Confession Dial

Confession dial
Type:	Will
Place of origin:	Gallifrey
Used by:	The Twelfth Doctor, Ohila, Missy, Ashildr
First appearance:	Prologue
Appearances:	TV: The Magician's Apprentice / The Witch's Familiar, Face the Raven, Heaven Sent

A confession dial was a small, circular disk used as part of a Gallifreyan ritual act of purification. It allows a dying Time Lord to face their demons and make their peace before their mind is uploaded to the Matrix. (TV: Hell Bent) It is often referred to as the last will and testament of a Time Lord. According to ancient tradition, it was to be delivered to their closest friend on the eve of their final day. (TV: The Magician's Apprentice)

However it can be re-purposed to expose someone to their greatest fears to drive them to confess; if the person did confessed they would be released otherwise they would be killed. The Doctor's confession dial was used in this manner by the Time Lords, however the Doctor was able to escape after being trapped for four and a half billion years. (TV: Heaven Sent)

The Doctor's Confession Dial

After being summoned by Davros, the Twelfth Doctor left a confession dial with Ohila for her to deliver to Missy (WC: Prologue). Missy brought it to Earth and met with Clara Oswald, and explained that the confession dial was to be given to a Time Lord's best friend prior to their death. Clara attempted to pick the dial up, believing that it was intended for her, but it responded by shocking her. Missy explained the confession was for herself, and would only open after the Doctor died. She took it with her to Essex in 1138 and to Skaro. (TV: The Magician's Apprentice)

Davros came into possession of the dial after he and the Daleks took the Doctor, Clara and Missy prisoner. When the Dalek city was destroyed by decaying Dalek mutants revived by regenerative energy, the Doctor took back the confession dial. (TV: The Witch's Familiar)

The inside of the Doctor's confession dial. (TV: Heaven Sent)

The Twelfth Doctor gave the Confession Dial to Mayor Me just before Clara Oswald's death in the trap street she governed. (TV: Face the Raven) He himself was subsequently teleported inside it, where he was pursued through a castle by a veiled creature from his nightmares which sought to force him to confess his knowledge of "the Hybrid". After entering into a recurring loop of dying and reloading himself from the teleport's hard drive, he finally broke free and passed through a portal to outside the device, and found himself on Gallifrey (TV: Heaven Sent), finally discovering that his prison had been his own confession dial.

After escaping, the Doctor made his way to the barn of his childhood where he stayed until Rassilon came to face the Doctor himself. When Rassilon arrived, he tried to shake the Doctor's hand, but the Doctor instead dropped the confession dial at his feet and ordered Rassilon to "get off my planet." Rassilon explained that the Doctor had information they needed on the Hybrid and if he'd told them what they'd wanted to know, he could've walked out of the confession dial. The Doctor is unimpressed and just reiterates his order, exiling Rassilon and later the High Council. He later expressed his disgust to Ohila that the Time Lords had used his confession dial to create their own personal torture chamber for him. The Time Lords later extract Clara from the last second before her death at the Doctor's request, however she is distraught to see their time apart has adversely affected him. The Doctor tries to dodge questions from Clara about his time way from her, but finally reveals how he was tortured by the Time Lords for a long time, long enough that he was not sure how long it had been. Clara is extremely distraught to find out he was tortured over the span of four and a half billion years. The Doctor reveals he didn't know the information they wanted, but he needed to use it as leverage to find a way to save her. Clara later tells the Time Lords that they are monsters that are hated by everyone, especially her. (TV: Hell Bent).