Death in Heaven
"Death in Heaven" is the twelfth and final episode of the eighth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who.
In the episode, Missy (Michelle Gomez), an evil alien time traveller (also known as the Master) resurrects the dead as an army of cyborgs called Cybermen as a gift to her former friend the Doctor (Peter Capaldi), intending to prove that they are alike.
The episode was watched by 7.60 million viewers and received positive reviews, with critics praising its writing, direction, and acting.
The Doctor rejects the gift, accepting he is not a "good man",[nb 3] and passes the control bracelet to Danny, who has kept his personality.
Danny contacts Clara from the Nethersphere, a data cloud storing recently deceased minds intended for the Cyberman army.
Osgood refers to previous incidents on Earth featuring the Master, including his tenure as Prime Minister in "The Sound of Drums" (2007).
When boarding the airbase, the Doctor believes that he is going to the Valiant, an airborne aircraft carrier partially designed by the Master in "The Sound of Drums".
[6] The location of the planet Gallifrey—"in the constellation of Kasterborous" at galactic coordinates 10-0-11-00:02—was first mentioned in the Fourth Doctor story Pyramids of Mars (1975).
Dan Martin writing for The Guardian praised Michelle Gomez's performance, noting that she "preens with a perfect combination of madness and malevolence that is just so Master".
[1] While writing for The Daily Telegraph, Michael Hogan noted that Danny Pink got a "stupendous send-off" and that it would be a shame if Missy did not reappear in the future.
[11] Writing for IGN, Matt Risley, gave the episode an "Amazing" 9.1, calling it "a powerful and emotional finale to Capaldi's masterful first season."
He praised Michelle Gomez's, Capaldi's and Jenna Coleman's performances, but was critical of the Cybermen, believing them to be the weakest of the three cliffhanger threads from the previous week.
He was also critical of the pacing and some plot holes and threads that were slightly unbelievable, citing the falling Doctor homing into the TARDIS as the main culprit.
Gavin Clarke said of the Doctor's "meltdown" in the TARDIS: "This was a [sic] unexpected moment, his console trashing made more powerful for its silence over swelling music" and of it overall "Did Death in Heaven succeed?
His colleague, Jennifer Baker, said "The rationale for clouds and rain and pollination was confused, but zombie Cybermen climbing out of graves was worth it!
"[2] Dan Wilson of Metro also gave a negative review, citing that it "left far too many threads hanging," but he too was positive about Michelle Gomez as the Master.
