Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)

261 – "Heaven Sent"
Doctor Who episode
File:Doctor Who Heaven Sent.png The castle in which the Doctor is imprisoned
Cast
Doctor Peter Capaldi (Twelfth Doctor)
Others Jenna Coleman – Clara Jami Reid-Quarrell – Veil
Production
Directed by	Rachel Talalay
Written by	Steven Moffat
Script editor	Nick Lambon
Produced by	Peter Bennett
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Brian Minchin
Music by	Murray Gold
Series	Series 9
Running time	55 minutes
First broadcast	28 November 2015 (2015-11-28)
Chronology
← Preceded by "Face the Raven" Followed by → "Hell Bent"

"Heaven Sent" is the eleventh and penultimate episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 28 November 2015. It was written by Steven Moffat and directed by Rachel Talalay.

In the episode, the Doctor (Peter Capaldi), in the wake of Clara Oswald's (Jenna Coleman) death, has been teleported to a strange waterlocked castle, and is there pursued by a shrouded creature that is trying to kill him. The episode received universal critical acclaim, with many labelling it one of the strongest episodes of the new series and of the show overall. Special attention was given to Capaldi's acting, Moffat's writing, and Talalay's direction.

Plot

After witnessing the death of his companion Clara Oswald ("Face the Raven"), the Doctor is teleported into a glass chamber within an empty castle which is surrounded completely by water. The castle is constantly reconfiguring itself and resetting its rooms. He finds himself followed by a cloaked figure called The Veil. When the Veil corners the Doctor, he admits he is afraid to die. Suddenly the Veil halts and the castle reconfigures itself, allowing the Doctor to escape. He comes to see the castle and the Veil as part of a trap to obtain confessions from him. He has inner monologues, envisioning himself on the TARDIS answering questions that a silent Clara writes on a chalkboard. Exploring the castle, he comes back to the transportation chamber to find the word "bird" had been written in a pile of dust. Other clues direct him to find a room numbered "12".

The Veil, as shown at the Doctor Who Experience.

The Doctor eventually locates Room 12 while the Veil is chasing him. Inside is a wall of Azbantium, a mineral 400 times harder than diamond. He realises that "bird" refers to "The Shepherd Boy", a fairytale by the Brothers Grimm, featuring a bird which slowly weathers away a mountain with its beak. In his inner monologue, where he despairs that he does not know how to escape this trap, Clara turns around and tells him to get over her death and figure a way to escape. The revitalized Doctor starts punching at the wall until the Veil touches him, burning him and disabling his regeneration process. The Doctor crawls back to the room he first arrived in and uses the last of his energy to restart the teleportation chamber, aware that due to the resetting rooms, the system will still contain a copy of himself. He then falls to the ground, writes "bird" in the dust, and disintegrates. A new Doctor appears, starting the cycle anew.

Eventually, after billions of years, the Doctor finally breaks through the Azbantium and a bright light vanquishes the Veil. The Doctor steps through to find himself on Gallifrey; behind him sits his Confessional Dial which he had been trapped in. A young boy approaches and the Doctor tells him to let the Time Lords know that he has returned, having "taken the long way around". The Doctor then proclaims "The Hybrid, destined to conquer Gallifrey and stand in its ruins, is Me."

Continuity

As he walks down the corridor, the Doctor says to his unseen adversary "the Doctor will see you now". The Eleventh Doctor shouts this same line to the Atraxi in "The Eleventh Hour".

The Doctor tells himself "Assume you're going to survive. Always assume that." This is what Clara says of the Doctor in "The Witch's Familiar": "he always assumes he's going to win. He always knows there's a way to survive".

The Doctor confesses that he ran from Gallifrey because he was scared, and that the pretense of being bored was a lie. Originally, in The War Games, the Second Doctor admitted to his companions that "Well, I was bored".

Once he arrives on Gallifrey, the Doctor tells the young boy to announce that he "came the long way around", echoing the Eleventh Doctor in "The Day of the Doctor" saying that he was going "home, the long way around".

Production

The teleporter set, on display at the Doctor Who Experience.

This episode primarily features the Doctor, with the non-speaking Veil portrayed by movement artist Jami Reid-Quarrell (who also appeared as Colony Sarff in "The Magician's Apprentice" / "The Witch's Familiar" earlier in the series). Former companion Clara (Jenna Coleman) and an uncredited Gallifreyan child also make brief appearances.

Before series 8 began, Moffat promised a cliffhanger for series 9, and teased in Doctor Who Magazine Issue 475, "I've figured out the cliffhanger to the penultimate episode of series 9. And it's a whopper. Ohh, I don’t think you'll see this coming!"

The read through took place on 18 June 2015 and filming began on 24 June 2015. Filming for the Castle interior scenes took place in Cardiff Castle and Caerphilly Castle, in addition to constructed sets.

Reception

The episode was watched by 4.51 million viewers in the UK overnight, a 20.7% audience share; the consolidated figures were 6.19 million viewers. It received an Appreciation Index score of 80, despite receiving acclaim from critics and fans.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer)	88%
Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score)	9.8
The A.V. Club	A
Paste Magazine	10.0
SFX Magazine
TV Fanatic
IndieWire	A+
IGN	9.5
New York Magazine
Radio Times

"Heaven Sent" received critical acclaim, with the majority of critics declaring it the greatest episode of the current series, and possibly one of the greatest episodes in the show's run. Many instances of extremely high praise were aimed towards Steven Moffat's script and Rachel Talalay's direction. Peter Capaldi's performance received universal widespread acclaim. The episode currently holds a score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 9.8, by far the highest average score of the series. The site's consensus reads "Peter Capaldi turns in a one-man command performance in this episode's exploration of grief, and a surprise turn of events sets up an explosive season finale".

Peter Capaldi received widespread critical acclaim for his performance in the episode.

Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times awarded the episode a perfect five star rating, saying that "Peter Capaldi's one-man show is an instant classic". He continued "This is Peter Capaldi’s hour and he has earned it...but this brilliant, bold, extended episode is a one-man show – a tour de force from the magnificent Capaldi. This year he has made the role his own" and said that the episode's structure "works perfectly without ever seeming contrived". He further stated that "[Steven Moffat] has structured the narrative with his trademark intricacy. Capaldi plays it to perfection – in the moment, every moment. Rachel Talalay steeps the production in atmosphere and sustains the momentum right until the final revelations". Calling the episode a "mind-bending masterpiece", Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy stated that it was also "one of the most surreal episodes to date". He further stated "Writer Steven Moffat cleverly subverts the expectation that this'll be a low-budget escapade, with a surplus of Capaldi awkwardly expressing his inner thoughts aloud. There's plenty of the Doctor 'talking to himself', true enough, but there's always a reason", before closing his review by saying "'Heaven Sent' is brilliant, but it's also about as far from big, broad, family-friendly entertainment as you can get. The show's been obtuse and a little odd before, but nothing quite like this, and its rejection of the standard Doctor Who trappings might be too much for some. But if you're willing to see past that and embrace the weirdness, then you'll end up captivated. Because this is demanding and intelligent science-fiction, the likes of which BBC One should be commended for airing".

Alasdair Wilkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode an 'A', for the fifth time this season, writing "This season has been a remarkable achievement for the show, and, pending next week’s finale, it’s got a real chance to go down as the best season of the revival, topping even Matt Smith’s debut in season five. And hey, maybe "Hell Bent" will be the perfect capper to this season, or maybe it won’t. But the genius of the construction of this season’s endgame is that "Hell Bent" could be an unmitigated disaster and it still wouldn’t really undo the genius of "Heaven Sent" or "Face The Raven" before it." Mark Rozeman of Paste Magazine also awarded the episode a perfect score (10.0), labeling it "a masterpiece of the highest order", whilst Ian Berriman of SFX Magazine also awarded full marks, saying "Heaven Sent stands as the best episode of the season so far: madly surreal, ingeniously baffling, immensely creepy and downright gruelling in its latter stages, with a tremendously impactful payoff".

Awarding the episode a score of 9.5, deemed "amazing" and the highest of the series, Scott Collura of IGN particularly praised the episode's conclusion by saying "It's a thrilling, brilliant twist to this episode that sends the whole affair cascading into a barrage of images and sounds that won’t soon be forgotten. The realization that the sea of skulls is actually a sea of Doctor skulls while the gentle guitar-driven score picks up and broadens beautifully is amazing". He further praised the "hybrid reveal" as well as Capaldi's performance, and closed his review by saying "A great episode of Doctor Who that serves to bring this mostly excellent season towards its finale, "Heaven Sent" features a breathtaking one-man show from Peter Capaldi and a twist-ending that makes this one of the best episodes of the modern series’ run". Referring to it as "an epic one man show", Tim Liew of Metro also acclaimed the episode, saying that he "loved it". He particularly praised Steven Moffat and Peter Capaldi, saying "Steven Moffat takes a bold step by stripping his story back to its bare bones and putting the burden squarely on Peter Capaldi’s shoulders. And Capaldi delivers 100%, carrying every scene and showing every facet of his Doctor. It’s a beautifully textured performance, underpinned by a superb new musical score from series composer Murray Gold. Many fans, myself included, had initial doubts over whether Capaldi could succeed as the Doctor. If there were any remaining concerns, this episode surely puts them to rest". He also praised the episode's structure, saying "As a story, the episode builds slowly, making a virtue of the Veil’s slow-moving gait with a knowing wink about all those enemies who the Doctor is always outrunning. But it’s only in the closing minutes that the pieces of the puzzle fall into place and the episode’s epic scale is finally revealed".

In 2016 "Heaven Sent" received a nomination for Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) but lost to Jessica Jones "AKA Smile". "Heaven Sent" is also the first episode of Doctor Who to be submitted for nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award, due to BBC America being one of the series' co-producers. The episode was submitted to support Capaldi for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Moffat for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, and Talalay for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, in addition to several other Creative Arts Emmys. However, the episode was not selected by the Emmy committee for any of these award categories.

Soundtrack

Further information: Doctor Who: Series 9 (soundtrack)

Selected pieces of score from this episode, as composed by Murray Gold, comprise the entire third disc of the ninth series' 4-CD soundtrack, which was released on 27 April 2018 by Silva Screen Records.

External links

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