‘Doctor Who’ Season Finale Sends Whovians Spinning

Doctor Who fans take their show extremely seriously, so it should be no surprise that the season finale, Hell Bent, has fans of the show – known affectionately as Whovians – spinning. Some have admitted to being quite emotional at the season finale, while others were simply excited to see some old pieces of technology – and characters that were previously thought to be lost – returning to the fold.

For starters, Doctor Who saw the return of the sonic screwdriver during the season 9 finale, and the return marks the seventh major redesign of the tool. According to Radio Times, the Doctor’s venerable tool made its return at the end of the episode as a gift from his Tardis, and fans are, for the most part, delighted to see it again. The current sonic screwdriver appears to have something of a steampunk feel and with its twirling blue lights, small wonder there are those who believe that it almost looks like a mini-Tardis.

Perhaps the biggest news of the night was the seeming return of Clara on Doctor Who‘s season 9 finale. Those fans who were saddened to see the character seemingly die two episodes ago were instantly hooked at Clara’s return. It seems that the Doctor felt he had a “duty of care” where Clara was concerned, according to Forbes, and even though the Clara he now has is actually frozen at the moment of her second-to-last heartbeat, she is back. It was a surprisingly emotional moment for Doctor Who fans.

Regenerations are so emotional I'm not prepared #DoctorWho #timeofthedoctor

— ash or something like it (@ashsparkle) December 6, 2015

But there’s a catch. Doctor Who fans were most certainly waiting with great anticipation to learn how the show was planning on returning this much-loved character to the fold, and the show’s writers did not disappoint. While Clara quizzes the Doctor about why he would even consider bringing her back, to the point where she is in tears, he stubbornly insists that it was his responsibility to look after her. The general insists that she will ultimately have to be returned to the Extraction Chamber, but the Doctor wants to see Clara free. Unfortunately for the Time Lord, Clara’s return can mean all sorts of bad things for the time line.

Regardless, the Doctor just wants to save Clara, so he decides to steal a Tardis and travel as far away from Gallifrey as he can just so Clara’s heart can start beating again. Doctor Who fans undoubtedly knew that this would not end well, as no distance was able to recover Clara’s heartbeat. A reunion with Me – the somewhat-sociopathic girl that the Doctor “saved” many years ago – leads to a rather interesting conversation about how the Doctor simply cannot accept endings. The problem is, Clara ends up eavesdropping, leaving Doctor Who fans wondering how the Doctor, who already has been through so much on the show throughout its decades-long run, was going to set things right.

The Doctor faces his greatest challenge yet on part 1 of a 2 part #DrWho tonight at 9/8c on @BBCAMERICA. pic.twitter.com/grGcvYFJKJ

— Time Warner Cable (@TWC) November 28, 2015

Now, according to HitFix, it would seem that Clara is going to be something of an amateur Time Lord with Me at her side. However, with the Doctor trying to get revenge on the beings responsible for taking Clara out in the first place, in addition to escaping his own torture, it is certain that subsequent seasons of Doctor Who will continue to build on the complexities of both the Doctor and Clara, in addition to revisiting the character of Me – at least, that is what fans could be hoping for.

Doctor Who‘s Peter Capaldi has done a remarkable job as the current iteration of the Doctor and continues to build on the character’s complexities as each season continues. According to Kroagnon, Capaldi’s first year as the Doctor was a little rough; Hell Bent showed Doctor Who fans that the series’ original glory is still there, lurking in the shadows with the rest of the themes that the series explores.

[Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images]