10 Doctor Who Controversies That Divide Fans
3. Clara Who And Hell Bent
From her shock debut in Series 7's Asylum of the Daleks, it was clear that Clara Oswald was going to be a companion the likes of which we'd never seen before.
Over the coming months, that certainly proved to be true, with The Name of the Doctor revealing that she was "born to save the Doctor", having splintered herself along his timeline to save him from various threats throughout his life.
Continuing this theme of being a Doctor-like character, Series 8 even saw Clara, on occasion, fill in for the Time Lord - most notably in Flatline, when he was unable to leave his TARDIS - and this continued emphasis on the character led to accusations that she was being overused, with detractors even coining the phrase "Clara Who".
It's somewhat understandable that these fans felt that Clara was overshadowing not just the Doctor, but the show's previous companions. At the same time though, plenty of viewers found Jenna Coleman's bubbly performance hard to dislike, and Steven Moffat did garner some props for trying something new, actively avoiding the same old companion role we'd seen a million times before.
The Clara controversy reached its peak in the Series 9 finale, Hell Bent, which was criticised for undoing her death in Face the Raven, as well as doubling-down on her desire to be like the Doctor, with the episode actually giving her a TARDIS of her own.
Hell Bent, in general, was a controversial outing, largely due to the unexpected direction it took after the universally-acclaimed Heaven Sent, as well as its murky resolution to the Hybrid arc. Plenty of fans have jumped to its defence in the years since, but for others, it's one of the most unsatisfying finales in the show.