Doctor Who: Ranking All The Series 9 Cliff-Hangers

1. The Doctor Is Trapped, Clara Is Killed: Face The Raven

The cliff-hanger Clara's attempts to play the Doctor becoming her undoing and for the first time since Adric's death in 1982's Earthshock a major companion dies. The Doctor meanwhile is lured into a trap by Ashildr and is transported away... Does it work? The daring nature of Face The Raven's cliff-hanger works because you don't see it coming. And yes, while the BBC trailers were perhaps a little spoilery and Clara's demise has been teased for a while, no one expected her to die before the series finale. In fact, there was a question of whether she would die at all. Companion deaths have been teased before but Donna never actually died and Amy and Rory lived long lives together in the past. Clara was the first companion to die suddenly while travelling with the Doctor, since the show returned. Added to this is the trap, designed by the people Ashildr was working for, which sees the Doctor handing over the confession dial and transported helplessly to another place and time. It is a stunning two-pronged cliff-hanger that comes unexpectedly like Utopia before it in a supposedly self-contained episode, to shake up the direction of the series - and the show -forever Overall Rating 10/10. Clara's tragic death and the Doctor's trap will make Face The Raven a memorable episode for years to come...