Face The Raven/Heaven Sent/Hell Bent
Stories 260-262, Episodes 823-825, Series 9 Episodes 10-12
Doctor: The Twelfth Doctor
Companion: Clara Oswald
In what may be one of the most impactful Doctor Who stories ever, we find out what it truly means to be the Doctor. From the streets of London, to a far-flung castle prison, to Gallifrey itself, this story is about the Doctor.
The Review
First off, Rigsy calls the TARDIS, he has a new tattoo on his neck…that’s counting down. He joins the Doctor and Clara, and they set off on a mission to find a hidden street in London. The sequencing is a load of fun, and includes Clara loving being on the edge of death. They find it, a street that is a refugee camp for aliens being run by Ashildr…who else? Apparently Rigsy murdered a woman, and he’s been sentenced to time-based death by spiritual raven.
The Doctor works out that Ashildr has framed Rigsy for some reason, because he knew him. Clara takes the countdown to death from Rigsy, because it will force Ashildr to retract the sentence. Using the prophetic nature of the murdered’s daughter, they learn that the woman Rigsy killed is still alive. To get her out, the Doctor has to get a teleportation bracelet stuck to him, but there’s bad news…Ashildr can’t save Clara.
Clara convinces the Doctor that everything will be okay, walks out, and is killed. That’s it. Dead. She’s gone. To add insult to injury, the Doctor is teleported away. The first episode of the story really succeeded in being a well-paced, great mystery, supported by more furious acting from Capaldi. Narratively, Clara’s death just makes sense. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s how it has to be. Then things starting getting even better.
The Doctor is alone, trapped in a castle haunted by a slowly moving monster who will kill him with a touch. It never stops, inevitably the Doctor will die. Frequently consulting his memory of Clara, he reasons that the monster stops with confessions about the ‘Hybrid’ that will re-arrange the castle. The episode is one hundred powered behind Capaldi, who acts his ass off. It is enthralling, and the Doctor finds an escape behind twenty feet of super-hard rock. All he needs to do: confess one more.
Eventually, the Doctor pieces it together: he’s been here before, thousands of times, and died every single time. But each time he’s punched the rock, inching closer to breaking it. When he dies, he creates another copy of himself from the teleport, and after billions of years punches his way through in one of the show’s most triumphant moments. The other side? Gallifrey. The Doctor tells a boy to warn the Capitol: he’s back.
Rassilon wants him dead, and the Doctor goes to his ‘family’, and refuses to lay down his arms until he convinces everybody to banish Rassilon. He convinces the General that Clara can help with the Hybrid, so they take her and instant before her death, and the Doctor shoots the General, and goes rogue to save Clara. Breaking all his rules, he runs to the Cloisters to break into the Matrix. All to steal a TARDIS, grab Clara, and run to the end of time where she should be brought back to life.
At the end of the universe though, Ashildr was waiting for him. They chat about the Hybrid, and bounce around some ideas, but the main result is the Doctor promising to wipe Clara’s mind to save her. Clara hears it all and switches the memory device to work backwards to try and convince the Doctor not to save her. They end up gambling on who’s mind will be erased, and it’s the Doctor’s. It brings us to the frame story of the Doctor telling this tale to Clara in a Nevada diner, but when we thought Clara couldn’t remember: it was the Doctor.
Clara walks into a backdoor where Ashildr is in there with the stolen TARDIS console. The restaurant phases away, leaving the Doctor his old TARDIS, where Rigsy’s graffiti of the dead Clara’s face allows the Doctor to piece together what happened. While Clara and Ashildr go off on their new journey through time, the Doctor goes off as well. This finale seemed like it would be about Gallifrey, and explosions, but it was about the Doctor…and now that includes Clara.
Really, this story was great from start to finish. The opening frame was expertly done, and had a gut-punch ending. Capaldi pretty much acted the entire middle piece by himself, an amazing story of perseverance, escaping an inescapable problem. From there, we conclude with the Doctor going to great lengths to save Clara, and ultimately giving her new life while losing her. All along, Clara was very similar to the Doctor, and as her tenure on the show continued she became almost his equal. And now she is.
There may have been a bit of pacing issues, but superb writing, direction, and acting, acting, acting, made this a finale to remember. This episode was Doctor Who at its finest, and wrapped up an amazing run. From uncovering a mystery in London, to dying for billions of years to punch through rock harder than diamond, to meeting the end of the universe to save one life…Doctor Who has never been better.
9/10: Clara gets the greatest exist for any companion, and the Doctor finds a bit of humanity perhaps. Remember, when the TARDIS appears, it may now be Clara and Ashildr to your rescue.
Reviewing Doctor Who from Start to Finish 