The Girl Who Died
| 256a – "The Girl Who Died" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who episode | |||
| File:Doctor Who The Girl Who Died Mire.jpg David Schofield as Odin, and the Mire. | |||
| Cast | |||
Others
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| Production | |||
| Directed by | Ed Bazalgette | ||
| Written by | Jamie Mathieson Steven Moffat | ||
| Script editor | Nick Lambon | ||
| Produced by | Derek Ritchie | ||
| Executive producer(s) | Steven Moffat Brian Minchin | ||
| Music by | Murray Gold | ||
| Series | Series 9 | ||
| Running time | 1st of 2-part story, 45 minutes | ||
| First broadcast | 17 October 2015 | ||
| Chronology | |||
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"The Girl Who Died" is the fifth episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 17 October 2015. It is written by Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat and directed by Ed Bazalgette.
The episode is set in a "little Viking village where all the warriors have just been slaughtered". The Doctor and Clara have 12 hours to train some farmers into warriors, as Ashildr (Maisie Williams) declares war upon the Mire.[1]
Plot
The episode opens with Clara in space floating; the Doctor in his TARDIS talking to her on the phone as the TARDIS is being attacked by a battle fleet. After rescuing Clara, he lands the TARDIS on Earth, only for the two to be captured by Vikings, who break the Doctor's Sonic Sunglasses. The Vikings escort the Doctor and Clara back to their village, but the Doctor frees himself of his chains and attempts to bargain for his freedom using "magic" - in reality, a yoyo. After mocking their God, Odin, the Vikings dismiss the Doctor. Odin himself then seemingly appears in the sky above the village, commending the Viking warriors' bravery, and inviting them to feast at the table of Valhalla. Giant robots then appear in the village, and beam the Vikings - along with Clara and a village girl named Ashildr - into an unknown location, leaving the Doctor with the village people.
After the Vikings are slaughtered for their testosterone, Clara confronts "Odin", who is revealed to be one of the Mire; a species who pride themselves on their violent, merciless reputation. Clara initially convinces the Mire to return them to the village and leave in peace, but Ashildr, angered by the slaughter of the Viking warriors, declares war on the species. They propose a battle in twenty four hours, before beaming Clara and Ashildr back down to the village. Clara informs the Doctor of the events, and the Doctor recommends that the townspeople flee the village in the little time they have. Refusing to run and desiring honour and pride, the townspeople decide to battle the Mire. The Doctor, after translating the sorrowful, fearful cries of a baby, attempts to leave the village to their demise, but Clara persuades him to stay and help train the people for battle. He reluctantly accepts, and tries helplessly to prepare the village to fight. Due to the town's only remaining residents being fishermen and farmers, their combat skills are weak, so the Doctor decides he needs a new plan to help them defeat the Mire, a plan that he hasn't formed yet.
After following the baby's cries, which includes "fire in the water", the Doctor realises what the baby meant and goes to a nearby room filled with water barrels containing electric eels, the Doctor pieces a plan together. When the Mire arrive, the Doctor talks to their leader in the barn, distracting them while townspeople hook metal wire to their helmets. The people then connect the wire to the water with the electric eels, electrocuting the robots while the Doctor steals one of the Mire's helmets. Ashildr, using puppets she has designed and wearing the Mire helmet which has been reworked by the Doctor, projects the image of a dragon into the minds of the Mire, while Clara films what is really happening on her phone. The remaining robots flee, leaving only the leader, who the Doctor blackmails to leave the village peacefully or embarass them with the footage of their species cowering in fear over nothing by uploading it to the "Galactic hub". The Mire leader leaves and the townspeople celebrate, until Ashildr's father finds her dead under the helmet, the power having caused her heart to fail.
The Doctor, angry and upset, leaves the barn and walks away from the townspeople. When Clara confronts him, she questions what happened and the Doctor simply tells her he is sick of always losing the people he cares about, wishing he could save everyone. Seeing his own reflection in the water, he then realises why his regeneration chose this face, a fact which had perplexed him in "Deep Breath". He remembers the face of Caecilius from "The Fires of Pompeii" and how he had broken the rules of time to save this man and his family, and realises he subconsciously chose that face as a reminder that he can always save people. Revitalised by this, he returns to the barn and rewires a chip from a Mire helmet to revive Ashildr, and leaves her a second chip for when she understands what he has done to her. The Doctor and Clara leave, and the Doctor reveals that by reviving Ashildr, he has also taken away her ability to die. Clara expresses confusion over the Doctor's choice of wording, as he tells her that "immortality means watching everyone else die", and he discusses his concern over the fact that he has now made Ashildr a hybrid. Ashildr is then seen smiling, but as the world around her whirls through time leaving her the same age, her smile turns to an expression of sorrow, misery and pain.
Continuity
David Tennant and Catherine Tate appear in flashbacks as the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble respectively, in scenes from "The Fires of Pompeii" in which Peter Capaldi also starred. A flashback from "Deep Breath", the opening episode of the eighth series, also appears, as the Doctor finally understands why he chose his current face.
The Doctor says Ashildr is now a "hybrid," echoing a prophecy told by Davros in "The Magician's Apprentice" / "The Witch's Familiar", where he said the two great warrior races the hybrid was made of would be Time Lord and Dalek; it appears here that it is instead between Vikings and the Mire.[2]
Ashildr was meant to be brought back to life once, but will be continually brought back to life, similar to the fate of Jack Harkness after the events of "The Parting of the Ways".[3]
The Doctor is adapting a Mire helmet and claims he is "reversing the polarity of the neutron flow" - a phrase which has cropped up many times in various forms during Doctor Who - beginning with the Third Doctor.
At the end of the episode, the Doctor reflects on what the consequences might be of his potentially dangerous decision to save Ashildr (and possibly make her immortal) by saying "Time will tell, it always does" - a phrase the Seventh Doctor uses at the end of "Rememberance of the Daleks", referring to his decision to destroy Davros and Skaro, and whether it was a 'good' decision.
Production
Casting
Odin was originally to have been played by Brian Blessed, who had previously played King Yrcanos in 1986's Mindwarp, and been offered the role of the Second Doctor in 1966.[4] Blessed, however, was forced to pull out, and was replaced by David Schofield.[5]
Broadcast and reception
Doctor Who came second for the day with 4.85 million viewers in overnight ratings, a significant increase from the previous episode and the highest overnight figure of the series thus far.The episode had a 23.2% share.[6]
Critical reception
The episode received positive reviews from critics, with many praising the episode's humour, the resolution with regards to the Doctor's face, and the performances of Capaldi, Coleman and Williams.[7][8][9]
Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times awarded the episode a perfect five star rating, claiming that "Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat invest a traditional formula with a twist of unpredictability and immortality". He further went on to say that the episode "taps into a very traditional vein but again slyly transcends it, and achieves that holy grail of TV drama – unpredictability", also claiming that "everything that is meant to be funny is funny and the sad moments are sad", while praising the episode's direction as "impeccable".[10] Scott Collura of IGN also lavished praise onto the episode, awarding it a score of 8.8/10, deemed by the site as "great". He especially praised Capaldi's performance, labelling it "big and touching", while also enjoying "the introduction of Maisie Williams' character" and the episodes "big thematic touches". He summarised his review by stating "Doctor Who continues its strong season with the much-anticipated arrival of Maisie Williams as “The Girl Who Died.” While the revelation of who her character actually is may come as something of a letdown for longtime fans, the episode itself and its bigger thematic touches more than make up for that".[7] Catherine Gee of The Telegraph also enjoyed the episode, calling it "fast paced" and claiming that it "set up all the right ingredients for something big next week". She also said "The attack and battle sequence zipped through at speed. If it felt a little rushed it didn't hugely matter, as it was clearly setting up for a bigger second half".[11]
Alasdair Wilkins of The A.V. Club highly acclaimed the episode, awarding it a perfect "A" grade - the first of this series - and stated that "the writing, the acting, the directing combine to create what is quite possibly the best episode yet of this Doctor’s tenure". He called the episode "fantastically funny whenever it wants to be", but also heavily praised the subplot of the Doctor's face, calling the reveal "wonderfully simple". He closed his review by labeling the episode "a damn triumph. More than that, it’s a triumph because it feels so resolutely like a Doctor Who episode", and stated that the episode "remembers that what motivates the Doctor’s decisions are fundamentally the same emotions that we all feel, and that’s what makes this such a brilliant hour of television".[8] Morgan Jeffery of Digital Spy also praised the episode, calling it "unlike anything you've seen before". He called the episode "fast-paced, with sharp, funny dialogue and some great clowning from Peter Capaldi" and further praising Williams' as "nicely ethereal in the part, without ever overplaying the character's enigmatic nature". He closed his review by saying "while Doctor Who shouldn't be like this every week, the show's boundless variety has always been its biggest selling point, and it's refreshing to see 'The Girl Who Died' break the mould and dare to be entirely unpredictable and different".[9]
References
- ^ Moffat, Steven (14 September 2015). "Steven Moffat's exclusive Doctor Who series nine episode guide". Radio Times.
- ^ Scott Collura (17 October 2015). "Doctor Who: "The Girl Who Died" Review". IGN.
- ^ "Doctor Who series 9: geeky spots in The Girl Who Died". Den of Geek.
- ^ Press Association (5 August 2014). "Brian Blessed: I turned down Doctor Who". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
Veteran actor says he was approached to star in the BBC show in the mid-1960s and was too busy – though he'd do it now
- ^ Farley, Connor (21 April 2015). "Doctor Who Series 9 Mystery Image & Casting Update". kasterborous.com. Kasterborous Doctor Who News. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
The role [of Odin] was originally supposed to be played by Brian Blessed
- ^ "The Girl Who Died - Overnight Viewing Figures". Doctor Who News.
- ^ a b Collura, Scott. "DOCTOR WHO: "THE GIRL WHO DIED" REVIEW". IGN. Scott Collura. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ a b Wilkins, Alasdair. "Go watch tonight's Doctor Who right now, please and thank you". The A.V. Club. Alasdair Wilkins. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ a b Jeffery, Morgan. "Doctor Who review: 'The Girl Who Died' is unlike anything you've seen before". Digital Spy. Morgan Jeffery. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ Mulkern, Patrick. "The Girl Who Died review: Maisie Williams and the Vikings conquer Doctor Who". Radio Times. Patrick Mulkern. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ Gee, Catherine. "Doctor Who: The Girl Who Died: 'we finally learned where the Doctor got his face'". The Telegraph. Catherine Gee. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
External links
- "The Girl Who Died" at the BBC Doctor Who homepage
- "The Girl Who Died" on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
- Template:Brief
- "The Girl Who Died" at IMDb