"You know who I am? I am an idiot with a box and a screwdriver, passing through, helping out." - The Twelfth Doctor
The Twelfth Doctor's first series reached its momentous climax in Death in Heaven which proved to be an action-packed adventure full of drama, emotion and, most importantly, zombie grave-dwelling Cybermen! It was brilliant to see the iconic metal monsters being returned to their former glory with the gimmicks of their most recent appearances being scrapped in favour of their more traditional, and ultimately more terrifying, personas. As well as old foes, fans were also reunited with old friends, too. Last seen in the 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor last year, Ingrid Oliver stepped back into the shoes of the ill-fated Osgood, who fans have now labelled 'the companion who never was', alongside the ever fiesty Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) who returned to aid the Doctor in honour of her father, Sir Alistair Gordon, who was also given a fitting tribute in the episode. The indisputable star of the show was Michelle Gomez, though, who was finally unleashed on a rampage of malevolent madness after revealing her true identity to the world in the climactic closing moments of the last episode. The Master was well and truly back as Missy set out to prove that the renegade Time Lord was as "bananas" as ever by partaking in a series of cold-blooded acts which truly highlighted the character's unfathomable lunacy. As the motives of her plan unravalled, there was an impossible choice looming for our beloved heroes and, as Doctor Who's "impossible choices" go, this one wasn't half bad. In fact, Death in Heaven as a whole was one of the most established and narratively satisfying finales of the new series so far which managed to tie up all of Series 8's loose ends while introducing a handful of intriguing teasers for the future. Its extended running time gave the story a real chance to juggle between its various storylines and, while some of the episode's overriding plot holes remain somewhat questionable, in a timey-wimey nutshell it was everything it needed to be and more. For Clara and Danny, the events of the finale were as heartbreaking as promised and, as the end credits rolled, the main characters were faced with new challenges and personal obstacles which were alluded to in that heartbreaking final scene between the Doctor and Clara. For fans who had avidly followed the Twelfth Doctor's debut adventures, it was the closure they wanted and ultimately deserved. It's a testament to the show's far-reaching format that an extraordinary episode about an army of cybernetic creatures taking over the world by feasting on the corpses of the dead could end in the most ordinary place on Earth, a café, with the final scene between its two protagonists really bringing all the drama of the last 12 episodes home. Together they had travelled to the furthest reaches of the galaxy but for the Doctor and Clara, Series 8 ended how it was always going to. With a hug.
Dan Butler is the Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture.com. When he isn't writing his own articles or editing other people's, he can be found trawling the internet for gifs of Steven Moffat laughing. Contact him via dan.butler@whatculture.co.uk.
