Trivia / Doctor Who S35 E12 "Hell Bent"

---

• Author's Saving Throw: The resolution of the story arc required Moffat to provide Clara with a happy (if bittersweet) ending, while not undoing the tragedy of her death in "Face the Raven"; the solution is to give her the chance to have further adventures within the last moment of her life provided she goes back to it eventually. At the same time, he had to erase the Doctor's memory of her so he wouldn't be consumed by grief and anguish that would undermine any future relationships — yet still establish that all the character-development moments of the past three seasons (most specifically those of "The Day of the Doctor", as well as the Twelfth Doctor's own emotional and social evolution) are maintained. The solution: The mind wipe does cause him to lose his memories of how Clara looked, talked, etc., (thus, for those who subscribe to the romantic interpretation of their relationship, this also would include related feelings for her) but his memories of the adventures he had with with her, and thus the impact they had on his character, turn out to remain substantially intact. This is supported by the fact that the Doctor's warmer personality, which evolved over two seasons thanks to his interaction with Clara, remained such into "The Husbands of River Song" and Series 10, rather than reverting to the colder, harsher Twelfth Doctor of old. However, this was ultimately a Saving Throw that needed another Saving Throw: Twelve's Grand Finale "Twice Upon a Time" had his memories completely restored shortly before he regenerated, as Moffat felt bad about his fate.
• The Cast Show Off: Once again, Peter Capaldi on guitar. It's really him playing the guitar, no special effects. When Jenna Coleman had to reshoot some of the footage in the diner at the very end of the sequence, Capaldi came in to play acoustic guitar off-camera.
• Completely Different Title:
  • The French title is "Montée en Enfer" (Ascension to Hell).
  • The Hungarian title of this episode is "Öt perc a pokol" (Five Minutes to Hell).
  • The Japanese title of this episode is "At the Edge of Time" (Not to be confused with the Thirteenth Doctor VR game Doctor Who: The Edge of Time). This is a curious case since most of Series 9's episode titles are given direct translations of their original titles in Japan.
• Conclusion in Another Medium: A downscaled version relating to plot points rather than an entire series: Viewers wondering if Rassilon ever tries to get back at the Doctor and/or if the Doctor ever speaks to Ohila again can find answers in the Expanded Universe stories Doctor Who: Supremacy of the Cybermen (a comic book miniseries) and The Lost Flame (a BBC Audio story), respectively.
• Deleted Scene: In a Doctor Who Magazine interview, Steven Moffat revealed that originally there was a conversation establishing that — rather than being exiled along with Rassilon — the Doctor sentenced the High Council to work in the sewers of Gallifrey. "Ohila remarks that only an aristocrat regards honest work as punishment." This would have foreshadowed Ashildr's claim that the Doctor is a "high-born Gallifreyan".
• Lying Creator: Prior to the broadcast of this episode both Steven Moffat and Peter Capaldi made public statements to the effect that Clara could never come back, ever, after what happened to her in "Face the Raven". However, this episode ends with Clara clearly able to make a return appearance at some point in the future. Possibly a case of Exact Words, as the Clara who's still roaming Time and Space is technically from one heartbeat before "what happened to her", not after. And since the Doctor is clearly shown to not remember Clara's appearance, voice, etc., not to mention the true depth of his feelings for her, there's next to no reason to bring them back together unless he somehow gets his memories restored — something that eventually happens shortly before he regenerates.
• Prop Recycling: The brand-new TARDIS' control room interior is re-used from the docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time.
• Trolling Creator:
  • In an interview, Sarah Dollard, writer of "Face the Raven", the opening episode of the trilogy, 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. To be fair, depending upon when the interview took place Dollard may legitimately not have known about the resolution of "Hell Bent", as Jenna Coleman has stated at convention panels that she was ignorant of the ending of the season when she filmed her "death" in "Face the Raven".
  • Steven Moffat also made repeated statements that Clara would never be able to return to the series after the events of the finale. Obviously, she (theoretically) can as long as she does so before returning to Gallifrey to face the raven. Peter Capaldi made similar remarks, but in comments for Doctor Who Extra released after the broadcast, he indicated that he much preferred this ending which leaves the door open for a return.
• What Could Have Been:
  • According to the published script, Clara and the Doctor's reunion in the extraction chamber was originally planned as being more tender, with the Doctor hugging her as he told her about her frozen heartbeat.
  • The script also originally had Clara lying to the Doctor about not overhearing his plans to wipe her memory, and not immediately telling him about hacking the neuroblock, making the deception somewhat more harder edged in tone.
  • Timothy Dalton was asked to reprise the role of Rassilon, but proved to be unavailable for filming, leading to the casting of Donald Sumpter in the role instead. Whether this would make the villain more threatening will never be known.
• You Look Familiar:
  • Donald Sumpter previously appeared as Enrico Casali in "The Wheel in Space", Commander Ridgeway in "The Sea Devils", and Erasmus Darkening in The Sarah Jane Adventures serial "The Eternity Trap".
  • Jami Reid-Quarrell returned as a Wraith, after previously playing Colony Sarff in "The Magician's Apprentice"/"The Witch's Familiar", as well as the Veil in "Heaven Sent". (Though "look familiar" is subjective given that he is completely covered in cloaks as the wraith, just as he was unrecognizable as the Veil.)

---