Doctor Who fandom will be debating whether to consider The Girl Who Died as the first of a two-parter or a one-off episode. Although it does include a "To Be Continued" title and the next-time trailer reveals Maisie Williams's Ashildr will return, this episode feels more like a typical new series historical one-parter. In tone and setting, it is similar to last year's Robot of Sherwood and classic series fans will also be reminded of the 1974 story The Time Warrior. After two dark two-parters, it is quite welcome to have a lighter and simpler adventure.
The episode begins with the Doctor and Clara finishing off their previous adventure. For the fourth episode in a row, there are no scenes on contemporary Earth and Coal Hill School, suggesting that Clara has become ever more detached from her domestic life. It is unclear exactly what our heroes have been doing and why Clara is floating in space but this is a fun way to start to a new episode. Before their capture by the Vikings, the Doctor and Clara discuss the rules of time travel. This theme also featured heavily in the previous story and may continue to be important to the series as it progresses. However, this series seems to be the first since 2005 which has no explicit series arc (following Bad Wolf, Torchwood, Saxon, the missing planets, the crack, the Silence, "the impossible girl" and "Heaven").
When the Doctor and Clara arrive at the Viking village, we meet the much-hyped guest character Ashildr and are given hints she is more than a regular Viking girl. She talks of having premonitions and both she and Doctor exchange glances at each other. This enigma is then quickly set aside while the comedy and action takes over. There is a silly scene in which the Doctor pretends to be Odin and tries to impress the Vikings with his yo-yo. This broader comedy doesn't seem to suit Peter Capaldi as much as it did Tom Baker, David Tennant and Matt Smith. The Doctor's performance is soon interrupted by the appearance of "Odin" appearing in the clouds. This heavily evokes the appearance of God before the knights in Monty Python and Holy Grail and feels rather unnecessary to the plot. The Mire capture the Viking warriors by force so the pretence of their leader being "Odin" and their spaceship "Valhalla" serves no purpose.
The Mire kill the warriors and extract their testosterone and adrenaline which they consume as fuel. These aliens are a one-dimensional warrior race and although their backstory is uninteresting, the visual design of the armour is strong. Ashildr shows her feisty side, not unlike Maisie Williams's character in Game of Thrones, and challenges the Mire to battle on behalf of her village. This sets up a High Noon style to the final confrontation for the rest of the episode.
The Doctor is initially reluctant to help the villagers fearing that if he successfully intervenes it will draw further alien attention to Earth, again revisiting the theme of the Twelfth Doctor's self-doubt. This is paralleled by Clara's self-confidence as she expects the Doctor will come up with a brilliant plan and save the day as always. This over-confidence may be what leads to her eventual departure as companion. The scenes of the Doctor training the Viking villagers are amusing but it is a shame there is not enough time to develop their characters further. Longer scenes focus on Ashildr which is necessary to set up the episode's conclusion.
The Doctor's cunning plan does materialise just in time and traps are prepared laid for the Mire, not unlike a climax to an episode of The A Team. The Doctor uses the Mire's technology against them, tricking them into retreat from a projection of a dragon created by the imagination of Ashildr. The tonal shift from farce, including the Benny Hill theme, to tragedy with the the death of Ashildr, is effectively done. The Doctor's victory is hollow and it is his realisation that his face is the same of that of the Roman Caecilius (who was saved by the Tenth Doctor in Fires of Pompeii) that leads him to save Ashildr. She is brought back to life by the Doctor through his use of the medical kit in the Mire's helmet. The Doctor again doubts his actions thinking he may have made Ashildr immortal and understands that, like him, she will face having to watch her loved ones die as she lives on.
After some dodgy plotting and humour in its first half, The Girl Who Lives ends very strongly and sets up the next episode effectively. It is likely that the Doctor's decision to save Ashildr will have consequences he did not foresee and the next time trailer suggests a darker sequel story. Next week's The Woman Who Lived is written by Catherine Tregenna who wrote some of the best episodes of Torchwood and is the first female writer of Doctor Who for seven years.
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