NuWho Review: Series 8 Episode 12 "Death In Heaven"

By: Steven Moffat

**Spoilers**

If you have not yet seen this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.

          I'm calling foul on the technobabble in this one...


Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

-  "The dead outnumber the living." 

- No sure how I feel about Missy (okay, okay...The Master) flirting with The Doctor so much. On the one hand, The Master has been doing that for a while and it clearly messes with The Doctor's head. On the other hand, WHY DO ALL OF MOFFAT'S FEMALES HAVE TO LOVE OR BE ATTRACTED TO OR FLIRT WITH THE DOCTOR?! Seriously! Only Jenny and Vastra didn't, because they don't swing his way, but The Doctor STILL got to kiss Jenny!

- "Don't salute. Don't do that. You'll give yourself a concussion...which rather explains centuries of military operations when you think about it."

- I'm also calling foul on the validity that is the entire world agreeing to work together and elect The Doctor Commander in Chief in case of an alien invasion. Uh...yeah. Suuuure.

- Okay. So what is it with Moffat and killer precipitation? First the evil-snow-of-boredom in The Snowmen and now rain that can convert people into Cybermen? Somehow I'm not buying that, even with Time Lord technobabble stapled onto it. Nope. No. That just sounds dumb. I like the idea of converting the dead, but they should have found a different way to do it.

-The scene in the morgue gave me flashbacks to the made-for-television film.

- "...I have a non-Gallifreyan daughter created by a genetic transfer..." AAAA! Squee! They really need to bring Jenny (not Vastra's Jenny) back somehow.

- The meeting between Danny and Clara almost ripped out my heart. Though, it does hold shades of Amy and Auton!Rory from The Pandorica Opens.

- Whatever happened to the Cyberman canon that the reason for the emotional inhibitor was to keep the human brain from going mad, because being inside the suit is too much to take? Why are you messing with long-established, excellent canon, Steven Moffat? I love Danny...but that was bad writing.

- HOW were the upgrades transferred via water? How?! EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!

- The scene with the Cybermen climbing out of the graves made me laugh.

- Osgood was SLIGHTLY less annoying in this episode than she was in the 50th. But only slightly. I have to say that I wasn't too sorry whenever The Master killed her.

- Though...what exactly was the point of the "I'm going to kill you." scene? Aside from giving Michelle Gomez the chance to mug into the camera, that is?

- So...if all the graves on Earth are being opened, does this mean that Amy and Rory are now Cybermen too?

- The scene with The Doctor skydiving to the tune of cheesy Bond-esque music was absolutely hilarious. I laughed and laughed. I don't say that as a good thing, though. Kate Stewart had just fallen to her apparent (and sudden) demise, but we were given no time to feel the loss.

- That being said, Capaldi's Doctor is a badass!

- I am glad that they actually had the guts to make Clara erase Danny's emotions. That was too perfect a set-up to not use. And excuse me while I go and watch a bunch of cat videos on YouTube to cheer myself up.

- The Master is now officially Evil Mary Poppins. Ha! She and Mrs. Foster from Partners in Crime would get on well!

- "Oh go on! Crack a smile! I want to see those eyebrows drop off!"

- Finally we got a speech from The Doctor that was both humorous and dramatic and reminded us that he's not a big, tragic hero. He's just a traveler passing through and helping out where he can. Thank you, Moffat. (Now if you'll only stick to that story...)

- Danny even got his own Aragorn/William Wallace speech. Har har har...

- I still wish his soldier saga had been executed a bit better.

- Burning clouds in the sky...WHERE have I seen that before? *sticks out tongue*

- They turned the Brigadier into a Cyberman. They turned THE BRIGADIER INTO A CYBERMAN! WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?!

- At least he saved Kate, though...

- This episode had a Return of the King ending. It just kept going. And going. And going. I will say that I like the part where they lied to each other about their happy endings, just to avoid hurting the other, and then hugged for what seems to be the last time. If this is indeed Clara leaving the show, then I'm glad she had a leaving where she just stopped travelling instead of dying or being trapped or something. Maybe she and Martha could meet up for coffee sometime?

- And what, exactly, was the point of Father Christmas turning up on the TARDIS? Hmmm. Maybe it's a lead-in to the Christmas Special? Yeah...

          This was a good episode. It had little of Moffat's usual excess and actually managed to touch me emotionally instead of just being annoying. Clara has developed into a truly delightful character and I feel like Danny's heroic sacrifice (and then saving that child) was a good wrap-up to his arc. I REALLY want to see more of this Doctor and Master! Pretty please, Moffat? Death In Heaven is a 4/5.




What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?