Doctor Who Hell Bent (2005– ) Online

2005– Peter Capaldi Jenna Coleman Donald Sumpter Rachel Talalay

Original Title :: Hell Bent
Genre :: TV Episode / Adventure / Drama / Family / Mystery / Sci-Fi
Year :: 2005–
Directror :: Rachel Talalay
Cast :: Peter Capaldi,Jenna Coleman,Donald Sumpter
Writer :: Steven Moffat,Terry Nation
Type :: TV Episode
Time :: 1h
Rating :: 8.7/10

Doctor Who Hell Bent (2005– ) Online

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?

Episode cast overview:
	Peter Capaldi	-	The Doctor
	Jenna Coleman	-	Clara
	Donald Sumpter	-	The President
	Ken Bones	-	The General
	Maisie Williams	-	Ashildr
	T'Nia Miller	-	Female General
	Malachi Kirby	-	Gastron
	Clare Higgins	-	Ohila
	Linda Broughton	-	The Woman
	Martin Sherman	-	Man (as Martin T. Sherman)
	Jami Reid-Quarrell	-	Wraith
	Nick Ash	-	Wraith
	Ross Mullan	-	Wraith (as Ross Mullen)
	Nicholas Briggs	-	Dalek (voice)

The four knocks the Doctor hears are the same as the sound of drums the Master heard in the third series, and a reference to the four knocks that Wilf inadvertently used to kill the Tenth Doctor in Doktor Who: The End of Time: Part Two (2010).

The Doctor is told to put down all his weapons and he places his spoon on the table. In Doktor Who: Robot of Sherwood (2014) he uses a spoon as a weapon when fighting Robin Hood.

In Doktor Who: The Magician's Apprentice (2015) Missy says "Since always. Since the Cloister Wars. Since the night he stole the moon and the President's wife. Since he was a little girl. One of those was a lie. Can you guess which one?"

In this episode the Doctor tells Clara "Ah, well, that was a lie put about by the Sheboglans. It was the President's 'daughter'. I didn't steal the moon, I lost it..."

This implies that the Doctor's first wife, or possibly his granddaughter Susan, was the President's daughter.

Steven Moffat talked about the final two-parter of season 9 with Doctor Who Magazine and said "Episode 11 pushes the Doctor to the brink of madness, and Episode 12 is what happens next. If the Doctor has lost his moral compass, if he's being selfish, if you really, really hacked him off, if you really got him angry and gave him nothing to fight for.. what would you end up with? That's the 'hellbent' of the title. An angry, off-the-rails Doctor."

Ken Bones returns as The General, who was last seen in Doktor Who: The Day of the Doctor (2013).

The brand-new TARDIS' control room interior is re-used from An Adventure in Space and Time (2013).

As this episode takes notes from Sergio Leone's 'spaghetti westerns,' the leit motif - the seven notes - repeatedly heard in Dobry, zły i brzydki (1966), which have since become iconic, are heard.

The Doctor uses the term "Space Glasgow", but previously complains when Clara uses the term "Space restaurant" and says "never put the word space in front of something just because everything's all sort of hi-tech and future-y."

This story marks a unique time that the Doctor fires a weapon at a person in both series. In some storylines the Doctor refuses to even touch a gun.

After the General is shot, the Doctor mentions that, "...death is Time Lord for man-flu." When the General regenerates she comments that she is usually a woman, and the previous incarnation was an aberration and her only time as a man. Thus by dying and regenerating back to a woman, she got over the "man-flu".

As of 2015, this is the only series finale to have a "next time" trailer.

Although the episode is officially considered the second part of the story begun in Doktor Who: Heaven Sent (2015), narratively it is the third chapter of a trilogy that begins with Doktor Who: Face the Raven (2015).

When the Doctor first enters the diner, "Don't Stop Me Now" sung by Foxes is playing - same version from season 8's Doktor Who: Mummy on the Orient Express (2014).

Clara uses the phrase "reversed the polarity" in modifying the memory wiping device; this is a phrase commonly associated with the Third Doctor, but has been used by other Doctors as well.

The Ninth Doctor's theme from Series 1 makes a surprise return, after not being heard since Series 2 in its original format or Series 4 in its adapted form as the Tenth Doctor's theme.

Timothy Dalton was unable to reprise his role as Rassilon from "The End of Time" due to his commitment to Dom grozy (2014).

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 Doktor Who: The Doctor's Wife (2011).

Donald Sumpter previously appeared as two different characters in the original Doktor Who (1963): Enrico Casali in Doktor Who: The Wheel in Space: Episode 1 (1968) and Commander Ridgeway in Doktor Who: The Sea Devils: Episode Three (1972). He also appeared on the now-finished spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007) in the episode The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Eternity Trap: Part 1 (2009) as Erasmus Darkening.

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 Doctor says he believes the song is called "Clara". "Clara?" is the name of the track on the Series 7 soundtrack, though it has also been performed at the Proms and other events as "The Impossible Girl" and was titled "Clara and the TARDIS" on the soundtrack for Doktor Who: The Snowmen (2012), which featured the first appearance of the melody. In the context of the story, it is implied that the melody represents the now-forgotten words Clara says to the Doctor in the Cloisters; this is supported by the fact the same piece of music plays (in a full orchestral version) when the episode cuts away from the couple as Clara begins to speak.

Rachel Talalay also directed the series 8 two-part finale, Doktor Who: Dark Water (2014) and Doktor Who: Death in Heaven (2014).

The "Nevada Desert" scenes are taken in Fuerteventura.

Although they only receive a brief cameo, the inclusion of the Cybermen ensures the continuation of a pattern that has been ongoing since Series 5, whereby they appear in every twelfth episode of a series.

You can hear the sound effect of a TIE fighter from Star Wars at 17:30.

When told to lay down weapons on his person the Doctor subsequently puts his spoon down. The Doctor once had a duel against Robin Hood with a spoon.

Jami Reid-Quarrell returned as a Wraith, after previously playing Colony Sarff in Doktor Who: The Magician's Apprentice (2015)/Doktor Who: The Witch's Familiar (2015), as well as the Veil in Doktor Who: Heaven Sent (2015).

This marks the first time a 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 story marked the first mention of the Web of Time in the revived series.

This is the first episode since "The End of Time" to feature Rassilon.

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".

In the final scene, the Doctor gets rid of the sonic sunglasses and gets his own sonic screwdriver. We also see the return of him snapping his fingers to close the TARDIS doors.

The diner looks like the one seen in Doktor Who: The Impossible Astronaut (2011), although the Doctor notes it isn't in the same location. This is revealed to be because it is the outer shell of a TARDIS.

First appearance of the Weeping Angels since Doktor Who: The Time of the Doctor (2013).

When the Doctor decides to wipe Clara's memory of himself to save her, he mentions that he's done it before, telepathically, referring to the Tenth Doctor's wiping Donna Noble's memory of him and her travels in the TARDIS in Doktor Who: Journey's End (2008).

the interior of the stolen TARDIS is based on the interior seen in the "classic" series (Doktor Who (1963)), including the scanner screen, white "roundel" walls, and interior doors. The console used is the replica that was rebuilt for the anniversary special An Adventure in Space and Time (2013). The exterior of the TARDIS is an "undisguised" one, as previously seen in Doktor Who: The Name of the Doctor (2013).

The TARDIS that the Doctor and Clara steal to escape the Cloisters is modelled in its interior on the original TARDIS from the original series as seen in Doktor Who: An Unearthly Child (1963).

The "sad song" the Doctor plays is "Clara's Theme" by Murray Gold.

Steven Moffat made repeated statements that Clara would never be able to return to the series after the events of the finale. Obviously, she can as long as she does so before returning to Gallifrey to face the raven.

The Doctor, once on Gallifrey, travels to the same barn on the Dry Lands where he spent time as a child, as seen in Doktor Who: Listen (2014), and would later be where he debates the use of the Moment in Doktor Who: The Day of the Doctor (2013).

For most of the history of the series, Rassilon was established as the long-dead founder of the Time Lords (and co-discoverer, with Omega, of time-travel). In this story, Donald Sumpter plays President Rassilon, and refers to himself as 'Rassilon the Ressurected' - a confirmation that this is intended to be the *original* Rassilon, presumably resurrected (like the Master) for the Time War. His appearance has changed several times (the last appearance Rassilon made was in Doktor Who: The End of Time: Part Two (2010), portrayed by Timothy Dalton), but as a Time Lord, he certainly has the ability to regenerate.

In an interview, Sarah Dollard said how sad she was that Clara couldn't get a TARDIS of her own and run off with lady-friend Jane Austen. Lack of famous author aside, that's exactly what Clara's final end was.

Before deciding that the Doctor and Clara, combined, are the Hybrid, Ashildr postulated that the Doctor might be half-human and thus the Hybrid. The Eighth Doctor made a similar statement about his lineage in Doctor Who (1996).

This is the first television story to actually show a regeneration from a male body to a female. There have been references to this having happened with the Corsair (Doktor Who: The Doctor's Wife (2011)) and the Master (Doktor Who: Dark Water (2014)/Doktor Who: Death in Heaven (2014)), and it was one of the options the Eighth Doctor received in Doktor Who: The Night of the Doctor (2013), but it has never been featured on a televised story until now, in this case the General from his eleventh to twelfth incarnation. It also shows the first change of skin colour from white to black. The first incident was of Melody Pond to Mels, but the change was never seen, but the change the other way around was seen in Doktor Who: Let's Kill Hitler (2011).

This episode confirms that Time Lords can change sex when they regenerate. It was first mentioned in relation to the Corsair in Doktor Who: The Doctor's Wife (2011) and is, presumably, the reason the Master is now Missy, but this is the first time such a change occurs on-screen: the General changes from a man to a woman and the says that she is usually female.

Previously in Doktor Who: Death in Heaven (2014) the Doctor previously told Clara that he would "never again" steal a Tardis and run off. He goes back on his word on many other things here, including that.

User reviews

Narder

Of all the ways I expected Doctor Who's ninth series finale to open, that certainly wasn't it. After that unspeakably dramatic ending to last week's Heaven Sent, rather than immediately resume with the Doctor marching towards the Gallifrey Citadel we begin in a small American diner, where the Doctor stumbles in and finds a waitress who looks identical to Clara. We don't know it yet, but Moffat's trademark games begin now. And so does the emotion. The Doctor sits down, sparking up a conversation with the waitress, and strums a tune on his guitar: Clara's theme. "Is it a sad song?", the waitress asks. The Doctor replies "Nothing's sad until it's over, then everything is." "What's it called?" "I think it's called Clara." "Tell me about her...". And so he does, and only then do we cut back to Gallifrey and resume where last week's monumental cliffhanger left off. We're yet to even see the title sequence, and Hell Bent is ready to drop some major emotion. We can only assume the Doctor has found his long lost companion, but she has no idea who he is.

From that moment it became immediately clear: This episode was never going to be about Gallifrey or the Timelords or the Doctor seeking vengeance. This is an episode about the Doctor and Clara, and the lengths that he would go to when he just might be able to save her. That said, the Gallifrey stuff all works terrifically well. After the title sequence, a silent Peter Capaldi wanders around the barn we flashed back to in Listen, before having one lonely meal at a table surrounded by onlooking villagers as the Timelord army approaches. President Rassilion (played this time by Donald Sumpter) orders the Doctor's execution, but the army sides with the Doctor, and instead he banishes Rassilion before heading to the Citadel to discuss this ominous Hybrid that we've been teased about all season. But, again, Hell Bent sidesteps giving us a real answer. We know that the Hybrid was never a Dalek-Timelord combination as many speculated, but Moffat simply offers us a few theories, and leaves the rest alone. Sometimes solid answers don't work, especially in a show like Doctor Who where not everything absolutely needs to be wrapped up in a neat little package. We hear the Doctor's beliefs, and we hear Ashildr's beliefs, but which is true?

Many, I presume, will be disappointed about Gallifrey's minimalist role in this finale, but I'm fine with it. After being trapped in that confession dial for four and a half billion years just because he thought he could save Clara, I think the Doctor is perfectly justified to avoid the big Timelord confrontation today and focus instead on saving his best friend. There's still quite a bit more I could say about the incorporation of Gallifrey, but I'd much rather talk about what, in my eyes, made this the best series finale to Doctor Who's best series: all of that emotion. Look at the Doctor's sorrow as he first plays Clara's tune on his guitar. Watch Clara's face as she discovers the Doctor was trapped in the confession dial for over four billion years. After we discover that the waitress is the real Clara, note how her whole face drops when the Doctor tells her, unbeknownst, that he would know Clara the minute he saw her, yet has no idea she is standing directly before him. Smile amid tears as the Doctor warns Clara not to eat pears because they're too soft as he gives her all of his final pieces of advice while he says his final goodbyes to her before his memory is wiped and he forgets everything. Steven Moffat has been hit and miss with how he handles emotion, but he hit the nail on the head here. This was all sad, beautiful and poetic writing that acts as a perfect encapsulation of everything this series has offered us.

I will miss Clara, I really will, and whoever acts as our new companion next year will have enormous shoes to fill by following Jenna Coleman, who has proved across her tenure that the companion character shouldn't be sidelined and treated simply as a question- asker. Coleman has delivered excellent performances in every way possible; she's been funny, she's excelled in fear, she's packed in the drama and ripped our hearts out with her emotional scenes. It's genuinely tough to imagine anyone alongside Peter Capaldi in that TARDIS besides her. And speaking of Capaldi, there's not much left to say that I haven't already said across the previous eleven reviews. This man is an utter revelation; he will be remembered as the Doctor from the 21st Century no matter how long this show lives for. I've always been a big fan of Steven Moffat's Doctor Who writing. He doesn't always get it right, I know, but when he does he can make something genuinely remarkable, and I believe that is exactly what he's done not only with Hell Bent, but with series 9 as a whole. I adored this show last year, but in 2015 it reached levels I never thought it capable of. Steven Moffat, Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman have, together, elevated Doctor Who from a bloody good sci-fi series into something beautiful this year. We may never have another series quite like this one, and these three will always be my wonder trio for Doctor Who, but no matter where the show takes us next year, I already cannot wait to work my way back through series nine all over again. I've always enjoyed this show a great deal, but I feel this is the first time I can think of it as something truly, truly special. What a year it's been.

Ferri - My name

Man, what a whirlwind of a finale. The return of Gallifrey, the return of Clara, the return of Ashildur/Me, a female Gallifreyan, the capture of Rassilion, the end of the universe, the diner from The Impossible Astronaut... it's all very insane and very well done.

People are going to be disappointed with this finale. People aren't going to like how Clara gets to live (even though she will eventually face her death). People aren't going to like how Gallifrey wasn't the main plot. People aren't going to like how things were easily explained, or how the majority of the episode was simply between Clara and the Doctor and the Doctor's attempts to save her.

I did, however.

It all worked for me. For the past 11 episodes, it had been hinting at the Hybrid, the Confession Dial, the attempts of Clara to become the Doctor, and everything was fulfilled by the end of it. Does it cheapen Clara's death in Face the Raven? A little bit. On a rewatch, you wouldn't become so emotional about it. But, I think it still works as Clara is going to eventually have to face her death, and now she's running, much like the Doctor does. (P.S. Clara and Me spin-off? Hell, yes, please!)

The music was stunning, the effects were stunning, everything was stunning and everything worked. I was pleasantly surprised by the ending, and I'm EXTREMELY excited for the Christmas Special and Series 10. Come on, Doctor Who, bring it on.

Kieel

Having escaped the trap of his own Confession dial, the Doctor is on Gallifrey, as are the Sisterhood of Karn. The Timelords extract Clara just prior to her death, she's effectively a ticking time bomb, The Doctor defies the rules in a battle to keep her alive and save her from facing the Raven.

I'll start with the positives, the visuals were utterly brilliant, the scenes of Gallifrey, the special effects, the costumes, a visual feast. Capaldi is literally moving up the Doctor's list for me week by week, he is unbelievable in the role, I truly believe that his Doctor would do anything for Clara. Capaldi and Coleman's scenes were once again exceptional. The scenes in the Classic TARDIS set looked brilliant, so retro, and overdue an appearance.

On the downside, Face the Raven and Heaven Sent literally left me speechless, this didn't quite live up to the standard of those. Moffat has used the cheating death theme once to often, Clara's 'living' cheapened the bravery and hard hitting scene of Face the Raven. How many times can he use the not really dead concept, it was tired a few seasons back, it's now desperate.

It was a very dialogue heavy episode, what was done was done brilliantly, I'm just left a little flat by Clara, she'd been given an awesome send off, and now it all feels divisive. Also a little lacking in terms of action.

7/10 it was good, I just hoped for a bit more.

Adoranin

Well looking at the message boards some like it some don't - others are stuck in the Twilight zone.

As for me? Well it wasn't what I was expecting from last week's lead in but I still really liked it. Having watched the first ever episode back in 1963 it's nice to see that my longtime 'companion' is still around.

Clara looked radiant (yes genuinely pretty) and I don't begrudge her being given a second chance for some fun. Clara and her new companion should take the diner back to the 60's and serve Elvis (they'd better have plenty of meat and cheese though).

Am I cross with Mr Moffat for a slightly anticlimactic conclusion? Given time I'll forgive him.

Foginn

This episode is widely regarded as one of the most disappointing episodes in the entire series. After the build up from the episode Heaven Sent, it makes it seem like there will be a big finale or massive battle in this episode as the Doctor's fury is unleashed unto Gallifrey.

However, this episode does something different that no one expected - it undercut it all. Instead, it presented a counter-narrative that is a simplistic tale of the Doctor, at his best, using his abilities to save a life, rather than end one. It's the Doctor at his most mature and self-aware. That's what the two hearts are for - forgiveness.

It explores the Doctor and Clara together. The Hybrid isn't some massive evil monster or Dalek. It's the human-Timelord relationship that the Doctor and Clara have. As they push each other further and further, innocents began getting hurt and that is why it is remarkable. The Hybrid was the Human-Doctor relationship that we've known for over 50 years now! It's an incredibly well-written twist that very few people saw coming.

We also see the Timelords as they really are. Scheming bureaucrats who have short term aims and narrow visions. The Sisterhood of Karn, watching the Doctor but refusing to do anything about him. Rassilon, an ancient relic of the past who has failed to revive Gallifrey who stands as a monument to everything wrong with the Timelords - a self obsessed despot.

All performances are incredible in this episode. The Doctor (played by Peter Capaldi) and Clara (played by Jenna Louise-Coleman) are especially good when deciding to wipe one of their memories. Together, they decide to destroy the hybrid but with tragic consequences. Clara ignores the Doctor's stupid 'I know what's best for you' and reverses the polarity of the neural block (A nice classic Who reference).

They part as equals in a gut-wrenching goodbye, as the Doctor wipes his own memory of Clara. (A fascinating twist on Donna's fate in Journey's End and Bill's argument in Pilot).

People are upset that Clara came back to life. However Steven Moffat has always written like this and Doctor Who has done it many times before. Moffat's philosophy is that Doctor Who is a show where good people should win, since there's already so much darkness in our world.

The episode ends as the Doctor finishes his story to Clara and steps into his Tardis, a man in a box with a future ahead of him.

Terr

This, the conclusion to a three part story arc and the current season, follows two separate time lines. In one The Doctor goes into an American diner in the desert and finds Clara serving; they act as though they don't know each other and The Doctor starts telling her a story about a girl named Clara. The other time line takes us up to his arrival at the diner. The Doctor isn't welcomed by the leader of Gallifrey but manages to persuade others that there is a way for them to learn about the dreaded hybrid; to do that they must snatch Clara from the moment before she dies. She is told that for her time is frozen just before her last heartbeat and she will have to return and die The Doctor has other ideas. He has an escape route planned and if it works he will wipe all of her memories of her before returning her to Earth.

I found this to be one of the best episodes of Doctor Who as is constantly confounded my expectations. The best twist being the whole diner plot line which appears to be the Doctor visiting Clara after she has had her memory wiped when in fact it is the other way round. This was of course a bit of a cop out as it meant Clara's death wasn't very permanent but it was done in such a satisfying way I didn't mind one bit. Before we get to that revelation there were a series of really good scenes; the Cloisters were particularly creeps and it was great to see several old foes, including a Dalek, a Cyberman and a few Stone Angels, in there. There is also some fun to be had when the Doctor and Clara escape in a stolen Tardis; inside it isn't like The Doctor's current Tardis; instead it is the 'classic' design of the old series. There is also another appearance from Me/Ashildr who the Doctor and Clara find at the end of time I was pleased that in the end she turned out to be one of the good guys! The acting was really good; Capaldi was on top form as The Doctor and it was great to see Jenna Coleman back as Clara for what I assume will be the final time although the way she left does leave open the possibility of a guest appearance at some point. Maisie Williams was also really good as Me/Ashildr. Her 'Game of Thrones' co-star Donald Sumpter also puts in a good performance as The President although he wasn't in for as long as I'd have liked and their characters don't meet. Overall a really good season finale with a fine story, some decent scares, unexpected twists and a bitter-sweet ending.

Grokinos

Yeah, I mean that title! Let look at the track record, The Time of Angels was epic, and while I still like Flesh and Stone, it was definitely the weaker episode. The Pandorica Opens was a super epic start to the finale, while the Big Bang was almost nothing but timey-wimey dialogue. The Impossible Astronaut was bold and awesome, Day of the Moon lost it's focus. A Good Man goes to War was super epic, Let's Kill Hitler was crushed under too many plot threads. Dark Water was great build up, Death in Heaven did not use the brilliant build-up efficiently, and felt like a bit of a letdown.

This year's Magician's Apprentice/Witch's Familiar, did break away from this rule, and I hoped that that was the end of it, but no, Hell Bent has the same Steven Moffat rules as most of his two parters, Part 1 was better.

Hell Bent does what so many Steven Moffat part 2 episodes do, in giving us some exposition before getting to the main meat of the action. Here, he gives us a little plot twist that he can amaze us all by solving later on. Rachel Talalay's direction is once again, brilliant, the sets of Gallifrey are wonderfully realised and I absolutely freaking loved the classic TARDIS design, it was something I kinder hoped would stick around, but, never mind.

Peter Capaldi also gives a brilliant performance, on par with his one-handed performance from Heaven Sent. Jenna Coleman's wonderfully bad-ass but also emotional performance really tells us that she knows this is her last bow. The rest of the cast also give fine performances, but I feel they are nothing overly spectacular.

As for the plot, it's not really there, and if it is, it's not easily noticeable. Much of the episode feels like Clara saying goodbye to the Doctor, and telling the Time Lords what she thinks of them.

An old Matt Smith story arc is revisited, the Doctor has gone too far, risking the universe to save Clara, even is she doesn't want him too. You can physically see the Doctor's grief getting the better of him, refusing to accept that he may not be able to save Clara, travelling to the end of the universe running from the truth.

Maisie Williams makes her fourth appearance this series, and her appearance feels a little more important that in Face the Raven, where she could've been replaced by a nameless red-shirter, and it would've had the same effect. Ashildr is the one who tells the Doctor that he can't save everyone, and being told by the one who has felt his pain of being immortal, and was an important factor in Clara's death, would hit the Doctor harder than being told by someone completely unrelated. Although, what's she been up to in the last few billion years, never mind!

We finally get a answer to what exactly 'the Hybrid' is, and while it's kinder cool, it doesn't make a lot of sense. It's established that the Hybrid is the Doctor and Clara, which makes Davros' speech about the Doctor leaving Gallifrey for fear of his involvement in the making of the Hybrid, either completely pointless, or completely senseless, you decide!

Clara's exit is beautifully handled, and the idea of not knowing who's memory will be wiped is pure genius, although, wouldn't the Doctor have wiped his own memory of himself?, hmm. The surprise of the Doctor losing his memory was awesome on a first viewing, as you'd never expect that the Doctor could lose his memory so easily, and makes Moffat's little plot twist feel super awesome.

Clara's theme is used beautifully here, when the Doctor was playing Clara's theme on his guitar, I had a small flashback to seeing Clara for the very first time in Asylum of the Daleks, then again in the Snowmen, then her reappearance in the Bells of Saint John, and spending the rest of Series 7 wondering how exactly could Clara have died and been brought back to life twice, and then feeling like the resolution to this story arc was a bit of a cop-out in the Name of the Doctor.

Clara has become a very memorable companion over her three years in the TARDIS, and I'm sure she'll be remembered for a long, long time.

So, why do I consider this to be inferior to Heaven Sent, well, Hell Bent is a great episode, but I just wish there was more too it. The plot is almost non-existent, and the action on Gallifrey is cut short way too soon. The president of Gallifrey, the legendary Rassilon, appears for about 10 minutes before being rather unceremoniously kicked off the planet by the Doctor, plus, the Doctor and Clara don't really have to overcome a lot to escape from Gallifrey.

The Doctor's plan to take revenge on the ones who put him inside his confession dial, which he manages to do pretty quickly, by stepping onto Gallifrey, kicking the president and the high council of the planet, bring Clara back, stealing a TARDIS and leaving, and that sums up the episode. With 65 minutes to play around with, Moffat really didn't do a lot.

Hell Bent is great, if hollow, fun that accomplishes what it set out to do, and then stops. It gives Clara a great exit, does a great job in bringing back Gallifrey, and shows the Doctor's true anger at losing his best friend, and the lengths he will go to to save her, but the revelation of the Hybrid, and the almost non-existent story, makes this the inferior episode of this two-parter, but standing up to an episode that lets Peter Capaldi completely off the leash, was always gonna be tricky.

Jeb

Here is the thing, last week's Heaven Sent was a masterpiece (easily the best episode of Nu-Who); however, it shouldn't mar your perception of this week's episode. I went into the episode with a slate wiped clean. Though I did retain extremely high, especially for Doctor Who, expectations, I wasn't expecting the Magnum Opus that was Heaven Sent. I do agree with a few other reviewers that death (in this case Clara's) within the world of Who has been cheapened a great deal; I did ,however, think that Clara's semi-return was written in a clever enough way as to allow me to still enjoy it (if it happens AGAIN though, I will be on Moffat's back faster than you can say the Face of Boe (like every RTD fan boy)).

To get to the point more, the end made me giddy. It did what only Series 5 and 6 managed to do, in my opinion, make me dying to see the next series. It gave Clara a respectful send off, and the doctor a new start (and a new sonic!).

The episode reminded me of the Time of the Doctor.... if that episode had been written almost perfectly.

Yes, I said ALMOST perfectly. There are issues, mainly ones of pacing, though they are easily forgiven once the credits roll. This is not the best episode of Doctor Who (I would give that to Heaven Sent), but it is my favorite episode: one that marks the end of the greatest run in the show's history.

To series 10! Fantastic! Allons-y! Geronimo!

Rainpick

I rate this as excellent and worthy of a 10/10.

Excellent because the multitude of threads are held together - and there are a multitude - at this stage of the Universe that is Dr Who, there are so many threads that it is impossible to trip over massive issues and obstacles - yet this episode manages to dance it's way through a very complex back-story fairly well. The threads that are feints, or distractions, are relatively consistent from the start of the season to now - that the confusion or holes are beautifully rendered and where imperfectly visible, they only slightly mar the experience of watching Capaldi perform a Prime version of a completely classic Dr Who (with some darn fine rock chords).

The few cries I had of disappointment were echoed by my household fellow whovians cheering - so my view of these discontinuities clearly were not entirely right. But - meh, it's a small thing.

Snippets are:

Ashilder/Me clearly was sitting in the ashes of Gallefrey still immortal and still circling around the legacy given by the Doctor. Surely that is an example of the Prophecy being correct? What else would an immortal do at 5 minutes to the end of the universe.

The prophecy of the Hybrid is only heard from other's saying it (Davros etc.,), so the direct statement is never heard, only other's statements of it. I sense an opportunity to send in a lawyer to prise apart exactly who said what when. Also, the gestation of the hybrid is never explained, just that the rumors and the speculation remains sound, and the validity of this rumor is based on the time lords own crypt thinkers all concurring with this. It's an unfinished issue.

Missy in setting up Clara/The Doctor as a union through time and space is cute, but it does not cut it for me. The ego of the Master/Missy is far too self centered to be only an observer of the chaos created by the hybrid of the Doctor (a warrior race leader of time-lords) and Clara Oswald (a warrior race leader of ... um ... yes, just what please?) Unfinished, but not unsatisfyingly so.

The Doctor fires a gun to save Clara - breaking one of the longest lasting rules in Dr Who - and the reason for this, that Clara is between heartbeats - that's not enough for me. The Doctor never fires a firearm. Never harms another and never panics. He panicked here, now and it does not feel right. Why is Clara so bloody important other than the fact that the Doctor considers it so.

This is presumably the first time that Me/Ashilder has been able to travel through time - and if Me/Ashilder has been walking through 4.6 billion years of the universe to get to Gallifrey then the remaining billions of years of the universe to get to the final moments, then surely there would be more glee at doing this unforgivable thing, or less glee at having done the standard thing. The plot that is Me/Ashilder is much MUCH less clear now, and stands as a massive Chekhov gun. It feels like a spin off series is now able to be played, two spunky girl sidekicks spinning through the universe in a chameleon circuit stuck 50's diner ... and that prospect excites me and shudders me. But, Ashilder has her hair down and what does that mean for the oldest living entity in the universe?

Take home issue - the Master/Missy deserved to be part of this story, and it was a shame that our most loved/hated Gallifreyan was not there.

Linn

The biggest episode in Doctor Who history since Smiths regeneration, I will be hell bent on making sure this episode is always a huge 9.

The Doctor is on Gallifrey and making a final confrontation on behalf of the death of his faithful companion, and is willing to stop at nothing to save her. This is surly a side to the twelfth Doctor we have not seen yet.

The series has been on a huge high, with the Capaldi as the Doctor, the mysterious Hybrid, great stories, and now the finale. The story starts with a brilliant performance from Capaldi as he remains silent for the first five minutes, but after turning an army around by just standing, he becomes the Liam Neeson of sci fi as stops at nothing to save his friend.

I found that as usual the finale of a Doctor Who series makes the viewer feel like watching the end of a show entirely, but there is so much more left to see. Filled with emotion, and adventure and sure suspense Hell Bent enters a whole other universe where the Doctor is in control, and he chooses what will happen.

Unfortunately, it's the last quarter that sadly lets it down for me. I'm not devastated that Clara's is going, but I still think they should have just killed her off then making an excuse for a whole spin off show. I mean I know they said Clara is going to face the raven at some point but, why the long way round. It also felt like they were putting the Doctor to the side slightly, and that he just needs to carry on, and don't mind them, of course he has forgotten her.

Although the lasts minute is very exciting as we see a new sonic screwdriver born, and the Doctor basically getting his grove back. Hell Bent is 9, with a few rough edges, but I am now buzzing for Christmas special.

Risa

This episode was a mess and it shocks me that the media are not looking critically at it and seem to be wearing rose tinted glasses when viewing this story which is bad form since it sends a bad message to the producers that "This is fine, keep doing this." I don't go into doctor who wanting to dislike something or to be negative and there was much I liked about series 9, even the first part to this episode Heaven sent which was an amazing piece of television. Through this episode has sort of ruined it along with face the ravens brutal ending.

We've had this build up for the doctor getting back to Gallifrey for many years now and it gets completely thrown to the side while the episode turns into the Clara show yet again because Moffat just refuses to let her go as character.

There's also no consequences in the series anymore, death is meaningless and anyone can just be brought back to life when the doctor feels like it. Remember when the "Everybody lives" moment in the doctor dances felt so special? Now it's just everybody lives all the time, there is no death, no sadness, loss or consequences which removes any tension or stakes.

Not even getting into the part where the doctor shoots a guy in cold blood, who by the way was helping him and took his side which was out of character and just nasty.

Clara got a great send off in face the raven, there was no need to bring her back two episodes later which has also made that episode worse by comparison now.

I was hoping going into this that we would get something like the deadly assassin. Seeing interesting Gallifreyan political plots, exploring post time war Gallifrey, seeing some old characters making a come back.

Instead we get a Moffat hammering the show into the ground with an ocean of forced fan service and whimsy and I hope that once all the first viewing hype dies down that the media will look more critically at this episode because show runner does need criticism, he does need to be called out when writing stuff like this or else it sets a bad example and down the line we will get more slop like this...and if we don't question it then it's no more than what we as viewers deserve.

Hellblade

I honestly want to like this episode so badly. I'm the guy who 10/10s every episode and even likes Love & Monsters. And to be fair I do like this episode because it's enjoyable Who and I think this series really was a high point for the show. Also with the incredible set-up from Heaven Sent this episode couldn't possibly be a dire one. Trouble is there's just something nagging me that I can't shake, even 3 years on, which is why I always revisit Heaven Sent over this.

Firstly, some good points. Peter Capaldi, once again, is nothing short of incredible as Twelve, portraying the Doctor's grief, anger, determination, fear, sorrow (and so on) with absolute perfection. This man will always be one of my favourite Doctors and there are few actors I am genuinely stunned by and respect more. I also liked returning to Gallifrey here, in that it was enjoyable to see the Doctor on his home planet for a while in New Who and it was very respectful to the Gallifrey we know and love. Every detail looked beautiful, the lore was spot on, Rassilon was fantastic (if a little brief) and it was nice to explore a bit. I'd also like to praise the Sisterhood, the old TARDIS, the beautiful scenes in the diner and the inclusion of Ashildr (portrayed wonderfully yet again by Maisie Williams), all of which I thought were very thoughtful and fun additions to the story which made it feel very grand and, in some ways, reflective.

So, what went wrong then? On the face of it I do like this episodes, but it p***es me off beyond belief when it comes to the plot. And please understand that I am very lenient towards Moffat and have always respected the ingenuinity of his arcs even if I felt they didn't quite work. I even managed to follow the arc of Eleven's era perfectly, even if no-one else I know personally, even to this day, understood half of it! But this hybrid arc really intrigued me for the whole series and I was so looking forward to seeing where it went, especially given that it was allegedly the reason the Doctor left Gallifrey - Moffat was clearly feeling brave here if he was going to change Who history so drastically, and when this was revealed I really respected that decision despite my apprehension.

But it just doesn't pay off, at all. Which means that such a huge revelation about the Doctor, such a pivotal aspect of his life and of the show, is reduced to literally nothing. The Doctor left Gallifrey because he was scared of being involved in creating a hybrid being so powerful that it would stand in the ruins of Gallifrey and would tear time and space apart - okay, cool, I get that. But this hybrid is clearly the Doctor and Clara, and it comes about purely by chance and because she dies one day (bearing in mind that the Doctor left Gallifrey almost 1200 years before ever meeting Clara and almost 2000 years before her death) and he decides to save her but he can't. It just feels so lacklustre and convoluted. So apparently the fact that the two of them act so recklessly together (and we never even see a single one of the ramifications of their "drastic" actions in this episode despite a few out-of-character moments for the Doctor which makes it a hard idea to get behind) is essentially the reason that the Doctor decides to leave Gallifrey all those years ago, and the two-reckless-time-travellers-doing-reckless-things-together-even-though-they-shouldn't-because-it's-dangerous-to-time-and-space-even-though-there-is-no-proof-of-that "hybrid" is apparently capable of destroying Gallifrey and scares the Time Lords enough that they trap the Doctor for 4 billion years and it's one of their greatest fears... right... yeah I'm not buying it. Moffat has even established previously that fixed points in time can be changed, which sort of takes away from the potential severity of this situation.

The first 30 minutes or so of this episode were so badass because it really was the Doctor going mad with grief and being incredibly dangerous and unpredictable, banishing Rassilon (a plot point that shouldn't have been dealt with so lightly!) and shooting a friend just to escape. But once he'd rescued Clara it just went downhill. If we'd seen him literally tear Gallifrey apart, almost devastating it to the same extent the Time War did, just in order to save Clara then I would've totally bought the "hybrid" thing. If he'd have had to completely (or even just nearly) wipe out half the life in the universe just in order to save her and then realised what he was doing just before he became a mad god and put things right, I could've bought that too. But seriously, they just legged it from Gallifrey, Clara was alive enough that she was basically saved and then they realised they'd done something potentially dangerous and concluded that if they'd stayed together they would devastate the universe - probably. Sooooo close, Moffat! Soooo close! The ideas were there, the build up was there, the actors and characters were there, the emotion was there... but then the emotion just kept coming and the action just sort of stopped, and I was already pretty emotionally invested in this whole thing after Heaven Sent so I just wanted to see the Doctor go apes**t and become some sort of angry god. Ah well, at least everyone lived happily ever after! Aapart from Donald Sumpter - poor guy's just floating about in space now probably.

A great episode bogged down by unnecessary emotion, a lacklustre climax to a pretty ballsy and lore-changing arc and a waste of an incredible preceding episode and cliffhanger. Lovely character moments though, great acting and visuals all round, lovely score and a semi-satisfying send-off for Jenna Coleman. Kudos to everyone involved for making the show's most annoying anticlimax ever still enjoyable to watch.

Arador

*** SPOILERS *** Maybe I expected too much after that great last episode... It started out so good! Capaldi was great, dialogues good but that doesn't save it for me. I get that the Doctor was angry and tried to safe Clara but shooting somebody is an absolute NO for him being the Doctor. PLUS, shooting the General was unnecessary! What did the Doctor gain that he couldn't have reached without that? He could have just grabbed that neuro-block and sonic the door, lock them in to gain some time. So, was it just to show a male Timelord regenerate as a woman? And what on earth were those silly cloister wraiths?! Looked like some damaged screens stuck on a model-train set or something. What totally ruined it for me is sending ME and Clara off in their own TARDIS disguised as that stupid diner. What was Moffat thinking? A Spin-off with the two of them swanning off, immortal ME and no-heartbeat Clara, in a diner??? Sorry, but that's just silly and I don't want to see that!!! I don't buy the Clara-Doctor-Hybrid story. How did they stand in the ruins of Gallifrey? That they didn't really answered the Hybrid thing is fine by me. But all in all, not a good finale for me... 6/10

Foiuost

For the first time in a while, Moffat has spun out a second part that isn't a total disappointment. The episode was an incredible conclusion to the running emotional themes, but I wish they had wrapped up the technicalities of the hybrid storyline more coherently. Is it still going to destroy Gallifrey? Is time still unravelling? The episode was also quite low on action. Now, back to the good.

Throughout the episode there is a dreamlike experience of the Doctor chatting with Clara in a diner that seemed like something out of Breaking Bad. This actually ends up leading to a twist. When they first start unveiling it, I was NOT okay with it. Then, it seemed to just be a rip-off of a previous companion's departure, which I was doubly not okay with. But in the end, they used it in an unexpected way which challenges the Doctor for giving in to temptation in the last two episodes.

Ultimately, this episode is the beautiful end to some character arcs, even if it's action light and slightly confusing as an end to the story.

Jerdodov

A lot of spoilers here so beware. Moffat has proved again and again that he can not handle plots. This is not doctor who, and it's a shame because Capaldi could be a great doctor. All turn out to be about emotions and, once again, about Clara, not about a story for the viewer to be seen. This is not sci-fi but just a big mess, everything the doctor stood for has been broken in few scenes (fixed events in time continuum, peace instead of violence)and it's poorly justified. The whole "hybrid" thing is just bad writing, but even if that so at the end the doctor should have brought Clara back to the moment where she dies, accepting he can not change it since it's the whole point of the explanation we were given. Instead we are stuck with that awful "she will live on for a undefined amount of time" ending. Should we talk about Clara with a whole Tardis just for her? Meh. No more.

Zonama

This episode picks up where the last one ended. The doctor is now on his home planet Gallifrey. There he is asked an important question, where only he knows the answer to: Who is the hybrid? This question makes him 'save' Clara and go to the end of time to really know the answer for sure and also make Clara live.

The episode was shot nicely some good cgi effects were edited in to make Gallifrey look more realistic. With "Doctor Who" you know that the effects aren't going to be that great, nut Gallifrey looked okay. The writing of this episode was very good, thanks to you Steven Moffat. But the previous episode was way better. It had some good character development; and made you care more about the Doctor. But I only have one question: how come the Doctor can tell the whole story to Clara when he has forgotten who she is? The part where The Doctor forgets about Clara is hart wrenching. It was sadder than the death of Clara. The set design of this episode was very good. I loved that they brought back the old TARDIS design. Also the Matrix, as they call it, had a scary feeling to it. A nice touch was the Wheeping Angles and the Cyberman.

The acting was top notch, at least from Capaldi. He is so good as the Doctor, i think he is even my second favorite Doctor. In the previous episode he was already very good, but now he just kept the trend. The rest of the cast was very good too, but just not so good as Capaldi. In the emotional scenes it looked like he was really emotional. in the end of the episode when he finishes his story and Clara walks away was handled well. And when he started to play Clara's theme on his guitar, it just made it sadder. But this was handled very beautifully. Maisy Williams came back as Me for this episode. The doctor finds her at the end of time, where he talks with her about who could be the hybrid. She was good too, you could really see the regret in her eyes.

Overall this was a good episode to end the season with, there was a good goodbye to Clara, and some good acting. The new screwdriver looks nice, as what I have seen from it. The previous part was obviously a lot better, but this one was still good, by the way did you notice the little easter egg, if it is one, when they say that The Doctor has to drop his weapons, and the camera zooms in on The Doctor dropping the spoon. This is, I think, to an episode in the previous season called "Robot of Sherwood". in this episode The Doctor takes on Robin Hood with a spoon and wins.

Lo◘Ve

I have mixed feelings about this episode. Not everyone loved Clara obviously, but I was really sad to see her go. She really grew more on me than any of the other characters. Especially Rose and Amy pond, Gods those were useless. That the doctor was going to try to bring her back was obvious, which, sadly, made this plot a bit predictable. I sort of feel betrayed for the doctor not standing in Gallifrey's ashes, wiping away the caste system and bringing justice to his home planet. He didn't do anything but run away and escape the consequences AGAIN. I also feel a lot was left unexplained again and I'm afraid we aren't getting any answers.. ever... so her we go fanfiction. A finale is supposed to tie things up, after last week's fantastic episode - this one feels mediocre. Will the doctor always be a scared little boy - running away in his Tardis? It starts to get really annoying... I thought this doctor would finally face the consequences. "RUN, you 'clever' boy"... He seemed a broken man ready to do anything to avenge his loved one. Even if you wipe away Clara... won't those billions of years of torture do something to you? Isn't there still anger burning in his heart? he punching through bloody diamond to get some time with her?!? - oh and I honestly thought blink was rubbish, how about the empty child huh>?

Survivors

The previous episode, as I mentioned in a very unhelpful review, was boring for quite a bit before redeeming itself and leaving you in awe. This week's, unfortunately, is boring in its entirety. And that's not the worst part.

Finally reaching enemy territory after much menaces and promises, the Doctor starts doing nothing, then some nothing more, and so on until thus he subdues the government. By the way, don't try this at home. After that, he chats with Clara in a diner, chats with a soldier at the end of the universe, chats with a woman in a crypt, chats with an immortal at the very end of the universe (not to be confused with the simple end of the universe mentioned earlier,) and I'm feeling sleepy 12 hours before my usual bedtime. And that's not the worst part.

All these chats are vapid. One of them is also unbelievably silly: At the last minute of the universe, if such a thing exists, you could expect to meet some people. Unknown faces, because we said universe. Time Lords, obviously. The Master, as Prime Minister Saxon perhaps, unless that Big Crunch was dated 100 trillion years later than the current one. Anyway, who we get is Ashildr, the girl with the short memory span; and not one member of the Wire is there. At least 15 billions years later, she remembers the Doctor. Somehow she knows she will find him, and she waits alone for millions, if not billions of years. She also recalls their conversation about the Hybrid, which I don't after a few weeks. Yeah yeah, she has her journal to remind herself but, first, her journal is now so long that she'll have forgotten the beginning before reaching the 2nd of the 600 tomes and, more importantly, reading a memory is not remembering. There is no involvement, no feeling. That girl is absolutely unchanged after billions of years ! She can't have this conversation like 2 weeks have passed. Hell Bent gets memory all wrong. Also, it makes the universe look miserably small. Still, this is not the worst part.

After 15 minutes, we already learn that Clara is alive. Face the Raven is annihilated. The 11 persons who cried over her dramatic definitive departure have now switched to The Walking Dead, a series in which even the undead do stay dead when deaded adequately, a revolutionary concept that makes the viewers care. The rest of us keep watching because, any moment soon, we expect to see the Doctor regenerate as a woman, hopefully still played by Mr. Capaldi.

Other things that come to mind in a disorderly list:

This episode does get memory all wrong. Now the Doctor remembers absolutely everything about Clara, except what she looks and sounds like.

Also, he is not curious about it. He won't try to meet her. He won't investigate.

The Doctor knows nothing about the Hybrid. He lied to the Veil, and got away with it. Heaven Sent is annihilated.

I betted they would dare, and they dared: they made the Doctor behave like he suffered for billions of years. He's of course nothing more than the last copy, and suffered no more than a few days.

If you want to hide from time travellers, surely the worst plan is to reach a point in time when the universe is at its smallest.

Clara talks to the sonic glasses. Also, she does so in order to turn on and off a screen; she finds it simpler than to talk to the screen directly.

Weeping angels. Just in case they had any creep factor left.

Time Ladies regenerate with their make up applied.

Anyway, that's not the worst of it. Do you remember the twit who, in a retarded yet worryingly popular episode, made Sherlock Holmes shoot and kill in cold blood an unarmed, unmenacing man ? Yes, the blackmailer with nothing to substantiate his blackmail, just memories in his mental palace. We'd still be laughing at him if he wasn't fatally murdered to death. Anyway, said twit, who has never been capable of keeping the two series distinct, now has the Doctor grab a gun and shoot and kill an unarmed, unmenacing woman (in a man's body, but that's another story.) Spare me the Time Lord regeneration poppycock, I've seen how it works. I've already given up on Sherlock but, when it comes to Who, I've now joined those who say that it's time for Moffat to go.

Iriar

So it turned out that the finale was one looooong goodbye to the Impossible Girl who quite frankly was not deserving of the effort. Her character began well but became too important and overshadowed the star of the show. The clue is in the name of the programme.

So we see Clara die in the first part of the trilogy but then she is in the middle bit which has to rank as the most tedious episode of Dr Who ever and then back for the finale. To some it was the best but I would cite Genesis Of The Daleks which had smart writing in every episode of that magnum opus of classic Dr Who and of course Blink that Moffat wrote in the new era.

Of course the defence of this 3 part garbage is that we who do not worship at the temple of Stephen Moffat do not understand his brilliance. But I liked the guy when he was there in the Tennant era which had some outstanding episodes and brilliant acting. But it seems that once Russ rode of into the sunset the lunatics really did take over the asylum.

Episode 2 of this nonsensical goodbye to Clara was made up of the Doctor walking around pursued by Quasimodo with a slight limp for 4 billion years. During which time he talked a lot and punched a 20ft thick diamond whilst dying and having his skull fall of a ledge and fill a huge castle moat. It felt like 4 billion years watching this episode and I am sure many cheered when the diamond died of boredom and let him into episode 3 and Clara's grand farewell.

The whole series had a story arc about a Hybrid which would destroy the Time Lords so we ended up back on Gallifrey. Apparently The Doctor fled Gallifrey as he was terrified of The Hybrid. So terrified he never mentioned it again for 2000 years.

So the Doc took up residence in a familiar hut and single handedly defeated the Time Lord leader by talking. Then his cunning plan was revealed. 4 billion years punching a wall and getting killed by hopalong Quasimodo was all for Clara. His plan was to save her from the death she had 4 billion years ago. Genius.

So after some pointless wandering around in The Matrix he escaped with a new Tardis and rescued Clara. Fast forward to the end of the Universe and we meet Me again who has a philosophical discussion about the Hybrid in which it could have been her, him or Clara. Basically The Hybrid did not matter as nobody seemed that concerned about it in the end as it was all about Clara. Never has a companion so overwhelmed Dr Who. She was given the most important roles of The Impossible Woman and now The Hybrid (perhaps). Maybe she and The Doctor were actually The Doctors parents. Stupid as it may sound this was what Me alluded to.

Then we do the Donna thing again but this time with a difference as the Doctor forgets Clara with a mind wipe that I am sure many of the audience actually envy of him.

So we end up with heartbroken Doctor Disco in a diner which is a Tardis used by a zombie Clara who has one heartbeat left of life and the Immortal Me.

And that is basically what the whole series was about. Clara Who. Perhaps in his next regeneration he will become Jenna Colman after all he became Peter Capaldi to remind him of the excellent Pompeii episode so why not?

Lazy writing for the Smith and Capaldi eras reached its inevitable conclusion with the stupidest episodes of Dr Who ever. And in an era where trees save humanity, the Moon is an egg and the most terrifying monsters were the Skovox Blitzer, which looked like a vacuum cleaner on crack, and The Mire who could not even beat some unarmed farmers, then this took some doing.

So what have we learned? Peter Capaldi is a fine actor who if given some smart scenarios could rival David Tennant as the best new era Doctor. But sadly like matt Smith, another good actor who gave a good Patrick Troughton style Doctor a go, he has been poorly served by the writers.

This whole series has been tedious with some of the worst rubbish ever served up. Looking at the Xmas trailer the rubbish seems like it will continue.

That is sad as Dr Who was one of the smartest TV shows ever on the telly. The new era showed that it could continue as such. But then came Steve Moffat who has dug a hole so deep with his idiotic far too clever for their own good story lines and arcs that it may not be possible to ever crawl out of.

Doctor Who was smart and even when silly did silly smartly. It has always had good acting which when coupled with good writing made you forget about the silly effects.

What the future holds is hard to say. If we continue down this path I fear the worst. First we need Stephen to stop digging and start giving us Doctor Who rather than a companion. I hope it happens as I love this show even after 50 years of it.

Dagdarad

I like the idea of Peter Capaldi's Doctor so much that, when sitting to watch this season, I almost forgot that the previous season was all over the place, and the Christmas special was only really solid. Coming into the ninth season the show is pretty odd to watch because it continues to be all over the place, to the point now where I'm not even sure who it is trying to please any more. The history in the plots not only make me glad I am currently watching the early episodes (I had just watched the one where the sisterhood show up for the first time), but also seems to suggest it is being aimed at viewers of the classic show. However at the same time the show seems happen to change around accepted things about that same history with disregard for those Whovians furiously plotting everything on timelines and insulting other people's mothers on message boards. In other ways it seems to be aimed at family audiences, but yet some episodes were still on after the watershed and had darker and harder to understand plots.

It is very much a mixed bag, and the actual episodes play out the same way. As standalone episodes some are very strong and, happily, none are a total mess. However many of them are two-parters and not all of these connections work, and watching them back to back as I did, this is more obvious. I did enjoy the darker tone of many of the episodes; although I understand the point that it alienates younger viewers, I did think the traditional 'monsters in an enclosed setting' structure delivered both several times this season. The problem for me was that it didn't really follow through on its ideas most of the time; so yes it was brave for Clara to be killed – but we all know this show never really kills anyone, plus it spend the next few episodes backing out of that and giving her semi-immortality instead. This runs the same through a lot of other episodes, with darker ideas generally betrayed by the show trying to balance a lot of different things at once.

In the middle of all this are a couple of actors doing their best – although this means different things for them. For Capaldi it means he is a great intense presence in his performance, and I continue to like him in the role even if at times the show seems to be overdoing his less comic Doctor, or ignoring it and trying to push him to be Matt Smith. He brings a lot to the character and at times it is a shame not to see him better served. Coleman on the other hand continues to be a cute-as-a-button companion with a great wardrobe, but she is a companion for a different Doctor and I was not too sad to see her go. The support casts are variable – on one hand I quite liked Williams in her reoccurring role (even if her material was below that which she is used to) but then we also had lots of stiff or poor supporting turns, whether it be the forest-levels of wood found on Gallifrey, or Elaine Tan lumbered with a terrible (and pointless) accent in the otherwise strong Sleep No More. Technically the season looks great this season; lots of money spent, strong design, and some very well realized monsters/creatures.

The sight of Riversong in the Christmas trailer at the end of the season dampened my enthusiasm for the show yet again, however this is not to say the ninth season was bad – because it wasn't. It had a lot in the writing I liked, lots of good ideas, lots of darker moments, and some very well designed creatures. The problem is that it is so uneven in what it does, whether it is tonally or just keeping the logic consistent. I think I enjoyed the season as much as I didn't – which to be fair is still a more positive picture than some of the previous seasons. The Christmas special looks like something just to get through, but I do hope season 10 can maintain the strengths this season had, work out the many kinks, and not feel it has to turn everything up to 11 in the way it too often does.

Rgia

Hell Bent was never going to match the heights set by Heaven Sent, but nonetheless it represents one of the better finales in recent memory. The thing with Moffat finales is that they tend to be incredibly confused and Hell Bent in general maintains that promise, but it has a very strong core that it can come back to throughout.

At its best Hell Bent is really one of the most personal episodes of Doctor Who ever. The core I'm referring to is that of the Doctor and Clara's relationship and it made for some hugely poignant moments between the two of them.

I think it was no shock that Clara played a big part in this episode, the nature of Jenna Louise Coleman's contract will have allowed for this and the season has been building to this for the last few episodes. In this sense Hell Bent has one over many recent Who finales in the way it really feels like the culmination of hours of storytelling.

I also, for the second week running, must praise Moffat for the cleverness of the script. At various points in the episode I was really worried that either they would keep Clara alive and do a whole Donna memory wipe bit, or that the Doctor's memory would be wiped but that Clara would continue to live anyway. Throughout the episode I was kind of just hoping that she would talk the Doctor out of it and that the scenes at the diner were just like his scenes in the Tardis last week, but Moffat once again came up with something far better.

Not only do I like the subversiveness of the Doctor losing his memory, but they did in a way that allowed for Clara to die and in a way that tightened everything up. It explained why waitress Clara didn't just call the cops on the crazy, old, senile, Glaswegian talking about aliens and why she was a waitress in Nevada in the first place.

In saying that the twist put a nice bow on things the main issue with Hell Bent is the level of redundancy in it. Because at its center Hell Bent is really such a personal episode, whenever it is anything but this the episode suffers. the first ten minutes in Gallifrey feel really unnecessary and ditto for all the stuff about the hybrid.

I understand that the Hybrid helps the plot along, as does Gallifrey, as does Maisie Williams but all of these things feel pointless in and of themselves and I sort of felt like Moffat and co could have found a more economic way of getting from point A to point B whenever they had to use anyone of these things.

Nonetheless Hell Bent was a really excellent closer to a really excellent season (in the most part.) Season 9 has been more ambitious than any that have come before it and it has provided a couple classic hours of modern Who. Not everything worked but more than enough did and as someone who can be very critical of Who and of Moffat, I think the show has hit a bit of a hot streak since the arrival of Capaldi and even if the next assistant isn't very good, the show has had two of its best seasons back to back in this period.

Ishnsius

Hell Bent really sums up Who under Moffat and season nine in particular . Someone is dead . Oh no they're not because the Doctor travels to a fixed point in time and resurrects them . To be fair RTD was just as guilty of this where both Rose and Donna left never to be seen again . That is until the ratings demanded it so resurrection comes again but I'm pretty certain even Christians would have become anti-theists if Jesus came back as often as a NuWho companion . It's not like we were really expecting Clara to be dead forever

To be fair to Moffat again he does bring about an internal logic to the impossible girl . She now has a Tardis of her own and that's how she knew the previous incarnations of the Doctor ? Makes sense in a way though I've probably misinterpreted that particular plot point but I find my interest in an episode declining sharply the longer it goes on

Unfortunately the Clara subplot is the only thing that works well . Some of the double episodes fail to work as cohesive stories and feel like they're two separate narratives wended together very clumsily . With Hell Bent we have two discordant stories slung together from two different shows . Is there any real point having the first half on Gallifrey apart from trying to find out who the worst actor with an Equity card is ? Really the acting from some of the people in that segment was ghastly and I've seen better acting in amateur porn films . On top of that we get a sledgehammer approach to regeneration where Time Lords change ethnicity and sex . One fears for the future where Moffat announces "We couldn't get Oscar winning actress Halle Berry but we've cast a black actress as The Doctor because ... well just because I can" That said if he'd cast Daniel Day Lewis in the title role the actor would be ham strung by the absolute zany nonsense he's given

And that sums up the Capaldi era which isn't really an era in itself - it's merely a continuation of the Moffat era . Everyone lives , timey wimey , dark fairy tale ( Spot the Tolkien steal from this episode ) over complicated long reaching arcs and worst of all totally undisciplined writing where things are included because they just seemed like a good idea at the time . The most frustrating thing is Capaldi shows touches of brilliance . Such a pity he's starring in a drama whose main creative force has shown nothing but contempt for anything resembling drama

Daron

WARNING SPOILERS!! This episode was what's that word..... Absolutely awful. Firstly, the worst thing about this disgrace was the Doctor bringing back goddamn Clara Oswald. As far as I know not many people like Clara Oswald anyway and why couldn't the Doctor bring back Rose or Amy and Rory. It's just that why did he bring back Clara and completely change history!

Then, he completely forgot about Clara!!! The only real reason why he brought Clara back is because he wanted too!!! THEN SUDDENLY HE FORGETS ABOUT CLARA OSWALD! GGGGGRRRRRR!

This episode is shockingly bad and I don't recommend it to any living person. Just remember, if you watch this prepare to throw the remote at your television.

THOMAS

To be Honest I didn't like Heaven Sent, I actually thought the story and plot was rather boring and it just when on and on and on, having said that I was looking forward to its follow up Hell Bent as it shows the Doctor finally returning to his home Planet of Gallifrey, only that it kind of didn't. You do get to see Gallifrey but only briefly and the story is mostly about the Doctor trying to save Clara's life. When I saw the trailer My original thought was that the story was going to be about The Doctor meeting up with an old foe whether that be the Rani, The return of Morbius, The Valeyard (Although unlikely) Rassilon or even Borusa who we haven't seen since The Five Doctors.

It was later reveal that it would be Rassilon this time played by Game of Thrones star Donald Sumpter who unlike many of the other GOT cast who talents were wasted in Doctor who (case in point: Maisie Williams) is really good as Rassilon, too bad he wasn't in the episode for very long.

The story begins on Earth in the US state of Utah or Nevada (I can't be bothered remembering what bloody state it was, I want to see Gallifrey not Earth) when you see the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) with a guitar walking into a restaurant while Clara is behind the counter pretending to write whilst looking almost bored. She asks the Doctor if he wants anything, he replies by saying "I am looking for someone" later he tells her that he is looking for Clara. It then jumps into the Intro and as the credits rolls you see Moffatt's name under writer so you know it's going to be crap from he on end.

Flashing through as quickly as possible, the Doctor returns to Gallifrey and demands to see Rassilon who is Lord President of Gallifrey. When the Doctor meets Rassilon he tells him to get off his planet which he does after his soldiers turn against him including The General. The Doctor regains his titled as President of Gallifrey, later he meets up with the High Council as they discuss about the Time War and a half Dalek half Time Lord Hybrid that they were going to use in the war but never got a chance.

Uninterested, he asks them to go back in time to meet Clara. They take him to the moment before Clara's death. He then saves Clara's life and kills the General who was helping him anyway, the General regenerates into a black Woman which feels like they just got her to please the feminists out there just in case they called the show Sexist (Hooray for progress) and the story begins to go nowhere at this point, becoming more complicated and meaningless. The Doctor with Clara tries to escape the time lords and goes to the end of the Universe (for the third bloody time) and meets Ashildr (Maisie Williams). Ashildr tells the Doctor what he should do with Clara, erase her memories. Clara overhears this which leads into the Doctor erasing his own memories of Clara (I have no idea why) and then it goes back to the diner with the Doctor talking to Clara about Clara whilst trying to find Clara (Makes total sense to me). The two leave in their respective Tardises with Ashildr and Clara controlling the Tardis that the Doctor Stole on Gallifrey which is also the diner.You know what would have been better than this dribble? If there was a story where the Doctor has to face Rassilon in a scenario where Rassilon wants to destroy the Doctor in which the Doctor himself has to find some way to overthrow Rassilon.

Hell Bent's suffers from Steven Moffat's ego which has ruin the show ever since he took over from Russell T Davies as Showrunner back in 2010. Since then he has written bad script after bad script and also fires good well respected writers and replaces them with rubbish ones. Steven Moffat is a bit like an egocentric John Nathan-Turner, the only difference between the two is that JNT wanted more fans for the show but didn't care about the scripts, whilst Steven Moffat cares about the scripts but does not care about the fans.

The entire episode can be sum up in three words "It is sh*t". There is not one redeeming thing about this episode that I can find. The Hybrid for example is never explain it's just brought up, the story is all over the place, the trailer is misleading, the characters act oddly and out of place and on top of all that nothing adds up.

Peter Capaldi acts like he's got Alzheimer's and is incapable of being independent without Clara and that's one of the things I hate about her character. Don't get me wrong I don't hate the Actress who plays her but the thing with Clara is that the writers make her the main character in the show and also make her the leader instead of the Doctor which it shouldn't be. The show to me was never about the Doctor's Relationship with his Companion/Companions but was about the Adventures that the Doctor and his Companion/Companions embark on which is what the show should be about.

Not this: Would Danny Pink and Clara Oswald ever get back together again? What would The Doctor do without Clara? What is Clara thinking about? Clara is going to another planet what is she going to wear? NO!! This is Doctor Who, it's a Science Fiction show not freaking Downton Abbey or EastEnders! that's all I have to say about this Damn Episode.

Thordigda

Terrible conclusion to an amazing setup.

It was an okay episode but nothing more. WHY?! The whole Gallifrey storyline was only to get Clara back? REALLY? Nothing happened. Nothing. The Doctor became normal again so the Valeyard isn't happening either. This episode should be "Tribute to Clara Oswald"

I am extremely disappointed. It's the same as last year. Terrible conclusion to an amazing setup..

6/10 - Okay episode "Tribute to Clara Oswald" No action Terrible conclusion Terrible use of Gallifrey

+ The First Part of the Episode was fun + The Doctor's worse side + The original TARDIS + Gallifrey is back

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