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Hell Bent was the twelfth episode of the ninth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales.
It was the final regular appearance of Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald. Although Clara met her demise in Face the Raven, the Doctor arranged for time to be frozen around her, yet Clara would remain conscious of everything happening around her, which left her alive but no longer affected by physical qualities such as breathing, heartbeat or even ageing.
It featured the return of the Time Lords for the first time since The Time of the Doctor. Among them was Rassilon, now in a new incarnation after his previous one was last seen being attacked by the Saxon Master in The End of Time, who was banished from Gallifrey along with the High Council after losing the allegiance of his race for his cruelty to the Doctor and his role as one of the driving forces of the Last Great Time War and deposed as Lord President, with the Doctor briefly assuming it in his place. Also returning was the General, who regenerated and was revealed to be a naturally female Time Lady who had assumed a male incarnation, marking the first instance of an on-screen regeneration where a Time Lord changed genders, as well as being a rare instance of a Time Lord also changing skin colour.
Ohila and the Sisterhood of Karn also reappeared, wherein Ohila was hinted to have a greater personal history with the Doctor that may have gone back to his earlier days. Ashildr made another appearance as well, this time having persisted to the final moments of time. She eventually ended up in possession of a TARDIS which the Doctor stole, and began travelling with Clara, who was not ready to return to Gallifrey and face her end.
Hell Bent ended up being full circle for both the Doctor and Clara. For the Doctor, he was once again running away in a TARDIS which had the original control room layout of the one which the First Doctor stole, For Clara, she was now time-travelling again, but with Ashildr, another long-lived being. Moreover, the chameleon circuit on this TARDIS, though not broken, was not working properly and left it stuck in the form of an American diner which the Doctor had visited in The Impossible Astronaut.
This story witnessed the Doctor reach his limit, seeing him break his own moral codes, step away from being the Doctor and unleash his fury on the Time Lords in an attempt to save his companion's life, which came with the price of losing his memories of Clara as atonement for what he had done. Additionally, several facts about his past before fleeing Gallifrey and prophecies of the Hybrid were revealed, though who or what the Hybrid was remained uncertain.
The story also saw the return of the sonic screwdriver, with the Doctor's TARDIS once again gifting him with a brand new model.
Synopsis
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Plot
The Doctor walks into a diner, where Clara is waitress and having no money, plays her a song and begins his story.
The Doctor walks on Gallifrey, to the hut he once called his own. A woman walks in on him and states that they will kill him.
Cast
- The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
- Clara - Jenna Coleman
- Ashildr - Maisie Williams
- The President - Donald Sumpter
- The General - Ken Bones
- Female General - T'Nia Miller
- Gastron - Malachi Kirby
- Ohila - Clare Higgins
- The Woman - Linda Broughton
- Man - Martin T. Sherman
- Wraiths - Jami Reid-Quarrell, Nick Ash, Ross Mullan
- Voice of the Dalek - Nicholas Briggs
Crew
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References
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Story notes
- Notably the first Doctor Who television story to feature a regeneration from a male body to a female, there have been references to this happening with the Corsair in TV: The Doctor's Wife and the Master in TV: Dark Water/Death in Heaven but it has never been televised, in this case the General from his tenth to her eleventh incarnation.
- The Doctor plays the first note of the theme song on his guitar, leading into the title sequence.
Ratings
- BBC One Overnight: to be added
- BBC America Overnight: to be added
Filming location
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Production errors
Continuity
- The Daleks' invasion of the Matrix occurred in AUDIO: Ascension which lead Narvin to start the Last Great Time War.
- Before the Doctor shoots the General, he asks "Regeneration?". He replies "Tenth" , similar to the First Doctor when meeting his fifth incarnation (TV: The Five Doctors)
- Charlotte Pollard had previously wiped the Sixth Doctor's memory so that he forgot travelling with him and went on other adventures afterwards with in her case the Viyrans. (AUDIO: Blue Forgotten Planet)
- At the end of the episode, the Doctor's TARDIS provides a new sonic screwdriver. (TV: The Eleventh Hour)
- Clara and Ashildr have not been able to get their TARDIS' chameleon circuit working, leaving its outer shell stuck in one shape just like the Doctor's. (TV: An Unearthly Child, et al) It stays in the form of an American diner that the Doctor recalls visiting with Amy Pond and Rory Williams. (TV: The Impossible Astronaut)
- The Doctor's TARDIS still has Rigsy's Clara memorial graffiti on it. (TV: Face the Raven) It is destroyed when the TARDIS dematerialises.
- When the Doctor first walks into the diner, Don't Stop Me Now as performed by Foxes can be heard in the background. (TV: Mummy on the Orient Express)
- The Doctor yet again plays his guitar.
- The Doctor returns to the barn where he nearly detonated the Moment. (TV: The Day of the Doctor) He is briefly seen lying on his old bed where Clara spoke to his first incarnation in a "dream" during his childhood. (TV: Listen)
- The Doctor still has his confession dial.
- The Doctor is referred to as the man who won the Time War. (TV: The Day of the Doctor)
- The Doctor once again states that he came to Gallifrey "the long way around." (TV: The Day of the Doctor, Heaven Sent) He also finds himself once more at the end of the universe. (TV: Utopia, Forest of the Dead, Listen)
- Rassilon states that he was there when the Time Lords granted the Doctor a new regeneration cycle. (TV: The Time of the Doctor) He also indicates that they granted the Doctor many regenerations, stating that "I've got all night" when planning to use his gauntlet against the Doctor.
- The Doctor refers to the Cloister Wars and the night he apparently stole the moon and the President's wife, (TV: The Magician's Apprentice) although he credits the latter as being a rumour spread by the Shobogans. (TV: The Deadly Assassin)
- A Time Lord soldier refers to the "Doctor of War", explaining that he is aware of the Doctor's tendency to go unarmed into conflicts and yet still win.
- A Time Lord changes gender. (PROSE: Interference - Book One, Interference - Book Two, Harvest of Time, TV: Deep Breath)
- A Time Lord changes skin tone. (TV: Planet of the Spiders, Let's Kill Hitler)
- The Doctor assumes the title of Lord President of Gallifrey once more. (TV: The Invasion of Time, The Five Doctors) Much like he did in his fifth incarnation, he ends up vacating the position by running away from Gallifrey. (TV: The Five Doctors)
Home video releases
DVD releases
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Blu-ray releases
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External links
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