Dark Water (TV story)

Dark Water was the eleventh episode of the eighth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales. It saw the return of the Cybermen and the Twelfth Doctor's first encounter with them.

Dark Water  showed an aspect of the Time Lord's regeneration process that had been mentioned but never seen before on screen: that there's a chance a Time Lord can actually change sex during regeneration. This aspect of regeneration is important as the mystery surrounding Missy's identity is finally revealed, with the shocking reveal that she is the first female incarnation of The Master. As such this marks the first time in the history of Doctor Who that a Time Lord, who had been portrayed by male actors up until 2014, had been portrayed by a female actor. The Master also appears again in a Doctor Who story for the first time since her predecessor's last story in The End of Time.

Synopsis
When Danny is involved in a terrible accident, Clara and the Doctor travel to a mausoleum where the dead are not all that they seem - and they discover the true identity of Missy.

Plot
Clara’s ready to confess to Danny the adventures she’s been having with the Doctor, despite telling him she wasn’t. She’s about to tell him over the phone, when Danny steps out into the road and is killed. Clara calls the Doctor for help, with the intention that he’ll change events.

She asks the Doctor to take her to a volcano. Taking the TARDIS’ seven keys, she attempts to use one of the Doctor’s sleep patches on him, but he turns it on her, putting her into a dream state. Believing she’s at a real volcano, she throws the seven keys into the lava, before the Doctor reveals this was a test of how far she’d be willing to go to be with Danny again. Seeing the extremity of her desire to see him, he connects her to the TARDIS’ telepathic circuits, as her timestream’s connected to Danny’s. The TARDIS takes them to wherever she thinks Danny now is...

Danny wakes-up in the Nethersphere, and is greeted by Seb, who informs him of his death.

The TARDIS has taken the Doctor and Clara to the 3W, where they see skeletons seated in watery graves. They’re greeted by Missy, who kisses the Doctor, and claims to be a MobIle SyStems Interface. Missy lets the Doctor feel her hearts.

In the Nethersphere, Seb asks Danny if he’s ever killed someone, due to a request from someone Danny could have killed in the Army. Remembering his “bad day”, the child Danny accidentally killed is revealed to him.

Chang reveals the Dark Water to the Doctor and Clara. When submerged, only organic matter can be seen - the skeletons are inside something else, hidden by the water.

Danny meets with the child, who runs away when Danny tries reaching-out to him. He and Seb hear a man screaming, which Seb explains to mean he left his body to science.

Chang then explains to the Doctor and Clara that the 3W was established after a discovery from television static, that their founder, Dr. Skarosa, translated to be distant voices. Believing them to be the voices of the dead, Skarosa isolated some of them. Chang plays a recording of the voice that inspired 3W’s founding: “Don’t cremate me”. Chang tells them the dead are still conscious, and aware of everything that happens to their body.

Seb is explaining the same to Danny, who constantly feels cold because he’s still connected to his body, which is being kept in a cold place.

The Doctor refuses to believe the dead don’t come back, and Chang establishes a communication signal to the Nethersphere, and Clara is able to speak to Danny, with Seb’s assistance. The Doctor tells to Clara to ask Danny questions only to-which would he know the answer.

Missy activates the tanks, and the skeletons stand. When Chang and the Doctor arrive, Missy reveals she was only pretending to be an android, and kills Chang. As the tanks begin to empty, the Cybermen are slowly revealed...

Clara asks Danny to name the restaurant of their first date - he can’t remember.

Missy shows the Doctor the Nethersphere, which is a part of the Matrix housing minds of the deceased in edited forms, while their bodies are used for Cyber-conversion. The Doctor asks Missy which Time Lady she is - she’s the one he “left for dead”, without expecting her to “find [her] way back”. The Doctor runs out of the 3W, which is St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Clara asks Danny more information about her, but he’s unable to answer, and she disconnects the communication signal, thinking him to be not be the real Danny Pink. Seb gives Danny the option to delete himself, which would relieve him from the pain of Clara not knowing who he is.

In the 3W, Clara turns around to see a fully-revealed Cyberman in the water tank. The Cybermen activate, and begin marching down the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Doctor yells at civilians to run away, but he’s dismissed as an angry Scotsman. Missy then identifies herself to the Doctor: Missy is short for “Mistress”. She’s the Master.

In the Nethersphere, Danny is on the verge of disconnecting himself, and sees the child he killed reflected in his iPad...

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
 * Clara - Jenna Coleman
 * Danny - Samuel Anderson
 * Missy - Michelle Gomez
 * Woman - Joan Blackham
 * Gran - Sheila Reid
 * Seb - Chris Addison
 * Dr Chang - Andrew Leung
 * Fleming - Bradley Ford
 * Boy- Antonio Bourouphael
 * Cyberman - Jeremiah Krage
 * Cyberman - Ryan Armstrong (Uncredited)
 * Mr Armitage - Nigel Betts
 * Voice of the Cybermen - Nicholas Briggs

Individuals

 * Clara's birthday (23rd November) is used by Danny to convince her that he is genuine and not a computer program. This date is the original broadcast date of the first ever episode of Doctor Who, An Unearthly Child on 23rd November 1963. This birth date was previously mentioned on Clara's gravestone in The Snowmen.
 * Upon being asked by the Doctor whether there are stairs in the 3W base, replies that she isn't a Dalek, referring to the Daleks' famous inability to climb stairs in their earlier forms.

Story notes

 * The Cybermen walking from St Paul's Cathedral and through the London streets in the 1968-1969 story The Invasion is a very famous scene, and has been met with awe ever since it was announced that this famous "Cybermen Walk" would be mimicked in Dark Water.

Ratings
to be added

Filming locations

 * St. Paul's Cathedral, London

Production errors
to be added

Continuity

 * Clara tries to use a Mood patch to put the Doctor to sleep. (TV: Gridlock)
 * In Clara's flat, there are numerous sticky notes with references to many events of her life and alternate lives. (TV: Asylum of the Daleks, The Snowmen et al)
 * This isn't the first time that the Cybermen have hibernated in tombs. (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen, Nightmare in Silver et al)
 * A female incarnation of the Master was previously mentioned to be among his various incarnations who were captured by the Sild. (PROSE: Harvest of Time)
 * The Doctor uses the TARDIS's telepathic interface, using Clara to find Danny. (TV: Listen et al)
 * Clara attempts to force the Doctor to go back in time and avert Danny's death. This isn't the first time he has been asked to do so. (TV: Earthshock, Father's Day)
 * The Master previously had an assistant named "Chang" that he also killed, although in that case the effect was temporary. (TV: Doctor Who)

DVD releases
Doctor Who Series 8 Boxset

Blu-ray releases
Doctor Who Series 8 Blu-ray Boxset