pretty awesome episode that really reminded me of the house in fata morgana.... so therefore its peak

I went in with an open mind as I always do on a rewatch.

Still don’t see why it’s a 5/5 or best thing since sliced bread. Sorry. For me it’s a 3/5 at most and I’m wavering into dropping that to a 2.5.

I can recognise the good elements but for me it is definitely less than the sum of its parts.

The direction is excellent (if not particularly groundbreaking). The imagery is striking. Capaldi is good (but there are a couple of bits he mumbles through which frustrated me a bit). The Veil is properly scary (I did actually jump when it appeared behind the garden door).

But…

It’s just not very interesting. The Doctor walks round a castle talking to himself and then punching a wall whilst a monster kills him over and over again. I know I’ve joked about that previously but, it’s true.

It might be a good piece of ‘art’ in terms of performance, direction etc, but I really don’t think it’s a very good Doctor Who story. I definitely don’t think it bears rewatching once you know the truth.

I’d put this alongside Listen. Two episodes which are designed to examine the character of the Doctor and his response to fear in particular. Maybe that’s what fans like about it, but for me it just leaves me cold and not a little bored. I just suppose that isn’t what I’m here for. I think I definitely need my Doctor interacting with other characters; I need some gags; maybe I want a more ‘obvious’ adventure.

Heaven Sent is just a bit too serious for my tastes. Oh and I really didn’t like the mind palace TARDIS scenes. They didn’t work for me at all. The other thing I would say - and I think this is true of Listen as well - is I think this is an example of an episode that has forgotten this is a family show. I don’t believe there is enough here working on the different levels that a really good Doctor Who story works on. I just don’t see what in this story would appeal much to the children in the audience and I think that’s a shame because I think it misses the point of the show.

But I think I can see why people like it and that’s great because we all come to the show for different reasons and take away different things. I didn’t hate the episode and I can pick out individual elements I liked (the main one being the Veil, I think) but, nope, not really what I'm looking for in Doctor Who.

Hands down the best nuwho episode ever, I don't need to explain my reasoning if you've seen it you understand.

This is exactly what it's like to grieve the loss of someone you care about while desperately trying and failing to not blame yourself: living in what is explicitly your worst nightmare, a (metaphorical) dead body following you around that will kill you when you let it get to you, escaping into your own head when things get tough and imagining a world where they're still alive, a self-imposed torture cycle that you refuse to break because maybe this time when you punch the wall it'll fix everything, only for the dead body to reach you anyway. For (what feels like) more than two billion years.

When i first watched this in 2015 i just thought it was "doctor who monologues at the audience (extreme mode)" but now that time has passed and things have happened, this episode is far more resonant and deserves all the praise it gets. Stevieboy you may have some glaring writing problems sometimes, but other times you really nail it.

What is there to say that hasn't been said? Capaldi puts in the best performance the show has ever had, the mystery is amazingly teased (and INCREDIBLE on rewatch when you have all the facts and see the solution from the start) and the pacing is just right. Only minor criticism is that the cliffhanger is a little cringe, doubly so when you know what it means!