Doctor Who: ‘Heaven Sent’

(suggested by John Moore)

Surely one of the most moving moments of Peter Capaldi’s tenure in the TARDIS so far, ‘Heaven Sent’ is essentially a one-man show, with The Doctor trapped in a time-loop we later find out to be the work of the Time Lord Rasillon. It is widely – and quite rightly – held to be one of the classic episodes of the revived show, an obtuse and somewhat surreal journey across 4bn years that goes some way to revealing the inner workings of The Doctor’s mind.

While this is another example of Talalay directing a geographically confined episode, it still manages to be grand in presentation and ambition. The Doctor’s battle against The Veil is pretty intense sci-fi, heartbreakingly delivered by Peter Capaldi and thoughtfully put together by Talalay and her crew. Despite its dearth of interaction and limited jolts of action, it never lags and is never less than engrossing television.

Largely, this is due to Capaldi. His performance is pretty exquisite, but he is also shot and lit beautifully with a horror/thriller sensibility that ratchets up the tension as the episode unfolds slowly. With such a close focus on so few elements, it serves to highlight just how well everything is done – and there is little margin for error in judgement.

The final montage is, for our money, a masterful piece of direction and editing and my favourite piece work Talalay’s done on the show. So far, anyway.