The final two episodes of Doctor Who Series 9, Heaven SentandHell Bent, may still be weeks away, but the BBC have released a brief synopsis for each episode, along with other tidbits of information, which reveal plot points that would definitely be considered spoilers. Read the synopses under the cut:
Heaven Sent:
Trapped in a world unlike any other he has seen, the Doctor faces the greatest challenge of his many lives. One final test. And he must face it alone. Pursued by the fearsome creature known only as the Veil, he must attempt the impossible. If he makes it through, Gallifrey is waiting…
Hell Bent:
If you took everything from him, betrayed him, trapped him, and broke both his hearts…how far might the Doctor go?
Returning to Gallifrey, the Doctor faces the Time Lords in a struggle that will take him to the end of time itself. Who is the Hybrid? And what is the Doctor’s confession?
The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine gives us a look into the final episodes:
Long before the Time War, the Time Lords knew it was coming. Like a storm on the wind. There were many prophecies and stories. Legends before the fact. One of them was about a creature called the Hybrid: half Dalek, half Time Lord. The ultimate warrior. But whose side would it be on? Would it bring peace, or destruction? Was it real, or a fantasy?
“I confess: I know the Hybrid is real,” the Doctor proclaims. “I know where it is, and what it is. I confess: I am afraid.”
On top of the apparent return of Gallifrey, these episodes will also include the departure of Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald, the details of which have been closely guarded by the BBC.
In the Doctor Who Series 9 finale, the Doctor faces the Time Lords in a struggle that will take him to the end of time. Watch the Next Time trailer for Hell Bentabove!
Something rather interesting from The Day of the Doctor draft with Eccleston! While we wouldn’t learn that the Barn™ was a place from the Doctor’s childhood untilListen(and not seeing that it’s still useduntilHell Bent), this Ninth Doctor draft actually has the Moment take a moment (heh) to explain the bizarre location (the middle of a goddamn Gallifreyan desert):
Interesting to keep in mind, as the finalized The Day of the Doctor certainly shows a much different location for the Barn™ than the later Hell Bent:
Middle of the desert vs roughly at the base of a mountain.
And I’ve half-jokingly (and half-completely goddamned seriously) discussed how I like thinking that mountain is Mount Lung/Plutarch, the crater in its side representing House Lungbarrow’s former spot, and the Barn™ being one of the shelters for the few remaining Cousins not sucked into other Houses or Faction Paradox.
Now,granted (before anyone takes this too seriously or tries to be pedantic), NuWho’s Gallifrey has never been geographically consistent or maintained the same look/elements through the seasons, mostly due to ever evolving special effects and filming locations. Also, the draft with the Ninth Doctor seems to strongly imply the Doctor actually has no familiarity with the Barn™ at all, and given that it is very much a draft (with both Eccleston and a non-Billie Piper version of the Moment), literally none of this means anything serious.
But, the idea of the Moment creating Lungbarrow’s old ramshackle barn from the Doctor’s memories in a different location, the real Barn™ barning somewhere at the base of Mount Lung/Plutarch, with his perceptions either impaired by the Moment or the severity of what he was about to do, is now 100% and adamantly my new headcanon.
Made a little discovery looking back at some old DWM articles that immediately pulled my mind back to this post.
FromThe Essential Doctor Who - The Time Lords: there’s an interview with director Douglas Mackinnon talking aboutListen, where he reveals that in the first draft there wasn’t an explicit connection between the barns of Day of the DoctorandListen - in fact they were location scouting for other barns to use for filming. It was only when Michael Pickwoad mentioned that the old barn was still available in storage that Moffat, Brian Minchin, and Mackinnon made it explicitly the same one.
Obviously the one the Moment created was meant to echo the Lungbarrow barn, but originally they were going to look completely different.
To me, this really serves as a sign that the barns could STILL have been in two different locations, even with changes from the early drafts of both episodes. It certainly seems that was Moffat’s intention even after the edits to Day of the Doctor.
The Black Archive is a series of critical books, with each analyzing one individual story from the Doctor Who television series. In my entry to the series, I discuss one of my favorite episodes, Hell Bent.
This is a story that explores and challenges some of the Doctor’s most paternalistic, controlling behaviours. The companion departs with an origin story equal to the Doctor’s. And with a Time Lord’s on-screen regeneration from a white man into a black woman, the path to Jodie Whittaker’s casting as the Doctor became even clearer. You’ll also find some analysis on how Hell Bent draws thematically and visually from classic Westerns, and how Clara’s theme is used as a leitmotif.
I’ve been writing and blogging for years now, but this is the first book I’ve ever published. I’m proud, amazed, and a little terrified! I hope you all enjoy it!
