Anyone know how to remove the inner door panel/card top edge

After taking mine to the dealers with a creak/vibration from the area of the front passenger door panel and being told 'we couldnt find anything wrong' I decided to remove the door panel/card to see if I could see anything obvious.
I managed to get all the screws out and pop the panel clips (if anyone wants to how to do this up to this point let me know and I will post where all the screws and panel clips are). Thankfully with my trusty duck tape remedy I managed to better secure the very loose panel clips which has all but cured my problem but I had to do this through a reasonable gap but with the door panel still attached at the top edge. I was going to try hitting it a dunt from the bottom but wasnt sure if I would damage anything. Anyone know a 'safe' way to dislodge the top clips - Im guessing they are not held in with much.

Not sure if anyones done this yet, so a write up of what youve done/learnt would be extreemly useful as doors seem to be high in the potential rattle areas. Quite often the panels do lift up off the window gully once the lower clips have been unclipped. Pics always appreciated.