Hell Bent (TV story)

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
Revision as of 02:35, 8 December 2015 by RinaAndRanda (talk | contribs) (Cleaned up some errors (continuity, spelling, grammar))
RealWorld.png

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 so that Clara would remain conscious of everything happening around her, leaving 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 usually-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 on-screen 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, 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 his TARDIS. For Clara, she was now time-travelling again, aboard a stolen TARDIS with an original control room layout similar to the one which the First Doctor stole, with Ashildr, another long-lived being, as her companion. They were unable to get the chameleon circuit on this TARDIS working properly, leaving its exterior stuck in the form of an American diner which the Doctor had visited in The Impossible Astronaut.

This story depicted the Doctor reaching 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

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?

Plot

The Doctor walks into a diner, and is greeted by a waitress, Clara. Having no money, tells her he can play his electric guitar. As he starts to play her a song, he begins his story.

Walking through the desert-like plains of Gallifrey, the Doctor arrives at an old barn, and climbs up into its loft; he reflects on his memories of "the dream" he had as a child and of the Time War, when he was able to save his race from destruction. A woman walks in on him, saying that he shouldn't be there; however, once their eyes meet, she knows who he is. She warns that "they" will kill him. In the chamber of the High Council, Rassilon wonders why the Doctor hasn't arrived yet. Ohila and some of the Sisterhood of Karn arrive, most unwelcome by Rassilon, but advise to try appealing to the Doctor to get his attention. Rassilon sends soldier Gastron to retrieve him.

In the meantime, the Doctor is trying to enjoy a bowl of soup, with a small crowd of Gallifreyans watching him in awe. Gastron arrives in a military craft, asking that the Doctor drop his weapons. Instead of going with Gastron, the Doctor walks up and drags his heel through the sand, drawing a line - basically saying "I dare you to cross this." Gastron reports this to Rassilon, who tries numerous different approuches to get the Doctor's attention - he sends respectful soldiers, the High Council, and even the War Council. Finally, Rassilon himself arrives with his personal guard; the Doctor only responds with a simple "Get off my planet" - he's angry with Rassilon for not only endangering Earth, but threatening reality. Rassilon does not take kindly to the Doctor's words, demanding he be brought with them. However, the tables turn when the soldiers and even the General turn their backs on him, repeating the Doctor's demand. Rassilon prepares to kill the Doctor himself when reinforcements the Doctor sent for arrive; the General repeats the Doctor's order to leave the planet. Rassilon is then banished, with the Doctor commenting the High Council that served him will soon be following.

Now once more the Lord President of Gallifrey, the Doctor demands to know why he was imprisoned within his own confession dial. The General explains that all Matrix predictions forsaw the birth of a Hybrid of both Time Lord and Dalek races. The Doctor tells them that he cannot talk to them; he needs Clara. They take him to the extraction room, where they pull Clara out of her timeline one second right before her death; she arrives on Gallifrey, confused. The Doctor explains that she's been frozen in that one moment of time they took her from, so even she doesn't have a pulse or need to breathe. Once the General explains why they saved her, the Doctor reveals it was all a ruse to save Clara. After asking what regeneration the General is on, the Doctor shoots him with his own gun, causing a new regeneration to occur. As the Doctor and Clara flee, a soldier checks on the General, who has regenerated into a female; she is quite glad to have returned to her original gender, which is free of male ego.

The Doctor takes Clara to the Cloisters, an area located below Gallifrey's capital; it is guarded by Wraiths, which only attack if they attempt to leave. Many enemies attempted to steal information from Gallifrey during the Cloister Wars, and were imprisoned within the vines. There is a secret door they can use to escape; the wraiths use projections of enemies who attacked to attempt scaring them into retreating, to no avail. The General and Ohila arrive via the elevator, attempting to reason with the Doctor; they reveal that the Doctor refused to answer about the Hybrid for four and a half billion years, something that shocks Clara as he has gone so far just for her. She distracts the General and Ohila while the Doctor escapes through a secret tunnel; he proceeds to steal another TARDIS and flees Gallifrey with Clara.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor asks Clara what she thinks of the original design for the control rooms; she's not too fond of it. The Doctor takes them to the end of the universe, hoping that Clara's biology will restart now that there's nothing that can be damaged by his actions. However, nothing happens. Hearing a knock, the Doctor tells Clara that Me is out there; he leaves the TARDIS to find Me sitting in a chair next to a fireplace. The Doctor reminds Me that he told her the universe would be small when he's angry at her; in a dark sense of humor, he tells her to "go to Hell, which is about five minutes away." Me then asks about the Hybrid, which the Doctor thought was her human with Mire medical tech inside; Me speculates it might refer to the Doctor and theorizes that the Doctor might be half-human. However, the Doctor brushes her off, asking if it matters. Me then reveals her true theory: she thinks it's the Doctor and Clara - true companions who will go to extremes for the sake of each other.

Clara watches on the monitor, coming to learn that the Doctor plans to erase all memory of himself from her, then drop her off somewhere to live her life. When the Doctor and Me enter the TARDIS, Clara argues with him; however, they both agree to have one of their memories wiped at random. They move touch the device for this, and press the button. Unfortunately, the Doctor is the winner; he passes out as Clara fades from his memory.

Back in the present, the Doctor continues talking to Clara; he doesn't remember what she looked like, but remembers their adventures. Looking around the diner, he suddenly recalls having been to it with River, Amy and Rory when he faked his death in his previous incarnation. Clara smiles and walks into the back room, which is revealed to the console room for the TARDIS she stole from him. The diner vanishes, leaving the Doctor astounded as he realizes he was talking to Clara; he sees she left his own TARDIS, which still has Rigsy's graffiti memorial for her. The Doctor boards his TARDIS and takes off. Back to traveling, the Doctor notices the controls humming; a new sonic screwdriver pops out and he grabs it.

In Clara's TARDIS, Me tells her the Chameleon circuit is broken (deja vu); however, Clara takes it in stride, saying that she likes it. Wondering what Clara will do, Me asks her; the answer is "Gallifrey, the long way around" - she isn't going back to face her death just yet. Their TARDIS passes the Doctor mid-travel in the void of space.

Cast

Crew

to be added

References

Story notes

  • This is 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 The Doctor's Wife and the Master in Dark Water and Death in Heaven, and it was one of the options the Eighth Doctor received in The Night of the Doctor but it has never been featured on a televised story until now, in this case the General from his tenth to eleventh incarnation.
  • This marks the first time a Doctor Who television episode has had the minor expletive "hell" in the title. The word previously appeared in the titles of the comic stories A Cold Day in Hell! and The Road to Hell as well as the audio story Minuet in Hell.
  • This episode marks the first televised appearance of an interior shot of a TARDIS other than the Doctor's since Time and the Rani, the latter being the Rani's. It is only the second TARDIS control console seen other than the Doctor's since Time and the Rani, after the Junk TARDIS in The Doctor's Wife.
  • The Doctor plays the first note of the theme song on his guitar, leading into the title sequence.
  • The tune played by the Doctor when he was sitting in the diner is a simplified version of Clara Oswald's theme from the Series 7-9 soundtracks. It is a rare example of a piece of incidental music composed for Doctor Who becoming part of its in-universe narrative.
  • The Radio Times programme listing was accompanied by a small colour head-and-shoulders shot of the General, with the accompanying caption "Doctor Who / 8.00 p.m. The General (Ken Bones) prepares for battle in the series finale".

Ratings

Filming location

to be added

Production errors

If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
  • When taking off in the getaway TARDIS, Clara's hair changes from combed, to messy, to combed again, in a series of jump cuts.
  • During the shot in which Rassilon declares that "Gallifrey is mine!" a figure can be seen out of focus in the background, despite the fact that all soldiers had previously gone to stand beside the Doctor, and that the General is standing to his other side.

Continuity

Home video releases

DVD releases

to be added

Blu-ray releases

to be added

External links

to be added

Footnotes

Template:Weeping Angel stories