Doctor Who Hell Bent Review

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Ashildr, Claire Higgins, Clara Oswald, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Hell Bent, Doctor Who Series 9, Donald Sumpter, Face The Raven, Gallifrey, Heaven Sent, Jenna Coleman, Maisie Williams, Me, Ohila, Peter Capaldi, Rachel Talalay, Rassilon, Steven Moffat, TARDIS, The Doctor, The General, The Sisterhood of Karn

Hell Bent

Review by Paul Bowler

[Contains Spoilers]

The Doctor has faced his greatest ordeal and reached Gallifrey at last. Now, with everything taken from him, betrayed on all sides, and with his hearts broken after Clara’s death the Doctor must now confront the power of Time Lords themselves. But how far will the Doctor go to save his dearest friend? Its a confrontation that will take him to the very end of time itself, and soon the mystery of the hybrid will be revealed…

Following Clara’s death in Face the Raven and the Doctor’s lone struggle to escape in Heaven Sent, the series finale of Doctor Who’s ninth series is finally here. Hell Bent, written by Doctor Who show runner Steven Moffat and directed by Rachael Talalay (The director of the two-part 2014 finale Dark Water & Death In Heaven, and series nines incredible solo Doctor story Heaven Sent) finds the Doctor back on his home world of Gallifrey at long last in this special sixty five minute episode for a cataclysmic showdown with the Time Lords.

Hell Bent effortlessly draws us in with an ending veiled within a new beginning, as the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) chats to a waitress in a Nevada diner, she looks exactly like Clara, but neither of them seem to recognise the other… The setting may be the same as the diner in The Impossible Astronaut (2011), but this is indeed Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), and as the Doctor tells her his story about “Clara” these flashbacks begin to entwine with the narrative of events unfolding on Gallifrey to bring all the various plot threads of Series 9 together as one.

Gallifrey awaits, the bells are ringing in the cloisters, and the Cloister Wraiths are growing restless as we find the Doctor revisiting a poignant location from his past on the outskirts of the citadel – the barn the Doctor visits here seems to be the same one we saw in The Day of the Doctor (2013) and Listen (2014), although its not actually stated. A line is drawn in the sand and the Doctor is soon confronting President Rassilon himself (Donald Sumpter), who he blames for horrors of the Time War. Peter Capaldi is on magnificent form once again as the Doctor confronts the highest echelons of Time Lord society. The way he turns the tables on Rassilon is brilliantly staged, this Doctor of War is unarmed, but his reputation as a war hero is more powerful than any weapon, and its enough to win over the military and have the President exiled in a heartbeat.

After this less than welcoming homecoming the Doctor learns he was actually trapped inside the confession dial for four billion years. The General, last seen in The Day of the Doctor (Ken Bones), has a key role to play in Hell Bent, and following her appearance in The Magician’s Apprentice, Clare Higgin’s also returns as the mysterious Ohila, leader of the Sisterhood of Karn, and she has some really good scenes with Capaldi’s Doctor in this episode. It seems that Clara’s story isn’t quite over yet either, as the General and Ohila want to know more about the Hybrid (A creature spawned from two warrior races long prophesised by the Time Lords that could potentially unravel the web of time itself), but the Doctor insists to help them he will need to speak his old friend, Clara Oswald, and use the Time Lords Extraction Chamber to remove Clara from the time steam at the exact moment just before she faced her tragic death in Face The Raven.

Though it might seem a bit convoluted, the reappearance of Jenna Coleman as Clara is another undoubted highlight of this series finale. Her reunion with the Doctor is one that soon leads to an impromptu, if somewhat superfluous regeneration for the General, who then become the female General (T‘nia Miller) from here the pace of Hell Bent doesn’t let up for a moment as the Doctor and Clara flee into the cloisters. The heartfelt revelations continue to come thick and fast after they evade the Cloister Wraiths, especially when Clara realises just what the Doctor has endured to save her and uphold his duty of care to his companion.

It is here that Steven Moffat skilfully begins drawing together the numerous plot threads that have been surreptitiously woven throughout series nine, indeed, there are connections to past series too, many of which only begin to gradually become apparent in this episode, with everything from Missy’s (Michelle Gomez) throwaway remarks to Clara in the series opener, to the story the Doctor tells Clara of the lone Time Lord that supposedly escaped from the cloisters and went mad, and the ominous Time Lord prophecy of the Hybrid finally becomes a startling reality knocking four times on the door as Hell Bent races towards a thrilling, and deeply moving conclusion. Hell Bent is an episode that touches on elements and themes from both the past and the present; and it seamlessly folds everything together in the most sublime way imaginable.

The direction by Rachel Talalay is superb, every scene of this epic action-packed saga is beautifully shot, the special effects are jaw-dropping, and you will be blown away by the sheer scope and spectacle of it all. There are so many memorable moments in Hell Bent: from the Doctor playing his guitar in a the diner in Nevada and chatting to the waitress Clara, to the majesty of Gallifrey itself, shadowy glimpses of Cloister Wraiths, the hell of the Time Lords were haunting phantoms act like a firewall that guards the Matrix, where Time Lords, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, and even a Dalek lurk in the shadows. In fact, I’d say the sight of a Dalek ensnared by the living cables of the cloisters, filed away for all eternity and begging to be exterminated, is perhaps one of the most disturbing sights and concepts I’ve ever seen in Doctor Who. Throw in the General’s unexpected regeneration, along with the Doctor and Clara escaping from Gallifrey in a stolen TARDIS, complete with a beautiful original style TARDIS console room, and you have a polarity reversing series finale that rocks and rolls its way across time, space, and continuity which is often as poignant as it is exciting.

However, the Doctor’s attempt to get Clara far enough away so she regains her heartbeat, travelling to the end of time so she can evade the moment of her death in Face The Raven even though it may damage time itself, ultimately leads the Doctor to an encounter with Ashildr / Me in a reality bubble at the end of time. Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams makes a triumphant return as the immortal Ashildr / Me in Hell Bent, her character’s arc comes full circle here at last, and her theory concerning the actually identity of the Hybrid brings a new dimension to the Doctor’s and Clara’s friendship that is resolved in a heartrending farewell that finishes where everything begins.

As the Doctor’s original plan to wipe Clara’s memory of him in turns becomes his own fate, his memories of Clara fades away (Perhaps echoing the similar fate Donna‘s (Catherine Tate) character endured in 2008‘s series finale Journey‘s End), and we return to the diner in Nevada where the Doctor finishes telling the waitress his story. She goes into another room, where we see Ashildr in the original style TARDIS console room, the diner is a TARDIS, and as Clara and Ashildr depart in their TARDIS for their own adventures, the Doctor is left alone with his own TARDIS which is still covered in the memorial Rigsy painted on the exterior.

The closing moments of Hell Bent sees the Doctor entering the shadowy TARDIS interior which suddenly bursts into life around him. Donning his jacket, a new sonic screwdriver, and with a final message from Clara on the chalk board offering one last piece of advice – and perhaps a mission statement for series 10 and beyond – the Doctor is finally ready to depart in the TARDIS and continue his adventures in time and space – with the paintings for Clara on the exterior gradually peeling away as the time machine dematerialises.

On the whole, I think Series 9 has been a relatively strong season. I really liked the return of the two-part stories, like the Doctor, I think we all love a good cliff-hanger, and there was something very special about how this series kept the suspense and excitement building throughout each adventure as the overall story arc gradually built towards the finale. This has also been a great season for Peter Capaldi’s Doctor, his portrayal of the Time Lord continues to go from strength to strength, and he’s really made the role of the Doctor his own now. Likewise, I think this has been one of Jenna Coleman’s strongest seasons too. I know her character has divided opinions at times, but I’m still glad we has one more series with Clara before her departure, and its perhaps fitting that the impossible girl eventually had to leave the Doctor in the most impossible of circumstances imaginable for both of them…

Well, series nine is over, its been fun reviewing the episodes, and thank you for reading my reviews. We still have the 2015 Doctor Who Christmas Special: The Husband’s of River Song to look forward to though, along with the return of Alex Kingston as River Song, its sure to be a fun episode, and I can’t wait to see what the chemistry is like between the 12^th Doctor and River Song in this special Christmas themed episode!

Images Belong / BBC

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Doctor Who Face The Raven Review

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Ashildr, Clara Oswald, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Face The Raven, Doctor Who Series 9, Jenna Coleman, Jovian Wade, Justin Molotnikov, Maisie Williams, Peter Capaldi, Rigsy, Sarah Dollard, Steven Moffat, TARDIS, The Doctor

Face The Raven

Review by Paul Bowler

[Contains Spoilers]

Face The Raven sees the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and Clara (Jenna Coleman) reunited with their old friend Rigsy (Jovian Wade), and he desperately needs their help after being sentenced to death for a murder he has no memory of committing. Together they must find a secret street in London, where alien refugees have been living unnoticed in plain sight – and here they meet the immortal Ashildr (Maisie Williams) once again! A sinister countdown has begun; its time to discover what it means to face the raven, but not everyone is going to survive…

This darkly mesmerising adventure, written by Doctor Who newcomer Sarah Dollard, and directed by Justin Molotnikov (Da Vinci’s Demons / Atlantis / Merlin), heralds a major turning point for the Doctor and Clara in series nine!

When the Doctor and Clara respond to Rigsy’s telephone phone call to the TARDIS, they learn their friend has no memory of the previous day, his mobile phone has been damaged and wiped, and a bizarre tattoo has appeared on his neck. Determined to save him, their quest brings them to a hidden “trap street” in the city of London concealed by a misdirection circuit where alien refugees have taken sanctuary, there are many answers that must be found in this mysterious place, and what exactly is the chronolock? The Doctor and Clara must solve the bizarre murder mystery that Rigsy has inadvertently become embroiled in, which has left him sentenced to death for the murder of a Janus female (a dual faced alien species) that he cannot recall having any part of. The immortal Ashildr is also here in this secret street, she is now the self proclaimed Mayor “Me” of this alien refuge camp, and her motives are not quite what they first seem. As the tattoo formed of numbers begins counting down on the back of Rigsy’s neck, it’s almost time to face the raven!

This incredible episode marks the return of the popular character Rigsy, the character played by Jovian Wade, who helped the Doctor and Clara defeat the Bonless in the brilliant series eight story Flatline (2014). We get a chance to catch up what’s been happening with Rigsy in this episode, he’s getting his life back on track, he also has a baby daughter, Lucy, now as well, which makes the plight he now faces especially moving, and its great to see the character reunited with the Doctor and Clara for an adventure were they all work together. Maisie Williams also returns as Ashildr / Me (The Girl Who Died and The Woman Who Lived). This time Ashildr has a decidedly sinister agenda of her own, Maisie Williams is excellent in this episode as the troubled immortal Ashildr / Mayor Me of the hidden trap street for alien refugees, the quantum shade which she uses to enforce the law manifests itself as a spooky Raven that is in turn drawn to the chronolock tattoo on a condemned persons neck – and it’s a terrifying fate from which there is absolutely no escape…

When Clara tries to help Rigsy, volunteering to accept the chronolock as Clara thinks she is safe because she is under Ashildr’s personal protection, the tattoo moves to her neck, but Clara has no idea of the terrible consequences this selfless act will ultimately mean for her. After they visit Anahson (Letitia Wright), the daughter of the murdered alien Anah, they learn Anahson has been dressing as a male to protect herself and hide her ability to see into the past and the future. The Doctor, Clara, and Rigsy return to where the murdered Janus woman’s body is being held, whereby the full extent of Ashildr’s plan to lure the Doctor to the street is finally revealed. Ashildr might have trapped the Doctor, but she is devastated to learn what Clara has done, she never expected something like this to happen, and nothing can save Clara from facing the Raven.

This is a terrific episode; Sarah Dollard has woven an intriguing mystery together with some particularly challenging issues, to make this one of the most emotionally charged and game-changing episodes of series nine. Director Justin Molotnikov really excels here, the secret trap street is populated by a wealth of disguised aliens, including the Judoon, Sontarans, Cybermen, Ood, and Silurians and the set design is fittingly dark and atmospheric to match the tone of the episode. The Doctor’s prompt cards from Under The Lake are used again, and his confession dial from The Magician’s and The Witch’s Familiar also returns.

Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman give, quite possibly, their best performances ever in Face The Raven. What starts out as something as a quirky adventure soon becomes much bolder, darker, and unsettling, and the heartbreaking consequences of Clara facing the raven is sure to reverberate across all of time and space! The Raven is often associated as a portent of doom and death, the symbolism of how the raven is uses her is especially powerful. This story is also the first to feature the Doctor wearing his red jacket, a color that also symbolises this episodes themes of rage and death, another portent of things to come perhaps?

Clara’s sad farewell to the Doctor is undoubtedly one of this series’ finest moments. It manages to be powerful, moving, and heartbreaking all at the same time. As the time draws near, those final moments between Capaldi’s Time Lord and the Colemna’s Impossible Girl are brilliantly acted, and what we perceived as Cara’s recklessness throughout this season couldn’t have been further from the truth… I know that Clara has sometimes been a character that has often divided opinion, personally I liked the character, and I also thought Jenna Coleman was really good in role, and found Clara’s death in this episode especially moving – particularly when we glimpse the beautiful memorial Rigsy has painted on the TARDIS at the end…

Face The Raven would effectively appear to be the first episode of three part season finale that will eventually culminate with Heaven Sent and Hell Bent. With Ashildr now in possession of the Doctor’s confession dial, the Doctor alone, and trapped in a strange land, series nine looks all set for a thrilling conclusion!

And here’s a clip where Jenna Coleman reflects on her time working on Doctor Who with Peter Capaldi.

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Doctor Who The Woman Who Lived Review

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Ashildr, Catherine Tregenna, Clara Oswald, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Series 9, Ed Bazalgette, Jenna Coleman, Leandro, Leonian, Maisie Williams, Peter Capaldi, Rufus Hound, Sam Smith, Steven Moffat, TARDIS, The Doctor, The Knightmare

The Woman Who Lived

Review by Paul Bowler

[Contains Spoilers]

The Doctor arrives in England, 1651, in search of a powerful alien artefact, where the Time Lord will soon have to face the consequences of his past actions – and this time the Doctor meets someone who won’t just let him walk away from what he has done. This adventure sees the Doctor clash with the highwayman called The Knightmare. They form a tenuous alliance to reach a common goal, but the Doctor soon learns you should never trust a highwayman, and what is the fire-breathing creature hiding near The Knightmare’s home? Is The Knightmare really friend or foe? Only time will tell, betrayal will strike, and the Doctor will have to give the hangman’s noose the slip if he is to save the world in time from The Eye of Hades…

The Woman Who Lived provides an exciting conclusion to the story that began in The Girl Who Died, however this is not your average run-of-the-mill two-part story, and the way it all knits together is ingeniously done. The Woman Who Lived is written by Catherine Tregenna, and she makes her Doctor Who debut here with this episode, having written for theatre plays, Torchwood, and Casualty. Now, with The Woman Who Lived, this tale by Catherine Tregenna explores the notorious era of the highwaymen, as the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) goes off on an adventure while school teacher Clara (Jenna Coleman) is off taking Year 7 to taekwondo. The Woman Who Lived is also directed by Ed Bazalgette and features the second appearance of guest star Maisie Williams (The actress who plays Arya Stark in the HBO series Game of Thrones) in Series 9 as Ashildr – the Viking girl who gained immortality when the Doctor used The Mire medical repair kit implant to save her in The Girl Who Died.

Stand and deliver! Arriving in England, in the year 1651, the Doctor begins his search for an alien artefact but he soon runs into trouble when he interrupts the notorious highwayman, known as The Knightmare, holding up a carriage in the dead of night. But the Knightmare is no ordinary robber, this is Ashildr! “What took you so long old man..?” Suddenly that line for the Series 9 trailer is given a whole new perspective as Maisie Williams character makes herself known to the Time Lord. But Ashildr is no longer the person the Doctor once knew, the price of immortality has cost her dearly, and she refuses to even acknowledge the name of Ashildr anymore – as everyone she’s ever known or loved is now long gone… It seems that Ashildr, or “Me” as she insists on being called, has done rather well for herself as a Highwayman, obtaining riches, and even an impressive looking home where a mysterious creature lurks in the grounds.

Peter Capaldi is on fine form again, he seems completely settled into the role of the Doctor now, and his performance here is spellbinding. It is a shame that Clara is sidelined for much of this story, but we do have Maisie Williams returning as Ashildr / “Me” to make up for it, as the young Viking girl who acquired immortality, and she proves more than a match for the Doctor as well – even outwitting him at times. Maisie Williams gives a terrific performance in The Woman Who Lived as Me, her character is much darker here, having been deeply affected by her long life of immortality, and even the Doctor is shocked by how dangerous and unpredictable she has become. Me has had 800 years of adventure, we soon explore the events of her immortal life since The Girl Who Died, all the battles, plague, and even the heartbreak of losing her children, and as the Doctor browses though the many journals of her life he finally begins to understand the implications of what he has done. Me wants the Doctor to take her with him, to be free of this life and travel the stars, but how she could possibly know “the man who runs away” has a “ship”?

The Doctor’s and Me’s scenes are often a curious mix of witty and moving moments, Peter Capaldi and Maisie Williams make a fantastic team in this action-packed, emotional episode, and their performances magically reinforces the uncanny bond between the Time Lord and the young immortal. After they agree to work together, the Doctor and Me housebreak into the Fanshawe House where the alien artefact – The Eye Of Hades – is held, where the sonic shades serve as the Doctor’s “mask” and Me becomes increasingly exacerbated by her Time Lord “sidekick”, especially when their robbery goes awry and puts them in a tight spot – where Me takes the opportunity to confront the Doctor about how many people he has lost. The Woman Who Lived also has comedian and Doctor Who fan Rufus Hound, as highwayman Sam Swift “The Quick”, who also has a run in with the “Knightmare” and the Doctor, and his scenes with Peter Capaldi and Maisie Williams are brilliantly done – especially when Sam Swift hilariously thinks the Doctor is the Knightmare’s dad / sidekick! Best of all though is when the Doctor stops Me from killing Sam, it’s a menacingly powerful line, one that makes the Time Lords warning absolutely crystal clear, and a great moment for Capaldi’s Doctor.

The strange fire breathing creature, Leandro, who wanders the Knightmare’s grounds and home, is played by Ariyon Bakare. This regal looking feline beast claimed to be marooned on Earth and trapped in the 17^th Century. He made an alliance with Lady Me / Ashildr, that once she acquired the missing amulet (The Eye of Hades) for him, they would travel the universe together, but the artefacts presence in 1651 drew the Doctor here and instigated his reunion with Ashildr. But when the Leonian’s presence is revealed the Doctor is shocked to discover that a life will have to be sacrificed in order to opens this insidious portal to another realm.

With the Doctor charging to the rescue on horseback, Sam Smith’s impressed there’s been such a good turn out for his hanging, and the gallows humour which follows is gloriously funny – especially when the Doctor joins in. However, when Ashildr uses the amulet to open the portal; it seems Leandro is not the last of the Leonians after all, and an entire Leonian invasion force is waiting on the other side of the portal to invade the world. The Doctor’s hope to get Ashildr back on track succeeds, realizing she’s been duped by her Leonian ally, she takes the second medical repair chip the Doctor gave her in The Girl Who Died, and uses it to heal Sam Swift and seal the portal – whereby Leandro’s “brothers” punish him for his failure and vaporise him.

The wonderfully evocative closing scenes in the Inn leave us with almost as many questions as it does answers. Sam is healed by the chip, but the energy from the amulet has burnt it out, meaning he won’t be immortal, probably… However, it is how the Doctor compares his and Me’s immortality to how beautiful and precious life is to all the ordinary people around them, that really strikes an emotional cord, and when the Doctor is finally reunited with Clara there’s a chilling coda that indicates Me’s story is not over just yet…

While not quite so chock full of continuity references as previous episodes in this season, there are a still one or two interesting things that get mentioned, and the psychic paper also proves quite useful in this story too. When the Doctor tells Me / Ashildr about the Great Fire of London, he mentions that it was caused by the Terileptils, the alien race the 5^th Doctor encountered in The Visitation (1982). The Doctor also mentions that he once travelled with another immortal, Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), and the Doctor is sure Captain Jack will probably get around to meeting her eventually.

The Woman Who Lived is a fun historical themed episode, with a dark cosmic mystery resting at the heart of the story, and it’s actually quite moving and though-provoking at times as well. Catherine Tregenna’s script captures the mood and tone of this era perfectly, the Doctor and Ashildr’s moving debates about their immortality is profoundly realized, and the episode is beautifully directed by Ed Bazalgette. Peter Capaldi and Maisie Williams are superb throughout, balancing the humour with the gravatis of their characters immortality, and Ashildr’s story has been handled really well. But once all the laughter, merriment, and thoughtful exchanges are over, this Clara-Lite episode holds some sinister undertones. With the knowledge that Ashildr always takes note of everyone’s weaknesses, along with her self-styled appointment as the Doctor’s patron saint of leftovers, and her somewhat unsettling presence in the background at the end of the episode, it sets up a foreboding portent that might perhaps foreshadows events later in the this season…

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Doctor Who The Girl Who Died Review

Tags

Arya Stark, Ashildr, Clara Oswald, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Sereis 9, Doctor Who The Girl Who Died, Ed Bazalgette, Game of Thrones, Jamie Mathieson, Jenna Coleman, Maisie Williams, Odin, Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat, TARDIS, The Doctor, The Mire, Vikings

The Girl Who Died

Review by Paul Bowler

[Contains Spoilers]

The Doctor and Clara have been captured by Vikings and taken to their remote village, but the Mire, the most ruthless mercenaries in the galaxy are coming, and young Ashildr has just declared war on them! With the best Viking warriors taken by the Mire, the Doctor and Clara must train the villagers so they can fight these alien warriors. The Doctor is also preoccupied with a mystery concerning Ashildr, but it is more than a premonition, because this is day where the Time Lord remembers where he has seen his own face before…

The Girl Who Died is the fifth episode from Doctor Who’s ninth series, written by Jamie Mathieson (The Becoming Human & Being Human writer also penned two popular Series 8 episodes of Doctor Who: Mummy on the Orient Express and Flatline in 2014), and co-written with show runner Steven Moffat. This intriguingly titled episode is directed by Ed Bazalgette, sends the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and Clara (Jenna Coleman) back in time for the Time Lords first major meeting with the Vikings (The Vikings were also a major part of the First Doctor’s adventure The Time Meddler from Season 2 in 1965), and this series’ eagerly anticipated appearance of Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams as the Viking tomboy Ashildr.

Following a deep space adventure involving battle fleets and something nasty from a Spider Mine, the TARDIS brings the Doctor and the space-suited Clara to a backwater of history, where the sonic shades soon bite the dust – well sort of – and they find themselves captured by Odin-worshiping Vikings and taken to their village. The Doctor attempt to convince them he’s Odin by escaping from his chains and using a yo-yo goes awry when Odin’s face suddenly appears in the clouds overhead! The Mire teleport into the village, scanning their victims, before spiriting away the mightiest warriors to feast with “Odin” in the Halls of Valhalla, but because Ashildr has one half of the sonic shades, its advanced technology and the presence of Clara’s space-suit, ensures she is teleported along with Clara and the Viking warriors to the Mire‘s spaceship.

The warriors meet a terrible fate, Clara attempts to confront “Odin” and convince the Mire to leave, but the enraged Ashildr declares war on the invaders, a challenge they eagerly accept before transporting Clara and Ashildr back to the village. When the villagers refuse to heed the Doctor’s advice and flee, the Doctor and Clara must train this band of farmers, fishermen and blacksmiths to defend their village from the Mire, but with only hours to prepare for the battle, the Vikings are outgunned and outnumbered, and the outcome seems unavoidable.

Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman continue to shine as the Doctor and Clara, their recent adventures have made the Time Lord and his companion seem even closer than ever, and the banter between them is great fun – especially when they are training the Vikings how to protect their village from the threat of the Mire. The opening scene with a space-suited Clara floating in space is another standout moment. The Girl Who Died also features a very special guest star, Maisie Williams, the actress who plays Arya Stark in the HBO series Game of Thrones. Her role as the Viking girl Ashildr in this episode is central to the plot, and her character has a profound effect on the Doctor. Maisie Williams scenes with Peter Capaldi are absolutely brilliant, especially when she talks about always knowing she was different in some way. Likewise, the Doctor also returns to his “duty of care” to Calra in this episode, and it provides another brilliant moment for Capaldi and Coleman as Clara urges the Doctor to figure out a plan that will save them all.

Jamie Mathieson has crafted a beautifully structured adventure with The Girl Who Died (co-written with Steven Moffat), its like a mash-up of The Magnificent Seven and Vikings, and it possesses many of the qualities that made Mathieson’s previous episodes so popular. The story is markedly lighter in tone from the early episodes of Series 9, at least initially, but the mood darkens significantly towards the end, and it leaves us with plenty to dwell over. Two key scenes from the Series 9 trailer take on a whole new context when we see them in this story as well. This unpredictable adventure is full of action, boasting strong performances from Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, and Maisie Williams, the comedy skilfully melds with the darker undercurrents of the story, and the episode is superbly directed Ed Bazalgete (who also filmed some of Poldark this year).

The Mire are huge lumbering creatures, their true features are hidden beneath their armoured helmets, these intergalactic warriors absorb the strengths of other war-like species, and they are one of the deadliest warrior races in the galaxy. They are led by the Odin-like figure, played by David Schofield, who gives a brilliant scenery chewing performance as the leader of The Mire, who uses his holographic face of Odin to address the village from the sky, as well as in person, to play on the Vikings belief in Odin. Using the Mire to select only the strongest Viking warriors, “Odin” actually kidnaps them to extract their adrenalin and testosterone, whish he uses to invigorate himself and the Mire warriors. The Mire costumes are very imposing and impressive, their real faces when revealed are quite gruesome, and they make fearsome adversaries.

The Doctor has to become something of a false Odin if he is to get this group of villagers ready to face the armoured might of the Mire, and he’s only got one day to shape them into an effective fighting force. This leads to some of the episodes funniest scenes, as the Time Lord attempts to get the villages, Nollar (Simon Lipkin), Chuckles (Ian Conningham), Lofty (Tom Sourton), Limpy (Alistair Parker), Hasten (Murray McArthur), and Heidi (Barnaby Kay) ready to face the Mire. Fortunately, thanks to some timely baby speak, a few water barrels filled with electric eels, silvery fibres taken from Clara’s space suit, and Ashildr’s skill with puppets and storytelling, the Time Lord soon has everything he needs to turn the tables on Odin and The Mire when they arrive to do battle the next day.

The Girl Who Died is full of fun references, the Doctor reverses the polarity of the neutron flow (a familiar phrase often used by the 3^rd Doctor), the Time Lord now carries a 2000 Year Diary (very reminiscent of the Second Doctor’s 500 Year Diary from Power of the Daleks in 1966) he also poignantly speaks “baby” at several key moment in The Girl Who Died, a skill he used in A Good Man Goes To War and Closing Time (2011), and the line: “Time will tell, it always does…” echoes the 7^th Doctor’s words when he was in a similar reflective mood in Remembrance of the Daleks (1988). But after defeating the Mire – with their inept failure to defeat the Vikings on her phone recorded on Clara’s phone and set to the theme of The Benny Hill Show – the Doctor’s threat to upload the clip to the Galactic Hub and ruin the Mire’s reputation, quickly sends “Odin” and his lackeys packing. However, the price is high, and Ashildr dies of heart failure shortly after using the captured Mire warrior’s helmet the Doctor modified to enable her to tell the Mire a story they would never forget – projecting the image of a dragon when in reality they were only facing one of her puppet creations.

This leads to the fantastic surprise ending that makes The Girl Who Died so special. Although he plays the 12^th Doctor now, Peter Capaldi actually made his Doctor Who debut as the character Caecilius in the 10^th Doctor story from Series 4, The Fires of Pompeii (2008). Ever since Deep Breath (2015) the 12^th Doctor has long wondered why his regeneration gave him this face, now in The Girl Who Died the explanation is revealed at last! Following Ashildr’s death, when the Doctor sees his face in one of the water barrels, we briefly flashback to the events of The Fires of Pompeii, and the Doctor finally realises his face is actually there as a very special reminder for him… This is a truly magical moment, one that fans of the 10^th Doctor, and perhaps more significantly Donna Nobel, are sure to enjoy; as we discover why the 12^th Doctor looks like Caecilius from The Fires of Pompeii.

Ashildr’s death really affects the Doctor, he’s sick of losing people, so much so he intervenes here to put things right, no who “happens to be listening” (The Time Lords maybe? If indeed they are somehow “listening” in, the Doctor certainly seems intent on making as many ripples as possible to get their attention this season!). The Doctor uses a reprogrammed Battlefield Medical Kit from the Mire’s helmet to heal Ashildr, she recovers, and the Doctor leaves a second chip for her before he departs… When the Doctor and Clara eventually return to the TARDIS and continue their travels, the Time Lord begins to ponder over what he has done. He’s effectively made Ashildr a hybrid (perhaps making the Doctor recall the prophecy Davros spoke of in The Magician’s Apprentice / The Witch’s Familiar), an immortal, and as the episode closes with Ashildr gazing at the sky as the years swirl past around her – she never ages because the repair kit / chip keeps fixing her; but her smile gradually beings fading from happiness to an ever darkening expression. Few words can truly sum up the power and emotion of these final moments, it may leave many questions unanswered for now, but it certainly provides one of the most powerful and moving cliff-hangers in the shows history…

The Girl Who Died is an excellent story by Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat, the intricate plot is peppered with humour, seamlessly blended with themes of immortality and its consequences, and the though-provoking conclusion ingeniously blurs the edges of time itself with a brilliant cliff-hanger to round off the first part of this most unconventional two-part story. With its great setting, impressive cast, powerful alien menace, and high-production values, The Girl Who Died is another worthy addition to Series 9 and Peter Capaldi’s era as the Doctor.

Image Belong: BBC

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