Best of 2015 Awards: The Winners (Part 4)

Connor Johnston presents the fourth set of results from Doctor Who TV’s “Best of 2015” Polls.

• See Part 1 featuring Best New Monster, Returning Monster, Villain and Scariest Episode here.
• See Part 2 featuring Best Pre-Title Sequence, Visual Effects, Music, Writer & Director here.
• See Part 3 featuring Best Guest, Recurring & Lead Actors, and Saddest & Funniest Episode here.

Best Cliffhanger of 2015 – “The Hybrid Destined To Conquer Gallifrey… Is Me” (Heaven Sent)

There’s no doubt that the absence of two parters in Series 7 was greatly missed by a vast majority of fans – more specifically the consuming, frustrating and exhilarating nature of a “Good old fashioned cliffhanger”. Series 8 saw “Dark Water” reigniting the fandom’s passion, however it wasn’t until last year’s series that we saw 2 parters return in such a great force, with almost every episode being part of a multi-part story. From the Doctor threatening a child Davros, to Bonnie attempting to bring down the Doctor and Osgood’s plane, the Ghost Doctor appearing Under the Lake and Ashildr’s immortal awakening – Series 9’s cliffhangers were full of spine-tingling and goosebump inducing moments. Despite strong competition however, taking the top spot today by a very narrow margin is the penultimate cliff-hanger of “Heaven Sent” with 26.01% of the vote.

The energy of the episode culminates in a rapid succession of striking reveals towards the end of the episode – including of course the long awaited return to Gallifrey. It truly is incredibly poetic that the tenth anniversary of the show is marked with such an exciting revelation…. In 1963 the Doctor ran away from home, 50 years in 2013 later he started running towards it. In 2005 the Doctor destroyed Gallifrey, 10 years later in 2015 he brought it back. I had personally never imagined the Confession Dial would be quite as important as this. Despite the fact that it was a piece of Gallifreyan technology its true purpose remained quite a valid surprise – and like all of Steven Moffat’s best magic tricks, it’s repeatedly been hidden in plain sight. Similarly, the boldness of the cliffhanger to suggest that Doctor himself is the hybrid was also a refreshingly original development – which when elaborated further came to mean something quite different, but equally rewarding indeed.

Best Clara Exit of 2015 – Death on Trap Street (Face the Raven)

One of the most popular points of discussion over the year was Clara’s departure from the show. Her final narrative stretched across a 3-part finale, with “Face the Raven” seeing her die at the hands of the Quantum Shade, “Heaven Sent” depicting the emotional toll her absence had on the Doctor and “Hell Bent” seeing the Doctor break the laws of time in extracting Clara just before her death. In this category, voters were asked to select the exit they favoured the most. Now exactly what the results of this poll express is quite complicated, given the thoughts of commenters likely showcased a number of potential interpretations of what the question was asking. For instance, some votes for “Hell Bent” would have been made by those wishing to express their favour for the entire storyline rather than preferring one exit over another, and conversely some votes for “Face the Raven” would praise the emotional climax of the episode while still appreciating the thematic relevance of “Hell Bent”. Whatever way one wants to interpret these results – one thing that is abundantly clear is how appreciated and popular Clara’s death on trap street was, claiming victory with a 60.07% majority of the vote.

Clara’s choice to switch places with Rigsy was one fuelled by many things – but above all the overwhelming sense of compassion to ensure that no matter what, Rigsy’s daughter will grow up with both parents because Clara herself didn’t. The foolishness of her bravery is really stressed through a perfect marriage between her sense of responsibility and her blind assurance in her own survival. It is the misconception of safety and distorted sense of reality that truly seals her face. With what she believes is her final goodbye, Clara finally accepts her situation – and above all accepts herself, recognising her carelessness and recklessness we’ve watched her ignore all series… and in the most triumphant way, despite recognising it she doesn’t condemn it, because that’s just who she is. There is compassion and heroism in her actions, there’s the Doctor-like intelligence in the fabric of her plan (which granted what she knew, is quite clever) – but there’s also an impulsion and recklessness. She’s heroic, but she’s also too self-assured, too confident in the face of tremendous danger, which is inevitably her downfall.

Best Episode of 2015 – Heaven Sent

It’s very rare that one can look back on a series of Doctor Who and struggle to pinpoint any specific failures. One thing that 2015 definitely wasn’t lacking was ambition, which was proven by the consistency in quality the series exhibited from start to finish. Regardless of how many brilliant episodes we were gifted with this year however, there was one adventure that felt as though it existed on an entirely different level of storytelling from the get go – that episode of course Steven Moffat’s “Heaven Sent”, which very predictably (though deservingly) takes the win with 62.8% of the vote.

The expression of “Heaven Sent” is what touches you first. Growing from its script outwards it’s the eloquence of the story that initially impresses and contributes to the gripping nature of the episode. With “Heaven Sent,” Steven produces a piece of work that would be far more accurately labelled as poetry. Each line is invaluable and has proper significance to the magnum opus he creates. There may have been moments during the last 6 years where people have found themselves disagreeing with or criticising the choices Moffat has made with his scripts – which of course is totally within reason and our rights as viewers. However I honestly would have trouble believing that someone could bear witness to the confidence and creativity of “Heaven Sent” (regardless of whether or not they enjoyed it or not) and doubt his artistic ability as a creator.

Though it may seem like an episode that loses its charm once the mystery is solved – I’ve found that subsequent rewatches have only sought to improve my reception of the episode. It’s an episode crafted with so much affection for the show, and as such the amount of Easter eggs one notices in hindsight really serves to show how physically well-constructed it is. The episode is specifically designed to survive the test of time. There really is something special about “Heaven Sent”, and I’m sure it will be a very long while before we see its level of quality reproduced again.

Best Moffat Series – Series 9

With the news that Series 10 will be Moffat’s last as head writer and showrunner, the perfect opportunity to reflect on his contributions to the show up to this point is right now. The results of today’s category are perhaps the most interesting of all 20 polls, given that they reek of historic inconsistency… Which is one of the main reasons why I love them! Last year, quite a lot of fuss was made over Series 8 being the first Moffat era series in the history of DWTV polls to beat Series 5 in this exact category… interestingly enough the results of this year’s poll tell a very different tale, with Series 5 edging back in front to take second place over the 2014 run. Once again it seems we have a new winner for this category, with 2015’s very own Series 9 taking the prize with 48.01% of the vote. Is this a product of its recent release (or “recent series syndrome”)? Will it follow Series 8 in a similar way and move down the ladder over time? Only time will tell – but at this moment in time it’s clear that once again Moffat has produced a ridiculously popular series.

Throughout 12 episodes we laughed, cried (A LOT) and were totally immersed in the continuing adventures of the Doctor and Clara Oswald. We fought the Daleks on Skaro, stunted a Zygon revolution on Earth, outsmarted a ghostly threat from across time, discovered trap streets, saved a frightened young girl from death, witnessed the toll immortality takes on a woman, battled against the Sandmen in deep space and finally returned to Gallifrey; only to steal a TARDIS and run away again. Driven by profound storytelling and exceptional performances; this series has been one of the boldest, most ambitious and utterly rewarding line up of episodes we’ve ever seen. In my personal affection, Peter Capaldi’s second series has claimed the top spot among its predecessors in terms of strength and quality – and will not be a run seldom forgotten.

Most Underrated Episode of 2015 – Sleep No More

As a whole, Series 9 has been fairly unanimously praised by both critics and fans alike as being one of the most successful and polished series since Doctor Who’s return in 2005. However, with so many ‘event’ episodes more standard adventures have been often missed in the affections and discussions of fans. For Series 9, some notable episodes that have fallen under the shadow of others including “Hell Bent”, “The Girl Who Died” and “The Woman Who Lived”. Each episode deserves a great amount of credit for what it achieves, and more importantly what it has tried its best to achieve, which I believe is the main reason “Sleep No More” has just claimed victory today with 20.63% of the vote.

Does the story meet the incredibly high standard set by the rest of the series? No, there’s no denying it. However, it still offers enough in entertainment value, if not through its narrative, to leave one content and even somewhat appreciative of the ambition the episode embodies. Its faults aside, “Sleep No More” is an episode that reeks of originality, horror, risk and a whole lot of determination to buck the tropes of a regular base under siege story. Sometimes risks don’t work out – and there’s a lot of points that Gatiss’ Series 9 contribution misses for me personally, but in saying that there is still plenty that it deserves credit for which isn’t cancelled out by its mistakes.

Join us again tomorrow for the complete results.