A masterfully creepy chamber piece, in which Doc embroils Clara in his obsession to prove an unprovable theorem
The Doctor gets a smooch from his mistress and it turns out there’s an afterlife!
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On the brink of confessing her laundry list of lies to Danny Pink but banking on her promise of loving exclusivity for him exonerating every treacherous peccadillo, Clara is suddenly left hanging as Danny boringly steps out into the London traffic.
Love, as they say, truly is blind. Which is why Clara concocts a scheme to strong-arm the Doctor into rewriting history but which will only get them trapped inside a volcano. However, this Doctor’s face has seen too many of those in his time to fall for that con.
They track Danny’s timeline down to a mysterious crypt full of enthroned skeletons with an impressively intimate help-droid called MISI. Meanwhile Danny’s stuck in a digital afterlife, waiting for good coffee and a half-decent Wi-Fi signal with a little boy he put there.
Hello everyone. I really like this 2-parter. It is one of the only episodes I like from season 8.
I really like the cyber men in this episode. I (unpopular opinion) love the look they have and also I think it’s much more interesting to have the entire body inside the cyber suits instead of just the brain.
What isn’t so good is that Clara is somewhat to blame for Danny’s death as if he wasn’t talking to her on the phone he would have been more aware of his surroundings. Also the fact that people can feel when they are being cremated Is ummm well scary. I did like the use of the Cyberman theme also.
Overall I thought it was a good episode, despite Clara burning the doctors keys, and I would give it a 4.4. One last thing, what r your favourite Cybermen designs ?
Hello all!
As we approach the end of Capaldi’s first series as the Doctor and we finally learn the truth behind the Nethersphere and Missy. I remember watching the closing moments in 2014 – is she the Rani? Is she Romana? Whilst the reveal of her being the Master might be predictable, Gomez is superb throughout. Capaldi’s good here too and I particularly like his reaction to being kissed by Missy – “Is it over?”
I quite like the fact that the audience are clued into the fact that the Cybermen are involved before the Doctor and Clara twig – I love the doors that look like the Cyber eyes and Murray Gold’s score kicks in. There’s also the ‘Don’t Cremate Me’ line, which is possibly one of the creepiest and darkest ideas that Doctor Who has ever brought in.
While I’m sad to see Danny die, Clara is possibly much less sympathetic when you consider how she has treated Danny since Mummy on the Orient Express but this episode does contain one of my favourite lines (“Do you think that I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?”) which shows that the Twelfth Doctor does genuinely care for Clara, despite all the gibes about needing three mirrors.
Rating: 3.9 Ranting Scotsmen in the street. I had no idea there was a match on.
Hope you’re all keeping well!
Edd
Oh my word! That was FAR FAR better than I remembered!
Pros:
– Missy’s introduction here is GREAT!
– Danny’s death here is GREAT!
– Everything in the nether-sphere is GREAT!
– The Doctor and Clara in this are Great!
– The body horror of the cybermen in this is GREAT!
Cons:
– wow, I seem to not have any here…
Overall:
I may seem way too generous for series 8 sometimes, (maybe it’s because series 8 was the first season I watched!), but I just cannot see anything wrong with the episode.
I did not expect to give Dark Water a 5.0!
See you next time for what I hope will not leave me disappointed…
Hello Whovians once again! I really have to get ahead with these reviews, but I hope your all doing well and staying healthy! Here’s my review…
As for Dark Water, I am a little at odds with how I feel about Clara here. At first thought I feel like what she did with the Doctor (or at least what she believed she was doing) was a bad move….but to be honest if the love of my life was gone and I thought I could save her, I would do whatever it takes as well, so maybe i can’t come down on her for that. Speaking of the love of my life, my gf Alicia wanted me to add this is a favourite episode of hers, that made her especially sad. The story with Danny and the boy was especially heart breaking to both of us. The reveal of Missy and the addition of Cybermen was a great surprise for a first timer like me, I absolutely loved it! We give it a 4.0 (yes I asked for Alicias input on my score! A team effort this week) thanks guys! Stay safe.
Also a story you guys may included if you like, but tonight Alicia told me a story I could include that the first time she saw this as it originally aired in Canada with a friend of hers, by the next year she went to see this and the next episode that had been put in theatres and by then the friend she watched with had passed away in a car accident. So although it was not a significant other she very much is hit hard and understands Clara and her dispersion to save him 100%. It breaks my heart to hear it, but feel free to include this if you feel it fits!
This’ll not be very structured due to the lack of time, heh, no more surprise reviews pls :(
I just realized a few days back that Danny gets run over because he’s distracted by the phone call from Clara, she indirectly gets him killed by her attempted admission that she’d been sneaking behind his back with 12. From what I remember of next week she runs into zombie Danny and confirms that the doctor is #1 to her.
If Danny wasn’t such a shit character i’d feel sorry
I guess because she wanted the Doctors timedick. The moment he got older she changed too; she initially totally rejects him, then gets a new boyfriend, betrays the Doctor in the worst way possible while also dooming each and every person he might ever save after that point, and so on. Sure they get closer again, and he still cares for her deeply, but I never bought even by the end that her feelings had ever returned to the intensity of when he was 11.
*sighs* I’m not sure I liked anything of this set up to the finale, been a very mixed series.
I also think it’s slightly disappointing that Missy turned out to be the Master, especially following the line “you abandoned me!” Seriously, what the hell? The Master wasn’t abandoned, he pushed Rassilon back through the gate in David Tenants last story.
Cybermen again? yawn…
I’ll give it a “I had to stop myself from turning it off”0.9/5
Lava: Good for destroying Tardis keys, evil golden Rings, and also great for creating Darth Vaders. In case you need any of those things accomplished.
Clara’s plan of action with the stickies was so endearing, and then everything turned dark so fast. Oh, Danny Pink!
I liked all the swearing on the psychic paper, and the recognition hitting the Doctor’s face when he realizes Missy is the Master, and I like how Missy’s eyes emerge from the holo promotional first.
I remain skeptical about the Doctor’s plan for Clara to ask Danny something only Danny would know. Clara has had— and might still have— a telepathic field scanning her brain. So that particular plan is absurd.
But how can I complain when the Doctor is back? It took Clara’s betrayal to shake through the indifference and self-obsession. The core of him, the kindness, mercy and care, are burning through again. This is why I love the Doctor. Not because he has a sci-fi wand, or a time machine, but because even when the universe is mad and cruel, he is intentionally, purposefully kind, for kindness’ sake.
“Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?”
And since there’s still room for more words: I think the way Michelle Gomez portrays Missy is fantastic.
4.8 out of 5 cybermen eyes on everything. Though the death of Danny Pink is a painful thing for this particular fan to endure.
Thinks I liked:
Beefs:
Summary: it’s a miracle! A Cyberman episode that didn’t suck! We’ll have to wait unit part two to truly rate this – but I think we have a Classic! They’d have to try *super* hard to seize defeat from the jaws of victory with this bad boy. They’d have to do something *really* stupid, like bring back a beloved character as a robot or something: I’m talking Picard Episode 10 levels of dumbness on the Stupid Scale of Bonehead Decisions. It would be minus 4 points straight off if that happened!
Rating: 3.3/5 additional spare Tardis keys the Doctor is having cut just in case.