frank Sinatra's hunting lodge as proof.

Production

The read through for "Death in Heaven" took place on 12 June 2014. Production of the episode overlapped with "Dark Water"; the opening scene involving UNIT was filmed prior to the final scene in the previous episode. Principal photography for the episode concluded on 21 July 2014.

Broadcast and reception

Reception

Overnight ratings estimate that the episode was watched by 5.45 million viewers.

The episode received mostly positive reviews. Dan Martin writing for The Guardian praised Michelle Gomez's performance, noting that she "preens with a perfect combination of madness and malevolence that is just so Master." He also notes that her demise is a nod to the Roger Delgado era of the Master. He summed up the final as "Action-packed, uncompromising, filled with genuine emotion". While writing for The Telegraph, Michael Hogan noted that Danny Pink got a "stupendous send-off" and that it would be a shame if Missy did not reappear in the future. Hogan also loved the two nods to Nicholas Courtney who played Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. He gave the episode four stars out of five. Dave Golder, writing for SFX, gave the episode four stars out of five. He criticised some parts of the episode, including Danny's final moments in the graveyard, and he felt the episode was "less chilling than Dark Water". Overall, he stated "[it] was an immensely enjoyable series finale".

Writing for IGN, Matt Risley, gave the episode an "Amazing" 9.1, calling it "a powerful and emotional finale to Capaldi's masterful first season." He also praised Michelle Gomez for her performance, but criticised the use of the Cybermen and plot holes. On the AV Club, writer Alasdair Wilkins gave the episode A-, calling it a "bittersweet ending for the season". When commenting on the season as a whole, he said "we are left to ponder one of Doctor Who's most complex, emotionally rich seasons".

Simon Brew of Den of Geek gave a mixed to positive review. He praised Michelle Gomez's, Capaldi's and Coleman's performances, but was critical of the Cybermen, believing them to be the weakest of the three cliffhanger threads from the previous week. He was also critical of the pacing and some plot holes and threads that were slightly unbelievable, citing the falling Doctor homing into the TARDIS as the main culprit. He was disappointed with Bhaskar's limited role in the episode and lack of resolutions to certain plot points. Overall though, he believed it to be one of the better finales since the show returned in 2005.

Gavin Clarke of The Register gave it an overwhelmingly negative review, saying "This finale couldn’t lift itself up from the messy morass of the rest of the season… it didn’t make sense, it was ridiculous and contrived and just not engaging." He was critical of plot holes in the episode and the fact no explanation was given for how the Master returned. He was however pleased with Gomez' performance believing it to be the best part of the episode, calling her "fantastic". Dan Wilson of Metro also gave a negative review, citing that it "left far too many threads hanging." But he too was positive about Michelle Gomez as the Master.

External links

• "Death in Heaven" at the BBC Doctor Who homepage
• "Death in Heaven" on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
• Template:Brief
• "Death in Heaven" at IMDb