Since 2005's Bad Wolf / Parting of the Ways, Doctor Who fans have come to expect spectacular series finale stories featuring the Doctor having to save the world or universe from his greatest enemies (Daleks, Cybermen, Master/Missy). None of these villains feature in Hell Bent, and on first viewing, the episode might seem rather anti-climactic. However when viewed as a character piece, it is one of the most satisfying series conclusions.
There was a high level of expectation for this episode when the conclusion to the preceding Heaven Sent revealed the Doctor had returned to Gallifrey, his lost home-world. However, Hell Bent isn't really about Gallifrey and the Time Lords, it is about the Doctor and Clara. The pre-titles sequences show a flash-forward to the Doctor meeting Clara in a Nevada diner. This is a baffling start as neither character seem to know each other. The Doctor plays Murray Gold's beautiful "Clara's Theme" on his guitar and this establishes that Clara is playing a central role despite her death in Face the Raven. This will have divided fan opinion: some will have been disappointed that Steven Moffat has again brought a character back from the dead (as he did with Rory and, in clone form, Osgood) while others will be glad that a long-serving companion receives a more upbeat send-off.
After the credits, we flash back to Gallifrey where President Rassilon (Donald Sumpter) and the General (Ken Bones) discuss the Doctor's whereabouts and the impending crisis in the Matrix. Sumpter is a worthy successor to Timothy Dalton's incarnation of the President (the regeneration possibly occurring just after The End of Time) and Bones makes a welcome return after appearing in The Day of the Doctor. The reappearance of Ohila (Claire Higgins) and the Sisterhood of Kahn is less satisfying: it is unexplained how they got to Gallifrey and Ohila's role doesn't go beyond commenting on events.
There are many unanswered questions raised by this two-part story. One question is why the Confession Dial was left in the Gallifrey desert rather than in the Capitol. This allows the Doctor to go into hiding and wait for the Time Lords to come to him. He goes to a barn (presumably the same barn as seen in The Day of the Doctor and Listen) and meets a woman who recognises him. Again this is not explained: does the woman have some connection to the Doctor which enable her to recognise him in every regeneration? There is some suggestion she may be his foster mother. The Doctor is greeted as a returning hero by the locals who admire his refusal to co-operate with the High Council. The Doctor is presented as a man of the people who has no respect for the class system of Gallifrey.
The Gallifrey military also respect the Doctor having led them through the Time War and he uses their loyalty to overthrow Rassilon and take charge in the Capitol. It is then that the Doctor's true motives become clear: he is not concerned about the threat of the mysterious "hybrid", predicted to destroy Gallifrey, and plans to use the situation to save Clara. Using an extraction chamber to pull Clara out of time, just before her death, the Doctor breaks his own rules. Fans who remember The Waters of Mars will know that is not a good idea for the Doctor to interfere with a "fixed point in time" and this is a sign that he is losing his lost his rationality and ethics. A particularly shocking moment in when the Doctor shoots the General forcing him to regenerate. This allows Steven Moffat to show us a male to female regeneration on screen for the first time (T'nia Miller taking over from Ken Bones). She recovers very quickly: perhaps only male Time Lords suffer from post-regeneration sickness!
The Doctor and Clara escape into the Cloister at the base of the Capitol. The episode's only monster moments are provided by brief appearances of a Dalek, Weeping Angels and a Cyberman which guard the Matrix. Having evaded these and the Time Lords, the Doctor manages to steal a TARDIS from the workshops. The use of the original white TARDIS console room is a great fan-pleasing moment and director Rachel Talalay films around the set with style, a contrast from the multi-camera set-up of the classic series.
The Doctor travels to the end of the universe where he meets Ashildr/Me. This is another baffling plot development. It is not unclear whether the Doctor was expecting to find Ashildr there and if so, how he could possibly know she would be. The Doctor and Ashildr discuss three theories of what the hybrid is: Ashildr (half-human, half-Mire), him (half Time Lord, half-human?) or two people - the Doctor and Clara. The answer is never provided. The hybrid is what Alfred Hitchcock called a "MacGuffin" - a plot deivce which ulitmately proves unimportant.
The Doctor plans to wipe Clara's memory so the Time Lords will be unable to find her. However, Clara has "reversed the polarity" of the neuro blocker causing the Doctor to lose his memory of her. This is a clever reversal of the conclusion to Journey's End when the Tenth Doctor had to wipe Donna's memory. The final TARDIS scene between the Doctor and Clara is a brilliant emotional climax, superbly played by Capaldi and Coleman.
The final scenes back on Earth are not quite as convincing and raise more questions than answers. It is unclear why the Doctor is left in the Nevada desert and where he gets his guitar from. It is also a huge coincidence that the Clara TARDIS disguise is based on the diner featured in The Impossible Astronaut. The conclusion to Clara's story seems an uneasy compromise which allows her to part from the Doctor but not be definitively killed off. We don't know for sure whether Clara is returning to Gallifrey to be returned to her death (which we have been told she needs to do to save the universe) or whether she is going on new adventures with Ashildr. However, it is fun to see the duo fly into space in their diner-disguised TARDIS. Also enjoyable is the sight of the Doctor being reunited with his TARDIS and receiving his new sonic screwdriver. Hell Bent therefore concludes this rather dark series on an optimistic note. Despite the plot holes and frustrating unanswered questions, it is very strong end to an excellent series: one of the best in the show's history.
SERIES RANKINGS:
1) Face the Raven
2) Heaven Sent
3) The Witch's Familiar
4) Hell Bent
5) The Magician's Apprentice
6) The Woman Who Lived
7) Before the Flood
8) Under the Lake
9) The Zygon Invasion
10) The Zygon Inversion
11) The Girl Who Died
12) Sleep No More
CAPALDI ERA TOP TEN:
1) Listen
2) Face the Raven
3) Heaven Sent
4) The Witch's Familiar
5) Hell Bent
6) Flatline
7) Mummy on the Orient Express
8) Time Heist
9) Inside the Dalek
10) The Magician's Apprentice
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