Doctor Who: Death in Heaven

The season finale of Peter Capaldi’s first season as the Doctor certainly packed a punch time and time again. From the opening scene when Clara tells a Cyberman that she is the Doctor, stalling for time, to the moment when Santa Claus arrives as a deus ex machina with the hope that, for Christmas, perhaps we’ll get some resolution to certain loose ends, it was a wild ride of the sort that we’ve come to expect from Doctor Who.

Some of my favorite moments will be highlighted here. I liked the reference to selfies and going viral – you can introduce things to the public and, as long as they have a chance to get photos with these strange costumed individuals, they will assume it is some marketing ploy.

I loved when UNIT showed up, including not just Kate Stewart but also Oswood, now wearing a bow tie because “bow ties are cool.” I got a kick out of the difference between the OCD count and the “queen of evil” count of the number of Cybermen. That the Doctor is still technically on the payroll of UNIT was cute – especially when the Doctor asked how much they were paying him.

I loved that the Doctor had been installed as President of Earth, chief executive officer of the human race. This brought together two major threads of the season – that the Doctor lives among us and has a responsibility to Earth, and the dislike that the Doctor has for soldiers even though he is something of one himself, and indeed, is an officer. And it was a great moment when the Doctor gloated at Missy, pointing out that he had achieved what the Master had often tried to but failed to: ruling Earth.

I loved when Danny Pink came back as a Cyberman, and even so managed to save Clara, even while she talked about her skills as a liar, and her faithfulness to the Doctor as the one man to whom she would not lie.

I loved that Missy knew where Gallifrey is. And that its coordinates were the same coordinates used in the classic series. But I wonder why the Doctor, having found it, pounded on his TARDIS console until is smashed – what did he see there?

I loved the question, “How can you win against an enemy that can weaponize the dead?”

I loved the scene where Danny asks Clara to help him, to turn on his inhibitor and stop his emotions. And I loved the Doctor’s intervention, saying, “Pain is a gift.” But I loved that it was ultimately Danny’s love and not a solution the Doctor came up with that allowed Danny to overcome the effects of the “upgrade.” And I loved how that scene showed that the Doctor is, at times, all the things he hates – worse than a soldier, a general who sends soldiers to do his dirty work.

I loved the reveal (even if it was already becoming clear) that Missy brought the Doctor and Clara together.

I loved lots of little details about Missy as the latest regeneration of the Master. When she arrives like Mary Poppins. When she remembers the Doctor’s birthday (but what is a birthday for a time traveler?).

I liked that Missy’s scheme was to give the Doctor an army, to give him the chance to see what he would do with it, saying, “I need my friend back…I need you to know we’re not so different.”

I loved the Doctor’s response, leading him to thank and then kiss Missy, saying, “I am not a good man, and I’m not a bad man…I am an idiot…”

I loved when the Doctor said, “Love isn’t an emotion. Love is a promise.”

I loved the Doctor being willing to kill Missy in order to spare Clara from having to take a life. And I loved when Missy asked, “To save her soul? But who, my dear, will save yours?”

I loved that among the dead was the Brigadier who, as a Cyberman, saved his daughter.

I loved that Danny chose to return the boy he killed to life, rather than himself.

I appreciated, even though it leaves us hanging, Clara’s decision to not tell the Doctor that Danny had not come back.

How will that last bit be resolved? I suspect that the Cybermen, and Missy’s device, were designed to transport people to the nethersphere rather than disintegrate them – the effect of Missy’s weapon seemed to be the same thing we saw in other episodes this season, when we saw someone disintegrated only to find they had teleported elsewhere. And so I am hopeful for a return of not only Missy and Danny, but also Osgood. Missy killing her, simply because she’s “bananas,” was among the most brutal moments. Because, above all else, she illustrates how the Doctor impacts lives, leading them to be weaponized, leading them to be vulnerable, leading them into harm’s way and sometimes to death. She was an endearing character both in “Day of the Doctor” and in “Death in Heaven.” I hope that she can be brought back – but if not, I hope the Doctor will meet her again at an earlier point in her life.

There were moments where I felt the pace was a bit too rushed. Perhaps it is a result of watching too much classic Doctor Who, in which the pace can seem somewhat too slow. But the strongest moments in the episode, and its resolution of key questions from the season’s arc, seem to make up for any shortcomings.

What did you think of “Death in Heaven”? What do you think is going to happen next?