Doctor Who - 'Heaven Sent'

Poster (c) Stuart Manning

“Finally run out of corridor - that's a life summed up up!”

This review will contain some spoilers. There is just no way around it.

The Doctor is trapped. Only his companion, Clara Oswald, can help him to escape.

Clara Oswald is dead.

The Doctor is trapped. Only the truth can set him free.

Rule 1: The Doctor lies.

The Good

• I like a twist that can be worked out, although the prison being the confession dial was perhaps a tad obvious.
• The veiled stalker was pretty creepy, especially the viewpoint cam.
• The whole set up put me in mind of the Crystal Maze. Fuck you, I consider that a plus.
• So, the principle of the Doctor's escape is flawed (see below,) but the Shepherd Boy montage was still pretty badass.

The Bad

• I think I'd rather he used the goddamn sonic specs on wood than just thinking doors open. Or lockpicks. The Fourth Doctor carried lockpicks.
• No! You are the Doctor. You are not Sherlock fucking Holmes running scenarios in your goddamn memory palace as your life flashes before your eyes. It was clever once, Moffat; now it's self indulgent. Fuck off. The only thing keeping this out of the ugly section is that I did like the idea that even traveling solo the Doctor needs a companion asking questions and pushing him forward.
• Why doesn't the ultradiamond room reset? I mean, it feels like a huge flaw in his plans. Was that covered in a brief line about the properties of the material?

The Ugly

• So, I increasingly feel that the Doctor can take things personally and get all snitty about stuff, or he can, if he feels he must, bestride the galaxy like a colossus, but if he's going to go cosmic he should grow the fuck up. This comes back to last year's 'if he's not a good man, why isn't he the villain?'

Theorising

So, the first time out, did the Doctor do most of this largely naked?

Is the Doctor saying that he's kind of Dalek-y in his thinking by now? Are we back to that half-human bullshit from the movie? Does he run on petrol and electric? Oh! Or is he saying, as many of us contemplated a ways back, that the Hybrid is Me? Is what the Time Lords did actually just to send a means for the Doctor to enter Gallifrey's past?

And am I really excited about this prospect, or completely apathetic? I honestly can't tell.

Top Quotes

• "Go to the city. Find somebody important. Tell them, I'm back. Tell them, I know what they did and I'm on my way. And if they ask you who I am, tell them I came the long way round."
• "Personally, I think that's a hell of a bird."

The Verdict

There are moments of flawed brilliance in this episode, but overall 'Heaven Sent' feels rather self-indulgent. In particular, the use of the mind TARDIS to explain the Doctor's problem solving would have been a more appealing trick if not for its use in Sherlock. Just because the bit works for either character doesn't mean it can stand being used for both. Oh well, I guess younger viewers would come to it fresh.

Score - 6/10