The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) arrives in the transporter to some castle and is pursued by a hooded figure with beastly fingers, known as the Veil. He runs for it and then says that he knows who it is. After seeing it look back at him through a TV monitor and also from across the way through a window. It comes after the Doctor and he comes to a locked door. He then sweet talks the door to opening saying it's a good door and people don't appreciate it cos it's always knocked on and closed. Then telling Clara (Jenna Coleman) he was right. The door leads him into a room where he finds flowers and sits on the bed. He sees Clara's portrait hanging there and then picks the flower apart. He also examines her portrait saying it's very old.
As he goes round the castle, he's estimated it takes Veil 82 minutes to find him. So everytime he tells the truth he gets away from the figure. The flies buzzing around he adds were from a grave of an old woman and this castle is reminding him of his nightmares.
This one's more about watching and hearing the Doctor narrate than it is about reading reviews. It's what you make of it and quite frankly is more interesting that way. Though as soon as the Doctor takes a dive from the castle window after breaking it with the stool, you know he's the only one here and the he's been here before. Thus his clothes already drying in front of the fire, as he changes into the dry clothes, his outfit is the same. So everytime he heads back to the TARDIS, it's from another room in the castle, each one putting out a different puzzle. As for the shovel, of course it was inviting the Doctor to dig, which he does. The castle spins round and he has to get further away from the figure after him. As he falls in there are skulls at the bottom of the water.
As he heads to the TARDIS and runs in, he realizes the Veil wants to hear him confess, or rather speak the truth. Thus when he said he's not afraid to die, it vanishes. Thus he jumps out of the window too, since that won't be expected of him. He asks how he escaped and replies when he threw the stool through the window, he smelled the salt air, thus knowing there was water below. There's no guarantee you'll survive in water, but he also surmizes he's being tortured here or rather this is his interrogation. So it's better to speed up your own death.
The Doctor is still angry at what brought him here and how he's going to get revenge for Clara. He knows he said he wouldn't but he's the Doctor and he will relentlessly pursue until he finds out who did it. They may think he's weak without Clara but he's not.
Clara is all in his head, as we see a figure from behind who's meant to be Clara, funny she didn't look like her from the back. She writes on the board asking him questions, like, not what, but why? And how he was let go, how is he going to win? The Doctor has his glasses but they don't really help him. He returns back to the TARDIS defeated and just wants to give up and sleep, why must he always win. As we then get an appearance from Clara. (Still don't know why she left, she had a good thing going here!) Anyway she appears t him and tells him not to give up, but "to get off your arse and win." As she touches his face and vanishes. That's kind of a typical line they would give her. Still remember the one for Doctor 11 when she'd tell him to" run you clever boy." Well she can't call this regeneration a boy can she.
As he heads to the top of he tower after finding a skull with electrodes attached to it, (Yoric anyone) he looks at the sky and says he can whiff time travel and someone's changed the location of the stars. He then finds a wall which is made of diamonds but and he pounds into it with his fist. Then saying there was an emperor who asked the shepherd's boy how to get through the wall, as he pounds into it with his hand, which is painful, over and over.
The figure finally catches up to him and he is embraced by it and burnt. Then with a voiceover from him saying he's a Time Lord and they don't die straightaway. It will take him at least a day and as long to get up the stairs and back to the transporter room. If he plugs into the electrodes he can use the energy, but the energy needs something to burn to work. He then writes 'BIRD' in the sand and we see this is his prison, his hell and he is being put through the same rigours and torture here year after year, until he gets to the tower and it's a count of years, 7,000 years... million, 32 billion. Each skull in the water was his own and every time he pounded on the wall, he made an impact on it, until he finally breaks though the wall and it gives way.
The Veil wanted answers as to what is the hybrid. But he doesn't tell them anything. He sees the shepherd boy to tell the city he's here and he took the long way round. This city is Gallifrey. We see the castle in miniature and as the Doctor picks it up it closes in on itself and becomes the Doctor's confession dial. He says there never was a Dalek hybrid as they wouldn't ever allow there to be one. Yet there is a hybrid and it's me." Knew that was coming.
A little groundhog day but more billion years removed. So the Veil was here to set him tests which he got through but he was expected to reveal lots of information about himself too. Like running from Gallifrey not so he was bored, but he was scared. Then there was that room number 1, appropriate for Doctor 12. (Recall Doctor 11 had a room number too). The Doctor must find his number here too.
Other revelations included the Time Lords knew of the impending war and that there was a hybrid which was going to bring about peace or be destructive. As I recall, didn't Davros tell Doctor 10, he was "the destroyer of worlds." Of course we now know the Doctor has been inside his confession dial for the entire series 9. Well we would have known if we had read any spoilers beforehand, which I didn't. I don't bother reading any of those as it spoils the impact and sometimes the episodes too. So if he's been inside his dial the entire eps how did he get there inside and who put him in there. Missy had it in the opening eps and more importantly what does this say of Clara's fate. As for Ashildr, the less said about her the better, I don't want to know. Is the Doctor really part Dalek? Actually I still have a hard time believing he was in his own confession dial, last will, for the entire series. Though the last will part is easy to get cos he kept dying here and being brought back.
The BBC needs to tone down the music as it was drowning out parts of his speech, they always have this problem. Also funnily enough as the scenes of the Doctor going through his life over and over through the years, thought that's what the BBC gives you, endless repeats for your licence fee!! Ha.
Some choice quotes here "the Doctor will see you now, show me what you've got." Clara spouting "arse" ha. "I'm not scared of hell, it's just heaven for bad people." So is he a part of heaven or hell, or both. "This whole place is designed to terrify me." Why would it terrify him though. Granted it is part of his nightmares but didn't he always overcome them and everything else. Being here for so many years it's understandable why he needs a companion.
I see he didn't use any of Clara's cue cards to express his feelings for her loss cos it was all anger and pain too. No guitar playing either, never mind he wielded a shovel instead!
Don't know about you but the castle in the water reminded me of Atlantis. Especially when the Doctor held it in his hand.
Have to say Peter Capaldi's Doctor 12 has surpassed all the expectations I had of him. Admittedly I was a bit hesitant in him taking over the mantle of the Doctor since Doctor 11 was very close to my heart. Yet Peter's version has been very different and has brought a different side of the Doctor to the screen. Very impressed!
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