Doctor Who season 8, episode 12 wrapped Peter Capaldi’s inaugural season as the Doctor. Did the Cybermen and The Master win out, or did the Doctor defeat them again?
Clara’s Plan
Not a very original plan, but one that works for a while, Clara decides to attempt to confuse the Cybermen into thinking she was the Doctor. It at least buys Clara time. Obviously she hopes to discover a way to reunite with the Doctor. Instead, Cyberman Danny, with a malfunctioning emotions setting, comes and saves her.
U.N.I.T. attempts to save the day
After capturing the Doctor and the Master, U.N.I.T. really succeeds in only making a muddle of things. Cybermen launch into the skies and form a seed cloud of sorts that sets in motion a Cyberman army rising from the grave. The “brilliant” U.N.I.T. plan of putting the Doctor and Master on a plane, ends up getting plucky girl with a bow tie, Osgood, killed, Kate sucked out a window, and the rest of the crew killed. Fortunately, the Doctor manages to free fall into his Tardis and escape death. As a side casualty, Seb dies with an ill-timed, fanboy squee.
The Master’s information
We come to find out the Master has been up to an awful lot. The Master, as it turns out, was the infamous woman in the shop who gave Clara the help line. The Master relished in the idea of putting together control freak Clara with the man who doesn’t want to be in control, the Doctor. In a sense she made them both who they are today.
Where did the Master spring from? Why Gallifrey, of course. When the Doctor saved Gallifrey in the 50th anniversary episode he unwittingly saved the Master as well, and now she reveals that it’s where it always was.
The Master’s master plan
In a nutshell, the Master wants to be the Doctor’s BFF again like when they were kids. The Master envisions the two of them returning to Gallifrey, and together they’ll rule. It does make you wonder what exactly, in all her incidental experiences she’s ever had with the Doctor over the years, would lead her to this conclusion. Clearly, she has the universe’s slowest learning curve. Despite the fact that the Doctor momentarily questions if he is a good man, the Doctor states firmly that he’s still simply a “mad man with a blue box.” World domination still isn’t a life goal. The Doctor isn’t buying what the Master is selling, and he kills the Master (or so it would seem, but you know she/he will be back) rather than have Clara do it.
Soldier Danny has a solution
With the conversion of the dead not having been 100%, Danny manages to rally the troops to save the planet. They launch to destroy the seed clouds and to then disappear into the beyond. One soldier of the dead stays behind and points out a semi-conscious Kate to the Doctor. Kate’s father, A.K.A The Brig, rose from the dead, caught his daughter when she was sucked out of the plane, and saves her. His actions garner a salute from the Doctor when he realizes who the lone Cyberman was.
Time to say goodbye
Despite the Doctor giving Danny a way to come back via the tricksy wrist device, Danny instead elects to save another’s life. He asks Clara to return the boy he shot when he was a soldier to his parents. Danny would rather save the life he took, that has always haunted him, than save his own. Cue the Kleenex! Danny and Clara say their final goodbyes and I love you’s while not touching.
The Doctor meets Clara two weeks later. Clara has something important to tell the Doctor, but he won’t let her get any words in edgewise. He thinks that Danny has saved himself, and now that they are reunited, Clara is giving up on traveling. He reveals that it’s okay with him, he understands, and that he is planning a trip to Gallifrey. Clara has no chance to reveal what she wanted to tell him, which we are betting is the fact that she’s likely pregnant with Danny’s child (Orson Pink and all that). She wishes the Doctor farewell and they say mutual goodbyes.
Christmas Special preview
Of course the Doctor will be back for the Christmas Special, and this time Santa will be there. Santa is played by actor Nick Frost (did you all catch the self-referential humor?) Also, Clara will be back for the Christmas Special, or so confirms The Radio Times. It will likely be her final episode as we can’t see an infant hanging about the Tardis given the entire River Song debacle.
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