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Tardis
Tardis
Hell

Hell was believed by some cultures to be the afterlife in which sinners were punished.

Concept[]

Hell was embedded in the minds of species like humans through religions like Christianity, the opposite afterlife being Heaven. The Seventh Doctor claimed there was no such place as Hell. (AUDIO: Gods and Monsters) The Eighth Doctor claimed that every culture in the galaxy had a concept of Hell. (AUDIO: Absolution) The Twelfth Doctor claimed not to be scared of Hell as he believed it was "just Heaven for bad people". (TV: Heaven Sent [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 9 (BBC One, 2015).)

Some people called the Void Hell. (TV: Army of Ghosts [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 2 (BBC One, 2006).) Hell was also a part of Gallifreyan mythology. (AUDIO: Minuet in Hell)

In England on 3 March 1215, the Fifth Doctor and his companions Tegan Jovanka and Vislor Turlough were mistaken for demons from Hell. (TV: The King's Demons)

The planet Utebbadon-Tarria came to resemble Hell after an experimental dimensional probe accidentally caused a localised inversion of the time-space continuum. (AUDIO: Absolution)

Rita, a Muslim, believed that a Minotaur prison ship she was trapped in was Jahannam, the Islamic version of Hell. (TV: The God Complex [+]Toby Whithouse, Doctor Who series 6 (BBC One, 2011).)

Humans compared alien life, or human life altered by aliens, that terrified them to creatures from Hell. While describing everything that happened to her since meeting the Ninth Doctor, Jackie Tyler mentioned having "creatures [sic] from the pits of Hell" in her living room. This was a reference to Sip Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen when he hunted her down in 48 Bucknall House. (TV: World War Three [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 1 (BBC One, 2005).) Solomon thought the pig slave creatures that kidnapped Frank were "from Hell itself". (TV: Daleks in Manhattan [+]Helen Raynor, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)

After Winston Chidozie was killed by Sutekh in 2024, those close by heard his voice stating that he was in Hell. (TV: The Legend of Ruby Sunday [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 14 (BBC One and Disney+, 2024).)

Perception[]

Hell was often used to describe greatly uncomfortable situations. Morbius described his deteriorated state as hell, (TV: The Brain of Morbius) and the Tenth Doctor later described the Last Great Time War as hell. (TV: The End of Time [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Christmas Special 2009 and New Year Special 2010 (BBC One, 2009-2010).) Jack Harkness told Gwen Cooper that the killing in World War I battlefields like Passchendaele and the Somme "was like walking into Hell. Believe me, I was there." (TV: To the Last Man) Jamie Colquhoun likewise compared the Somme to Hell. (COMIC: The Weeping Angels of Mons)

Some associated Hell with the Devil. Winston Churchill once mentioned that "If Hitler invaded Hell, [he] would give a favourable reference to the Devil". (TV: Victory of the Daleks [+]Mark Gatiss, Doctor Who series 5 (BBC One, 2010).') Ian Chesterton said that a sandstorm sounded like "all the devils in Hell were laughing". (TV: "The Singing Sands")

Hell was often associated with fire. The Third Doctor thought that the surface of a planet about to be destroyed by a supernova looked like the human conception of Hell. (COMIC: The Labyrinth) Florence Finnegan told the Judoon trying to capture her to "burn in Hell". (TV: Smith and Jones [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)

The Twelfth Doctor wondered if the confession dial he was teleported inside was Hell. (TV: Heaven Sent [+]Steven Moffat, Doctor Who series 9 (BBC One, 2015).)

Real Hell[]

While it was a concept, Hell was also a plane of existence or universe somewhere in reality that had a fiery geometry. The Scourge lived here and tortured the humans of their universe. (AUDIO: The Shadow of the Scourge) Some believed the home universe of the Scratchman was hell. (PROSE: Scratchman)

Jason Kane spent several years in Hell, described as predominantly rock where tunnelling craft tunnelled their way between bubbles of places which weren't rock, which would in theory be the equivalent of planets. (PROSE: The Infernal Nexus)

Other references[]

Met by Sunday Mirror journalist Vivien Rook at 10 Downing Street, First Lady Lucy Saxon complained that it had been a "hell of a day", however, she was convinced to give a 20 minute interview. (TV: The Sound of Drums [+]Russell T Davies, Doctor Who series 3 (BBC One, 2007).)