Doctor Who - In Defense Of Hell Bent: Why It Doesn’t Ruin Face The Raven And Heaven Sent

Anger

“For your own sake understand this. I am the Doctor, I’m coming to find you, and I will never ever stop.”

After Clara’s death, Twelve is trapped within his confession dial, but not before warning Ashildr to stay out of his way, telling her “You’ll find the universe is a very small place when I’m angry with you”. When he first emerges in Heaven Sent, the Doctor is vengeful, still reeling from the events of the previous episode, and is yet to accept what has happened. He threatens his captors, warning them that he is not weak just because Clara is gone, and that they should be afraid. These moments in both episodes contain some of the most intense wrath we ever see from the character, which are only amplified by the Doctor dissociating himself from his own name at the end of Face The Raven.

Bargaining

“I had a duty of care...”

This stage of the process takes up the bulk of Heaven Sent’s run time. It is later revealed that the Doctor could have left the confession dial at any time if he confessed to knowing about the Hybrid, but instead he tortures himself for four and a half billion years, reliving the same days over and over. The Doctor sees reminders of Clara everywhere he goes, and instead of processing his grief, he blames himself, saying he has a duty of care and has to, against all odds, find a way of bringing her back. This is a painful and lengthy process, and the claustrophobic puzzle-box castle, with a looming shadow in the form of the veil, is the perfect metaphor.