Rate & Discuss: Hell Bent
If you took everything from him, betrayed him, trapped him, and broke both his hearts…how far might the Doctor go? Returning to Gallifrey, the Doctor faces the Time Lords in a struggle that will take him to the end of time itself. Who is the Hybrid? And what is the Doctor’s confession?
The TARDIS reopened its doors in September as the Doctor’s past deeds came back to haut him in The Magician’s Apprentice. Now, three months later, TV’s favourite hero has been left betrayed, trapped and heartbroken (and then some!) by a struggle that vowed to take him to the end of time itself. Basically, the Series 9 finale has landed. Doesn’t time fly, eh?
The last time we saw the Doctor in the climactic closing moments of Heaven Sent, he had just managed to escape the grasp of the fearsome Veil (admittedly, it did take him billions of years…) to find himself back where it all began. Where the second sun rises in the south, the mountains shine, the leaves on the trees are silver… and a mythical Hybrid is destined to obliterate the Time Lords out of existence. Well, it’s can’t all be good news, now, can it?
Still, it could’ve been worse. Actually, we take that back. It’s a good job it’s Christmas in a few weeks, mind, because tonight’s episode really was like unwrapping all of our presents at once. With the return of Gallifrey and the Time Lords alike and a host of familiar friends and foes, Hell Bent surely was the Doctor Who episode that many fans have been waiting for. But what did you think of this year’s finale? Were you left satisfied with how the story panned out, or are there still loose ends that have been left untied? Let us know what you thought of Hell Bent and its accompanying shocks and surprises in the comments below…
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NOTE: This discussion will NOT be spoiler monitored so please do not read the comments if you haven’t seen Hell Bent. You have been warned!
Brill. Not breaking rules but leaving wiggle room. Onwards…..
Its a good idea to have the doctor forget this time it makes a change to having him suffer all of the lost companions but I’m not sure about the possibility of Clara still being alive
When a boy wants to forget a girl who just has left, he sometimes gets drunk and sleeps with another girl. It usually works, although it’s pathetic and embarassing.
This is how I felt watching Doctor fighting the diamond wall for 4.5 billion years helped by his memories of Clara, then to erase the same emotions/memories. Pathetic and embarassing. Also, quite stupid, since his next regeneration will meet her echo at some point.
I have never before said Moffat needs to go. Seeing all this elaborate scheme unfolds, while he could write a Time Lordian equivalent of drinking&sleeping (like visiting Shakespeare with Martha), for the first time I think he really has lost his touch with the Doctor. And he really needs to go.
I’m happy producers will have a gap year to get those act together. I’m happy we will get another story as the last one before this gap. I’m happy I love Doctor. It’s okay he sometimes doesn’t stand up to my expectations. We’ll always have weekend rewatches.
The episode was interesting. I didn’t expect the story with Clara after watching the trailer. I would have liked to see more of Gallifrey and Rassilon but oh well ! It was ok :) The Tardis disguised as the diner was very ridiculous ;D
Loved the episode, little bit of a tearjerker but not too much. There were a few things that happened that I was totally not expecting, plus the original tardis, classic. The episode went quite fast for me which usually means I loved it and was not watching a slow paced episode
Loved the part where they told him to drop any weapons and he dropped his spoon. Subtle reference to Robot of Sherwood.
Where to begin…?
I would have liked to see more of Gallifrey. The prophesy says that the Hybrid would stand on Gallifreys ruins. I guess that means in a (far) future episode.
I loved the way he told Rassilon to “Get off my planet.”
The middle of the episode I found a little confusing so I’ll need to watch it a few more times.
When Ashilder and clara flew off at the end, They said they were heading for Gallifrey “The long way round” Is that the setup for a future spin-off series?
All in all, an “interesting” episode that answered a few questions and created more.
I’ll give it a 7 out of 10.
It feels a bit weird because Me (almost) killed Clara but then they’re like bff flying the tardis. It’s like the only one who always feels the consequences is the Doctor.
On the other hand, the episode was interensting and cought my attention the whole time. And I really like the new sonic screwdriver!
The Doctor did not forget. Acting as if he did was the only way he could let Clara go and go on being the Doctor – the only way to truly honor Clara herself.
I have mixed feelings about this episode. To start with the good, the Doctor returning to Gallifrey was the kind of epic finale idea that I remember so well from the early series of the Revived era. In my opinion, a finale needs to pack a punch to leave you wanting more and to send the series off with a bang. I liked that when Rassilon ordered the firing squad to kill the Doctor, they deliberately missed as they’d served with The War Doctor in the Last Great Time War. I liked that the Doctor stole another Tardis with a classic console room and, for a time, a working chameleon circuit, as I have wanted to see another proper, working Tardis in Doctor Who for quite a while. I also felt that Clara’s real exit from the show was better than Face The Raven, not because she got to survive for a while longer before she eventually dies, but because I preferred the idea of a companion disappearing off into Time and Space again for more adventures without The Doctor. Finally, we had the restoration of the Doctor at the end, complete with a new Sonic Screwdriver. As a fan of the Sonic Screwdriver, I was glad to see a new design, which seems quite modern/futuristic and a little eccentric, and I look forward to seeing it more in future episodes.
Next, the things I’m not so sure about. I’m not sure about Rassilon surviving The Master’s attack, considering how angry he was that the Time Lords had manipulated him all of his life. Perhaps The Master could have bargained Rassilon’s life with the ability to regenerate into The Mistress, but he thought of The Master as diseased, so I suppose it would have come down to how much he wanted to live. I also think changing the actor from Timothy Dalton to another actor was a shame, though practicalities probably demanded this was the case and the likelihood of regeneration after what The Master did is conceivably high. I’m also not sure what I think about Ashildr living to the end of time without much of a personality change, nor her ability to communicate with the Time Lords and knowledge of how to fly a Tardis, although her incredibly long life may mean that she’s seen enough technologies and technological advances that she understands how a Tardis works. Still, a human and a human/mara cross with a Tardis is a slightly difficult concept to accept. I’m also not sure about The General regenerating into a black woman, not because he became a black woman, but because it felt like another attempt by Steven Moffat to acclimatise us to the idea of the Doctor changing his ethnicity and gender one day, a concept not seen before Moffat’s era in charge and one I couldn’t support on a character-basis only. I’m also wasn’t sure about The Doctor forgetting Clara, as I presumed that would send his memory back either to the clouds above Victorian London, which would erase everything including his regeneration, or back to Oswin and the mystery of the Impossible Girl, which would have sent him back down that path. In the end, I believe that the Doctor remembers everything that happened, an echo of a girl called Clara that travelled with him, but he doesn’t remember much about her or any of the feelings he had for her, which were the cause of a lot of his problems. It was sort of a reuse of Amy loosing her memory of Rory when he was absorbed by the cracks in time.
Although I felt happy at the end of this episode, largely down to the final scenes, the episode itself wasn’t as remarkable as it could have been in the end. Since the beginning of the Revived Era, the Time Lords have taken on a mythical status and the reality was ultimately under whelming and they appeared to be like any other alien species, almost pathetic in their own way. Considering the emotion that the 9th, 10th and 11th Doctors had about various aspects of Gallifrey, the 12th Doctor returning seemed to have none beyond anger. It almost didn’t matter to him that Gallifrey had returned and I found that to be a little anti-climactic after all these years.
Still, it was a big end to Series 9 and that’s what I want from a Series Finale, something that feels bigger and better and more explosive than any other episode, besides the opening episode. It wasn’t perfect, but I came out the other side not feeling disappointed and it has left various loose threads open for future storylines.
Now, bring on the Christmas Special.
I’ve noticed a few wording mistakes in that review, sorry. I wrote it straight from my head, changed things I wanted to say and posted before I had proofread it. Hopefully, sense can be made of it anyway.
Best series of Doctor Who since Karen Gillan and Matt Smith! Great stories all the way through and a great ending!
@JC
dont have to apologise for spelling errors everyone makes them even i do and im awesome at spelling
I thought the ‘reveal’ about the hybrid was a bit of a damp squib. Not sure about all the trapped foes in the Cloisters. How did the Sisters get to Gallifrey?
All that said, I loved everything else. Clara [mostly dead] gets to fly around with Ashildr/Me in a factory setting TARDIS for an indeterminate time before meeting her demise. The Doctor gets a (partial?) mind-wipe so he can move on to other things. Rassilon has truly fallen from grace since the days his wisdom was a thing of legend [Key of Time arc]. The return of the barn! The diner at the end of the universe!
Last night’s episode was a rather emotionally filled episode. I’ve learned not to take Mr. Moffat too seriously, when it comes to death. When I saw Clara bravely accept her fate two episodes ago, I was sad and upset she went out in that mattter. Then last week’s episode where The Doctor was resolute in breaking through that Diamond wall. I was cheering for The Doctor until he broke through.
Then Last Night’s episode where the answer to who or what the hybred was, I must’ve missed something, but it was never truly answered. Lots of theories, and possibilities. Clara never got her heartbeat back, And The Doctor took the hit of forgetting Clara and all the adventures and traveling with Clara. Was The Doctor being brave or selfish or saving others so he didm’t end up serving a cold dish of revenge? He did show to what extreme he would go for someone he’s grown to love and care about.
Gallifrey is back, so is Clara, and we’ve still have more adventures to look forward to with Me and Clara. What a pair. The saddest thing is that The Doctor took the bullet, The happiest thing is The Doctor took the bullet and is back to his travelling. This Whovian is very excited for Season 10 and looking forward to the new adventures ahead.
Thank you Mr. Moffat for Season Nine – Now forward to the Christmas Special – which I’m sure it will be and Season Ten.
Gush gush, wasn’t it wonderful! Moffatt is the best thing ever, knows all about it and it shows….
Actually it doesn’t. This is another prime example of Moffatt’s inability to do anything new and just rip off everything and everybody else. Gallifrey was poorly treated. I expected a hell of a lot better about the Matrix. Looked a lot better in Deadly Assassin. Clara, I am so bored of Clara. Second worse companion ever after Amy who had no personality and no on screen presence. Moffat domineering obsession about humanising the Doctor is a major factor in why Who is failing. Moffat left so many questions unanswered and the final scenes of Clara piloting a TARDIS is the most ridiculous thing ever. Also using RTD plot line for Donna Noble as a get out for the Doctor is pretty pathetic!!
The ONLY saving grace was the TARDIS console room. Beautiful, simple, exciting. Nothing has come close to this since Paul McGann took the role in 1996.
Yer, yer, I often read people saying I should not watch it if this is how I feel, the reality is, I love Doctor Who – a series about an alien, who gets into trouble and has fun along the way, making friends and offering them a chance most of us wish for.
Moffat’s version of a humanised Doctor who comes and goes, picking up his companion and then dropping them back is just the most pointless thing ever and returning to Earth over and over again. I long for a series like the old days when the Doctor visits other planets. Who mysteries need to be solved. Enemies need to be defeated. It is a long lost vision!
The Doctor Who fan community can be a divided one in terms of opinion on everything to do with the show and I’ve always been OK with that. There’s no doubt we all love the show, otherwise we wouldn’t watch it or spend our time talking about it on here, but each of us also wants different things from Doctor Who.
For instance, I really like the Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver, whilst other fans would be happy if they didn’t see it for an entire incarnation. Some fans want a close Doctor/Companion relationship, other fans want a distant Doctor/Compantion relationship. Some fans want fast paced stories, others want slow paced stories, whilst still others want a mix of both. Some want emotion, others don’t.
Our fanbase is known for having differing opinions and I certainly talk about the things I don’t like more than the stuff I do, but the reason for that is because we love the show and we all want it to be the best it can be. The trouble is, we all have different opinions of when Doctor Who is at its best.
As long as other fans respect my opinion, I don’t mind if they disagree with me.
Worst. Episode. Ever.
Okay, maybe not as bad as Love and Monsters, but still pretty bad.
Not only does he go completely crazy and break every single rule there is, (e.g.- shoot somebody to death), he also did it before his whole home planet! Oh, how the mighty fall.
To make matters worse, Clara and Ashildr have a TARDIS. I don’t trust either one of them. If Clara gets too sidetracked, she may never die and the world will crumble. If Clara decides to die, Ashildr is left with the TARDIS and has forever to make really bad decisions. Again.
Not that I have anything against her, but her moral compass doesn’t have the best track record. I wish Clara just died and then nothing would have had to become so messy.
Upon reflection, I guess the episode wasn’t all bad. In fact, I really liked the whole beginning. He was clearly finally getting recognition for the good that he does.
It was only when it started becoming clear that he had snapped sometime during those 4 billion years that I realized the only place this episode was going was down. Mainly, I’m worried about whether the universe will stay together, will Clara and Ashildr break time, will the Doctor recover, WIll he and River get along… If all turns out all right in the end, then maybe one day I’ll be able to look back at this episode fondly. Maybe.