WATCH ALONG | DOCTOR WHO | 9x12 | Hell Bent
Added 2023-08-04 15:24:38 +0000 UTCA Few Notes:
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Comments
He remembers it all, he says so in Heaven Sent. So while his body is a couple of days or weeks old, his mind is 4.5 Billion years old.
Steve Combs
2023-08-07 09:56:34 +0000 UTCOk looking at this as a two parter. On initial watch I rated it 4/5. I think this was because series7 and 8 was not among my favourite series and I was at this time also a little tired of Clara having gone off her in series 8. However in retrospect with repeated viewings my estimation of this episode has gone up and it's a 5/5. It's also in my top ten new Who stories at number 6. Heaven Sent: Capaldi is phenomenal in this story, carrying it mostly by himself. I love the scenes inside the Tardis in his head. It's really creepy in places and a good mystery with a interesting revel as we find out what's happening and where he is. Hell's Bent: Not as strong but I still like it. There are some great scenes between the Doctor and Clara, The return of the classic console room. My one niggle is so much is made about how much time the Doctor was in the confession dial when it was established in Heaven Sent that the Doctor is reset each time. So for him really it was only a matter of days or weeks.
Jade Ellis
2023-08-05 13:29:19 +0000 UTCWe can't give anything away because of spoilers,but there is a story between here and series 12 which,imo,is an absolute masterpiece! Not just a superb Who episode,but a wonderful piece of science-fiction in its own right. I hope you'll enjoy it more,on a rewatch. :)
Ian Smith
2023-08-05 11:39:38 +0000 UTCThe Doctor didn't lose all of his memories. Only the memories of Clara and the hybrid. You were right that they are 2 halves of the hybrid. Each of them would go to extreme lengths to save each other. The end result would be the destruction of Gallifrey. So the Doctor tries to wipe Clara's mind so that destroys one half of the hybrid. Clara makes it backfire so that the it's the Doctor's half of the hybrid that is destroyed (he only needs his memories of Clara wiped). These 3 episodes are just stunning together. They are my favorite 3 sequential episodes in the history of the show.
SeeJay
2023-08-05 06:43:58 +0000 UTCThis episode never gets old. It's my favourite series finale of New Who for sure!! It's perfect to me. Peter said that The Doctor kept calling Clara his "friend" while talking to Me because he was too scared to admit that he loves her because he knew he was going to lose her again. And that's beautiful. The Doctor and Clara's relationship is all about the unsaid things. That's why he says he has a "duty of care" all the time instead of saying he loves her and that's why we didn't get to hear what they said to each other in the cloisters and that's why he called her his friend when he knows she's SO much more than that. People can and do disagree with me on this, but to me The Doctor loved Clara more than anyone else. More than Rose and even more than River. The Doctor literally faught through the confession dial for 4 and a half billion years, went against every rule and law of the universe, shot the general, betrayed his own people, stole another TARDIS and gave up his own memories all just for the chance of saving her life. He's never gone that far for anyone else. If that's not true love then what is? You didn't seem to pick up on this, but the song The Doctor was playing on his guitar was Clara's theme tune that we hear all the time on the show. I love that. I love the way this episode was set out. With them flashing back and forth between the diner and Gallifrey. So clever. And that mention of Amy and Rory was great, it is definitely the same diner and The Doctor said it was on the other side of the hill. So I guess that the real diner that 11, Amy, Rory and River were in during the series 6 opening story is still on the other side of the hill and Clara just made her TARDIS look like it. But yeah, that's such a great detail. I just can't express my love for this episode enough. From now on there are no episodes that I really like until series 12. But I'll watch them all with you anyway just because I like your reactions a lot. And there are still some good moments in these next two series tbf. ๐
Siobhan Linehan
2023-08-05 04:27:29 +0000 UTCI still really enjoy this season. One thing that I think you may have been confused about though; is that the doctor didn't REALLY lose all his memories. He remembers everything he did with Clara, he just doesn't remember Clara. Its like he knows he did these adventures with Clara but its like a black silhouette where Clara is. He can't see her face, her voice, any details about her. Just that she was there. That's why he told her at the diner that there was an ice warrior on a submarine, and a mummy on the Orient Express.
Michael T
2023-08-05 00:23:58 +0000 UTCAhhh, you've reached it. Probably the most divisive episode in the whole of New Who. Everyone seems to have very strong feelings on it. Personally I'm in the love camp. The hybrid stuff is all nonsense and pretty pointless, and I never especially enjoyed Maisie Williams in this role. But I'll forgive this episode basically anything for the Clara/Doctor scenes. And Clara cheating death and flying off in her own stolen TARDIS with her own companion is the perfect development for her. She always wanted to be like the Doctor and now she is. It was also a great response to all the people who moaned about the show becoming 'Clara Who' and saw Face the Raven as her getting her comeuppance. And a nice subversion of Donna's fate. Honestly didn't think Moff had it in him! I always cry and I always cheer at the end.
Lois Lane
2023-08-04 22:43:23 +0000 UTCTHIS is the masterpiece episode of the season! It subverts viewers expectations every step of the way - right up to the final shot. This episode was met with disappointment and derision when first broadcast - possibly because the previous episode appeared to be heralding something momentous. This IS a momentous story - just not the story people were expecting :)
Ian Smith
2023-08-04 17:29:46 +0000 UTCIt took me a while to figure out who the Hybrid was too. But, The Doctor (Timelord) & Clara (Human) are the Hybrid put together by The Master because she knew that chaos would ensue. Remember Missy said "You'd go to hell if she asked and she would." Quite the matchmaker. Missy knew this would occur, that them being together would cause problems for the world & so kept them together. The Doctor had to forget Clara so the Hybrid would be destroyed. So only the memories of Clara were taken from him. Steven Moffat doesnt think Doctor Who should be a show for death so thats why he doesnt really kill off the companions and always leave it open ended.
Tommy
2023-08-04 17:21:45 +0000 UTCFor long-time fans it was a treat to see a recreated classic-era TARDIS console room, although they did make one rather amusing screw-up with it. If you watch the episode again, you might notice that we never see the Doctor actually coming in or going out through the doors; the editing always cuts around that moment. That's because (as Moffat later confessed) the set design and/or construction team somehow got the height of the doorway wrong, so that Peter Capaldi couldn't get through it without ducking down. There are a couple of shots where the error is obvious once you know it's there. Nevertheless, for a former super-fan of the classic series like Capaldi (or, indeed, Moffat) working on that set must have been a thrill. I love that Moffat's script for the episode includes the following stage direction: "The Doctor is flying around the classic console, like a distinguished Scottish actor who's slightly too excited for his own good." :-)
Steven Cooper
2023-08-04 17:00:01 +0000 UTC
