Dark Water

"Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?"

Writer: Steven Moffat

Format: TV

Broadcast: 1st November 2014

Series: 8.11

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis 

In the mysterious Nethersphere, plans have been drawn. Missy is about to come face to face with the Doctor, and an impossible choice is looming.

Verdict 

Dark Water was an absolutely incredible episode to make up the first half of this season's finale! And what a finale we've got on our hands in next week's conclusion, Death in Heaven. But I'm just going to delve straight into the massive, humongous talking points of the episode rather than lead up to it! Thanks to travelling up to North Wales for my beloved local football team, I was a bit late watching this episode and I'm extremely thankful that I avoided all spoilers as to the true identity of Missy. Michelle Gomez gave an incredibly raunchy performance as the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere but never had her true identity even crossed my mind throughout the series as a whole. "Missy. Short for Mistress. Well, I could hardly keep calling myself the Master, now, could I." An absolutely jaw dropping moment and that's not a figure of speech. When Missy revealed she was the Master I just sat in awe with my mouth wide open in extremely pleasant shock. Rather sensational. Steven Moffat once again pulled an incredible cat out of the bag with this one. Throughout the series, we'd been given subtle hints but I just couldn't come up with a stable theory as to who Missy was. My money was absolutely banked on her being someone new, possibly a Time Lady. After the 'boyfriend' reference at the beginning of the series, I thought that she might be River Song but I was never confident. And even during the episode, when Missy said she was a Time Lady, the one who'd been abandoned by the Doctor, well my head headed straight to Romana. But then I thought to the audios and gave up on that. Then the end scene from The Dalek Invasion of Earth sprang to mind. Could Missy be Susan? It's not like she had much choice in departing the TARDIS. That wasn't stabilised for me. An obvious assumption was then the Rani, which I'd have very much welcomed but the end result hadn't even crossed my mind so the reveal was just stunning. I've heard mixed reviews to the gender change of the Master but in The Doctor's Wife and The Night of the Doctor, and I believe in Harvest of Time specifically for the Master, it was referenced that Time Lords/Ladies could change gender during regeneration. The reaction of the Doctor to the news that his arch nemesis was back, in female form, was outstanding by Peter Capaldi. I'm intrigued to see the continuation from The End of Time in discovering how the Mistress once again escaped, and also what triggered regeneration. I think my thoughts so far sum up how huge a pipebomb this cliffhanger is as I seem to have totally bypassed the rest of the episode's major talking points. Danny Pink died in an emotional turn of events after getting struck by a car just as Clara gave herself to him forever. She told him she loved him and it was abundantly clear she meant it. She claimed the words "I love you" by her were Danny's. That's quite a commitment and what an incredibly lucky guy Mr. Pink is! Jenna Coleman looked stunning as always and she gave a sublime performance here. The lengths Clara was prepared to go to were shocking to say the least! She found all the hidden TARDIS keys and was prepared to destroy each one if the Doctor didn't go back in time and save her boyfriend. It was sort of similar to Father's Day but the reaction of the Doctor once she'd thrown the final key in was terrific. With a nice throwback to Gridlock, the whole thing was a dream state. But it was still mightily shocking and that made it clear just how much Clara means to the Doctor, as you can see from my opening quote, after betraying him he was going to help her go to the afterlife. Has the Doctor ever done anything to that length for a companion before? I struggle to be convinced that he has. The emotions behind Danny going to the Nethersphere and being greeted by Seb were fantastic, I really loved Chris Addison's performance and he seems perfect for the character. Danny meeting a youngster who he killed must have been hard and now he's on the brink of deleting himself. Oh yeah, the Cybermen are back. I might have forgotten to mention that. The concept of the dark water was terrific and I just wish the return of the Cybermen hadn't been so publicised by the BBC because the revelation that they were sitting in the water tanks would have been even more amazing than it was. The reference to Listen was very good, the obvious throwback to The Invasion was tremendous seeing it modernised but for me the main thing is all about that cliffhanger. I still can't quite believe it! The Master is now known as the Mistress whilst in a female incarnation and I can't wait to see what she and her Cyberman army have got in store. Overall, incredibly outstanding! The rating will come after the story's conclusion next week but my word what a first part! Quite possibly the best cliffhanger of all time.