Rate and Discuss: Heaven Sent

[Rob McCow]

Looks a bit like attack of the Haemovores to me. Anyway - what did you think of Heaven Sent? Please try and wait until the episode is broadcast before giving your verdict!

[Rob McCow]

Well, I'll chalk that one up as an all-time classic. Woop!

[SiHart]

That was quite something

[Andrew Curnow]

Other than 'I enjoyed watching it' I have no way of assessing that. Utterly compelling, extraordinarily-performed, and almost wholly inexplicable.

Zel, incidentally, simply said, one of the best she's ever seen.

Great cliffhanger, and thrilling 'Next Time' trailer.

[SiHart]

Oh and not me, Me! You wait and see!

[chalkie]

Thrilling filler up to the last 5 mins, then we got to the bit continuing the actual story

[egdcltd]

There certainly was a lot of talking that, considering the lack of a cast. It didn't really feel like a lot of talking, though, so it seemed to work.

I actually expected the Doctor to have stepped out on Gallifrey right at the beginning.

[Dirk Gently]

Brilliant!! Simply brilliant!

This could be my favourite season since the return!

[Perry Vale]

Going against the flow, I found it boring. The dialogue I could actually make out and discern, that is.

Anyone think the 'I am in 12' refers to Smith's Doctor?

[duncan]

I worked out quite early on that the Doctor had been there sometime but apart from that, it was a very good episode. It confused the hell out of my daughter though. 8/10

[Si Hunt]

This is exactly the type of story I like, on principle. It reminded me of The House That Jack Built from The Avengers. Very scary, very clever... my one slight complaint would be that it was a LITTLE drawn out - is this an episode that needed an extended running time? And I remember feeling that the clips sequence at the end to demonstrate this was happening over and over again was a little boring even on first viewing, let alone on repeat-watching.

The bit where the Doctor dives into the water was beautifully shot and staged, and the sea full of skulls a very chilling image.

Can I just ask though - if everything reset itself at the start of every loop, why didn't the damaged crystal wall?

Si.

[Rob McCow]

if everything reset itself at the start of every loop, why didn't the damaged crystal wall?

That wasn't explained, was it? Perhaps it was set up deliberately (so that for once, the Doctor could punch his way to victory?) The clothes on the rack weren't 'reset' either, otherwise they wouldn't have been there after he left them there previously (if you see what I mean...)

Conclusion - it's a crazy cog-operated castle that obeys it's own rules. Most of the time.

[SiHart]

I thought the barrier wasn't reset because it Was the interface between the world in the dial and Gallifrey outside. It actually existed in both worlds. Or something

[Stuart Wallis]

Dull, and if it weren't for the fact that it sets up the series finale, otherwise pointless. 1/10

[Martin Curnow]

Absolute classic of an episode.

[Andrew Curnow]

I didn't realise it was a longer time than usual until you said so, Si.

It's probably an episode that will never be as good as the first time you saw it, because the mystery is solved - but still, for me, an enthralling episode which didn't outstay its welcome.

[Nyder]

A very powerful episode - can't say that I enjoyed all of it, but was mesmerising from start to finish.


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[Andrew Curnow]

Trying to work through the logic of it, has anybody got their head round it? I like Si's explanation about the crystal wall not resetting, and I can work out an explanation for why 'BIRD' remains written in the dust & the skull stays in place (both in the 'arrival chamber') but... why does the dirty shovel remain in place? And the dried clothes?

Is the message 'I AM IN 12' deliberately hidden underground because the 'tidying process' only tidies what it can see, and this message is hidden? And when does the Doctor write it to himself anyway, surely not while he's dragging himself back to the arrival chamber?

Don't get me wrong, it doesn't really detract from me enjoying the episode, and I'd be very surprised if Mr Moffat & co don't have very good answers for all this... I'm just wondering!

[Si Hunt]

As usual with these things, it would have been more helpful if the Doctor had written "Break Wall" instead of "Bird", but obviously he had in mind that if people in the future would be watching his exploits on their Space Time Visualisers it would be more cryptic if, in his dying state, he evoked some kind of mysterious aviation metaphor instead.

Two things common to this series that I noticed - firstly, due to the mix and a bit of Scottish bur, lots of key lines of dialogue were very hard to make out. I have watched the last two episodes with my head strained towards the screen trying to catch important utterances. And secondly, the overall complexity of the thing. If you missed the single line about the Doctors childhood memory of an old woman's corpse you wouldn't get what the monster was (my Dad queried this with me after the episode). Re-stating things a few times in expositionary dialogue may be a bit blatant, but at least it tells people what's going on if they didn't pick it all up or maybe rustled their bag of crisps or sweet wrappers at the exact moment something was uttered quietly in a thick Scottish accent while an orchestral sting boomed out over the top of it.

Si.

[WhiteCrowNZ]

At first felt like a kind of filler, given events from the previous episode. But I found myself liking the whole "getting into the head of the Doctor".

The last view of Gallifrey was really cool. Made me think of how excited Larry was at the small glimpse we got of Gallifrey in season 3.

[egdcltd]

Glad I wasn't the only one that struggled to make out what was being said because of the music.

Of course, this does mean that the Doctor is now dead. What is left is only a copy.

[Rob McCow]

Perhaps he should have used the teleport to make a vast army of Doctors with Shovels!

[Dirk Gently]

I agree with all the comments about the resetting & the dry clothes etc. The only bit that got to me was who died & left the 'bird' message when the Doctor first arrived? It obviously wasn't the Doctor's skull at first.

[Perry Vale]

Of course, this does mean that the Doctor is now dead. What is left is only a copy.

The Doctor died already in Father's Day. A different 9th Doctor appears at the end, in a different setting and timeline to where he arrived. I still find that one of the most exciting 'shocks' the new series has served up.

[Andrew Curnow]

I agree with all the comments about the resetting & the dry clothes etc. The only bit that got to me was who died & left the 'bird' message when the Doctor first arrived? It obviously wasn't the Doctor's skull at first.

Surely the very first time there would have been no message or skull?