Hell Bent (Doctor Who)
The Doctor becomes the Hybrid to save Clara.
"Hell Bent" is the twelfth and final episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, written by Steven Moffat and directed by Rachel Talalay. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 5 December 2015 and marks Jenna Coleman's final regular appearance as companion Clara. The episode sees the Doctor become the Hybrid in his attempt to save Clara's life.
Quick Facts
- Number
- 262
- Serial name
- Hell Bent
- Doctor
- Peter Capaldi – Twelfth Doctor
- Companion
- Jenna Coleman – Clara Oswald
- Director
- Rachel Talalay
- Writer
- Steven Moffat
- Producer
- Peter Bennett
- Executive producers
- Steven Moffat; Brian Minchin
Facts from the source article.
Plot
On Gallifrey, the Twelfth Doctor escapes his confession dial after four and a half billion years, alerting the Time Lords. As new President, the Doctor has the Time Lords retrieve Clara from her timeline just before her death, suspending her biological processes in a time loop so she has no pulse, ostensibly to consult her about the Hybrid. He then turns on the Time Lords, fatally shooting the General, who regenerates into a female form. The Doctor flees with Clara, stealing a TARDIS from the Capitol workshops, and admits he held out confessing to bargain for her life. He tries taking her far away to restore her pulse without returning her to her death, but fails. At the universe's end, they find the immortal Ashildr waiting in Gallifrey's ruins. Ashildr theorizes the Doctor and Clara together are the Hybrid, each pushing the other to catastrophic actions. The Doctor intends to erase Clara's memories with a neural block; Clara attempts to reverse it onto him. They activate the block together, uncertain of the outcome, and the Doctor concedes he became the Hybrid by trying to save her.
Production
The episode’s read-through happened on 4 August 2015, and filming started on 10 August 2015, wrapping up just two days later. Fuerteventura served as the location for the external shots. The diner featured at the end had been used before in the Eleventh Doctor story “The Impossible Astronaut.” Maisie Williams returned as Ashildr, Ken Bones played his character from “The Day of the Doctor,” and Clare Higgins appeared as Ohila. Timothy Dalton, who portrayed Rassilon in “The End of Time,” was asked to reprise the part but could not make it. Donald Sumpter took a role; his prior credits include The Wheel in Space (1968), The Sea Devils (1972), and the Sarah Jane Adventures story “The Eternity Trap” (2009) as Erasmus Darkening. Jami Reid-Quarrell came back as a Wraith, having previously played Colony Sarff and the Veil.
Reception
The episode was watched by 4.47 million viewers overnight in the UK, a 20.0% audience share, and received an Appreciation Index score of 82. Final figures were 6.17 million viewers with a 25.7% audience share. "Hell Bent" received positive reviews, scoring 86% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 8.05/10; the site's consensus states it "swerves from the expected storyline for the finale, and instead delivers a heartfelt resolution for The Doctor and his companion". Digital Spy's Morgan Jeffery called it "at points thrilling and affecting" but noted the shaky climax could overshadow its good points. Den of Geek's Simon Brew found it "a coherent, nerdy, often brilliant, sometimes a little frustrating, but always watchable piece of television". Amy Burns of the Independent described it as "an emotional and humorous episode" while admitting not understanding about half of what happened.
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