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 "Heaven Sent" is the first episode, of this two-part finale of Season Thirty Five (New Series 9), and sees The Doctor, in the wake of Clara Oswald's death in the previous story, being teleported to a strange water-locked castle where he is pursued by a shrouded creature that is trying to kill him.
The first episode primarily features The Doctor with the non-speaking Veil portrayed by movement artist Jami Reid-Quarrell (who appeared as Colony Sarff in "The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar"). Former companion Clara Oswald (played by Jenna Coleman) and an uncredited Gallifreyan child also make brief appearances.
While the second episode, "Hell Bent", sees the return of Gallifrey and the Time Lords, after last appearing in "The Day of The Doctor", while also briefly featuring the Daleks, the Weeping Angels, and the Cybermen. This episode marks the final appearance of Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald.
"Hell Bent" also sees the return of Ohila and the Sisterhood of Karn after previously appearing in "The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar".
This two-part story has been written by Steven Moffat. It has been directed by Rachel Talalay and produced by Peter Bennett.
Rachel Talalay helmed the previous season’s finale "Dark Water/Death in Heaven". Her previous credits include Tank Girl and several episodes of The Dead Zone.
In the build-up for this story Steven Moffat promised a very special cliff-hanger. He 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!’.
Rachel Talalay also commented ‘These episodes are completely different to what I did last year. Episode 11 is one of the most complicated and different episodes I’ve ever done... It just has my head in spaghetti!’.
Jenna Coleman's name was not included in the opening credits for the first episode, making this the first regular episode, since the show was revived in 2005, to only credit one actor during the title sequence. To make up for the extra time required, Peter Capaldi's name is held on screen for slightly longer.
Maisie Williams, who played Ashildr in "The Girl Who Died", "The Woman Who Lived" and "Face the Raven", returns in this story, as did Ken Bones, who reprised his role as The General from "The Day of The Doctor" and Claire Higgins, following her most recent appearance, in "The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar", as Ohila.
Donald Sumpter, who plays The President, previously appeared as Enrico Casali in the 1968 Second Doctor story "The Wheel in Space" and as Commander Ridgeway in the 1972 Third Doctor story "The Sea Devils". He also appeared in "The Eternity Trap", a story from spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, playing Erasmus Darkening.
As well as playing the part of The Veil, in the first episode, Jami Reid-Quarrell played a Wraith in the second episode.
The read through for the first episode, "Heaven Sent", took place on the 18th June 2015 and filming began the following week on the 24th June 2015.
The read through for the second episode, "Hell Bent", took place on the 4th August 2015 and filming began the following week on the 10th August 2015.
The external scenes set in Nevada and on Gallifrey were shot over three days in Fuerteventura during late August - marking the second location shoot in the Canary Islands for this season.
The first episode is almost entirely a one-hander meaning Peter Capaldi, as The Doctor, is alone for much of the action and delivers all the dialogue except for a few words spoken by Jenna Coleman. This led to a unique situation insofar as Peter Capaldi’s is the only name in the opening titles.
The first episode is notable for a number of truths conceded by The Doctor being inside his own Confession dial. It is also notable for showing The Doctor finally finding his way back to Gallifrey since he found out that it was not in fact destroyed in the Time War, but placed in a pocket universe.
As he walks down the corridor The Doctor is heard to say to his unseen adversary ‘The Doctor will see you now’. The Eleventh Doctor is heard say the same to the Atraxi in the 2010 story "The Eleventh Hour".
The Doctor is heard to say to himself ‘Assume you’re going to survive! Always assume that!’. This echoes Clara’s line in "The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar" when she observes that The Doctor ‘...always assumes he’s going to win. He always knows there’s a way to survive. He just has to go and find it’.
The Doctor remembers Clara's death in "Face the Raven" and how she told him not to take revenge, as well as telling the reason she got killed.
The Doctor refers to a skull which he finds as his ‘predecessor’, not knowing how correct he is in that reference. In the 1983 Twentieth Anniversary special, "The Five Doctors", The Master had previously referred to a skeleton in the Death Zone on Gallifrey in the same way.
The Doctor is heard to say that people should know better than to trap him. He previously warned the Weeping Angels about the same in "The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone".
The Doctor retreats to the lower level of his mental recreation of the TARDIS console room when he becomes emotional, and sits in almost exactly the same place as his predecessor did when faced with an enforced journey to Trenzalore (see "The Name of The Doctor").
While imagining talking to Clara, The Doctor breaks the fourth wall, looks at the camera and says ‘I'm nothing without an audience’.
The Doctor previously had a connection to a room with his incarnation's number (see "The God Complex").
The Doctor mentions that he was telepathic when he was young. Susan also mentioned being telepathic (see "The Sensorites" and "The Girl in the Fireplace").
The Doctor admits to being afraid. He had done so before in "The Girl in the Fireplace" and "Hide".
The Doctor is heard to say ‘it must be Christmas’ when faced with a challenge (see "The Vampires of Venice"). He has also referred to anachronisms and puzzles being on his Christmas list before (see "A Town Called Mercy").
The Doctor jokes about being ‘good at traps’ (see "The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone").
Just prior to his regeneration in "The Time of The Doctor", the Eleventh Doctor hallucinated about Amy Pond stroking his face long after she died. The Twelfth Doctor did the same with Clara Oswald.
Just as a dream version of the lost Danny Pink told Clara to smarten up, now a dream version of the lost Clara tells The Doctor to smarten up (see "Last Christmas").
The Doctor, while talking to Clara (as the waitress), plays his electric guitar and plays a simplified variation of Clara's theme, as composed by Murray Gold and heard first in "Asylum of the Daleks". This is a rare example of a piece of incidental music composed for Doctor Who becoming part of its in-universe narrative. The Doctor says he believes the song is called Clara. Clara? is the name of the track on the New Series 7 soundtrack. The Doctor is also heard playing the Bad Wolf leitmotif.
It is revealed that The Doctor, when he was a student at the Time Lord Academy, entered the Cloisters and encountered their Wraiths but managed to escape from them.
When threatening to kill The Doctor, Rassilon inquires into the number of regenerations granted to The Doctor as part of his new cycle, but no answer is given. The Doctor himself professed to be uncertain as to the answer to this question. In "Kill the Moon" he speculated that he may be able to regenerate indefinitely.
The Doctor assumes the title of Lord President of Gallifrey once more (see "The Invasion of Time" and "The Five Doctors"). Like the Fifth Doctor, in "The Five Doctors", he vacates this position by running away from Gallifrey.
A Time Lord soldier refers to the ‘Doctor of War’, while The General refers to The Doctor as the man who won the Time War (see "The Day of The Doctor").
The Doctor's promise that he made to himself ‘Never cruel or cowardly’ is alluded to by Ohila, who asks if The Doctor was being cruel or cowardly toward Rassilon, and by The Doctor himself to Clara just before he passes out (see "The Day of The Doctor").
The Doctor once more displays his ability to defeat enemies by standing his ground and not resorting to force. River Song once mentioned that ‘her Doctor’ could do things like this when talking about him (see "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead").
Once again The Doctor, when faced with the loss of Clara and breaking the rules to save her, asks an old acquaintance whether, after all he's done for the universe, doesn't it owe him this? (see "The Snowmen").
The Doctor again finds himself asking the question ‘Clara Who?’ (see "The Snowmen").
In the first episode Jenna Coleman appears as Clara Oswald as a manifestation of the Twelfth Doctor's imagination after he lost her to the Quantum Shade in the previous story.
Clara is seen writing responses on the blackboards, whenever he needs to think about a scenario. This is similar to the ‘mind palace’ from Sherlock, a show created and written by Steven Moffat in which Sherlock Holmes would review facts and even talk to mental constructs of people he knows when working out a case/problem.
Except for the painting, all of The Doctor's visions of Clara, in the first episode, have her wearing the same outfit and hairstyle as when she died. Also, except for one encounter, she is always seen from the back, which is how The Doctor last saw her alive in "Face the Raven".
The second episode was the final regular appearance of Jenna Coleman. Although Clara met her demise in "Face the Raven", The Doctor arranged for time to be frozen around her so that she could be extracted from her death point on the trap street. From this point Clara remained conscious of everything happening around her, leaving her alive but no longer affected by physical qualities such as breathing, heartbeat or even ageing.
As seen in the second episode, it was rumoured that Clara dressed as a diner waitress would be an echo/splinter of Clara Oswald. This was proved to be false. This rumour originated when images of Jenna Coleman in a waitress uniform which appeared in media including on the front cover of Issue 493 of the Doctor Who Magazine, with no such scene occurring before her death in "Face the Raven".
Clara now knows the exact time and place of her death, something she previously indicated she did not want to know in advance (see "Deep Breath" and "Listen").
This story featured the return of the Time Lords for the first time since "The Time of The Doctor". Among them was Rassilon, now in a new incarnation after his previous one was last seen being attacked by The Master in "The End of Time", who was banished from Gallifrey along with the High Council after losing the allegiance of his race for his cruelty to The Doctor and his role as one of the driving forces of the Last Great Time War and deposed as Lord President, with The Doctor briefly assuming it in his place.
Ohila and the Sisterhood of Karn reappeared, wherein Ohila was hinted to have a greater personal history with The Doctor that may have gone back to his earlier days.
The Doctor mentions his warning to Ashildr on the trap street. They also talk about the circumstances around Clara's death (see "Face the Raven").
Although the figure stalking The Doctor in the first episode is unnamed it is called ‘The Veil’ in the closing credits.
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The Firsts:
The first Doctor Who story since "The End of Time" to feature Rassilon.
The first Doctor Who story to show a regeneration from a male body to a female.
The first Doctor Who story to show a regeneration with a change of skin colour from white to black.
The first Doctor Who story to mention of the Web of Time since the show was revived in 2005.
The first Doctor Who story, since the show was revived in 2005, to have an episode to only credit one actor during the title sequence.
The first Doctor Who story that has an episode that has the minor expletive ‘hell’ in the its title.
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(Position = 3 out of 9)
