Doctor Who: 10 Things We Learned From Into The Dalek
9. Heaven's Not Just For Robots
Even though its all about the Daleks (well, Dalek), Into The Dalek also takes a brief moment to further Series 8s Promised Land story arc by handing over another one-off character to the custody of Missy. Rebel soldier Gretchen Carlisle sacrifices herself after not doing much else during the episode so that Clara and Journey can get to Rustys CPU, and ends up in Heaven. Which is apparently a well kept English country house with a substantial buffet and a Scottish Mary Poppins pouring the tea. But while this scene is incredibly brief and only moves the story arc on by the tiniest amount, it tells us one important thing: Heavens not just for robots. As well as killing our theory about Heaven being some kind afterlife or trap for robotic life-forms set by the Cybermen (Series 8 is incredibly heavy on robots and cyborgs), Gretchen entering Heaven both poses and slightly answers the question of what is the criteria to get there. The question of what specifically makes people go there is still largely unanswered but Gretchens entry seems to provide us an answer: die because of the Doctor. Both the Half-Face Mans and Gretchens deaths stem from an encounter with the Doctor and they are both welcomed to Heaven shortly afterwards. Its not really a concrete answer but were certainly getting there.
JG Moore is a writer and filmmaker from the south of England. He also works as an editor and VFX artist, and has a BA in Media Production from the University Of Winchester.
