Heaven Sent (Doctor Who)
"Heaven Sent" received universal acclaim, with praise for Capaldi's performance, Moffat's script, and Talalay's direction.
He takes advantage of the figure's slow reaction time to explore the castle, finding several strange remnants of his predecessors, such as dry replacement clothes, a skull connected to the transportation chamber, and the word "bird" written in dust.
He delays the figure by alleging knowledge of the Hybrid; the movement of the reconfiguring castle causes the skull to fall into the sea.
Inside Room 12, the Doctor discovers a wall of Azbantium, a mineral harder than diamond, behind which he theorises the TARDIS to be.
Revitalised by a vision of his dead companion, Clara, the Doctor punches the wall while reciting the fable.
[3][4] This episode primarily features the Doctor, with the non-speaking Veil portrayed by movement artist Jami Reid-Quarrell (who also appeared as Colony Sarff in "The Magician's Apprentice" / "The Witch's Familiar" earlier in the series).
Many instances of extremely high praise were aimed towards Steven Moffat's script, Rachel Talalay's direction, and Peter Capaldi's performance.
[26] Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times awarded the episode a perfect five star rating, saying that "Peter Capaldi's one-man show is an instant classic".
He further stated "Writer Steven Moffat cleverly subverts the expectation that this'll be a low-budget escapade, with a surplus of Capaldi awkwardly expressing his inner thoughts aloud.
There's plenty of the Doctor 'talking to himself', true enough, but there's always a reason", before closing his review by saying "'Heaven Sent' is brilliant, but it's also about as far from big, broad, family-friendly entertainment as you can get.
"[14] Mark Rozeman of Paste Magazine also awarded the episode a perfect score (10.0), labeling it "a masterpiece of the highest order", whilst Ian Berriman of SFX Magazine also awarded full marks, saying "Heaven Sent stands as the best episode of the season so far: madly surreal, ingeniously baffling, immensely creepy and downright gruelling in its latter stages, with a tremendously impactful payoff".
He further praised the "hybrid reveal" as well as Capaldi's performance, and closed his review by saying "A great episode of Doctor Who that serves to bring this mostly excellent season towards its finale, "Heaven Sent" features a breathtaking one-man show from Peter Capaldi and a twist-ending that makes this one of the best episodes of the modern series' run".
[28] Referring to it as "an epic one man show", Tim Liew of Metro also acclaimed the episode, saying that he "loved it".
It's a beautifully textured performance, underpinned by a superb new musical score from series composer Murray Gold.
But it's only in the closing minutes that the pieces of the puzzle fall into place and the episode's epic scale is finally revealed".
[29] "Heaven Sent" is also the first episode of Doctor Who to be submitted for nomination for a Primetime Emmy Award, due to BBC America being one of the series' co-producers.
[34] Selected pieces of score from this episode, as composed by Murray Gold, comprise the entire third disc of the ninth series' 4-CD soundtrack, which was released on 27 April 2018 by Silva Screen Records.
