Doctor Who: 10 Big Revelations We Learned In Dark Water

1. Missy Is The Master

The question of series eight was finally answered and it was huge. The clue has been in the name all along but that hasn't stopped audiences suspecting Missy of being everything from River Song, to the Rani to an older evil version of Clara herself. But ultimately Missy - short for Mistress - was a female incarnation of the Doctor's nemesis the Master. The clues were in Dark Water even before that final revelation in its closing moments. The two heart beats. The Nethersphere being Timelord technology. Her reference to being abandoned (in The End Of Time). And of course the Master's penchant for allying with the Doctor's worse enemies, from the Autons to the Daleks themselves. It was only a matter of time before he - or she - teamed up with the Cybermen. With there being so much talk in recent years of a female Doctor (and with series six episode the Doctor's wife making Timelord gender regeneration canon), turning the Master a woman was the perfect test-run for a potential future female Doctor. Some fans may hate it, others will love it. But either way there is no denying the impact Missy has made. And there we end with the biggest of the revelations Dark Water gave us. The return of the Master, now Missy, has huge consequences for the Doctor and the show itself. Coupled with Cyberman invading Earth from within, Danny's fate and some intriguing moments from the finale trailer concerning Clara, next week's Death In Heaven has a lot to resolve. It might not be as big as Moffat's series five pre-finale cliffhanger The Pandorica Opens, which saw the universe destroyed. But Dark Water was arguably the most emotionally charged cliff-hanger of recent years.