9.11. Heaven Sent

Series 9 - 2015 - 2016

Writer: Steven Moffat
Produced by: Peter Bennett
Director: Rachel Talalay
Music: Murray Gold

Synopsis

After being teleported the Doctor materialises in an old castle, coughing and gasping for air. The building appears empty and the floor is covered with dust. The Doctor has a warning that if the person who brought him to the build had any part in Clara's death he will not stop until he finds them.

Even though the castle is old it does contain technology - the walls have monitor screens and there is the teleport equipment. Wandering through the passage ways the Doctor looks out and finds he is near the top of a large tower. The Doctor surmises that the equipment could not have teleported him further than 1 light year, and he is in the same time zone.

Further along a passageway he finds a shovel covered in dirt. When one of the monitors shows the Doctor he sees a veiled figure in an opposite tower; the monitors show what Veil is seeing. The Doctor runs as he sees, and hears, Veil getting closer. The Doctor knows Veil. Trapped in a corridor the Doctor tells it that he realises he is scared of dying. Once the Doctor confesses something to Veil it stops, and the different levels of the castle re-arrange themselves. The Doctor finds himself in a bedroom.

After checking a vase of flowers, and examining a cracked painting of Clara on a wall the Veil enters the room. With no obvious way out the Doctor does the unexpected. He breaks a window and throws a stool out, and jumps out after it.

The Doctor retreats to a storm room in his mind which appears as the TARDIS. Inside is a figure of Clara with he back turned. The Doctor explains to her how he survived the fall. When he first arrived he thought he could smell saltly air: the castle is standing in the sea. By throwing the stool and hearing it splash seven seconds later the Doctor was able to work out how fast he would fall when he jumped. He survived the fall, but didn't remain conscious.

When the Doctor regains consciousness underwater he sees the sea bed is strewn with skulls. Soaking wet the Doctor enters the castle and finds a room with an open fire and a fresh set of his clothes. He changes into the fresh clothes, and leaves his old clothes in the same positions to dry out.

Trying to stay ahead of Veil the Doctor finds a patch of garden that has been freshly dug. Close by is a fresh shovel, and the Doctor digs the ground. It takes until the night-time for the Doctor to dig far enough to uncover a slab saying I AM IN 12 - just before Veil arrives. The Doctor realises the only way to stop the creature is to offer a confession. But there some truths the Doctor cannot tell.

Escaping from Veil the Doctor times it, and works out he can get the time to 82 minutes. He knows he has to look for room 12 - but the numbering is confused leaving the Doctor to search, and map, the castle.

Back in the teleport room the Doctor finds a skull with wires attached, and the word BIRD written in the dust. A door opens and the word is blown away. The door leads to the top of the castle tower, and the Doctor can see the stars in the night sky. There is something wrong with the stars, but the Doctor doesn't see it immediately. They're in the wrong place. The Doctor hasn't travelled through time, but it appears that he is 7,000 years in the future.

After another confession makes the castle rooms rearrange the Doctor finds his way into room 12. At the end of the room is a 20 foot thick block of Azbantium - a substance that is 400 times harder than.  diamond. When the Doctor thinks about the word BIRD he remembers. As Veil approaches the Doctor starts to punch the Azbantium block. When finally Veil touches the Doctor it sucks life from the Doctor and vanishes.

The dying Doctor manages to drag himself to the top of the tower. He then realises where he is, and what he has to do. The Doctor is trapped in his own hell. The skulls in the water all belong to him. And the Doctor really hasn't time travelled - he actually had been there for 7,000 years. The teleporter contains a copy of the Doctor. All he has to do is add energy to create a new Doctor. And the only way to do that is to wire himself into the equipment. As the Doctor burns a new Doctor appears in the teleport, coughing and gasping.

The only constant is the Azbantium. Each time the loop happens the Doctor manages to slowly punch a tunnel through the Azbantium. It takes over two billion years for the Doctor to break through, and at the end is a portal. The Doctor steps through it and onto the surface of Gallifrey. Next to him the portal collapses and closes into his confession dial.

Guest Cast

  • Clara: Jenna Coleman
  • Veil: Jami Reid-Quarrell

Original broadcast on the BBC

Channel Title Date Viewers Rating
BBC 1 (HD) 11. Heaven Sent Saturday, November 28, 2015 8:05 PM - 9:00 PM 4.51M 80

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