This story in a nutshell: The Doctor has returned home and it's business as usual...
Indefinable: The saving grace of the series at the moment,
Peter Capaldi is the shining beacon of quality that the show simply cannot
topple. Although it is trying hard. Hell Bent is salvaged by the quality of its
performances, Capaldi in particular really believes in the dodgy material he is
being asked to sell and as a result it is at least half possible to buy into.
He spends the first fifteen minutes of Hell Bent in silence (when words are
often this incarnations weapon of choice) which is quietly unnerving and at
least injects a level of unpredictability to the scenes that otherwise fail to
ignite in any fashion. Whilst the acting is superb, I really don't buy into the
characterisation that I am seeing here. The Doctor is suddenly a modern day
rock hero on his planet who can turn the head of the army and stage a coup
without uttering a word? He is willing to murder somebody in cold blood to
prove a point? He's willing to break all the laws of time in order to save one
life and risk the end of the universe that he has spent so long trying to
protect...just so he doesn't have to be lonely? He's characterised as somebody
unhinged, perhaps unsurprising in the wake of Heaven Sent but in a way that
shows the character out of control and lacking any sound judgement. This is not
the sort of Doctor I would want to travel in the TARDIS with. Irrational and
overly emotional and dangerously out of control. Looking at his character as a
whole, series nine has done some pretty loopy and unfortunate things with
Capaldi's Doctor. Where series eight felt as though it had a plan for him and
his relationship with Clara, this season has bent the character out of shape in
very strange ways. To a point where even an actor of Capaldi's calibre has
trouble convincing. His rant in the TARDIS about defying the fate of Clara at
the expense of the was an especially troublesome moment for the actor because
it felt like even he didn't believe what he was saying. We're supposed to buy
into the fact that the Doctor can stage a coup on the strength of the fact that
he won the Time War and saved the planet. I can buy into that. But I need a
little more convincing than one line to cover how an entire planet can change
it's allegiance on a sixpence. One line. Sheesh. You cannot make sweeping
reforms like that and cover it with one line. It's all part of Moffat's (and
Davies' before him) plan to immortalise the character, to mythologize him. But
it's elevating him without context. I don't need you to keep telling me how
amazing the Doctor is. I already know it. His 'Get of my planet' is one the
worst lines since 'Clara, I'm not your boyfriend' and for exactly the same
reason. It should never have been said. Arrogant prick. He's so unhinged by the
climax that he is scaring the life out of even Clara. She is frightened at the
lengths he might go to to protect her and she has to make steps to intervene. The
sooner he moves on from all this, he better.
Impossible Girl: Clara is the perfect example of the law of
diminishing returns. This is her fourth exit from the show (Kill the Moon,
Death in Heaven, Face the Raven and Hell Bent) and with each successive attempt
to prise his hands from her apron strings Moffat loses conviction more and
more. She has become his Rose, a character he simply cannot say goodbye to and
one that becomes more tedious as a result. I thought we had made a definitive
farewell to the character when she looked the raven in the eye but I should
have known better and despite the get out cause that she will ultimately return
to that scene and meet her maker the show has effectively ducked out of its one
brave decision in series nine and left her character available for possible
return visits. Is two and a half seasons of this non-entity not enough? I
better not tell you the sort of language I was wielding when Clara walked free
of her death and wound up on Gallifrey. I'm the biggest cynic when it comes to
Moffat's death-free universe but even I was convinced after Clara's mile long
speech in Face the Raven that Moffat had finally decided to let somebody go.
The reset here renders the previous episode pointless - the whole point of that
Face the Raven was put her out of the way and now that has been unpicked what
was he point of it? The Doctor loves Clara so much that he is willing to bring
the universe to the brink of calamity? Is that something the show is really
saying? Then he's even more dangerous than I suspected because she's really not
worth it. Because it ditches any kind of epic narrative in favour of more Clara
love I'm guessing that your reaction to Hell Bent entirely rests on your
opinion of his latest companion. I'm sick to death of her so wasting a
potentially riveting homecoming in favour of setting Clara free in the universe
again is particularly tedious. Clara is a character that is drowning in the
shows history - she was there at the moment when the Doctor left Gallifrey, she
was there at pivotal moments throughout all of his lives, she was there when he
saved Gallifrey from the Time War and she was there when he finally managed to
set foot on his home planet again. She's almost like an anchor, preventing the
show from setting sail into a creative furtive future. The only thing that
salvages the fact that Clara returns for yet an even weaker conclusion is Jenna
Coleman's sincere performance. For two and a half seasons she has fought against
Clara's insipid characterisation. I don't think she succeeded but I lover a
trier and she has at least managed to develop a fine rapport with Capaldi.
They've just milked it for too long now.
Dreadful Dialogue: 'On pain of death no-one take a selfie!'
'Was I supposed to understand any of that?'
'Get out of that TARDIS and face me boy!' - what the hell
was that line all about? Since when did the Sisterhood of Karn start
threatening the Doctor?
'The universe is over - it doesn't have a say anymore! As of
this moment I'm answerable to no-one!'
The Good:
* There was an episode of Stargate Atlantis where the
station was under siege and the camera appeared to be swinging around the
exterior of the station in a dizzying, vertiginous fashion. It was quite an
effect given that the city was rendered entirely in CGI. Heaven Sent achieves a
similar effect on Gallifrey, offering us a guided tour of the citadel in a way
that we have never experienced before. It's spectacular and visually arresting.
But it reminds me of films like The Phantom Menace, the money being spent on
how it looks to paper over the artistic faults. The scenes in the Council
chamber are pure Phantom Menace. That's not a compliment.
* Moffat's obsession with America continues. And why not?
Doctor Who doesn't have to remained tied to England all the time. Although
given the many hops to the land of the free of late it is perhaps paying lip
service to a continent that is far more receptive to Doctor Who than this one
at the current time. It makes for a more interesting visual than the show
landing in London again but there are plenty of places that Doctor Who hasn't
gone still. At the moment it feels anchored between two geographical settings.
* The one turn of the plot that I really enjoyed (because I
was hoodwinked) was the assumption I had that Clara was the one that had lost
her memory, rather than the Doctor.
* A regeneration from a white man to a black woman. It's
Moffat pushing buttons but he must have gotten such a vehement reaction from
some quarters that it had to be worth it. Although the way to counter sexism in
Doctor Who is not to reverse it onto men with lines like 'Dear God how do you
cope with all that ego?'
A few character beats that rang true: Clara's reaction to
the Doctor suffering four and a half billion years, Clara accepting that her
time is up, the notion of the Doctor running away from his people again,
* The original TARDIS is beautifully recreated and looks
wonderful on screen. I think that might be enough for some people to rate this
as 10/10 on it's own. But it's another kiss to the past in an episode that is
full of kisses to the past. It's the best one, it fills me with the same warmth
as a close hug and warm porridge but it's indulgent all the same. What's
interesting is how this console works so vividly in 2015...they could have returned to the original from 2005
and it would have worked.
* My favourite scene in the entire piece took me by
surprise. A moment of poetry at the end of time with Ashildr, the girl who
lived. Maisie Williams looking radiant and giving the sort of confident
performance that I am used to her in Game of Thrones. Acting-wise, this is her
strongest moment in the season. Gorgeously lit and with some thoughtful things
to say, this is a little ocean of calm in a world of crassness.
* Despite the fact that I have been complaining about the
electric guitar all season I have to say the Clara piece that the Doctor plays
in the diner at the end of the episodes really touched me. It was the most
impressive thing about that scene. Don't say I'm not changeable.
The Bad:
* I remember Russell T Davies discussing how he insisted on
anchoring Doctor Who in reality, to ensure that the show kept one foot in the
real world show that the audience had something that they could buy into. That
they could relate to. He didn't want lots of stories set on dull planets that
failed to connect to people. That's probably why he got rid of Gallifrey in the
first place. And what a sound creative decision that was in my eyes. Gallifrey
has only ever really worked in one story for me (The Deadly Assassin) and in
that story it was perversely playing against type to produce another
Hinchcliffe/Holmes horror/thriller pastiche. Otherwise it is simply a
terrifically boring stock SF planet full of pompous characters spouting stilted
dialogue involving a horrific amount of technobabble. Heaven Sent happily picks
up that mantle and reminds us of why Gallifrey is such a tedious place to
visit. Not even Capaldi's unnerving silence can reduce these scenes to anything
above stock SF blandness. Simon turned to me halfway through the episode whilst
the Doctor and Clara were poking around in the guts of the planet and talking
nothing but continuity and technoshite and declared he had no idea what was
going on, that he had no interest in what was going on and that he failed to
see how anyone that was not a Doctor Who geek could be getting any enjoyment
out of this. I can see his point. Setting up the return of Gallifrey was a
massive deal, getting the Doctor back to his planet was a huge struggle...and
this is the result? It tarnishes the era of the 12th Doctor in a spectacularly
disappointing way. I wish this had been Moffat's swansong and in some ways I
wish it had been Capaldi's too because I think it would have pushed the
showrunner into making some more savvy creative choices with the Doctor's
homeworld. Why wouldn't you re-imagine Gallifrey in your own image? Why would
you stick with the same palette as The Invasion of Time? This could have been a
savage, war torn land turned to madness...but instead it's vanilla Gallifrey
restored to it's factory settings. I would have loved to have gone down into
the bowels of the planet and seen obscene experiments being performed on all
the races of the universe, the lengths that the Time Lords went to to try and
defeat the Daleks. Something truly horrific and immoral that would question the
Doctor's loyalty to his world.
* This is so laden with continuity, both from the past and
the shows recent history, that it could be written by the love child of Gary
Russell, David A. McIntee and Craig Hinton. It's obsessed with the shows
history in a way that is detrimental to it's creative present. Why would Foxes
Don't Stop Me Now be playing in an American Diner cum TARDIS? Because they
thought it was cute. Why would the Doctor play Clara's theme on his electric
guitar? Because they thought it would be cute. Both are utterly self indulgent
and turn up in the first scene and tell you everything you need to know about
the episode ahead. The Matrix, Rassilon, the Sisterhood of Karn, the Doctor
returning to the scene of his near defeat in The Day of the Doctor, whistling
the Doctor's theme (at least that was a fine innovation, very memorable and
highlighting the western tone), the Chancellery Guard, the Matrix, the
confession dial, Clara's death, a Dalek, Cyberman and Weeping Angel, Shobogans,
'four knocks', the original TARDIS console, Missy/the Master. Hilariously one
fan on Gallifrey Base staunchly refused to admit that this episode did not pay
lip service to the fans. Are you having a laugh. There's probably more I
haven't mentioned. I'm saying there isn't a place for continuity, I'm just
saying it shouldn't damage your chance of understanding if you aren't a fan. Series
nine with Daleks, Davros, base under siege stories, Zygons and Time Lords has
been obsessed with the past. Stop it.
* Donald Sumpter is a great actor. Like Maisie Williams his
work on Game of Thrones was extraordinary. In a role that is both underwritten
and overwritten (which is some feat), Sumpter is at sea trying to bring any
kind of gravitas to Rassilon. He resorts to growling and chewing the scenery
and the result is one of the least effective guest turns since the show
returned in 2005. Timothy Dalton was vivid and terrifying in The End of Time,
Sumpter follows that with a deflated performance.
* Why are the Sisterhood of Karn in this? What narrative
purpose do they serve? Why are the Gallifreyan Outsiders all wearing normal
clothes now? Why are the Time Lords hated? It's not like anybody even remembers
them anymore.
* The Hybrid has to be the most half arsed arc that the
series has ever kicked up. Again Moffat is trying to tie his storylines into
the misty dawn of Doctor Who history to give it some kind of status but the
fact that this awe inspiring Hybrid has never been mentioned before rather
gives the impression that it has been made up on the fly and slotted in
unconvincingly. Again Moffat promises a huge revelation and what transpires barely
makes any sense. Is the Doctor the hybrid? Are the Doctor and Clara the hybrid?
Is Ashildr? Do you really care? Is it relevant in any way? Does it have
anything to do with the Time Lords and the Daleks? Was it all overblown pomp?
Of course it was. It felt like the show was trying to cash in on the popularity
of the Doctor/Donna concept. And failing. And that's not the only concept
stolen from Journey's End.
* I hate how easy this episode is on the Doctor. Steven
Moffat is trying so hard to maintain the status quo from Face the Raven (the
death of a companion) and save his favourite creation (Clara) that he contrives
a situation that allows both characters to walk away Scot free whilst
pretending that the show has still done something brave. Clara is still going
to die, she is existing in between her penultimate and last heartbeat but for
all intents and purposes her adventures are going to go on and on in that
moment for as long as the viewer (or Moffat) wants them to. I have been saying
all year that the show has been afraid to make tough choices and this is
probably the worst example, it's the most blatant example of chickenshitedness
for many, many an episode. A bold show would murder off a character and move
on. Doctor Who arranges a way for her to survive because people just don't die
on this show anymore. And the whole idea of the Doctor not remembering Clara
strikes me as a way of trying to capture the melancholy and unfairness of his
situation with Donna in Journey's End...and it even chicken shits out of that
by having the Doctor remember certain details about their adventures. Moffat
could have been truly brave (like Davies) and erased their entire time together
(but this time in the Doctor's mind) but instead he maintains the status quo in
as neat a way as possible. I suppose at least it means the show can move on
from her character now, once and for all. But I would have loved for the show
to go for the gut with a knife, instead of waving it at the audience and then
putting it away and letting everything continue as normal. Essentially this
episode exists to complicatedly give Steven Moffat the chance to take the easy
option. Thanks for that.
* I do like a happy ending. I do. But the Clara floating off
in an American diner for adventures with Ashildr is her least compelling exit
of the four. It's certainly the most idiotic. And it means Clara could come
back again.
The Shallow Bit: Clara as the waitress. Phew. If she had to
go out here, at least she looks wonderful.
Result: There were times during the shows hiatus in the
wilderness years where it was being used as the product of wish fulfilment,
turning it into really bad fan fiction and much of Hell Bent reeks of that kind
of fannish discharge. Half Gallifrey porn, half shippers paradise and almost
entirely wank. The build up to Hell Bent was extraordinary. It felt the show
was going to say something huge about Gallifrey and it's future but ultimately
all it had to say was the Doctor loves Clara and the show lacks guts. Which is
not what I was expecting. What irritated my no end is that it takes the
potential of Steven Moffat's personal finest achievement in his own era (The
Day of the Doctor) and throws it away, it wastes the return of Gallifrey which
should have been a spectacular event in favour of more obsession with the least
interesting companion to have stepped out of NuWho. Clara has become Moffat's
Rose, an unfortunate anchor in the series that he cannot toss away. There are
moments of poetry in Hell Bent, some wonderful lines and the acting is first
rate but so much of the episode is overblown, drawn out, clever clever and incomprehensible.
I have no idea where it leaves the casual viewer because we're playing lip
service to the fans again, the show having a very similar feel to the
mid-eighties. What it desperately needs is a shot of originality and
innovation. Doctor Who is leaning so heavily on the past now that it can only
make tentative steps forward. It's in danger of disappearing up it's own arse
crack completely. Heaven Sent proved the sort of rich furrow the show can
plough once Clara was out of the way but as soon as she's back we're drowning
in continuity again. Now she has moved on perhaps we can take a few risks and
try some new things again. What's next then? Oh, River Song. Sincere
performances (for the most part) are what salvage a few scenes but for me this
was the weakest of the Steven Moffat finales because it exists for the show to
lack balls in a season where the show has lacked balls: 3/10
