'Doctor Who' season 9 to have 'emotional' finale

LONDON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Doctor Who fans should brace themselves for an emotional season 9 finale.

Showrunner Steven Moffat revealed as much in an interview with Entertainment Weekly published Friday. The episode, titled "Hell Bent," will air Dec. 5 at 9 p.m. ET on BBC America.

"[The episode will leave viewers] hopefully satisfied, and pleased, and a tiny bit devastated," he previewed. "It's pretty emotional stuff. We get quite dark. It's quite a journey."

Fans of the long-running sci-fi series are still reeling from Clara Oswald's (Jenna Coleman) apparent death in episode 10. The 29-year-old English actress reacted to the plot line in an interview with Digital Spy ahead of the episode.

"I'm very satisfied," she told the website. "It did not go in the direction I thought it was going to go in -- which did not surprise me at all. But it's really cool and different, and good, I think. I hope people will be pleased with it, because it was very fun to play. And sad."

Oswald confirmed her exit from the series in September and may make a final appearance in the finale. The actress will portray Queen Victoria in the forthcoming ITV miniseries Victoria co-starring Rufus Sewell and Peter Firth.

Doctor Who originally premiered in 1963, and ran for 26 consecutive seasons before being revived in 2005. Peter Capaldi stars as the titular Twelfth Doctor, with Michelle Gomez as Missy/Master and Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart.