The Girl Who Died

"I'm not actually the police, that's just what it says on the box."

Writers: Jamie Mathieson & Steven Moffat
Format: TV
Broadcast: 17th October 2015
Series: 9.05

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis

In a Viking village, a girl named Ashildr is about to make a desperate mistake. The Mire are the deadliest mercenaries in the galaxy, famed for showing no mercy and Ashildr declares war on them. The Doctor and Clara have a day to turn a peaceful village into a fighting force...

Verdict

The Girl Who Died was an excellent episode of Doctor Who that continued my rewatching of Series 9 in terrific style! Although it still receives the same rating as I awarded on broadcast back in autumn last year, it was slightly better than I remembered which is always a good thing when it comes to watching an episode for a second time. There were some aspects of it that I didn't recall and that mainly included the opening scene that led us into the show's titles but all in all I thought it was another fine episode. The Doctor's reaction to having to go with the Vikings was brilliant, as was the look of acceptance on his face when his sonic sunglasses were snapped in half right after his claim about them being more advanced than anything the Vikings would ever know about. The village setting was excellent and really opened itself up for a number of opportunities which was great. The Doctor attempting to assert his authority and take on the guise of Odin was good but just as he did so, it appeared to the villagers that the real Odin appeared in the sky and was accompanied by some pretty deadly killer robots in the shape of the Mire. Clara was a little foolish in getting Ashildr to use the sonic sunglasses to free her but that meant we got to see a great deal more of the Mire and the would-be Odin. The premonition the Doctor got about her was fantastic and I didn't pick up on that on my first watch but I do remember enjoying his take on the concept of premonition as just remembering in the wrong direction. I really like that. Ashildr declaring war on the Mire on their spaceship was unexpected and Clara's stunned reaction was brilliant. Jenna Coleman looked simply exquisite, in and out of the spacesuit, and I was also glad to be watching Maisie Williams again as I am a huge fan of Game of Thrones so seeing her in something else following the epic sixth season in which she starred was really great. I'm now looking forward to the upcoming episodes she also features in! The Doctor dealing with the ripples in time that his actions could make was interesting and although it was obvious he was never going to let the villagers die at the hands of the Mire, the moment Clara knew he was staying was wonderful. I thought Peter Capaldi gave another superb performance and I really do think that when his regeneration comes, he will be remembered as one of the very great Doctors. The Doctor training the villagers and giving them names to his own preference was magnificent but I did like how authoritative Clara was in telling the Doctor to find the answer. Just how that came from his ability to speak baby, which perhaps was made slightly too much of, is just ludicrously great. Electric eels, fire in the water, it all started to fit for the Doctor. Social media playing a part in Odin's defeat in a Viking-based story was something I did not see coming but the thought of a galactic hub was quite humorous. Ashildr dying in the process of sending the Mire running was quite the shock and the Doctor's description of using her life up like a battery was quite tragic. But then he had a realisation, and with excellent flashbacks to The Fires of Pompeii and Deep Breath, the Doctor realised who he was and why he had this face. He used a Mire repair kit and in turn not only brought Ashildr back to life, but pretty much made her immortal. I liked how he gave her the second repair kit so she could decide who to spend immortality with and the Doctor pondering over his emotional decision to save her in the TARDIS was fantastic. Had he done the right thing? It would appear so, but time will tell as it always does. Overall, an excellent episode that even included mockery of the infamous Third Doctor line!

Rating: 9/10