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The Black Archive #21
Heaven Sent
‘I’m not scared of Hell – it’s just Heaven for bad people.’
Nine series into its 21st-century run, Doctor Who made history with Steven Moffat’s Heaven Sent (2015). It was the show’s first single-hander, and the first ever to be shortlisted for an Emmy Award.
Beyond that, it took Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor on a journey of self-discovery through a bespoke torture chamber, covering billions of years and the depth of a diamond wall.
But Heaven Sent is more than just the Doctor’s own puzzle-box: it also serves as a decoder ring, allowing us deeper insight into both the Time Lord who fled Gallifrey and the persona of ‘the Doctor’ he adopted for himself. With a toolbox containing everything from Jungian psychology to video game design, this Black Archive (the second of three covering the final episodes of the 2015 season) seeks to take apart the Doctor’s Confession Dial and discover what he’s been hiding from his audience – and himself – for all these years.
Kara Dennison is a writer and journalist specialising in deep analysis of geek and genre entertainment.
She has contributed to Seasons of War, and The City of the Saved and You and Who series, and is the co-
creator of the light novel series Owl’s Flower.
In March 2018, she conducted Peter Capaldi’s first public interview since leaving Doctor Who.
Nine series into its 21st-century run, Doctor Who made history with Steven Moffat’s Heaven Sent (2015). It was the show’s first single-hander, and the first ever to be shortlisted for an Emmy Award.
Beyond that, it took Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor on a journey of self-discovery through a bespoke torture chamber, covering billions of years and the depth of a diamond wall.
But Heaven Sent is more than just the Doctor’s own puzzle-box: it also serves as a decoder ring, allowing us deeper insight into both the Time Lord who fled Gallifrey and the persona of ‘the Doctor’ he adopted for himself. With a toolbox containing everything from Jungian psychology to video game design, this Black Archive (the second of three covering the final episodes of the 2015 season) seeks to take apart the Doctor’s Confession Dial and discover what he’s been hiding from his audience – and himself – for all these years.
Kara Dennison is a writer and journalist specialising in deep analysis of geek and genre entertainment.
She has contributed to Seasons of War, and The City of the Saved and You and Who series, and is the co-
creator of the light novel series Owl’s Flower.
In March 2018, she conducted Peter Capaldi’s first public interview since leaving Doctor Who.
- GenresDoctor WhoNonfiction
92 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2018
33 people want to read
About the author
Kara Dennison
45 books21 followersBay-born and NASA-raised author of fiction, essays, and light novels. Journalist for Crunchyroll and Otaku USA, former book reviewer for Sci-Fi Magazine. Still reading and reviewing for my own good time, in search of a new periodical to review for.
Reviews do not imply coverage in or recognition by my employers. Please refrain from mentioning Crunchyroll, Otaku USA, Sci-Fi Magazine, or any of my other employers when quoting reviews unless they are explicitly mentioned in said review.
Reviews do not imply coverage in or recognition by my employers. Please refrain from mentioning Crunchyroll, Otaku USA, Sci-Fi Magazine, or any of my other employers when quoting reviews unless they are explicitly mentioned in said review.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 22, 2022
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/heaven-sent-by-kara-dennison-rubycosmos-hell-bent-by-alyssa-franke-alyssafranke/
Heaven Sent is, in my completely objective view, one of the best episodes of New Who and possibly the best of the Capaldi era. It’s the one where the Doctor finds himself imprisoned in a tower, doomed to repeat the same actions over and over again until he achieves freedom; Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor is the only speaking part, though we also see Jenna Coleman as the recently deceased Clara, and the mysteriously threatening Veil (played by Jami Reid-Quarrell). It is directed by Rachel Talalay, who is one of the best directors of Doctor Who ever, and written by Steven Moffat, who sometimes dropped the ball but is fantastic when on form, and this time he is on form. It looks great and was the last Doctor Who episode to do at all well in the Hugos (coming second to Jessica Jones). I mentioned it as my top Twelfth Doctor episode in my list of recommendations for people who want to get into New Who.
Kara Dennison’s excellent monograph starts with an introduction wherein she makes the point that this is a rare, possibly unique, case of a Doctor Who story which is all about the character development of the title character. We have the Doctor grieving and guilty over Clara’s death, imprisoned in a castle which will take billions of years to break out of, learning from repetition. An extraordinary setup.
The first chapter analyses the story in Jungian terms, which after all is a pretty obvious thing to do: the rooms, the dust and skulls, the moat, the ascent and descent. This analysis mainly works because Jung was largely right, and hit on some pretty deep threads of the mind.
The second chapter looks at the only other significant presence in the story the Veil, and how it reflects the Doctor’s own personality and experience. And also Freddy Krueger from Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare.
The very short third chapter looks at how the Doctor’s repetition of the path through the castle changes both him and the path, and how the clues are laid out; is he the king or the shepherd boy? Or both?
The fourth chapter looks at the Doctor’s personality in itself, and how it has been developing since the last season of Old Who (including in Moffat’s The Curse of Fatal Death); and in particular how Heaven Sent exposes some of the flaws in his character.
The fifth chapter looks at time loops, bringing in the fascinating case of the Endless Eight anime which I was previously unaware of. (Also of course Groundhog Day and The Dark Tower.)
A final brief sixth chapter admits that Moffat may not have been thinking about Jung at all. To be honest that misses the point for me; if Jung was right (and I think he was), we are all subconsciously thinking along Jungian lines, whether we like it or not.
Anyway, a book that gave me new things to consider about a favourite story.
Heaven Sent is, in my completely objective view, one of the best episodes of New Who and possibly the best of the Capaldi era. It’s the one where the Doctor finds himself imprisoned in a tower, doomed to repeat the same actions over and over again until he achieves freedom; Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor is the only speaking part, though we also see Jenna Coleman as the recently deceased Clara, and the mysteriously threatening Veil (played by Jami Reid-Quarrell). It is directed by Rachel Talalay, who is one of the best directors of Doctor Who ever, and written by Steven Moffat, who sometimes dropped the ball but is fantastic when on form, and this time he is on form. It looks great and was the last Doctor Who episode to do at all well in the Hugos (coming second to Jessica Jones). I mentioned it as my top Twelfth Doctor episode in my list of recommendations for people who want to get into New Who.
Kara Dennison’s excellent monograph starts with an introduction wherein she makes the point that this is a rare, possibly unique, case of a Doctor Who story which is all about the character development of the title character. We have the Doctor grieving and guilty over Clara’s death, imprisoned in a castle which will take billions of years to break out of, learning from repetition. An extraordinary setup.
The first chapter analyses the story in Jungian terms, which after all is a pretty obvious thing to do: the rooms, the dust and skulls, the moat, the ascent and descent. This analysis mainly works because Jung was largely right, and hit on some pretty deep threads of the mind.
The second chapter looks at the only other significant presence in the story the Veil, and how it reflects the Doctor’s own personality and experience. And also Freddy Krueger from Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare.
The very short third chapter looks at how the Doctor’s repetition of the path through the castle changes both him and the path, and how the clues are laid out; is he the king or the shepherd boy? Or both?
The fourth chapter looks at the Doctor’s personality in itself, and how it has been developing since the last season of Old Who (including in Moffat’s The Curse of Fatal Death); and in particular how Heaven Sent exposes some of the flaws in his character.
The fifth chapter looks at time loops, bringing in the fascinating case of the Endless Eight anime which I was previously unaware of. (Also of course Groundhog Day and The Dark Tower.)
A final brief sixth chapter admits that Moffat may not have been thinking about Jung at all. To be honest that misses the point for me; if Jung was right (and I think he was), we are all subconsciously thinking along Jungian lines, whether we like it or not.
Anyway, a book that gave me new things to consider about a favourite story.
January 18, 2024
A fascinating and comprehensive analysis of one of Who’s most symbolically and textually complex episodes, Dennison manages to string Jungian psychoanalysis, Orthodox Christian funeral practices, and night blogging (among other things) into a wonderful read. Though she takes bold steps in places with her reading of the episode, she deftly convinces you of her truly interesting points with excellent evidence and skilful hopping between different episodes, seasons, shows, genres and mediums. Occasionally, a part of the interpretation will run into a plot point that it isn’t quite able to encompass, or makes an unjustified judgement I can’t quite agree with (is 12 the “engineer” Doctor??), but these are few and far between. Skilfully wrought and eye opening, and containing perhaps the best character analysis of the Doctor I have ever seen, this is a must read for super fans.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews