New Who Review for Heaven Sent
Posted By Kathleen David on December 7, 2015
There is not much I can say about the last episode of this season without giving away a lot of what happens.
I can say that the acting was first rate. There was one set that made me smile especially the detail that went into it. The writing was good but some of this episode was hard to follow even after we saw the ending. Knowing the ending and watching the last half again, Caroline had fallen asleep the first time, really showed some of the quickly patched holes in the story.
It is a good ending and sets up possibilities. It also confirms some people’s fan fiction but I am sure that they don’t read fan fic at BBC Wales because it is pretty much forbidden by the NDA that everyone signs for this sort of thing.
I was very happy about this season over all. Lots of clever episodes and a through line that was not pounded on in the episodes but came out of the episodes.
And can we have Missy back soon? Please?
I do like how they referred to the War Doctor and all he did for Gallifrey. Here they President of Gallifrey is calling for the Doctor’s head and the army is saying No, we don’t think so.
I think that the President is Dalton’s character regenerated which makes him Rassilon or someone who thinks they are Rassilon and which is worse?
Clara is back but not back. Living, or not, between two heart beats and she ran off with Me in a diner that they are going to the end of the universe. Nice tip of the hat to Douglas Adams I think.
I adored the recreation of the original TARDIS. Loved every piece of it. It is a tribute indeed.
That the Doctor can be so single minded has been established more than once. That he will do anything once he has the bit in his teeth has been established.
The way they get him out of his hyper focus is rather brilliant yet simple. He forgets. Clara does to him what he did to Donna. And there is kind of a cosmic balance that is created there.
So the Doctor is off on his madcap adventures. Clara is off on her madcap adventures and never the two shall meet or shall they?
Either way the season really clicked for me. I liked the format of the two episodes telling one story. I liked how there was an overall arc but you weren’t hit over the head with it.
Looking forward to The Doctor and River off on an adventure and to what happens after that.
I am grateful for a good season of Doctor Who.
So, was that the Doctor’s mother who came in telling him he couldn’t be in there?
Kathleen,
The final episode is actually titled “Hëll Bent.” And yes, it is very good.
When I first saw what appeared to be Clara in the diner, I thought it would turn out to be one of her “echoes” from when she jumped into the Doctor’s time stream; that the Doctor would take some solace in knowing that other “versions” of her are out there. Then I hoped it would not be a case of the Doctor wiping her memory, because that’s already been done (with Donna). I didn’t expect that the Doctor’s memory would end up being wiped.
And Clara did it wrong, too. She should have been wearing a black suit. And sunglasses. 🙂
I like how Clara is able to live a full lifetime (several lifetimes, since she’s not aging), but will still end up dying on Trap Street. A few questions arise, though. 1. Will her body be buried in secret, so that as far as the rest of the world is concerned she just disappeared; or will it be turned over to the authorities in such a way as to preserve Trap Street’s secret but allow her family to mourn her?
2. In either case, will Clara, in her diner-TARDIS traveling days, ever visit her family and say something like, “yes, I died, but not for a while yet (time traveler, you see). Meantime, what’s for dinner?”
3. What if Clara changes her mind about going back to Gallifrey so the Time Lords can return her to her proper time and place. Right now, she’s willing to (eventually) do it; she might decide Hob Gadling’s got the right idea after a few millennia. I suppose the big question is how much free will is involved? Is her death still a fixed event if she decides not to go back to Gallifrey? Or will she find herself going back at some point, perhaps despite herself?
Reminds me of a story (I forget the title) in which a man sees Death in a certain city and flees to some other city, only to run into Death there. Death tells him he was surprised to see him in the first city, since they were destined to meet in the second.
Of course, if Clara is going to travel with Ashildr long term, Ashildr’s going to have to stop calling herself “Me.” Introductions of “Hello, I’m Clara Oswald and this is Me” would just be confusing.
It’d be even worse if they end up traveling with two men arguing about the names of the players on a certain baseball team.
I agree that the Rassilon of this episode is meant to be a regeneration of Dalton’s incarnation. Since no significance was attached to Rassilon’s name in either this episode or “The End of Time”, it won’t mean anything to people who never saw the original run of the series (and thus don’t know about the Rassilon of ancient legend, seen in “The Five Doctors.”). The unanswered question for long-time fans is whether this is the same Rassilon. Maybe “Rassilon” is as popular a name among Time Lords as “Ramses” was among pharaohs.
(Speaking of pharaohs, a Fifth Dynasty one was named “Shepseskare.” Obviously, a certain Bard went time traveling and ended up in Egypt, where they couldn’t quite pronounce his name. Wonder if he went via diner or police box?)
There was no “aha!” look in the Doctor’s eyes, but I take it that when he saw the spray-painted image of Clara on the TARDIS he realized the woman in the diner was Clara. Which, hopefully, allowed him some degree of closure. He got to say good bye, in a matter of speaking.
David, I don’t think that was the Doctor’s mother, because I don’t think that was his home, but rather some Gallifreyian equivalent to summer camp or boarding school or (knowing the Doctor) reform school. All the other kids there (who don’t behave like relatives; no “did you bring us anything, Uncle Doctor?” comments or the like) would seem to reinforce that idea. Whatever the place is, the Doctor obviously feels a strong connection to it. More so than his actual family home.
Rick.
To answer your first question, Rick, there was a deleted scene in “Face the Raven” which, according to theinformations I have, showed the Doctor asking Rigsy to take care of that (notifying the authorites and Clara’s family) and asking Ashildr not to wipe Rigsy’s memory (and she didn’t, as we saw during the stinger).
My turn : I think that Steve Mofft wanted to have his cake and eat it (BTW : I never understood that expression : aren’t we supposed to have a cake before eating it ? In France, we say “to have the butter and butter’s money”, But I Digress -copyright your husband). He wanted Clara dead, but he wanted her alive at the same time. Whether he succeeded is a matter of personal opinion, and I know quite a few people who think that this new ending cheapens Clara’s death somehow. I disagree, because the Trap Street is still in her future. As a matter of fact, it’s even more cruel, come to think of it. No matter how many adventures she’ll have, one day, she’ll have to face the Raven, as we all must. Which leads me to my second point.
I haven’t heard of the Five Stages of Grief until I had read David Gerrold’s “A Rage for Revenge”. But since then, I have been finding it almost anywhere (it’s discussed in “All that Jazz”, and Grant Morrison admits to buddy that he has written the last issues of his run on Animal Man based on that. But does it apply to Doctor Who, and especially to the last three episodes ? Yes it does. Denial is pretty much out : the Doctor has seen many people depart, sometimes violently (before Clara, four companions), so he knows that Clara has died. Then comes his anger, anger at himself first, which is why he punish himself in Heaven Sent, and anger at the ones who put him in this situation, which is why he denies them the information they seek. You will tell me that 4 billions years is a long time to be angry, but remember that for the Doctor, onlythe time between his teleportation and his death has passed (a day, at least, to let his clothes dry)
In “Hëll Bent”, we see the end of his anger, with one line (“Get off my planet !”). He’s found the person responsible, and punish him. But then comes Bargaining : Maybe, thinks he, if I do this and that, Clara can live. Maybe I can beat the Raven. Maybe I can beat fate. Turns out he can’t. So then comes Grief, when he tries to wipe Clara’s memories and ends up wiping his own. A grief that doesn’t last very long, because, once he meet that waitress who he doesn’t recognize anymore, he learns to accept that he will never see Clara again, that this part of his life (and her life) is over, and that it’s time to move on, and be the Doctor again.
I know that all of that are the ramblings of a man who has read too much, but still, that’s the way I see it. Now of course, I know two women who are set for life : after “The Clara Chronicles” (how did Clara’s echoes help the Doctor over all those decades through time and space), “Ashildr’s Adventures” (what did the young Viking do during all those centuries ?), here comes “Clara and Me” (the adventures of two pretty immortals in time and space : is the space-time continuum ready for them ?). Fanfic fuel at its very best, and maybe three new lines of audio dramas for Big Finish.
One last thing, re : the next time trailer. I can see River takes after her grandfather Brian : a sonic trowel ? (see “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship”).
Oh, one last thing (said in Peter Falk’s voice : I’m waiting impatiently for the soundtrack. Murray Gold has done some of his most brillant work this season. Peter Capaldi isn’t the only one deserving of an Emmy. And yes, bring back Missy !