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Doctor Who Recap: ‘The Girl Who Died’

By Barry Rice

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Clara (Jenna Coleman), the Doctor (Peter Capaldi), and Ashildr (Maisie Williams) are ready for action in ‘The Girl Who Died’ (Credit: BBC)

This week on Doctor Who, the Doctor and Clara went back in time and teamed up with Game of Thrones‘ Arya Stark Maisie Williams. It’s the first of another two-part adventure that will conclude with next week’s ‘The Woman Who Died.’

We begin with Clara lost in space, her familiar orange space suit quickly running out of air. She describes the stars surrounding her and the Doctor (somehow) uses this information to materialize the TARDIS around her. It seems we’ve caught the two of them at the tail end of an epic adventure to save a race called the “Velosians.” With the TARDIS having apparently landed, the Doctor steps outside to “scrape his boot.”

The Doctor and Clara have a conversation about the rules of time travel before they’re accosted by a gang of Vikings. One of them snaps the sonic sunglasses in half, preventing any escape.

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The Viking party is greeted warmly when they return to the village, their prisoners in tow. One of the welcoming party is

Arya

Ashildr, a young Viking girl who is given half of the broken sonic sunglasses by her father. The Doctor manages to remove his shackles using his yo-yo and then attempts to convince the Vikings that he is the god Odin. They are not convinced.

To further the point, Odin himself then appears in the sky and says that the village’s finest warriors will now meet him in the halls of Valhalla. A group of armored robotic creatures appear and begin “beaming up” random Vikings. The Doctor tells Clara to stay still, but she fears for Ashildr and goes to help her. Clara tells Ashildr to put on the Doctor’s broken sonic sunglasses, look at Clara’s shackles, and think the word “open.” (Why she didn’t just put the glasses on and do it herself is a mystery to me — Clara seems to have a problem with thinking the word “open” this year.) Unfortunately, one of the baddies beams them to “Valhalla” just as the shackles are freed.

Related: REVIEW: Doctor Who: ‘Before the Flood’

In reality, the Vikings (along with Clara and Ashildr) are transported to an orbiting spaceship. The Vikings are all disintegrated, but Clara and Ashildr are spared due to their possession of a space suit and a broken pair of sonic sunglasses. “Odin” is revealed to be a ghoulish alien, hellbent on harvesting Viking warriors for their testosterone and adrenaline. Clara takes charge and commands him to leave, but Ashildr gets bold and tells him the village will destroy him. This results in “Odin” returning Clara and Ashildr to the village, but only because he plans to come down in 24 hours with ten of his armored warriors and fight them.

The Doctor tells the villagers they have no other option but to run — their warriors are all gone, leaving only farmers and fishermen. Clara knows the Doctor can’t leave these people to die, but it takes the cries of a nearby baby to convince him to stay.

Training the villagers to fight is disastrous, leaving the Doctor crestfallen. Clara convinces him that he’s missed something, and a short conversation with Ashildr leads the Doctor to the boathouse where he finds what he missed: electric eels. Soon, the Doctor devises an elaborate plan utilizing the eels, wire from Clara’s space suit, and a massive puppet designed by Ashildr.

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Next: PAGE TWO: A Familiar Face

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Odin (David Schofield) and his mechanical warriors (Credit: BBC)

At the appointed time, Odin and his soldiers (a warrior race called the “Mire,” according to the Doctor’s 2000-year diary) beam down and enter the great hall. The Doctor informs Odin that they’ve decided not to fight and are having a party. One of the villagers tosses metal rings on the armored warriors’ helmets and just as Odin realizes the ruse, the Doctor calls out and the soldiers are electrocuted by the eels.

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There are still six left, so the Doctor and Ashildr lure two of them in place by hiding behind a table. With another signal from the Doctor, an overhead anvil is turned into an electromagnet, and the helmets of the Mire warriors are pulled up to the ceiling (revealing their disturbing faces). The Doctor takes one of the helmets and places it on Ashildr’s head; she uses it’s holographic abilities to project an image of a great dragon. Odin is left alone as his remaining soldiers flee.

The Doctor confronts Odin with a recording of the entire “battle” on Clara’s cell phone (with the Benny Hill theme added for extra effect) and threatens to upload it to the galactic hub unless he leaves. He flees and the villagers celebrate until they realize Ashildr is missing. Her father removes the Mire helmet and discovers she is dead. The Doctor mournfully apologies and leaves.

Clara follows him to a nearby building, and the Doctor tells her that he’s tired of losing people. He has the ability to save people, but he can’t because he has to follow “the rules.” Then he sees his reflection in a pool of water and suddenly realizes why he chose the face the Twelfth Doctor wears — it is to remind him of Caecilius from ‘The Fires of Pompeii’ and Donna’s plea to save just one family. It’s a revelation for the Doctor… it’s his job to save people and the hell with anyone who has a problem with that.

He revives Ashildr using a small medical chip from inside the Mire helmet. It absorbs into her body where it will remain. She awakens briefly to thank the Doctor before he leaves, and the Doctor gives her father another medical ship for “a person of her choosing.”

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Arriving back at the TARDIS, the Doctor concedes to Clara that he may have just made an immense mistake. Not only will the Mire medical chip heal Ashildr, it will continue to do so forever… effectively making her immortal. The second chip is for her to save someone that she can’t bear to lose, because immortality means watching those you love die. Not only is she immortal, but with the Mire chip melded with her body, she is now a hybrid.

In the final shot, Ashildr stands on a hilltop as the days and nights pass before her unchanging body. “To be continued…”

Next week, the Doctor and Clara visit 17th century England where they’ll encounter Ashildr once more and come face-to-face with the consequences of the Doctor’s actions.

Watch for our round table review of ‘The Girl Who Died’ on Monday morning. For more on the rest of the upcoming episodes, check out our guide: Doctor Who Series 9: Everything There is to Know.

What did you think about ‘The Girl Who Died’? Any theories about Ashildr or the consequences of the Doctor’s actions? Tell us in the comments below!

Next: REVIEW: The Eighth Doctor: Doom Coalition 1 (Audio)

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