Doctor Who‘s finale opener answered plenty of questions, but it raised just as many. So, what’s in store for “Death In Heaven”?
Doctor Who series 8 has seen it all: Daleks, Clockwork droids, dinosaurs, dimension-traversing monsters, mind-reading aliens, a murderous mummy, and even what’s lurking under your bed at night. But in last week’s “Dark Water,” The Doctor and Clara faced their greatest threat yet: a regenerated Master leading an army of Cybermen. There were twists and turns aplenty in the episode, but as usual with Doctor Who, it feels like more questions were raised than answered. Which means the series-capper “Death In Heaven” has a lot to achieve. Ahead of our last dose of Who before Christmas, we’ve come up with eight theories on what the finale holds.
In many ways, the answer to this year’s series arc turned out to be so shocking because it was dismissed as too obvious. As soon as we found out that series 8’s big bad was called Missy, plenty of fans were predicting her name would be short for Mistress. But despite plenty of speculation, for once the big secret didn’t actually leak, so many thought her name would be a red herring. Well, it wasn’t. So, the Master has broken free from Gallifrey’s pocket universe, and is now harvesting dead people to power Cybermen.
But how did she escape Rassilon? The last time we saw her, she was a he, and he had sacrificed himself to stop the Lord President’s schemes. Since then, it’s been revealed that Gallifrey is safe thanks to the combined efforts of the Doctor’s incarnations. Of course, it’s possible that Gomez’s incarnation pre-dates John Simm and Derek Jacobi’s version of the character. This would make sense, since some of Missy’s claims of the Doctor leaving her “behind” don’t really fit with the way Simm’s Master bowed out of the show.
Soon after Peter Capaldi was announced as the Twelfth Doctor, Steven Moffat promised fans that his striking similarity to past characters (Frobisher in Torchwood and Caecilius in “Fire of Pompeii”) would be addressed in series 8.
The opening scene of “Dark Water” featured one of the most jaw-dropping twists in Doctor Who history as Samuel Anderson’s Danny Pink was struck down by a car and killed off. Soon after, he woke up in the Promised Land as Seb explained to him that he was in an afterlife of sorts. Despite his death, we learnt more about Danny in this episode than we have all series (notably, he accidentally killed a child while serving as a soldier). But when we left him, his finger was hovering over the ‘Delete’ button – ready to erase all of his memories and clear the way for Cyber-conversion.
But will he be miraculously be brought back from the Nethersphere, or will there be a very permanent death in heaven during the finale? Steven Moffat has promised us darker, grittier events and final deaths – and to be honest we can’t see Danny making a surprise resurrection. And even if there was any opportunity to bring someone back from the afterlife, Danny would make sure the boy he killed got a second chance at life before he did.
Clara. Clara, Clara, Clara. Back in August, rumors were rife that Jenna Coleman would be leaving the show by the end of the series. Last week was all about Danny’s death rather than Clara’s looming fate. But we did see the cracks start to show in the companion/Doctor relationship as she threatened to destroy all seven of the TARDIS’ keys.
On Page 2: Seb’s identity, UNIT’s solidarity, and Gallifrey Stands Once More…
Last week, all of the pre-air hype was largely focused around the Missy-tery (sorry!) of the Gatekeeper’s identity. As we all know, that particular question was answered in spectacular fashion during the closing moments of “Dark Water.” But if she’s a Time Lord (or Lady) then who, or what, is Seb?
There are two real possibilities here. Firstly, Seb could be a computer program set up to deal with the incoming deceased. There’s a precedent for three-lettered named computer programs who use a Cyberman logo and deal with the dead or dying already this series (Gus, in “Mummy on the Orient Express”), so it wouldn’t be surprising if that’s who Seb turned out to be. Option two is he himself is a Time Lord. There was plenty of speculation that Missy would be revealed as the Rani – and if Steven Moffat really wants to get the fandom raging, he could change the Rani’s gender and have him serving under The Mistress. Let’s not rule anything out.
Missy’s matrix slice has already shown it’s an impressive piece of technology, with Danny being stored in the gargantuan Nethersphere along with millions of others. We’ve seen The Master and Seb wander in and out of the world, which shows us the hard-drive is capable of storing the living as well as the conscious of the recently deceased. So what if more of the story than we realized is actually taking place inside of the Nethersphere?
The Master won’t be the only returning character in “Death In Heaven,” as the second part of the finale also sees UNIT’s Kate Stewart and Osgood make their return to the show. But when they interact with the new gruffer, grumpier, Twelfth Doctor, will they still receive the warm welcome they’re accustomed to?
The post-Trenzalore Doctor has already shown he’s not too impressed with military organisations and soldiers this series. First, there’s his reactions and general attitude towards Danny in “The Caretaker” and subsequent episodes, then there’s his rebuffing of Journey Blue in “Into The Dalek.” Whichever way you look at it, the leaders of UNIT shouldn’t be expecting open arms when they’re reunited on Saturday. In fact, The Doctor could even behave in a volatile manner towards his old allies.
The ending to the 50th Anniversary special, “The Day of the Doctor,” promised the future potential of Gallifrey being restored to its rightful place in the universe. The Time Lords then popped up briefly in “The Time of the Doctor,” but since then we haven’t seen much from them. That is, of course, until The Master sauntered through central London during “Dark Water.”
Honorable mention: Dr. Skarosa
Dr. Skarosa, need we say more? The name of 3W’s alleged creator holds more than a passing similarity to Skaro – the home planet of the Daleks. Could we see an unholy alliance between The Doctor’s three greatest enemies in the finale? Probably not (he’s more likely to be the original body of Seb, who now does Missy’s bidding on the other side), but it’s a fun little nod.
Doctor Who series 8 concludes tonight with “Death In Heaven” by Steven Moffat, starring Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez, Samuel Anderson, Chris Addison, Jemma Redgrave, and Ingrid Olivier. U.K. viewers can catch it on BBC One at 8 p.m. GMT, and State-side fans can watch it on BBC America at 9/8C.