Writer: Steven Moffat
Director: Rachel Talalay
Cast: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Samuel Anderson, Michelle Gomez, Chris Addison
The Story: In the mysterious world of the Nethersphere, plans have been drawn. Old friends and old enemies manoeuvre around The Doctor, and an impossible choice is looming over him.
The Verdict:
Peter Capaldi’s reign as the Doctor has been accompanied with an intriguing combination of reaction. The series has seen the return of numerous post-2005 Who fans getting back on board but also a distinct split whether Clara has been getting too much, or not enough, screen time from modern Whovians. The BBC have also recently disclosed they prefer a later air-time but positively, Doctor Who still kicks off fanatical discussion.
This week we’ve hit the ‘big finale’, which is a two-part adventure, and Dark Water is a fine example of the high production values and top class writing that Series 8 has produced. There has been a couple of empty episodes but overall I’ve found Doctor Who has been somewhat reinvented (again) but still keeps the core values, surprises and homage that’s made the modern shows so accessible. Dark Water is huge and starts with a real shocker; it’s the death of Danny Pink.
I’ve enjoyed the build-up of Clara and Danny’s relationship and think that showrunner Steven Moffat has reverted to the difference between humanity and the Timelord Doctor and, importantly, it works. As Clara confesses her love for Mr Pink, tragedy strikes and he’s taken from us. There’s a horrendously poignant moment with Clare in the kitchen, talking to her Gran (Sheila Reid) about how normal and ordinary his death is and then she realises that she’s owed something from the Doctor. Driven by grief and anger, she steals all the keys for the TARDIS, drugs the Doctor and although she believes she’s holding him as a hostage to use his TARDIS to go back and save Danny, she’s actually being tested by the Doctor and breaks his trust.
I think Clara has never quite believed in her new Doctor but once again he proves to her that he’s there to help, as he decides to go find Danny via the telepathic interface that Clara previously used in Listen, and suddenly the TARDIS makes some new sounds as it ‘thinks he’s somewhere’. From here, we get our first proper look into the Netherphere and our second look at Chris Addison’s Seb. He’s a reflection of a real-world officer administrator but there to check in Danny after his death. It’s a gloriously dark, abstruse performance full of character from Addison with echoes of John Simm’s Master and a hint of Andrew Scott’s Moriarty. 
As Danny learns of his supposed reality, and we see flashbacks of what happened when he was a soldier, the Doctor and Clara break into this rather murky world to discover hundreds, maybe thousands, of skeletons in tombs of water. As they continue to explore the area, they run into Missy (a super, peculiar and precise Michelle Gomez) who informs us she’s a robot droid and Dr Chang (Andrew Leung) is her boss and they need to speak to him to find out what’s going on.
We then snap between their discoveries and what Danny is being told by Seb. The talk turns from death beyond death to a continuation of suffering. There’s also self-discovery, regret, fear and doubt entwined with the big reveal, that these skeletons are disguised by the ‘dark water’ and are really Cyberman. What follows is even bigger news; the return of an old, dangerous foe but a very welcome one as we discover that Missy, who says she’s also known as The Mistress, is the new form for The Master. She’s as dark as you’d expect, we’ve got another Timelord back, Gallifrey has been mentioned a few times and whatever this Netherphere really is, suddenly becomes a creation rather than a specific place.
Capaldi gives an absolute powerhouse of a performance that flips between every possible emotion and continues to cement his place as a historic Doctor. From those first moments pushing Clara into throwing the keys into the lava, to accepting that she’s betrayed him and still helping her – right to the point of realising what’s happening, he plays every moment perfectly. Dark Water is a massive episode and for me, reminds me why we need more two-part episodes because they can really stretch out the unknown because it’s marvellous. We’ve got a week until the finale and it really could go anywhere but there’s so much possibility and maybe the end for Clara – Who knows…until then!
Best Bit:
The final ten minutes hit the peak of the build-up, the Cybermen return, Clara turns the screen off to Danny and she’s stuck in room with a Cyberman, we learn that they’re in St Pauls and will Danny hit ‘delete’? So much to come.
Best Line(s):
The Doctor: “Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?”
The Doctor: “Can you just hurry up please or I’ll hit you with my shoe?”
Those 3 little words: “Don’t cremate me.”
Missy: “Human kind, bring out your dead!”
[usr=5] THN’s Doctor Who Series 8 Blog returns for the finale next week!
