Heaven Sent written by Steven Moffat and directed by Rachel Talalay

An instant classic and the best thing that Steven Moffat has written in simply ages, far surpassing even Listen and Dark Water last season. I have been critical of series nine to date for not being bold enough to follow through on it's promises. That for the most part it has been one could have been episode after another (check out my review of Sleep No More for further explanation). Heaven Sent is not only brave, it practically redefines what an episode of Doctor Who can be and Steven Moffat achieves that by smashing through the boundaries and changing the shape of the series into something entirely unique. Just for one astonishing episode. The presentation, the horror, the strength of performance, the poetry in the writing, the surprises...everything about this episode is adult in a way that NuWho rarely dares to be. Where's the smugness, the self referencing clever cleverness, the self-satisfied one liners, the foolish humour and dearth of characterisation that has come to characterise the Moffat era? Are you telling me this is how good it could have been since he took over? It's one of those stories like The Waters of Mars that could take place at a particular point in the Doctor's timeline, which makes even it's placing entirely unique. The Doctor has lost his best friend and is trapped in his own personal hell. It's a terrifying labyrinth inside a puzzle box where he is stalked by a dark wraith that seeks not his fear but his honesty. Peter Capaldi gives a career defining performance in what is practically a one man show and he riveted me to my seat for almost an hour. I don't even remember breathing. It's a bold move to show the Doctor this afraid and this menaced by his personal demons since he is our constant companion in this show and he is the one that the kiddies latch onto for comfort. Goodness knows what they made of this existential nightmare...I can imagine they were either sitting there in a cold sweat or yawning throughout. Funnily enough this is one of those stories that I probably wont revisit too often. Like Genesis of the Daleks, The Caves of Androzani and Midnight it has a fatalistic tone that could leave you reaching out for a razor to slit your wrists. I tend to stick the more entertaining stories on when I am in the mood for a Doctor Who (the discs of The Romans, The Stones of Blood, The Two Doctors and The Unicorn and the Wasp are almost worn out because of their exhaustive viewings) and this will be one to savour once every couple of years to remind myself of how good Doctor Who can be when it pulls out all the stops. I was genuinely terrified in parts, beguiled in others, mystified and simply dazzled by the baroque imagery throughout. Heaven Sent ends with a humdinger of a cliffhanger too. I said to Simon that I was expecting something massive to come out of this nightmarish episode and Moffat has chosen precisely the right moment to spring the Doctor's homecoming on us. Simply breathtaking: 10/10