Hell Bent

"Is the firing squad afraid of the unarmed man?"

Writer: Steven Moffat

Format: TV

Broadcast: 5th December 2015

Series: 9.12

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis

After being tortured for billions of years within his own confession dial, the Doctor has been pushed to the brink of madness. Returning to Gallifrey, he must face his own people, the Time Lords, but how far will he go in his quest for vengeance? Does he have another confession? And how fiercely does his rage towards them for Clara's death burn?

Verdict

Hell Bent was an outstanding conclusion to the story already started in Heaven Sent and the pair of episodes have ultimately served up one hell of a series finale! The story as a whole could arguably be a three-parter, similar to the way Series 3 was under the Tenth Doctor but I would argue against that and I will be going forward thinking of it as a traditional two-parter series finale. It still seems weird to me that two episodes after her death, Clara was back playing the role of the companion and although the way she was brought back was absolutely fine, I'm a firm believer in a character staying dead if their death is depicted on screen. It has slightly annoyed me in the past in programmes such as Game of Thrones and The Blacklist, both of which I'm a huge fan, but in Doctor Who it doesn't quite seem so annoying and I guess that might be down to the time travel element of the show. After an excruciating 4.5 billion years trapped inside his own confession dial, which had been designed as a living torture chamber, the Doctor was back home. In the modern series, we finally got to see the Doctor step foot on Gallifrey. His refusal to confess the truth about the Hybrid was interesting and the lengths he went to save Clara from death were quite staggering. Her reaction to learning what he had done was brilliant but she did seem at least quite happy that she had been extracted right before her death was due to take place as we saw in Face the Raven. The atmosphere that the Doctor's presence brought to Gallifrey was astounding and I loved how disinterested he was in everybody that wasn't Rassilon. He showed no respect to the Time Lords. He was the man who won the Time War. This was his planet. He installed himself as Lord President and the fear that he brought because he was unarmed was sublime. The Doctor was a war hero and was respected so much that the firing squad laid down their arms and disobeyed their President. I liked the continuity from The Day of the Doctor with the Doctor returning to the barn and I loved the ambiguity that surrounded the woman who entered the barn and saw the Doctor. They clearly knew each other and I do like to think that she could be his mother. Even if she isn't, I'm sure she's a family member of some kind. There was a lot of ambiguity surrounding the Doctor and his family and the 'boy' comment from Ohila intrigued me as well. Could she be family of some kind as well? The Doctor getting rid of Rassilon and the High Council was excellent but I was quite surprised to see him shoot the General. We saw an on screen gender change regeneration for the first time and although I don't think it should happen, I get the feeling we could see a female Doctor very soon in the future. The Cloister Wraiths were an intriguing species and I liked how we got see a Dalek, Cyberman and even some Weeping Angels who had attempted to break into the Matrix but found their efforts in vain. The Doctor, having waited half the life of the universe to get back to Gallifrey, stealing a TARDIS and leaving was just wonderful and exactly what I would have expected and I thought the design was wonderfully retro. Just how Gallifrey escaped the pocket dimension I'm not so sure but I liked the ambiguity surrounding it and I do hope that we learn the answer at some point in the future. The Doctor running to the last fragments of the universe and being reunited with Lady Me, or Ashildr, was terrific and the conversation they had was wonderful. It seemed highly unlikely that she would be the Hybrid prophesied on Gallifrey and the more likely answer was actually in line with The Movie. Was the Doctor really half-human? Judging by the fact he had his memory of Clara wiped by a device that was human compatible and his failure to deny Me's theory, I would suggest that indeed he is. I do hope that gets explored in future but for now, I like that Clara and Lady Me are available for a return and I'm looking forward to seeing the Doctor react to losing his dear friend. Overall, a stunning finale!

Rating: 10/10