The Woman Who Lived

"You're immortal not indestructible." 

Writer: Catherine Treganna
Format: TV
Broadcast: 24th October 2015
Series: 9.06

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor

Synopsis

England, 1651. A deadly highwayman known only as 'The Knightmare' plagues the dark streets of London, his fire-breathing accomplice by his side. There's something clearly more than human here, and that includes the loot as much as the outlaws. Who are these creatures, and are they enemies to be fought, or friends who might possibly save the Doctor from certain doom on the gallows?

Verdict

The Woman Who Lived was a terrific Doctor Who episode that served as a brilliant sequel to the story that immediately came before it. Despite some fans' opinions that this episode and The Girl Who Died act as a two-parter, that is absolutely not the case. Firstly, they are both written by different writers, have a completely different plot and don't follow on from each other in any real way other than dealing with a returning character. We see the effects the actions of the previous episode have had on her which is why I think of it as a sequel rather than a part two and hence why it gets a separate, but albeit the same, rating as the previous episode. This story was unique in that it didn't feature Clara in her role as companion until the final scene and instead we had the Twelfth Doctor out and about travelling on his own. He'd ended up in 1651 and arrived amidst a quite humorous robbery. I think the Doctor's arrival is what made it humorous when I come to think about it and his comments to what he only knew as the Knightmare about listening were fantastic. Peter Capaldi was once again on top form giving another superb performance and it was actually quite refreshing to see him teaming up alongside a new female lead character in the form of Maisie Williams. I already mentioned in my blogging of the previous story that I'm a huge Game of Thrones fan so to see her getting to play the companion role (of sorts) for an entire episode really was brilliant. Jenna Coleman and Capaldi are great together and the relationship between their two characters was captured wonderfully in the moment inside the TARDIS at the end. But a lot went on before that and I liked that we got to see flashbacks of some of the more important moments in Ashildr's lengthy life by this point. The Doctor read from her journal all the pain that she has gone through and what she has lost and things seemed to be quite difficult for her by this point. The episode really did explore all the negatives that would come with immortality and I really liked that direction. It was quite dark during some parts of the episode and it was quite sad to see how much Ashildr, or Lady Me as she now wanted to be known, wanted to go travelling with the Doctor. She had grown tired of Earth and didn't want to wait until the future to be able to fly. She wanted it right now but the Doctor wasn't willing to give her that so she continued to take things into her own hands. The revelation that she had been using the Doctor and actually aiding Leandro as a route to travel the stars was quite a shock but the moment she realised that she had been used and wanted to save the villagers was really good and I liked how the Mire repair kit was used on Sam Swift the Quick. The Doctor seemed to gloss over if it meant that he would actually be immortal but the consensus seemed to be that wouldn't be the case which was probably the right direction to go with. I loved the reference in this episode to The Visitation and the focus that story had on the Great Fire of London which was soon to come for Lady Me. The Doctor revealing that he had checked in on her from afar earlier on in her life was intriguing but I did like how the episode finished with her image appearing in the background of a child's selfie sent to the Doctor as a thanks for help with her homework. The Doctor will certainly have his work cut out with her and will need to check in on her. Overall though, a fantastic episode but it is the first to have its rating altered from my first viewing and this slightly declines. Nevertheless, still absolutely brilliant!

Rating: 9/10