Doctor Who ‘Death in Heaven’ Review

“Hey Missy  you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind, hey Missy!”

What a downer ending. I mean I appreciate Doctor Who taking some risks but that ending leaves The Doctor and Clara in a very sad place. This was the second part of a morbid two-part finale. And is it satisfying? Yeah…for the most part.

So now we all know that Missy is the Master. However you feel about that twist (or the fact that he is now a she) you have to agree Michelle Gomez is really, really great in the role. In this episode she was allowed to shine and her take on the Master really came through. She is INSANE. Last week I was worried I’d miss John Simm, but she is a completely different Master and you sort of forget previous incarnations. Also once her intentions are revealed she doesn’t even seem evil anymore, just sad, and perhaps a little misunderstood. She just wants her friend back, or that’s what she says. Her “death” was surprising, although I was disappointed The Doctor didn’t pull the trigger (or press the button?). That would have made it even more interesting and mean Steven Moffat wouldn’t have to resort to super Cyber Brigadier-Man, which was stupid.

And Danny! Poor Danny. What an ending. The moment he pulled off his Cyber-face and we saw his new Robocop face, I was worried. Knowing Steven Moffat they’d bring him back at the last second and he wouldn’t die. They could save him, no doubt with the power of love! (Looking at you James Corden). But thankfully he did die, they stuck to it and it made the ending so much more sad. Also he just HAD to do his whole ‘I was a soldier!’ thing right at the end. As if anyone who watched this series DIDN’T know that.

Speaking of being glad at someone’s death, yay Osgood died! The embodiment of the fanbase, or perhaps just Tumblr, got disintegrated and hopefully will never be seen again (assuming it wasn’t the Zygon version of Osgood). When she said “Bowties are cool!” I never wanted to put my foot through the screen more. I hate her.

Also in this episode; UNIT. Although they didn’t really do much. The two guards keeping an eye on Missy were possibly the worst soldiers on the planet. And making the Doctor president didn’t make any difference in the grand scheme of things. That being said, it was all worth it for the scene when the plane exploded and we got the scene of The Doctor skydiving after the TARDIS. It was absurd and over the top but exactly the sort of scene to save for the finale. I loved it.

The Cyberman are cool, but will always be cool. Bringing dead people back as zombie Cybermen was maybe too far for some, but the imagery of cyber hands punching out of graves was chilling. Also they can fly now! Which is awesome.

Clara was great, although I’m unsure how people will feel about her eyes being in the opening titles. She has shown a real range of emotions through this series and she is one of the better companions the Doctor has had. Hopefully she’ll get more of an ending at Christmas.

The end scene between The Doctor and Clara was touching. I’m sure the emotional hug between them caused some of the fanbase to let out tears of their own. The two of them lying to each other, thinking the other is happy, that was a depressing end and I’m glad they had it. Doctor Who has a tendency to end happily for no reason and I was surprised by how sad this episode ended. The scene of the Doctor hopelessly punching away at the TARDIS console was some of the best emotion the show has had.

This was a great finale although not fully satisfying, albeit intentionally. It certainly gets me excited for more Who. For me this series has been as good as Doctor Who has ever been. I know however that a lot of fans have declared it hit and miss. I reckon that’s because the show has finally started stepping out of it’s comfort zone. I’m excited each week by the next episode, and however the episode turns out the ideas behind them are original and innovative. Because of this I’m hoping the Christmas episode with Nick Frost as Father Christmas will be good. I guess we’ll wait and see.

Also, did you know Danny was a soldier?

Reviewed by Jack 😛