N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

At first you’d be forgiven for thinking UNIT still hasn’t learned that it’s meant to be a top secret organisation, what with them turning up in force on Sarah Jane’s doorstep guns-ablazing, rather then sending a couple of high-ranking officers discreetly to deliver, caps in hand, the tragic news of the Doctor’s demise and offer a lift to the funeral.

Obviously, it’s all a ruse. They’re not exactly going to kill off the Doctor in a spin-off and off-screen. No, something is clearly off from the start. (That’s a lot of ‘off’s!)

“Between you and me, if that day ever comes, I think the whole universe might just shiver.”

The Doctor, Death of the Doctor, Part Two

The supposed death of the doctor is just a MacGuffin, not only in plot terms, but also in the viewer’s journey. What we really want to see here is the return of Jo Jones (née Grant) and then of course the Doctor. And in these two aspects it delivers exactly what we want.

First, there’s Jo clattering into the funeral service, place-dropping everywhere she’s been and seemingly being more Katy Manning than Katy Manning. There are the wonderful scenes between Sarah Jane and Jo (even without the nice bit of fan service in confirming Jo’s visit to Karfel), the name-dropping of other classic Who companions (Tegan, Ben and Polly, Ace, the apparently ageless Ian and Barbara) and perhaps best of all, the scene on the alien planet where Jo discovers the Doctor had included her in his (somewhat self-indulgent) pre-regeneration trip around the universe.

And, of course, it goes without saying – Matt Smith nails it.