Doctor Who: Series 9 Episode Titles And Plots Announced

2. Episode 11: Heaven Sent

Doctor Who Steven Moffat
BBC

Another new title here: "Heaven Sent". The talk of heaven (and hell in the next title) calls to mind last season's afterlife arc. The duplication of imagery is undoubtedly coincidental, or at least simply the result of this tale also being written by Steven Moffat. 

Speaking of Moffat reflexively resorting to the same themes time and again, this story has one of his go-to motifs, a nursery rhyme-like tag line:

“When, at last, you rise to go, there will be another shadow next to yours. And your life will then be over."

This story is the second of the two experimental adventures in Series 9. As announced previously, there's an episode towards the end of the series that only features Peter Capaldi. Reading the following plot summary, it's clear this is that story.

In a world unlike any other he has seen, the Doctor faces the greatest challenge of his many lives. And he must face it alone.

The most interesting aspect of the title is the implication that the Doctor is trying to ascend to heaven. Could that heaven be his lost home-planet of Gallifrey, as so many fans believe?

Contributor
Contributor

Mike has lived in the UK, Japan and the USA. Currently, he is based in Iowa with his wife and 2 young children. After working for many years as a writer and editor for a large corporation, he is now a freelancer. He has been fortunate enough to contribute to many books on Doctor Who over the last 20 years and is now concentrating on original sci-fi & fantasy short stories, with recent sales including Flame Tree, Uffda, and The Martian Wave. Also, look for his contribution on Blake's 7 to "You and Who Else", a charity anthology to be released later this year. You can find him on Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/culttvmike