Series 8, Episode 12 | Part 2 of 2 | First broadcast: 8 November 2014 | Writer: Steven Moffat | Director: Rachel Talalay
Cast
- Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor
- Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald
- Samuel Anderson as Danny Pink
- Michelle Gomez as Missy
- Chris Addison as Seb
- Ingrid Oliver as Osgood
- Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart
- Sanjeev Bhaskar as Colonel Ahmed
- Nick Frost as Santa Claus
- Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor (archive footage)
Summary
Missy’s Cybermen take to the skies worldwide, raining “Cyberpollen” that resurrects the recently dead — including Danny Pink — as new Cybermen, while UNIT scrambles to contain the crisis and controversially installs the Doctor as President of Earth. Clara narrowly survives by bluffing the Cybermen into believing she is the Doctor, saved only by Danny, who retains his human personality and memory inside his new Cyberman body. As Missy escapes custody and kills Osgood, the Doctor discovers that a second wave of Cyberpollen would convert all of humanity, and rather than accept Missy’s “gift” of a Cyberman army to prove they are alike, he refuses it and instead passes control to Danny, who leads the Cybermen into the sky to self-destruct and save the Earth. In the story’s devastating final act, Danny sacrifices his one chance to return from the afterlife’s Nethersphere in order to save a boy he had accidentally killed, while Missy meets her end at the hands of a resurrected Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart — leaving the Doctor and Clara to part on a mutual, heartbroken lie about being “fine.”
Interesting Facts
- This is the first episode to feature Missy fully embracing her identity as the Master, revealed at the end of “Dark Water,” including numerous callbacks to the character’s history, such as the Master’s past tenure as Prime Minister in “The Sound of Drums.”
- The opening titles were altered for this episode alone: Jenna Coleman’s eye replaces Peter Capaldi’s in the title sequence, and her name is billed first, reflecting Clara’s cold-open impersonation of the Doctor.
- Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart’s return as a Cyberman, who ultimately destroys Missy to save his daughter Kate, serves as a tribute to the late Nicholas Courtney, who originated the role across the classic series.
- A brief mid-credits scene features Nick Frost as Santa Claus knocking on the TARDIS door, setting up that year’s Christmas special, “Last Christmas.”
- Michelle Gomez’s performance as Missy was singled out by nearly every critic as a highlight of both the finale and the series overall, cementing the character ahead of her return in later seasons.
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