Top Number: Top (3) Doctor Who Series 9 Episodes

And so it’s that time of year again, the end of another series of Doctor Who, and what a series it has been. Many have said that this is by far the best series of New Who yet, and I can’t find a reason why it isn’t. The story arc throughout the series was on point, the character development was justified brilliantly, and the resolution at the end with the three part finale was the cherry on the cake: It couldn’t have ended better. However, at the same time, I’m struggling to actually say whether it is the best series in my personal opinion. I really want to say it is, but there’s always that voice at the back of my mind persuading me to say that is isn’t: The fact that it ended that way, the fact that the narrative was leading us in that direction, and how the mystery of the Hybrid wasn’t actually resolved, instead just pushed aside with a few theories being bounced around between two characters. I know the entire concept was constructed to make us think and develop our own ideas, but I believe that if that keeps happening, all Doctor Who is going to be about is endless questions and debates between fans, and if Steven Moffat isn’t careful, that can have a dramatic impact on whether people will want to sit down and watch it knowing that they are going to have to debate it with someone else to make the series make sense in their minds; or maybe it will strengthen people’s loyalties towards the show and it is because they can create their own theories, make the sure their own.

That’s why I am writing this article. I want to eliminate that voice and say, for definite, that this is the best finale.

So without further ado, let’s dive right into the three episodes that made up an incredible finale.

Face the Raven:

This episode’s story proved to Clara that she had gone too far by taking a risk that only the Doctor would have done – or what she believed at the time what the Doctor would have done – and she paid the price for it, or rather faced the raven.

For me, this was the perfect way of saying goodbye to Clara. Her gradual growth as her own unique character as well as steadily transforming into the Doctor, becoming addicted to his way of life; her actions of taking Rigsey’s ‘death sentence’ for lack of a better phrase, was what the Doctor would have done to save someone he cares about. She got so wrapped up in believing that the Doctor would fix it that her doing something like that wasn’t that big a deal. It was when the Doctor told her that there was nothing he could have done, that she realised she had gone too far. And that’s when the other side of her incredible character comes in. Instead of ranting and raging about it, she accepted her mistake without question. It was her acceptance of her actions that proved that Clara was still herself. Another aspect of being herself – a companion to the Doctor, if you will – was her final words to him. She ordered him to not take revenge on her, to not let his anger get the better of him because even he doesn’t know what he’ll do, and not to worry about being on his own for he is very bad at that. It is by being alone that there is no one there to stop him from going over the edge and doing whatever he likes to make sure the people who killed Clara pays for it.

‘Let me be brave’, were the words she told herself as she was walking out to face her mistake head on, and it was emotional from start to finish, and a brilliant end to her character arc.

Heaven Sent:

This episode went above and beyond what I had expected. I was intrigued from the moment that I read the synopsis. The Doctor being on his own for the entire episode was something that I had to see. I did have a couple of doubts about how the story would play out: I did think that it would fall flat on its face for it won’t have his companion, Clara, to deliver the same level of atmosphere as every other episode. Another doubt was it getting boring after a while?

This was all before I knew what was going to happen of course, and I was so happy that I could dismiss all of my doubts the moment the episode started. The Doctor dealing with the loss of his companion was a big factor in this episode, and mentioning that he sometimes doesn’t listen when trying to make the enemy appear before him, meant that he was probably going to take revenge. Seeing the Doctor sad, angry and determined was what drove the episode forward.

But then it took a different turn. The narrative changed from the Doctor being on his own to constantly being chased by a monster that would never stop unless he confessed to things. We learnt a lot about the Doctor: Why he left Gallifrey in the first place, that he knew who, or rather what the hybrid was all along. These two revelations were satisfying. They allowed us to see the Doctor as the Doctor. We were able to see the Doctor physically scared, properly terrified of that thing that was forever chasing him.

Then he figured out a way to get out of there, and that was when that thing finally got him. And he died. The Doctor actually died. Then he was reborn. He figured out that there must be a copy of himself, exactly how he was when he arrived and it was with his remaining life force that he was able to kick the machine into gear to create that copy. The ending couldn’t have been better. The shock of knowing that he was going round and round in an endless loop, dying and dying and dying over and over and over again, constantly re-enacting what he had been doing countless times, and that he had been doing that for over seven-hundred-thousand years and he kept on continuing to go round in circles for nearly two billion years, will always make this episode stand out from all the rest. There is a good chance that this episode will overtake Blink’s legacy as being one of the greatest, if not, the greatest episode of New Who.

However, the surprises weren’t over yet. After he had physically punched his way out that place, we discovered that he was actually trapped in the confession dial all along. Then we realised that he was on Gallifrey as well. That cliff-hanger, where he believed himself to be the hybrid, made me want to build myself a TARDIS and travel into the future by seven days an watch the episode there and then. I just couldn’t wait. The tension and the expectations have been built and the audience was left in utter unknowing what to do when the credits started to roll.

Hell-bent:

“If you took everything from him, betrayed him, trapped him, and broke both his hearts... how far might the Doctor go?”

This is an extremely tricky episode to write about. As much as I love every aspect of it, there is always going to be a few things that I can’t say are good, even though, the moment I start diving into the reasoning behind the episode being bad, I always find myself sitting on the fence saying, ‘I don’t know.’

The good part about this episode was the eventual return of Gallifrey and the Time Lords. The bad part about this episode was how both were underused. Or were they? The Doctor had been pushed to breaking point from being in that confession dial, which we later found out was a torture chamber and all part of his plan, so he had the right to be mad at them. He also has the right to be furious at them about killing Clara. And that is where this episode’s narrative lie. The Doctor was hell-bent on saving Clara. No matter what. Sure, many people are saying that the episode wasted so much opportunities with Gallifrey and the Time Lords, but was there really any need for more opportunities. They pushed him to breaking point, beyond, of course he would retaliate. How he did so, without saying a single word justified the Doctor’s position.

The Hybrid mystery is left unanswered and is another major point that brought people to the conclusion that this episode was not that great. Why set up something all throughout the series if you’re not going to give us a satisfying answer by the end of it? A few theories were suggested by the Doctor and Me, and that’s it. But I believe that the Hybrid was, in fact, the Doctor himself. The Doctor was forced out of character, but he still tried to be true to himself and his promise, and when he is angry, he will do whatever he wants. He said so himself when threatening Me, ‘have you ever heard of anyone who stopped me?’ The Doctor was out of character, when he told Lord Rassilon to get off his planet, and to be honest, he had every right to be. But when we realised that this was all part of the Doctor’s plan to rescue Clara, it brings him back to being the Doctor once more and bringing justice to his promise: ‘never give up, never give in.’ And in a way, he was never cruel or cowardly either. He never said a word or raised a finger, yet he brought Lord Rassilon down, banishing him from his planet. He utilised his anger to give him the determination needed to save the person he cares about, and that is who the Doctor is, even when pushed to breaking point. He stilled saved Clara. And that is my theory as to who the Hybrid really is, the amalgamation of the two sides of the Doctor himself.

However, the word saved, takes on another meaning in this episode, and does bring the meaning behind Clara’s death back from the dead. No one was expecting Clara to be in this episode, considering she died, and so by bringing her back was just as big of a risk as Clara’s. When we saw her being extracted from her timeline and therefore preventing her from dying, I thought that, that was a terrible thing to do for Clara’s death had meaning behind it. It was the perfect send off and for her to then be alive would make her death and the reason behind it one-hundred percent pointless and unnecessary. However, everything was explained and we discovered that she isn’t technically alive, but time locked. It was only down to advanced technology that she was able to move and talk freely. As the episode came to the end, we were presented with the most shocking moment, the Doctor forgets Clara entirely. The opening moments led us to predict that Clara has forgotten about the Doctor and he was merely just saying goodbye in his way, but it turned out that it was the complete opposite. The Doctor had forgotten all about her. The moment when he said that he would instantly know who she was if he saw her was one of the most emotional scenes of the entire episode as you could see Clara’s heart break.

Oh, I almost forgot, at this point, Clara had stolen a TARDIS and gained a companion in the form of Me. I know right, how sudden was that? Secretly, I am hoping that Steven wanted to get back at all the critics for saying that Clara was becoming too like the Doctor by actually emulating his life. By flying off in her own TARDIS with Me as a companion, with the ability to do whatever and go wherever she wants before she goes back to Gallifrey the long way round, couldn’t be more perfect. The meaning behind Clara’s death still holds itself together because, at some point, she will have to go back and face the raven. She will have to accept her death all over again, bringing the justification back around in full circle. The Doctor saved Clara in the sense that she will now be able to live for as long as she shall wish, but didn’t save her because she still died. It’s a fixed point in time.

Conclusion:

I’ve said this before and I will say it again: Steven’s writing was exceptional and Peter and Jenna’s acting were superb. Together, it makes those three episodes something that have generated so many reactions among fans, it has slid into the realms of controversial. I hope that I have put forward a good enough argument for why I believe this is the best finale in New Who.

The Doctor can now move on with his life, as can Jenna and Me, begin again with a new slate. When the Christmas special hits our screens on Christmas Day, we will be seeing a fresh Doctor, one that doesn’t have to worry about so much. How Gallifrey and the Time Lords are going to return, I have no idea, but I’m sure that is going to be big no matter what happens.

I started this article with the intention of eliminating that voice at the back of my mind trying to get me to say that this was the worst finale ever, and although I that voice at the back of my mind hasn’t completely gone away, I doubt it will ever go, but at least I have made it back away slightly.

Here are the necessary links to the IMDB pages for all three episodes:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4701538/?ref_=ttep_ep11
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4701542/?ref_=ttep_ep12
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4701544/?ref_=ttep_ep13

Thanks for reading
Antony Hudson
(TonyHadNouns)