Doctor Who: How Steven Moffat gave us exactly the same cliffhanger twice

There are very few times when a writer can get away with stealing from their own work. But did Steven Moffat do that with these two very similar Doctor Who cliffhangers? And did he even improve on it the second time?

Let me describe an episode’s cliffhanger to you. I’ll keep it easy: it’s not just a Twelfth Doctor episode, but it’s also specifically the penultimate episode of the series. Towards the end of this episode, we get a huge cliffhanger, in two distinct ways.

First, after a great deal of buildup and foreshadowing, the Cybermen are revealed to be a major part of the story. That would make an effective surprise on its own, but then we get a bigger surprise: the Master has returned, and they were in front of us the whole time!

Yes, I am of course describing the amazing cliffhanger to World Enough and Time…and Dark Water. Seriously, it’s literally the exact same cliffhanger. I only realized this while I was looking back on Missy’s earlier episodes, but I must admit: I’m amazed I didn’t see it sooner.

Other infamous cliffhangers

That’s quite a bold move from Moffat, to reuse exactly the same shock like that. Even Russell T Davies didn’t really pull off that move. Yes, he used the Daleks for three out of his four series finales. But every time they showed up, there was something else added to the mix.

For example, while Series One gave us just the return of the Daleks in a much larger scale than in Dalek, Series Two gave us the Daleks and the Cybermen in the same story! Fans had been waiting decades for something like that!

And, in Series Four, their return wasn’t the major cliffhanger for the finale: it was the Tenth Doctor’s regeneration! While of course, it was revealed to be a total fake out, it definitely managed to draw the viewers in.

But the biggest cliffhangers in Series Eight and Ten are strangely specific. It’s one thing to bring back either the Cybermen or the Master again. But both at the same time?

However, the thing that surprises me most? The second time is actually far better.

How Moffat improved on the very same cliffhanger

There are several reasons why World Enough and Time is stronger than Dark Water. Firstly, the episode as a whole is, in my opinion, far stronger. Especially in the way it handled the Cybermen.

We knew, thanks to plenty of promotional material, that the Cybermen were coming back in both episodes. But in Dark Water, while there were some hints about them being key to the story, not many. Not compared to World Enough and Time.

It’s funny that both episodes aimed to have a very strong dark and horrific element to them. In Dark Water, it was the idea of the afterlife and people coming back from the dead. Definitely heavy stuff for Doctor Who.

But in World Enough and Time, it was the Cybermen themselves. We got to see their origins – or rather, one version of it – very gradually, step by step. And it gave us some of the most horrific moments in the New Series yet. The early Cyberman repeating the word “pain” over and over again in that disturbing voice particularly stands out.

As a result of this, their reveal has more impact in the later episode. It also helps that we got to see the buildup to the original Cybermen, who arguably have the most horrific design, as they look closer to human than robotic.

Multiple Masters

Of course, there was one key difference with World Enough and Time‘s cliffhanger. And that’s the fact that, with Missy already in the episode, Simm’s return meant that we got our first ever multi-Master story in Doctor Who history! (On TV, at least. I’ve mentioned before how fantastic The Two Masters trilogy is from Big Finish.)

More from Winter is Coming

It’s a real shame that the BBC had to spoil this one. With Missy’s reveal in Series Eight, some fans were able to guess who she was. As well as making regular appearances up to the point of her reveal, the name “Missy” was a pretty big clue, really. So while some of us expected the Rani, just as many expected the Master.

With the reveal of “Razor”, it’s a moment without as much build up that would have worked as a brilliant twist…if the BBC didn’t give the game away. Repeatedly.

Spoiling the reveal

They didn’t just reveal that John Simm’s Master was in Series Ten at some point, after all. They heavily promoted his return for this episode specifically. Considering all the effort Moffat put into making Simm’s appearance a genuine surprise, it really feels like a stab in the back on the BBC’s part to spoil it so much.

But, I have to admit, even the major spoiler still didn’t stop the reveal from being satisfying on some level. Especially with Missy finally trying to be good and facing her past at the worst possible time.

There aren’t many people that can get away with stealing their own work. It’s even rarer when they actually improve on it. But Steven Moffat achieved that in a big way with Series Ten’s penultimate episode. The cliffhanger to Dark Water was great, but World Enough and Time might have one of the very best cliffhangers in Doctor Who history.

Next. Why Derek Jacobi’s Master is the closest match to the original. dark

Which do you think worked better: Dark Water or World Enough and Time? What’s your favorite cliffhanger in Doctor Who history? Let us know in the comments below.

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