The Girl Who Died

"I'm not in the mood for Vikings."

Writers: Jamie Mathieson & Steven Moffat 

Format: TV 

Broadcast: 17th October 2015

Series: 9.05

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis 

Captured by Vikings, the Doctor and Clara must help protect their village from space warriors from the future: the Mire. Outnumbered and outgunned, their fate seems inevitable. So why is the Doctor preoccupied with a single Viking girl?

Verdict 

The Girl Who Died was a superb episode to continue along the ninth series of revived Doctor Who very nicely! I've been looking forward to this story the most since getting to know a bit about what the series would have in store for us and that's because of Maisie Williams guest starring! I'm a huge Game of Thrones fan having watched the five seasons all this year in roughly four months and Maisie's character, Arya Stark is a personal favourite of mine. I'm just waiting for Daenerys to become companion once Clara leaves. That would make my day! If somebody had asked me before this episode for the Doctor Who story closest to Game of Thrones I'd have struggled for a comparison but this, whether intentionally or not, was the closest yet by a long way. The Vikings meeting the Doctor for the first time was wonderful and I just loved his reaction to getting captured almost immediately after he and Clara exited the TARDIS. He wasn't pleased at all. Add on top of that the fact Clara was in a spacesuit, they destroyed his sonic sunglasses and then ensued a two day boat trip. It wasn't quite the length of the boat journey in Island of Death but with this incarnation of the Doctor I imagine two days would seem a lot more for those around him. Agitation is an understatement I would think. I've probably said this in most stories because she's just beautiful but Jenna Coleman looked simply stunning in this episode, even in the spacesuit but more so once she changed into that denim attire. She will be missed that's for sure! I noticed in Under the Lake/Before the Flood that Clara may be taking her travels for granted and I noticed it again here. She just seems to accept that the Doctor always wins which isn't necessarily the case. I wonder how she would react to what the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn experienced in my recent listening of Project: Lazarus. That would be quite different to what she's used to that's for sure. It seems to me that since she lost Danny in Dark Water/Death in Heaven, she's got nothing to lose now. I really am intrigued to see the manner in which she departs which by when she will become the longest serving companion - and rightfully so. The preview to this story in the latest edition of DWM by Jamie Mathieson suggested that the title was perhaps misleading into the atmosphere of the story and he was definitely right. It wasn't dark at all and despite the threat of war and the vicious Viking abduction simply for testosterone, it was somehow quite fun. The moment Clara knew the Doctor was going to stay and defend the village was magnificent. I also adored the Doctor's reaction to seeing that Clara was returned to the surface nice and safe. He became a hugger! Is he a Bayley fan I wonder? (That's a wrestling reference, another thing I'm a huge fan of). The Mire looked very good and were another excellent enemy created by Mathieson after his hugely successful Foretold and Boneless last series. I really liked Odin and I thought he was played fantastically by David Schofield. The moment he appeared in the sky God-like was brilliant because of the Doctor's reaction, just as he was pretending to be Odin himself. Ashildr was a marvellous character and although there was a lot of rumour regarding the character, I'm glad she wasn't a returning Romana or Susan as has been suggested. Just because she's in Game of Thrones doesn't mean Maisie Williams will be a new form of a returning character. The sacrifice she gave to defeat the Mire would prove too much for her though. After the Doctor incredibly found the way to defeat the Mire with the most primitive and basic of resources, she added the final touch but it would be her last contribution in life. That was until the Doctor had an incredible realisation as to why he had the face he did. It was talked about in Deep Breath, which we had a flashback too but the incredible thing was the other flashback and continuity from The Fires of Pompeii. I thought it was outstanding! I'm pleasantly surprised that Peter Capaldi's previous appearance before becoming the Doctor has actually been incorporated into the storytelling of the show. It would serve of a reminder that people can be saved. He is the Doctor and he absolutely saves people. He knows the Time Lords are out there somewhere otherwise he'd have died in The Time of the Doctor, but they're not going to stop him from saving one girl's life. The Doctor reprogrammed Mire technology and brought Ashildr back to life. Just one problem, it was permanent. And the Doctor gave her another of the reparation devices so she wouldn't be alone. Immortality was seeing the people around you die. But at least she'd have someone with her along the way. I refuse to accept this as a two-parter but the fact that Ashildr is back in the next story, by a different writer, suggests to me that this will be more of an immediate sequel. I can't wait to see how that goes because this was superb! 

Rating: 9/10