Inspirations: Hell Bent

Hell Bent closes the ninth series of the revived Doctor Who, and has the main job of trying to tie up various story arc points - and of writing out Clara Oswald as the companion.

The arc this season has been the issue of "the Hybrid" with a number of candidates put forward - the Doctor himself, the Doctor / Clara, Davros, Time Lords / Daleks, Ashildr, Zygon Osgood...

Steven Moffat also wanted the Doctor to return to Gallifrey to explore some of its mythos - including that of regeneration. He would arrive there as a man out of control - out for revenge for what the Time Lords had done to him in the previous episode, and for what had happened to Clara, even though she had died through her own misadventure and had specifically asked him not to hold anyone but herself responsible for her fate.

One inspiration Moffat had for the Doctor at this time was the character Shane, as played by Alan Ladd in the 1953 Western.

This in turn inspired the director to give the opening sequences at the barn-like building (first seen in The Day of the Doctor and later shown to be a childhood haunt of the young Doctor in Listen) a Spaghetti Western feel.

As well as these elements, Moffat also wanted to conclude Ashildr's story - showing her still living at the end of the universe and therefore older, and somewhat wiser, than the Doctor himself - someone whom he would now listen to.

When it came to looking at regeneration, Moffat had noted that a number of Time Lords had properly died after being fatally injured instead of regenerating, such as the War Chief, Morbius and incidental characters in The Deadly Assassin and Arc of Infinity.

Moffat wrote a sequence in which the Doctor would deliberately 'kill' a Time Lord - though first checking that they were not in their final incarnation. This scene is contentious to say the least, as the Doctor is (a) seen to wield a gun and (b) has zero justification for shooting the General - who regenerates into female form (and a different ethnicity), and who suggests that they have usually been female throughout their existence.

The General, as played by Ken Bones, had been introduced in The Day of the Doctor.

Ohila of the Sisterhood of Karn appears on Gallifrey, having been seen earlier in the opening episode of the series, but first introduced in the 50th Anniversary prequel mini-episode Night of the Doctor. 

The Brain of Morbius had previously stated that Karn was in the same region of space as Gallifrey and there were ancient ties between the Sisterhood and the Time Lords. (Though for her to be here, when Gallifrey is time-locked in a pocket universe at the end of Time, she must have been there on the last day of the Time War - except she's on Karn in The Magician's Apprentice...).

Rassilon also returns, though in regenerated form. (Timothy Dalton was busy making Penny Dreadful in Ireland at the time and unavailable to reprise the role so it went to Donald Sumpter, who had previously appeared in The Wheel in Space, The Sea Devils and SJA: The Eternity Trap).

After banishing Rassilon,  the Doctor assumes the Presidency of the High Council of Time Lords - a role he previously adopted in The Invasion of Time, and which was offered to him again in The Five Doctors. By Trial of a Time Lord we learned that he had been deposed, though the Inquisitor offered the role to him once again - only for him to suggest she take it up herself.

Moffat wanted the original TARDIS console room design to be seen at some stage in the story. One had been recreated for the 2013 drama An Adventure in Space and Time, and this was currently on display at the Doctor Who Experience a short distance from the BBC studios. With the Doctor arriving on Gallifrey via the confession dial, leaving his own TARDIS behind, it was easy enough for a different one to be included as he would require it to get back to his own, left behind in present day London.

The implication is that this is the default interior design for all TARDISes. 

This one has a white console, whereas the Doctor's was seen to be pale green in the Pertwee era, however. (Painted this colour to appear white in B&W of course).

That TARDISes appear to be metal cylinders in outward appearance matches the scene in The Name of the Doctor where we saw the Doctor and Susan first steal the ship. The ones seen in Part 10 of The War Games were more box-like, as was the Master's in The Claws of Axos.

Moffat's decision on Clara's ultimate fate was that she would become a traveller in space and time just like the Doctor whom she sought to emulate - and so this TARDIS could then be given to her.

Moffat never intended Clara to stay dead - a trope of his going back to the many deaths of Rory Williams. (Unfortunately this simply undermines the conclusion to Face The Raven and much of Heaven Sent, which is why so many fans dislike the episode).

The diner is the same one seen in The Impossible Astronaut - really a venue located on Cardiff Bay - with its distinctive Elvis painting on the restroom door.

Making cameo appearances are a Dalek, Cyberman and Weeping Angel in the Cloisters, plus one of the Cherub angels introduced in The Angels Take Manhattan.

Next time: four weddings, but no funeral...