History Recap / DoctorWhoS34E11DarkWater

"Try to keep up. I'm Missy. Short for Mistress. Well... I couldn't well keep calling myself '[[TheReveal the]] '''[[WhamLine Master]]'''[='=], now could I?"

So, Clara just heard her boyfriend die over the phone. Understandably, she's a little out of sorts. [[SarcasmMode Just a touch]]. Fortunately for her, she has options, namely the Doctor. However, since she knows full well the Doctor will never simply go back in time to save Danny, she waits until the next time he comes round to call, before having him fly her over to a volcano, drugging him and stealing all of his TARDIS keys. Even the one in his pocket and the one in his copy of ''Literature/TheTimeTravelersWife'' (though she missed the one [[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie in the cubbyhole over the "P" of "Police Box"]].) You see, lava can destroy a TARDIS key. If the Doctor doesn't go back and save Danny (and yeah, saving a companion's loved ones, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E8FathersDay that went super well last time]]), he'll never get inside the TARDIS again.

---> '''Missy''': "I ''told'' you: I'm Missy. Short for "Mistress"? Well, I could hardly keep calling myself "the Master", now could I?"

-->'''The Doctor:''' "She'll be fine."\\
'''Clara:''' "Speak for me again, and I'll detach something from you." ''(to Chang)'' "[[HypocriticalHumour I'll be fine.]]"

* NotHyperbole: No, the Doctor wasn't chewing out Clara there, he literally intended to go to Hell to save Danny. He then elaborates that they might hasve to go to a different afterlife if he isn't in Hell.

-->'''Clara's Gran''': "[Danny] deserved better. And so did you."
-->'''Clara''': "I don't deserve anything. Nobody ''deserves'' anything. [[TranquilFury But I am owed better.]] I am ''owed''."
-->'''Clara's Gran''': "...[[TemptingFate Who owes you?]]"
-->'''The Doctor''': [[AndHereHeComesNow (over Clara's phone) "Clara! Clara?"]]

* RiddleForTheAges: Who was driving the car that mowed Danny down? Given the context of the storyline it isn't impossible to imagine that Missy might have been responsible, but the episode never goes there. Such a revelation would arguably go against the episode's portrayal of Danny's death as [[DroppedABridgeOnHim boring and ordinary]].

-->'''Clara:''' "I don't deserve a friend like you."\\
'''The Doctor:''' "Clara, I'm terribly sorry, but I'm exactly what you deserve."

-->'''Chang:''' "What's all this swearing?"\\
'''The Doctor:''' "I've got a lot of internalized anger."

--->'''The Doctor:''' "Two hearts."\\
'''Missy:''' "And both of them yours."\\
'''The Doctor:''' "You're a Time Lord!"

--->'''Missy:''' "All the graves on planet Earth are about to give birth."

--->'''Missy:''' "[[TheReveal It's short for Mistress. Well, I couldn't well keep calling myself, "the Master", now could I?]]"

-->'''Clara:''' "I don't deserve anything. Nobody deserves anything. But I am owed better. I am owed."\\
'''Grandmother:''' "Who owes you?"\\
'''The Doctor:''' ''[on phone]'' "[[InadvertentEntranceCue Clara! Clara?]]"

->'''The Doctor:''' "This is it, Clara, one of those moments."\\
'''Clara:''' "What moments?"\\
'''The Doctor:''' "The darkest day, the blackest hour. Chin up, shoulders back -- let's see what we're made of, you and I."

->'''The Doctor:''' This is it, Clara, one of those moments.\\
'''Clara:''' What moments?\\
'''The Doctor:''' The darkest day, the blackest hour. Chin up, shoulders back -- let's see what we're made of, you and I.

So, Clara just heard her boyfriend die over the phone. Understandably, she's a little out of sorts. [[SarcasmMode Just a touch]]. Fortunately for her she has options, namely the other man she's admitted to being in love with. However, since she knows full well the Doctor will never simply go back in time to save Danny, she waits until the next time comes round to call, before having him fly her over to a volcano, drugging him and stealing all of his TARDIS keys. Even the one in his pocket and the one in his copy of ''Literature/TheTimeTravelersWife'' (though she missed the one [[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie in the cubbyhole over the "P" of "Police Box"]].) You see, lava can destroy a TARDIS key. If the Doctor doesn't go back and save Danny (and yeah, saving a companion's loved ones, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E8FathersDay that went super well last time]]), he'll never get inside the TARDIS again.

Notwithstanding the fact he can simply snap his fingers to open the doors, the Doctor anticipated Clara's actions; staring her down while she destroys every last TARDIS key in grief (remember, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath threats are meaningless unless you go through with them]].), he reveals that she wasn't able to drug him, but instead drugged her in retaliation, making her think they landed at at a volcano. And while understandably pissed off that she betrayed him, he asks if she honestly thought that he cared so little about her that betraying him would make a difference. Asked what he wants of her, he tells her to "go to Hell". Clara of course, thinks he's leaving her for good, but fortunately, he means literally. Off they fly, using [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E4Listen the TARDIS's glowy telepathic hand warmers]], to find whatever afterlife Danny may have gotten stuck in. And the TARDIS seems to think he’s somewhere…

Dr. Chang explains to Clara and the Doctor what 3W does: the institute seeks to preserve the bodies of the dead, since a bunch of very clever scientists realised that dead people ''feel whatever their bodies feel'' when they decay. Chang also demonstrates the eponymous "dark water", which conceals any inorganic matter that's submerged in it. And the static on your television set, that odd white noise throughout the ages, is nothing but the dead crying out -- ''"Don't cremate me!"'' After Seb relays this information to Danny as well, Clara is able to speak to Danny using an iPad (of course they have iPads in Heaven -- they have Steve Jobs!) and Danny soon realises that Clara intends to follow him all the way to the afterlife.

The Doctor soon finds out that the "dark water" surrounding the skeletons is hiding the fact that they're all encased in ''Cyberman armour''. And once Missy sadistically kills Dr. Chang, and turns out to be not actually a droid and actually the CEO of the institution, the Doctor confronts her about other very unexpected things... such as the fact that her falsified Heaven is really obviously a knockoff of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin the Gallifreyan Matrix, the network that stores the minds of all dead Time Lords]]. Modified to contain humans. Also, Missy has a double heartbeat, which she revealed to the Doctor when she pulled his hand against her chest. The Doctor ''freaks right out'' and runs like hell from her, still not willing to admit to himself who Missy is. Out on the streets, 3W turns out to be dimensionally folded into St. Paul's Cathedral, and the army of Cybermen is already making its way down the steps. Which is when Missy, fed up with the Doctor's refusal to realise her identity, finally tells him... okay, remember the Scissor Sisters lyrics at the top of the page? If you haven't figured it out yet, let Missy confirm it.

“Try to keep up. I’m Missy. Short for Mistress. Well... I couldn't well keep calling myself '[[TheReveal the]] '''[[WhamLine Master]]'''[='=], now could I?"

The Doctor backs away slowly in a mixture of terror and disbelief, very agape and letting out a gasp. [[TheStoic While he's not shown much fear thus far in this incarnation]], [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness this is the first time]] he's positively ''[[OhCrap horrified]]'' - everyone's favourite Gallifreyan sociopath and the universe's resident evil cockroach is ''back''. The Cybermen march in sync on their [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion latest invasion]] out of the Cathedral, and [[OminousWalk steadily close in for the kill...]]

* AccidentalMurder: Turns out Danny accidentally killed a young boy while fighting in the Middle East.
* ActorAllusion: The psychic paper identifies the Doctor as a government official, but, Dr Chang asks, why is there all this swearing? Oh, he has a lot of internalised anger. Almost certainly a nod to Peter Capaldi's famous role as spin doctor and professional potty mouth [[Series/TheThickOfIt Malcolm Tucker]]. On top of that, Seb is played by Chris Addison, ''The Thick of It'''s Oliver "Ollie" Reeder (though thr Doctor and Seb never share a scene).

* AllThereInTheManual: After this story, a literary entry, "Dismemberment", reveals ''Missy'' killed Danny! She ran him over with a milk float of all things.

* AndIMustScream: The people in the Nethersphere supposedly can still feel everything that happens to their original bodies; even if they aren't cremated they still have to feel their bodies slowly decaying and falling apart. This is why 3W exists: to take care of dead bodies by putting them in exosuits that preserve them and hold them together. However, this is all said by Missy's associates, who probably aren't even aware that the whole thing is a lie to get converted bodies and emotionless minds for the Cybermen.

* ArcWords:
** "Time can be rewritten."
** "Do as you're told."

* BookEnds: As pointed out here, [[http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who/32928/doctor-who-steven-moffat-on-series-8-missy-lies-and-leaks in this post]], the episode ends and begins with a scene where someone (Clara at the start, Danny at the end) tries to declare their love over a phone, and as such, repeats the words "I love you" over and over again, but it comes off as a meaningless repetition of just that, words. Danny's words don't mean anything if Clara doesn't know who she's talking to/if they don't actually know enough about each other to prove that, and neither does Clara's painfully rehearsed, forced speech that she can't even say to his face and is rife with SuspiciouslySpecificDenial. Though both mean well, no actual communication happens.

* BreakTheCutie: The first 10 minutes or so of the episode is pretty much one break after another for poor Clara, culminating in her betraying the Doctor out of grief. She hits rock bottom when she thinks the Doctor has just told her to go to hell (and probably had plans to jump off a bridge afterwards), only to discover he meant it literally and has forgiven her.

** Regular on-and-off bus passenger the Master returns just under five years after his/her [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime last appearance]].
** Clara's [[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor grandmother]] makes an appearance.

* ChasteHero: Despite established evidence to the contrary, the Doctor has no idea about either sexual advances or innuendo, as shown by his reaction to being kissed by Missy (and apparently to her having him put his hand on her ''[ahem]'' chest, although there turns out to be more to it than that), and his incomprehension of [[CovertPervert Dr. Chang's]] idea that water that renders non-organic matter invisible should be used in swimming pools.
* ChekhovsGunman: Dr. Chang brings up the organisation’s founder in his speech. We later see said founder’s name [[OhCrap on a skeleton in the office after the reveal]].

** Both the name "3W" and the presence of a Dr. Chang are references to "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E7TheWheelInSpace The Wheel in Space]]", another seminal Troughton Cybermen story.

** At one point while addressing the Doctor, Missy [[Creator/SylvesterMcCoy rolls her R's]]. [[OverlyLongGag This isn't the first time]] [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoNEDASDarkEyes2E4EyesOfTheMaster the Master's done that]]. Except in that case it was more to express his intense annoyance with that incarnation.

** The ''last'' time we saw the Master in the New Series, [[Creator/JohnSimm he wore black and red clothing with a green-and-gold signet ring]], while the Doctor was [[Creator/DavidTennant played by a Scottish actor doing an English accent]]. ''Now'', the roles are reversed.

* ContrivedCoincidence: If Danny hadn't been randomly killed by a car, the Doctor and Clara wouldn't have found out about Missy's plan. Given that Missy has already been stated to have "chosen" Clara, it may not have been a coincidence... we never do see who was driving.[[note]]A novelization would indeed depict Missy as having been the cause of Danny's demise, having run over him with a ''milk float''.[[/note]] However, the following episode gives a different explanation for what Missy "chose" Clara for.

* DepravedBisexual: Missy pretends to be a robot, kisses the Doctor, and then nearly goes after Clara as well. (WordOfGod has it that gender isn't a factor in attraction for Gallifreyans, so this is a race trait, not a character trait. The "depraved" bit is all her, though. The actors have also confirmed that an alternate take of the kissing scene had Missy holding Clara's hand throughout.)

* DoubleMeaning:
** When the Doctor says, "It's rubbish", is he referring to lava, or did he realise that Clara was lying to him?
** "At 3W, afterlife means aftercare." Aftercare can refer to treatment received after leaving a hospital or clinic. It can ''also'' refer to loving attention after an intense BDSM session. Both are appropriate, given Missy's greeting to the Doctor. Also, her name.

* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Danny gets killed when he's hit by a car. Clara finds this incredibly "boring" and "ordinary".
* EasilyForgiven: Downplayed. The Doctor still helps Clara (and seems honestly surprised that she thinks her betrayal would stop him caring for her), but he doesn't mince words about how much she's let him down.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Truthfully, Missy ''isn't'' out to destroy the world this time -- she's just there to make an army for the Doctor. For her, that's a real change -- she apparently has a standard even she won't cross.

** Missy promising not to kill Dr. Chang until he says something nice.
* {{Expy}}: Dr. Chang bears a strong superficial resemblance to the Tenth Doctor. One suspects Missy hired him because of this.

---> '''Missy''': I ''told'' you: I'm Missy. Short for "Mistress"? Well, I could hardly keep calling myself "The Master", now could I?

** Missy claims she's a robot and her name stands for '''M'''obile '''I'''ntelligence '''S'''ystems '''I'''nterface.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Clara attempted to drug the Doctor by placing a sleep patch she stole from his supplies onto him, but since those patches [[NoSell do not affect him]], he simply takes it off and drugs her with it instead.
* HoldingHands:
** Clara takes the Doctor's hand [[SecurityCling when told Danny is waiting to talk to her]].
** Reportedly, an alternate take of the scene where Missy kisses the Doctor shows her also holding Clara's hand at the same time. Which may account for Clara getting PostKissCatatonia along with the Doctor.

* IWillTearYourArmsOff: Dr Chang is worried that Clara might FreakOut.
-->'''The Doctor:''' She'll be fine.\\
'''Clara:''' Speak for me again, and I'll detach something from you. ''(to Chang)'' [[HypocriticalHumour I'll be fine.]]
* TheILoveYouStigma: Although it doesn't apply to Clara, who uses the phrase with Danny, it still applies to the Doctor. Steven Moffat has confirmed that the Doctor's statement "Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?" was in fact a euphemism for "I love you." This won't be the last time the Doctor uses a euphemism for this sentiment.
* InternalHomage: Want any more proof that Capaldi is channeling Jon Pertwee? We've now got the Master to finish the homage to his era.

* IronicEcho: Danny's tablet says "DELETE", a phrase frequently used by the Cybus Cybermen. Typical for a conflict involving Cybermen.

* LackOfEmpathy: The Doctor's response to Clara informing him of Danny's death is to say, "And?" Although as he's faking the whole thing, he could just be trying to avoid giving the game away by SayingTooMuch.

** Clara goes even farther, walking down the middle of the busy street in a daze sometime after Danny's death.
* TheLostLenore: Danny Pink's death drives Clara into a deep funk and then a desperate search to find him.

* LoveConfession: Writer Steven Moffat has confirmed in multiple interviews that the Doctor's statement to Clara, "Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?" was the Doctor finally saying "I love you" to Clara.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Clara goes off the deep end when she becomes distraught after her boyfriend's death.
* LoveTriangle: An off-kilter triangle has been in place for most of the season between Clara, the Doctor and Danny, and it comes to a head when one of the triangle's sides is tragically killed.
* MeaningfulName:
** "Missy" is short for [[TheMaster Mistress]].
** The founder of the 3W Institute is named as Dr. [=SKAROsa=], which turns out to have been a deliberate alias.
* TheMaster: [[GenderBender Though she prefers to go by Missy]] (short for Mistress). Here, she is the master of the Cybermen.

* MundaneAfterlife: Danny ends up in an afterlife that looks urban and is greeted by a salaryman asking him to fill in forms (they're urgent). This is subverted when it turns out he's in a piece of Time Lord technology used by the Master to build her army of Cybermen.
* MusicalSpoiler: As the Doctor says he is missing something obvious and walks through a pair of double doors, the Cybermen's {{Leitmotif}} plays when they shut, exposing windows resembling the iconic tearlet eyes of a Cyberman, indicating that the Cybermen are indeed at the heart of this conflict.

** Clara realising her phone call distracted Danny so he'd be killed in a car accident.

** Missy/The Mistress/The Master has massive FoeRomanceSubtext with the Doctor, kisses him, and claims to be an android. [[WebAnimation/ScreamOfTheShalka Sounds familiar.]]

* NoLongerWithUs: Inverted. Turns out by “go to Hell” the Doctor does not mean “get out of my life” but “let’s take a visit to the afterlife.”

* NotHyperbole: No, the Doctor wasn't chewing out Clara there, he ''literally'' intended to go to Hell.

** Clara, after she realizes she's thrown the last of the TARDIS keys away.

** Dr. Chang, when Missy decides it's time for him to burn.

* PostKissCatatonia: The Doctor's horrified response to being snogged by Missy. Oddly, Clara reacts similarly and she isn't even kissed (this may be a remnant of an alternate take where Missy held Clara's hand while kissing the Doctor).

* RageBreakingPoint: Variation: Danny's painfully ordinary death had ''quite literally'' made Clara mad (as in angry) with grief:
-->'''Clara's Gran''': [Danny] deserved better. And so did you.
-->'''Clara''': I don't deserve anything. Nobody ''deserves'' anything. [[TranquilFury But I am owed better.]] I am ''owed''.
-->'''Clara's Gran''': ...[[TemptingFate who owes you?]]
-->'''The Doctor''': [[AndHereHeComesNow (over Clara's phone) Clara! Clara?]]

* RedHerring: When Missy is revealed to be a female Time Lady that the Doctor 'abandoned'; is she The Rani, Romana turned evil, or even his granddaughter Susan Foreman?

* RiddleForTheAges:
** Who was driving the car that mowed Danny down? Given the context of the storyline it isn't impossible to imagine that Missy might have been responsible, but the episode never goes there. Such a revelation would arguably go against the episode's portrayal of Danny's death as [[DroppedABridgeOnHim boring and ordinary]].
** Clara has post-it notes on her bookcase referencing previous adventures dating back to her time with the Eleventh Doctor. One of them, however, says "3 months". The meaning of this has never been explained; at the time it led to fan speculation that it might have referred to a pregnancy or even life expectancy, given that Clara states that not everything she wanted to tell Danny was good. WordOfGod is it refers to how long Clara had been lying to Danny for.

* RunningGag: The Doctor is once again disturbed by Clara's seeming ability to make her PuppyDogEyes even larger. The running joke of the Doctor insulting or making comedic remarks about Clara's appearance ends with this moment; subsequently, he'll begin complimenting her instead.

-->'''Clara:''' I don't deserve a friend like you.\\
'''The Doctor:''' Clara, I'm terribly sorry, but I'm exactly what you deserve.

** Even if Clara had actually thrown all the TARDIS keys into the lava, the Doctor could have [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E9ForestOfTheDead snapped his fingers]] to open his ship. (Unless the keys act like the fob on an automobile's keyless entry, that is, but Sexy Thing is sapient enough to know the difference.)
** Clara's attempts to get Danny to prove himself were technically pointless; if they could replicate his voice telepathically they could feed her the right answers, too.

* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: In the most mundane death ever for a major character, Danny is killed by not looking while crossing the street. Even grieving Clara calls it "boring" and "ordinary".
* TakeAThirdOption: Deliberately [[AvertedTrope averted]] by Twelve when he is in a standoff with Clara. She can either pitch his TARDIS keys or stop threatening him. There really isn't a third option.

* TemporalParadox: The Doctor points out this will be created if they go back in time and save Danny, because if Danny doesn't die, Clara would have had no reason to force the Doctor to save him. The timeline will disintegrate; ''her'' timeline.
* ThemeSongReveal: Right after the Doctor says "Who would harvest dead bodies? I feel like I'm missing something obvious," the {{Leitmotif}} of the Cybermen plays.

* ThirdLawOfGenderBending: There's nothing stopping Missy from calling herself the Master, but she's changed it to the Mistress, and asks to be called a Time ''Lady'' with the coy insistence that she's "an old fashioned girl". She does a lot of hyper-feminine eye fluttering as well. She also snogs the Doctor at the first opportunity (though she immediately bends the law by offering to do the same to Clara). Granted, considering it's the Master we're talking about, it's entirely possible Missy is deliberately invoking this trope just to troll the Doctor.

** Missy manuevers the Doctor himself to ask, "Series/DoctorWho?"
* TooDumbToLive: Dr. Chang. When someone says they're going to kill you after you say something nice, you do '''not''' say something nice.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The trailers make no secret of the Cybermen's presence, and in fact most of the cliffhanger was actually released by the BBC several days before broadcast. This was all distraction in order to hide the episode's true secrets (Danny's apparent death and Missy's identity). However, the fact that the skeletons inside the tanks are actually Cybermen is still treated as a [[TheReveal shocking twist]], even though anyone who's seen the trailers would probably guess what the skeletons really are once it's revealed that the liquid in the tanks only lets you see the organic parts of the people inside.
** The [=DVD=]s spoil as well; the disc with the last four episodes has a picture of a Cyberman on it.

-->'''Chang:''' What's all this swearing?\\
'''The Doctor:''' I've got a lot of internalized anger.
* TraumaCongaLine: Clara dances it for much of the episode. First, she's facing a difficult discussion with Danny (possibly confessing all, possibly breaking up with him -- the episode leaves this ambiguous), then he dies because she distracts him on the phone, then she tries to blackmail her best friend into saving Danny only to fail and feel intense shame after -- even at one point thinking he'd just told her to go to hell; then she finds herself in a scenario where she could communicate with Danny, but she isn't sure it's really him. Finally, she finds herself alone and cornered by a group of Cybermen.
* TruthInTelevision: Clara's emotional shutdown after Danny's death (in particular the kitchen scene) is sadly familiar to many who experience the sudden loss of a loved one. People have also been known to behave somewhat irrationally in grief (not to the extent of hijacking a time machine in hopes of changing the past, though, but that's for lack of a time machine).
* UnableToCry: After Danny's death, Clara stands around in a numb and dry eyed daze. The tears come later.

* VillainTeamUp: The Master and (some version of) the Cybermen are working together to upgrade humanity.

* WaxMuseumMorgue: Twelve and Clara visit a mausoleum in which skeletons (that are actually Missy's Cybermen) sit displayed in tanks of clear fluid.
* WeaponizedLandmark: St Paul's Cathedral is 3W's base, and the holding area for Missy's army of Cybermen. It also has some kind of connection to the Nethersphere as it's visible from inside the 3W institute.

** Potentially this trope for the ''entire series'', considering how long Missy's implied to have been collecting Earth's dead, throughout history and up and down the Doctor's own timestream. Go back and watch ''any'' previous episode in which a human dies: chances are good they wound up hearing Seb's orientation talk afterwards.

--->'''The Doctor:''' Two hearts.\\
'''Missy:''' And both of them yours.\\
'''The Doctor:''' You're a Time Lord!

--->'''Missy:''' All the graves on planet Earth are about to give birth.

--->'''Missy:''' [[TheReveal It's short for Mistress... I couldn't well keep calling myself "The Master", now could I?]]
** Subverted, while the Doctor telling Clara to "Go to Hell" was taken completely out of context, it certainly took many viewers by surprise.

* YouOweMe: Although Clara doesn't say what the Doctor owes her for, presumably she's referring to her saving his very existence in "The Name of the Doctor". And the Doctor is willing to pay her back, by literally following her to Hell.
-->'''Clara:''' I don't deserve anything. Nobody deserves anything. But I am owed better. I am owed.\\
'''Grandmother:''' Who owes you?\\
'''The Doctor:''' ''[on phone]'' [[InadvertentEntranceCue Clara! Clara?]]

** "At 3W, afterlife means aftercare." Aftercare can refer to treatment received after leaving a hospital or clinic. It can ''also'' refer to loving attention after an intense BDSM session. Both are appropriate, given Missy's greeting to the Doctor.

* DoubleMeaning: When the Doctor says, "It's rubbish", is he referring to lava, or did he realise that Clara was lying to him?

* ContrivedCoincidence: If Danny hadn't been randomly killed by a car, the Doctor and Clara wouldn't have found out about Missy's plan. Given that Missy has already been stated to have "chosen" Clara, it may not have been a coincidence... we never do see who was driving.[[note]]A novelization would indeed depict Missy as having been the cause of Danny's demise, having run over him with a ''milk float''.[[/note]]

** Who was driving the car that mowed Danny down? Given the context of the storyline it isn't impossible to imagine that Missy might have been responsible, but the episode never goes there.
** Clara has post-it notes on her bookcase referencing previous adventures dating back to her time with the Eleventh Doctor. One of them, however, says "3 months". The meaning of this has never been explained; at the time it led to fan speculation that it might have referred to a pregnancy or even life expectancy, given that Clara states that not everything she wanted to tell Danny was good.

%%

The one where Danny Pink [[TooDumbToLive didn't]] [[LookBothWays Splink]].

* GenderBender: After "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife The Doctor's Wife]]" revealed the existence of a Time Lord called the Corsair who changed genders, and after the Eighth Doctor was offered a female regeneration as one of the options in "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thPrequelTheNightOfTheDoctor The Night of the Doctor]]", the Master has the honour of being the first on-screen example of a cross-sex regenerated Time Lord/Lady.

* ContrivedCoincidence: If Danny hadn't been randomly killed by a car, the Doctor and Clara wouldn't have found out about Missy's plan. Given that Missy has already been stated to have "chosen" Clara, it may not have been a coincidence... we never do see who was driving.

The Doctor backs away slowly in a mixture of terror and disbelief, very agape and letting out a gasp. While he's not shown much fear thus far in this incarnation, this is the first time he's positively ''[[OhCrap horrified]]'' - everyone's favourite Gallifreyan sociopath and the universe's resident evil cockroach is ''back''. The Cybermen march in sync on their [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E3TheInvasion latest invasion]] out of the Cathedral, and [[OminousWalk steadily close in for the kill...]]

* ActorAllusion: The psychic paper identifies the Doctor as a government official, but, Dr Chang asks, why is there all this swearing? Oh, he has a lot of internalised anger. Almost certainly a nod to Peter Capaldi's famous role as spin doctor [[Series/TheThickOfIt Malcolm Tucker]]. On top of that, Seb is played by Chris Addison, ''The Thick of It'''s Oliver "Ollie" Reeder (though The Doctor and Seb never share a scene).

* AllThereInTheManual: After this story, a literary entry, "Dismemberment", reveals ''Missy'' killed Danny! She ran him over with a milk float.

** Regular bus passenger the Master returns just under five years after his/her [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime last appearance]].

** The way the Doctor holds the Cyberman head in the promotional art above is strikingly similar to how Eleven held Handles in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor The Time of the Doctor]]".

** After the Doctor tries to find a set of stairs, Missy snarkily mentions how she's not a Dalek.

* CryCute: The Doctor gets very melancholy when Clara breaks down in tears and gives him her big PuppyDogEyes.

* AllThereInTheManual: The later literary "Dismemberment" reveals ''Missy'' killed Danny! She ran him over with a milk float.

** Missy lets the Doctor feel her heart. He doesn't say what he feels but is clearly troubled. This suggests that something about her heartbeat is unusual -- for example, that she has two of them.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Clara's ransom attempt. Not only can the TARDIS be opened via finger-snap and is sentient enough to unlock herself on her own, but someone who has the Doctor sufficiently figured out to know where all his keys are should also have noticed how he's careful to use gadgets and implements that can't be turned against him (see the invisibility watch); in this case, this says less about any stupidity on Clara's part than it helps to underline that her actions were more an extreme short-circuit reaction than callous, planned evil.

* AdultFear: Having a perfectly normal conversation with a loved one over the phone when you suddenly stop getting a reply. That would be because they were just killed in a freak accident.

* ArbitrarySkepticism: Considering everything he's been through, the Doctor really should be more open to the idea of the dead returning to life. He's seen it happen multiple times, most involving the Master. However, it's an InvokedTrope when the Doctor warns Clara that she needs to be skeptical about everything that she sees if they're going to help Danny. He turns out to be right -- everything is not as it seems.

* TheBigDamnKiss: Missy plants one on the Doctor, and it takes on a whole new dimension when it's revealed that [[FoeYay she's not merely a droid with her intimacy settings on too high a level]].

* MythologyGag: ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' had a lengthy storyline involving the Master founding a religion to bring humanity under his control, similar to here.

The one where Danny Pink [[TooDumbToLive didn't]] [[LookBothWays Splink.]]

* BigDamnKiss: Missy plants one on the Doctor, and it takes on a whole new dimension when it's revealed that [[FoeYay she's not merely a droid with her intimacy settings on too high a level]].

* AFriendInNeed: Against Clara's expectations, the Doctor's reaction to her freakout in the opening is to give her a rousing speech to help her get her act together and announce his intention to do what he can to help her, after he's [[WhatTheHellHero appropriately called her out.]] She stuck with him all the times ''he'' has done callous, irrational things, and he hasn't forgotten.

** Danny doesn't. He completely neglected to follow SPLINK. Creator/JonPertwee [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r1UiNZ3G4Y would be disappointed.]]

* OrpheanRescue: The Doctor and Clara set out to bring Danny back from the afterlife.

* RuleOfSymbolism: The volcano Clara takes the Doctor to looks like a FireAndBrimstoneHell, as befits an OrpheanRescue.

Notwithstanding the fact he can simply snap his fingers to open the doors, the Doctor anticipated Clara's actions; staring her down while she destroys every last TARDIS key in grief (remember, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath threats are meaningless unless you go through with them]].), he reveals that she wasn't able to drug him, but instead drugged her in retaliation, making her think they landed at at a volcano. And while understandably pissed off that she betrayed him, he asks if she honestly thought that he cared so little about her that betraying him would make a difference. Asked what he wants of her, he tells her to "go to Hell". Clara of course, thinks he's leaving her for good, but fortunately, he means literally. Off they fly, using [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E4Listen the TARDIS's glowy telepathic hand warmers]], to find Danny.

The Doctor soon finds out that the "dark water" surrounding the skeletons is hiding the fact that they're all encased in ''Cyberman armour''. And once Missy sadistically kills Dr. Chang, and turns out to be not actually a droid and actually the CEO of the institution, the Doctor confronts her about other very unexpected things... such as the fact that Heaven is really obviously a knockoff of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin the Gallifreyan Matrix, the network that stores the minds of all dead Time Lords]]. Modified to contain humans. Also, Missy has a double heartbeat, which she revealed to the Doctor when she pulled his hand against her chest. The Doctor ''freaks right out'' and runs like hell from her, still not willing to admit to himself who Missy is. Out on the streets, 3W turns out to be dimensionally folded into St. Paul's Cathedral, and the army of Cybermen is already making its way down the steps. Which is when Missy, fed up with the Doctor's refusal to realise her identity, finally tells him... okay, remember the Scissor Sisters lyrics at the top of the page? If you haven't figured it out yet, let Missy confirm it.

The Doctor backs away slowly in a mixture of terror and disbelief, very agape and letting out a gasp. While he's not shown much fear thus far in this incarnation, this is the first time he's positively ''[[OhCrap horrified]]'' - everyone's favourite Gallifreyan sociopath and the universe's resident cockroach is ''back''. The Cybermen march in sync on their latest invasion out of the Cathedral, and [[OminousWalk steadily close in for the kill...]]

** The DVDs spoil as well; the disc with the last four episodes has a picture of a Cyberman on it.

* RealityEnsues: In the most mundane death ever for a major character, Danny is killed by not looking while crossing the street. Even grieving Clara calls it "boring" and "ordinary".

** When the camera pans over the skeletons in the tank before settling on Missy and the sphere, the music strongly resembles the Harold Saxon Master's theme.

** When the camera pans over the skeletons in the tank before settling on Missy and the sphere, the music strongly resembles the Master's theme.