Doctor Who: How Heaven Sent Explores Grief (The Best 12th Doctor Episode) 

We've just passed 5 years of Heaven Sent! You might remember this video back in April; you might also remember I had some trouble with the beeb and copyright! After wrestling with this video with the beeb, I finally decided to bite the bullet and recut it. So heres the new version! Enjoy! Hopefully they'll stop going after people trying to say nice things about one of their shows...

Moffat had his flaws, but he weaponised time better than any other doctor who writer.

“The day you lose someone isn't the worst, at least you've got something to do, it's all the days they stay dead''. Nobody did it like Moffat. Nobody.

"There's a his emperor, and he asks the shepherd’s boy how many seconds in eternity. And the shepherd’s boy says, ‘There’s this mountain of pure diamond. It takes an hour to climb it and an hour to go around it, and every hundred years a little bird comes and sharpens its beak on the diamond mountain. And when the entire mountain is chiseled away, the first second of eternity will have passed.’ You may think that’s a hell of a long time. Personally, I think that’s a hell of a bird.”

The Capaldi years were so amazing...I know it was hard for people to let Smith go, but Capaldi was just so damn good

When I met Peter capaldi. I brought this episode up and said how brilliant it was for an actor to act completely by himself for 45 minutes with that much exposition and dialogue. Of course I said he was brilliant and how I believe this is one of the best episodes ever made. And he said that it was definitely one of his favorites in his run.

I miss this level of writing, directing and acting. Been missing for the last few years

Moffat was always way better at the smaller, self-contained episodes, but you could tell he much preferred to write the interconnected universe expanding ones

The best doctor The best outfit The best music The best challenge The best shots The best episode of who.

I'll just be honest: "Heaven Sent" is absolutely the best thing that's ever been released on television. I MEAN that.

Heaven Sent is a perfect example of being trapped inside your grief with the spector of death stalking you everywhere you go. That's exactly what grief feels like. And the lengths one is prepared to go, if it meant having your loved one back. I lost my son last yr, I would gladly punch a wall for 4 1/2 billion yrs if I knew I could get him back on the other side. That is what grief feels like, punching a wall everyday, day in, day out, just trying to break free of it. Such a perfect and beautiful essay you've done here on an amazing episode! Thank you!!

'Heaven Sent' is legit peak Capaldi. It goes without saying that this is a true masterpiece and a beautifully portrayed battling of grief, loss and fear with a triumphant resolution. Everything about this episode is pitch-perfect; Steven Moffat delivering his best story yet, Rachel Talalay's direction is flawless, Murray Gold's music is superb, the pacing and structuring works perfectly, plus the Veil was truly bloody terrifying! However, this was Peter Capaldi’s finest hour and he earned it big time, nailing every single beat; his anguish, his fear, as well as his unbridled rage and determination, demonstrating why he is the best Doctor since Tom Baker. Plus, it delivers one of the best cliff-hangers in the show's history. For me, this was, not just the standout story of Series 9 (my personal favourite series of Modern Who), but it was Moffat's best story, Capaldi's best story, the best story of Modern Who, and quite possibly, the best Doctor Who story of all time. ​

"And the shepherd boy says" are five words that still give me chills to this day with how emotionally charged Capaldi in that final room over and over again was. SO GOOD. Heaven Sent is perfection.

Everyone is of course entitled to their own favourite Dr, but Peter Capaldi demonstrates in this episode he is simply the best actor ever to play the Dr.

Even though Clara began to annoy me near the end of her run, and the follow-up episode completely undoes the weight of her sacrifice, this is an absolutely brilliant episode. Capaldi is superb in it.

I was still fresh from grieving Clara's death when I watched this. I felt as if I could understand how upset the Doctor was. I still can't bear to rewatch Face the Revan. That's how much I love Clara.

One of the greatest episodes of Doctor Who.

As you mentioned Donna. I would love an essay about Donna's journey and her final fate as she was my favorite companion

I've literally just finished this episode in my lockdown from-the-start marathon! Hands down my favourite Twelve episode. Minimal effects, hardly anyone else in it, just a whole episode of Capaldi being bloody fantastic!

This episode really cemented the fact that capaldi is one of the best doctors

Years after watching Doctor Who and I cannot get this episode out of my mind...there's just something about this one in particular that stands out

It’s funny: the day the show you love gets ripped to pieces isn’t the worst - at least you’ve got something to do - it’s all the days it stays destroyed...

11 will always be my favorite but this is one of the greatest episodes ever

I am not embarrassed to say that this episode had me in tears after I thought that wasn't possible after all the tears I shed after "Face The Raven". I loved Tom Baker as the Doctor but now..in my mind Peter Capaldi is the best Doctor ever!. What an actor. He was given so much to work with!!

I cannot imagine anyone ever composing such a love letter to any of Chibnall's contributions to the legacy of The Doctor. Moffatt understood the character and his abilities like no other. Thank the Face of Bo that Russell T Davies is coming back to save The Doctor.

Heaven Sent isn't just my favorite Doctor Who story. It is - without question - the most moving and emotionally gripping thing I've ever seen on television. Bar none.

Can we also talk about how this amazing story gets such an earth-shattering payoff in "Hell Bent" in the "Four and a Half Billion Years" scene? It's the best acted scene in all of Who, IMHO, and I'm crying my eyes out every. Single. Time. And I'm not ashamed to confess that.

This is easily my favorite episode of Doctor Who ever. Glad to see it get this lovely tribute.

That montage at the end of the episode as the years keep ticking on and on through thousands then millions then billions of years, it's by far to me the most gut wrenching moment of Doctor who out of any I've seen.

That was simply unbeatable. The Doctor fighting 4,5 billion years to get his chance at the Timelords while saving Clara. This epsiode is an eternal gem.

I always loved that episode, its idea was so amazing, its still has to be my fav doctor who episode ever

As soon as the doctor is dragging his way to the teleportation machine and the music starts with a dying doctor in his mind palace, I get chills, and this lasts for the last 10 minutes of the episodes. Best episode of Doctor Who with the best doctor.

THE best episode of Doctor Who. After suffering loss, the Doctor fails. And fails. And fails again and again. Without end. For billions of years. But with every failure, he gets just a bit closer to achieving the impossible...with a little help from his memory of the Impossible Girl. And in the end, rather than succumb to despair, the Doctor emerges from an inescapable hell, ultimately triumphant because He. Never. Gave. Up. Personally, I think that's a hell of a lesson.

Not only is this the best 12th Doctor episode, it's one of my all time favorites (and that's coming from a kid who grew up on Tom Baker when he was just 5 years old).

The idea for this episode was as genius as the idea for "Stargate Universe". People who can invent such a story are just.. gifted.

"How many seconds in eternity?" I'll never forget this line. Especially in the context of this one episode. This episode was amazing.

And on top of all the excellent acting and directing and writing in this episode... we get the face he made when the wall broke as a cherry on top.

Doctor in this episode is like my dad, no matter how many secrets I find out about him he always gets away.

Moffat was clearly excited about this when he teased it during an interview for Capaldi's first series. In this case, he wasn't wrong, it's extraordinary.

My favorite thematic part of Heaven Sent is how he gets to the end, he's figured it all out and done all the heroics... and then comes the longest and most difficult part. Just like with grief. You get through it all, accept death... and then you still have to live without them.

When I recently got caught up on Doctor Who I backtracked three episodes so I could rewatch this episode. I only paid half my attention to the newest Doctor’s season but paid full attention to this one. Great episode

I was literally dying from undiagnosed late stage b12 deficiency when I saw a video of Matt Smith's Speech as the doctor in the episode The Rings of Akhaten on youtube and I spent what I thought were my final days watching the 11th doctor Discovering the wonders of doctor who feeling so comforted and not alone, and I think it literally saved my life. I don't think I'd have made it through if I didn't discover doctor who.

This episode is an absolute, outstanding masterpiece and it's a shame it never got an award. It remains to this day one of the best episodes, if not THE best episode of fiction tv I have seen from modern tv.

This episode was one of the ones that truly broke my mind in the best way possible. The doctor living a hundred thousand million lives in order to punch through a "diamond" wall. An impossible thing normally but hundreds of thousands of millions of punches.....maybe. Truly one of the best in Modern who

After me and my mom watched this episode, we sat in silence while the credits rolled and we literally just said “wow”

This is back when the show had great writers.

This is probably my favorite episode of television ever. An absolute masterpiece

It still blows my mind how good episode this is. Every single aspect of filmmaking is at top level here. Writing, acting, directing, cinematography, music, editing. Not gonna lie, this episode makes me cry.

There's not many actors who can pull off a solo scene quite like he can let alone the whole episode mostly.

This shows how Moffat really understood the Doctor and the torment he lives in. It's also what is missing from the current show.

I could have sworn there was a full fat essay on this episode before

Personally, I think that's one hell of a bird!

Capaldis speeches were the greatest way of giving the audience information, as opposed to Whittaker being asked a question every 2 seconds by confused companions

This is my favourite Dr Who episode and demonstrated to me the power of Peter Capaldi, as one of the best Dr Who’s ever. He is so funny delivering lines with amazing looks, “you’ll never see this coming”.

"It's all the days they stay dead." That really hit me. My best friend's mom died during covid isolation and we never had a funeral because of it. This sometimes makes me feel like I can go to her trailer (that was torn down after her death) and see her at her computer, smoking a cigarette. But I never can. Every day from now on. And that hurts in little ways that sometimes is worse than the big grief that hit me when I heard of her passing. Edit: My dog died last week and I've been using this quote to express how I feel not having her with me everyday.

Heaven Sent has to be the best episode of doctor who EVER, there’s no question about it

This was by far the best Capaldi episode. I get chills watching it.

I didn't know BBC stood for Bitchy Bitchy Copyright:/ How could they take down such a brilliant video?

This episode literally made me so scared when I saw it. It introduced me to the idea of getting stuck in a timeloop and to this day that is my biggest fear.

This is why I hate it when people say Moffat is a bad writer. I was like, 'most of the all time best episodes have been written by him!' I agree it wasn't all good and sometimes it missed what it was aiming for, but overall I think he was amazing in his run of doctor who and I'm very glad he picked up the job as head writer after RTD left.

Heaven sent was when I realized that, for me, capaldi is surpassed only by Tennant as the best doctor...wish he was still The Doctor

the Shepard's boy is my favorite piece of music from doctor who. I'm glad Murray gold brought it back for Capaldi's regeneration

Wow, remember when we had actually good Doctor Who writing and a great Doctor?

Easily one of the best episodes of all DW. I loved Moffat. I thought he gave us a lot to think about over his time as a writer and showrunner.

Certainly the best single episode in the best series of NuWho. While some of the other episodes in that series have not aged well, _Heaven Sent_ is as sharp and powerful as the day it was first broadcast.

I remember watching this as a kid and thinking it was really boring. Looking back now at 17 I can see the genius in this. I feel it's more an episode for adults than kids but man it's good

Going through my own grief myself right now , rewatching this episode has helped . Someone didn’t die for me but they’re gone and that’s still loss , I’m grieving them. She looks like Clara, which made this episode even more powerful for me

Somehow I managed to watch this entire video without remembering I'd seen the old one. Stand out job once again!

I remember watching that when it first aired. Was in awe of every frame of that episode. That was POWERFUL. Need to watch it again.

"There's something that really works about the Doctor breaking the fourth wall, as if he's smart enough to know that he's fiction. But there's something about him knowing that that makes him feel realer than ever." Yes exactly! I love that you articulated that, I've had the thought before but never been able to put it to words. It's like: if he's smart enough to know he's fiction, it's really just another aspect of how clever he is. It feeds right into who the Doctor is: yes he's fiction, but he knows he's fiction, because he would, wouldn't he?

I keep coming back to this video. You have helped me appreciate this episodes most subtle aspects more completely...I had missed a lot. On viewing your assessment, it has become one of my favorite episodes, and indeed, my favorite trilogy. It's Murray Gold's most glorious moment since the Season Three two parter, and perhaps his best on the series. It establishes Capaldi as the finest actor in the role, bar none. It's a masterwork for him, and of course for Moffat and Talalay.

This episode was my the very first intro to DW, and I didn't even know that it actually was an episode of this show. I was eating out, and stopped my sight on a tv screen, where a well-aged man asked "How many seconds in eternity?", followed by beautiful visual scenes and music, and his determination. I needed to leave, so I came home, searched for this phrase - the only clue I had, and in three weeks, at 2am in a hostel's bunk bed I was sobbing because the 10th Doctor was dying. A girl from France approached me and kindly asked if I was all right. I explained, she understood, she watched all the new seasons already. And I went, at 3am, to an infamous fastfood chain to download the next season and to calm myself down with some hope. And now "bird" is my username on some social media, and rucbar is my wifi password

This episode demonstrates just how special Doctor Who used to be. The depth and subtlety of its writing, the exploration of grief, the fact that he finds his loophole to literally force his dead friend to be returned to him in Hell Bent (and let's face it, isn't that something we've all done after losing someone? Thought about some way they could be returned to us?). Leaving aside the perfect musical score, the gorgeous lighting, sets, terrific directing - the writing was spectacularly well done and has enough depth to fully warrant videos like these to explore it. This is why people are so disappointed in Chibnall's run. It has zero to do with it being a female doctor, or a conveniently diverse cast-list of "fam-panions". It has turned into a Jerry Bruckheimer tribute show, where intelligence has been replaced by action scenes. Remember when words were the Doctor's weapons? Now we have slow-motion floor slides of Jodi killing a Dalek with a microwave oven.

I feel like one of the biggest things missing from the current incarnation of the show (which I do enjoy, mind) is Murray Gold and his amazing scores. The music during 13's run works, but it's far more ambient and far less grandiose, and I feel like the Doctor needs that grandiosity.

I wanted more seasons of Capaldi's Doctor. Is it wrong to say I wanted Craig Ferguson to visit him?

Moffat's the best Doctor Who writer and show runner of the revived series. Yeah, I said it. Davies' popularity is largely because he has nostalgia on his side. He was much more cautious and safe than Moffat, unwilling to take big risks out of fear of alienating the audience. This is one of the reasons I doubt he's going to repair the damage that Chibnall caused to Doctor Who. He simply isn't brave enough. Moffat was braver with his storytelling and for every risk that didn't work in his reign, like giving River Song the ability to regenerate, there were several that did, including John Hurt coming in at the last moment during the 50th Anniversary, Clara's story arc of falling to her lowest point in Season 8 and rising again to be her own Doctor in Season 9, and the redemption of the Missy who also proved that changing a Time Lords gender CAN work if there's competent people telling the story. Moffat is the George Lucas of Doctor Who, with the only major differences being his atheism and the fact that he didn't build the series from scratch.

Certainly one of the best Dr Who episodes in years and years, perhaps the best ever. Visually amazing, perfectly written, totally amazing performance from the ever excellent Peter Capaldi. Remember watching it and by the end was totally worn out, it was an emotional ringer of an episode.

This episode actually gave me a bit of fear, the thought of having somthing SLOWLY chasing you and you can NEVER escape it is terrifying

this episode just got voted the best episode of DW of all time by DW Magazine. And it deserves it. Completely.

The greatest episode of the show ever for me - its Doctor Who as a work of Art

"4 billion years?". Thank you for outlining why this episode is just absolutely amazing. I watched it 4-5 times now and the sequence of clips on RU-vid countless times and it just gets better every time. There is always more to notice, more little clues. In the next episode, when Clara realizes what he has done for, you see the weight of it on her while he just tries to shrug it off. I don't care what anyone says, Clara and 12th were amazing together and I loved every bit of it. I hope Doctor Who will one day return. I don't recognize the show anymore and it's really sad.

My favorite Doctor and my favorite episode, with my favorite music. Sheppard's Boy is awesome.

'As if the doctor is, of course, smart enough to know that he is fiction.' I got goosebumps.

"If you have ever lost a loved one then you know exactly how it feels. And if you have not, then you cannot possibly imagine it."

"Best friend" Clara, yeah... it was so platonic. 😂

One of the best episodes of the whole show, no doubt. Capaldi's tenure was a bit mixed, but they did a few things really, really well. A shame Jodi hasn't gotten even close to the same quality of writing.

Heaven Sent is a big reason why being able to re watch Doctor Who is a blessing. On first viewing I was Down on Dr Who and almost missed what genius this story is.

"Why didn't I feel more about (my grandparent dying)?" It sounds like you had a perfectly healthy approach to death, IMO - you knew it was coming and you did everything you could to feel okay about it. Death is always with us. We have to find ways to incorporate it into our lives without becoming overwhelmed by it.

Why the BBC were so intent on taking down this beautiful love letter to their show is just baffling. You were basically telling people to watch their show. It's ridiculous. Love your work by the way.

Masterpiece episode with the masterful Capaldi. I love that it puts a crack in my cynicism and makes me cry like a real human every time I watch it.

My dad, who embedded doctor who in me as a kid, though I remember nothing of it, died in the arms of me and my siblings as hell bent Aires in Australia. His death was early, traumatic and unexpected until we were able to give him some relief, coincidentally as the ep began to air. I watch it every December 6th at the time it would have aired to pay tribute to him. I never watch heaven sent but I’m about to go and do it now. I’ve always been too scared to confront that grief head on. Great recap.

I want nothing more than Full Fat Videos to talk about Children of Earth. The best Doctor Who Special.

Rachel Talalay is an amazing director too

Heaven Sent is the perfect example of the Davies/Moffat era of Who being focused on deep emotional truths wrapped up in a candy-coated sci-fi package. This is some of the best tv, and even the best modern storytelling that exists. It is not just pop entertainment but art, something for which it has never been given enough credit

I cannot put it into words how much I really really love this video essay! You hit the nail so perfectly on the head!

This episode makes me super emotional every time

They did the same with me and my video covering the exact same subject, had to export in 480p and distort audio to bypass copyright. Insane how even after everything that's changed on this platform, the one constant bane of every creators existence is damn copyright

This episode particularly left me in awe for I have been trying (with unlimited writer's-block) to write a Horror screenplay that concentrated much more on Misery than actual Scares, like an Existential Drama taking place in a Horror environment, almost exclusively about one person that is usually alone. I was in the middle of almost completely re-structuring the base Story (as it was largely a bunch of good ideas but little in the way of coherent through-line) when I saw Heaven Sent. The reason why it floored me was that watching Heaven Sent was almost like me watching the movie I had been struggling to write all these years.. Yes, it was the Doctor Who version of it, so to speak, and did play out in a way that was more than different enough, but it took almost the exact same approach, and it was like seeing a flicker in an endless darkness.

More than "pretty good." I love it and even enjoy talking about it enough to walk YOU talk about it. Amazing.

I've always adored this episode and the topic it tackles. But now my Grandma who I was very close to has died, I fully empathise with The Doctor. The monologue at the beginning perfectly encapsulates death, and the monster being a covered up dead body rotting in the heat, looking similar to the grim reaper almost. The Doctor forgetting Clara isn't there and then painfully remembering is heart-wrenchingly true. There are some episodes of Doctor Who I have avoided since my Grandma died only a week ago, especially 'Dark Water' since my Grandma wanted to be cremated. But this episode gave me comfort almost, knowing my favourite hero is in many ways so very similar to us, humans.