REVIEW: Doctor Who: ‘The Girl Who Died’

Odin (David Schofield) and the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) (Credit: BBC)

This past Saturday, Doctor Who aired the fifth episode of its ninth series: ‘The Girl Who Died.’ At long last, we got to meet Maisie Williams’ mysterious new character, Ashildr. It was also the first of yet another two-part story.

More from Winter is Coming

Clara (Jenna Coleman) and Ashildr (Maisie Williams) (Credit: BBC)

Leah Tedesco – Assistant Editor/Staff Writer

There are some episodes of Doctor Who that are reminiscent of ones from days gone by. One of them is the fifth episode of Series 9, ‘The Girl Who Died.’ The writing reminded me of a story out of the Tom Baker era. In addition to this, I was half expecting him to say, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” (as most likely would have been said by the Tenth Doctor) after it was discovered that Ashildr had died. With this in mind, the explanation of why the Doctor has his current face was appropriate. I loved this plot point and feel that it, along with the rest of the episode, is representative of some of the best writing in the show’s history. Ashildr is a fantastic character and I cannot wait to see the second half of this story.

Speaking of nods to the past, as I am sure many other viewers noticed, there was a striking resemblance between when “Odin” appeared in the sky to the Vikings, and when the Judeo Christian God appeared to King Arthur and his men in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In fact, I would be shocked if this was not an intentional homage to the classic and beloved British comedy movie. If this is so, well done.

And let me just say that, since being away from Missy (whom I love, don’t get me wrong), Clara has gradually pulled herself out of the metaphorical hole in which her character was for a brief time. She is now stronger and more confident than ever and I am really digging it. Thank goodness that her character development from last series was not for naught.

Next: A Moral Dilemma

More from Winter is Coming

The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) confronts Odin (David Schofield) (Credit: BBC)

James Aggas – Staff Writer

‘The Girl Who Died’ was an interesting little episode, where the main plot isn’t quite as important as the major arc threads it sets up, or just as importantly, the moral dilemmas and character exploration featured.

The plot of Vikings versus aliens was a fun if rather silly little story. It allowed for plenty of humour, and I liked the Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven feel it had to it. It was also easily the kind of story that could be resolved in a single episode. While next week will continue the story of Ashildr, it’s nice to have an episode that had a plot suited to just one episode done right.

But what really made the episode work for me was how it explored the Doctor and how he deals with moral dilemmas. It’s nice to see that sometimes, a seemingly simple problem isn’t so straight-forward, and that it might be better for him to not get involved at all. I especially really liked how this was explored in the episode’s last ten minutes, and how the choice he made will leave an impact on events to come.

But I think my favourite moment was how ‘The Fires of Pompeii’ was addressed and the Doctor’s realisation of why he “chose” his current face. I just love the idea of the Doctor subconsciously choosing his faces (it could explain the Sixth Doctor taking on the face of Time Lord Maxil from ‘Arc of Infinity’, after all). It wasn’t something as big as what Clara did to become the “Impossible Girl”, just a little reminder to himself of what kind of man he is, and I loved that. It sums up ‘The Girl Who Died’ rather wonderfully – an episode that’s less about the grand, epic story and more about the quieter, smaller moments.

Next: Of Gods and Men

More from Winter is Coming

A Viking army faces off with one of the mechanical baddies (Credit: BBC)

David Hill – Co-Editor

To a great many people that the Doctor has come in contact with, it would be easy to look upon him as a god. He possesses technology far beyond that of those humans from the past, and in his role as guardian and protector of the downtrodden, he could be considered as a deity in quite a few instances.

Yet, this is a mantle that the Doctor has generally shunned. In the new incarnation of Doctor Who, we have yet to see the Doctor, whose powers would make him seem to be a godlike figure, attempt to exploit that possibility. At least, we had not, until ‘The Girl Who Died.’

Perhaps it just took a Doctor with the chutzpah and attitude of the Twelfth Doctor to pull this off. Of course, as we could all expect, not only does teh Doctor fail to impress the Vikings with the advanced technology of the yo-yo he carried with him, but the Face of Odin appeared in the sky only moments after he claimed to be the god of death and knowledge himself. Well, can’t fault a Time Lord for trying.

Maybe this is something that the Doctor will attempt in the future. Perhaps, once the memory of his failure to convince the Vikings that he was Odin passes, the Doctor will attempt to convince some other somewhat primitive race, or those humans of the past, that he is, in fact, their supreme leader. It would certainly make for an entertaining episode.

After all, what is the worst that could happen? If that group kills him, he’ll just regenerate before their eyes. If nothing else, that may convince those others that the Doctor is, in fact, the god he claimed to be.

Next: What Makes You So Special?

More from Winter is Coming

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

Kory Plockmeyer – Staff Writer

On Friday evening I said to my wife, “I’m worried about tomorrow’s episode of Doctor Who. I feel that it has been so overhyped that it can’t live up to its billing.” I’m afraid I was right.

We began with the rather silly bit of Clara in a spacesuit with a creature trying to kill her. I suppose that this was trying to show us that the Doctor cares so much for Clara that he will prioritize her safety over anything else.

I don’t buy it.

This has been one theme so far this series – the relationship between the Doctor and Clara and how they need one another and are transforming one another. I’m tired of it. Even in seasons when the primary relationship between the Doctor and his companions was that of romantic tension or lack thereof (Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, and, to a lesser extent, the early Amy Pond stories) the Doctor would not have been willing to bend the laws of time to save them. In fact, it was the opposite — it was only when he was left alone that we saw the Time Lord Victorious, uncaring about what laws may bind him. I simply don’t buy it that Clara is really that special to the Doctor.

Up until now I have actually been a fan of Clara Oswald. I thought the “Impossible Girl” storyline was interesting and I enjoy seeing glimpses of the companions’ life outside of the TARDIS. This season has shown Clara as controlling and demanding and after this week, I’m ready for her exit.

That said, I particularly appreciated two things about this episode.

First, I was glad to see the Doctor without a plan. After my previous complaints that the Doctor seems to be near-omniscient, it was wonderful to see the Doctor scrambling. Admittedly, I wasn’t sold that the Doctor’s response would be to attempt to train warriors, but I was somewhat pacified by his explanation that he was trying to give the Viking farmers an honorable death – that, at least, was more like the Doctor. While I certainly wish the Doctor would not have needed Clara’s prompting to work harder to find a different plan, I at least appreciated the chance to see the Doctor figuring things out along with us.

Second, I appreciated the way we have explained the reuse of Caecilius’ face. I almost got a little choked up when I saw Ten and Donna together in the TARDIS again — the scene at the end of ‘The Fires of Pompeii’ gets me every time. We have here a simple enough explanation that drew us in emotionally that doesn’t require any sort of unbelievable twist like Clara’s “Impossible Girl.” Having offered this explanation, I hope that we now leave Caecilius in the past and don’t worry too much more about the reused face. More importantly, I hope that the central identity statement, “I’m the Doctor and I save people,” can continue to operate in the background, as it did in the first four episodes, rather than being front and center in our attention, as it was this week.

As for Maisie Williams and the twists around her character, well, I’ll reserve judgment until we see the conclusion next week.

Next: Two Words: David Tennant

More from Winter is Coming

The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) with a decidely un-Viking piece of technology (Credit: BBC)

J.R. Frontera – Staff Writer

My overall take-away from this episode: I liked it. It was not unbearable or trite or ridiculous or wrapped up in a nice pretty bow … okay … it was wrapped up in a bow, I suppose, but not without potentially dire circumstances, so it’s forgiven! And as a storyteller myself, I was partial to the fact that a storyteller saved the day.

The real clincher in this episode was, of course, the Doctor’s realization of why he chose his current particular face.

Now this part I really liked, a lot. There has been massive speculation about the “revealing of Twelve’s face” (and you can read about all of that on this very site!), and to be honest, I was kind of dreading it. I felt it wasn’t really necessary in the first place (and wrote an article myself on that very thing), and was dearly afraid it would come across not as some kind of mind-blowing reveal, but more like beating a dead horse. So when that scene came along in this episode, I was thrilled.

For several reasons:

1) It was not given an entire full episode just for that, which would have been far too much and likely led to a complete butchering of the explanation
2) It actually made sense in relation to the current storyline
3) It actually made sense overall (I feared a much vaguer, weaker reason)
4) It harkened back to one of the Doctor’s most base characteristics — his desire to save people … to save everyone, and one of his most base struggles — the conflict between what he desperately wants to do and what he knows is right against The Rules and the knowledge that those rules are really there for good reasons
5) We got to see clips from one of my favorite episodes ever (and it’s one of my favorites because of the emotional struggle the Doctor faces within it, and because of his ultimate decision to break the rules regardless of cost — incidentally, ‘The Waters of Mars’ is another of my ultimate favorites)
6) Twelve has been much more crude, rude, and aloof than other incarnations. It was good to see him upset by someone else’s death other than Clara’s, to show us he really is the same Doctor down deep, after all
7) DAVID TENNANT!!!!!

Oh … excuse me. Ahem.

I also very much loved that fact that the Doctor’s “easy fix” did indeed come with actual consequences. Some that looked to maybe not be so pleasant. While I would have preferred that door be left open for a few episodes to run as a background noise until an episode later in the season, it appears we’re going to just go ahead and deal with it next week.

I wasn’t so happy with that decision, and I do really hope Ashildr’s story is not ended neatly in a nice, tidy bow only one week after her introduction …

But I suppose as the Doctor said, only Time will tell.

Next: A Good Episode, But Not a Great One

More from Winter is Coming

David Schofield as Odin (Credit: BBC)

Barry Rice – Co-Editor

‘The Girl Who Died’ was a bit of a mixed bag for me. On the whole, I liked it… I’d even call it a good episode, but not a great one. There was a lot of fantastic dialogue and the overall emotional elements of the story hit all the right notes, but the action was a bit rushed.

I enjoyed Maisie Williams’ performance, though I was a bit disappointed in how similar she was to her Game of Thrones‘ character, Arya Stark (talk about typecasting). I also liked David Schofield’s Odin, though he was given woefully little screen time. Last the Fisher King last week, it felt like a huge build-up had been given to Odin and the armored baddies in the promotional materials, only for them to have a very tiny presence in the episodes themselves.

I really felt like the Mire were dealt with too easily (and why exactly did the villagers have a boathouse filled with electric eels?). It was great to see the Doctor finally realize the origins of his face, but it seemed to come out of nowhere and had nowhere near the grandeur I had expected when that moment finally came. The worst part of all, though, was when the Doctor mentioned at the end of the episode that Ashildr was now technically a “hybrid.” Oh no, not that stupid prophecy from ‘The Witch’s Familiar’! I had hoped that had been swept under the rug, never to be mentioned again.

All in all, though, ‘The Girl Who Died’ boasted fantastic production values, great performances, and a lot of hilarious banter. It seems almost selfish to expect much more than that.

Next: A Means to an End

More from Winter is Coming

A Viking army faces off with one of the mechanical baddies (Credit: BBC)

Joel Getter – Staff Writer

Last week’s installment of Doctor Who, ‘The Girl Who Died,’ is a forgettable episode. Since I’ve never seen an episode of Game of Thrones, I didn’t share my fellow fans’ enthusiasm about the casting of Maisie Williams. However, I thought that Ashildr was a fantastic character that I’m excited to see return this week. The story itself was good, just not classic level. The Mire are not bad guys that will ever return. Truth be told, this was a setup in order for the episode to deliver a powerful final scene. Despite not being heralded as a classic, ‘The Girl Who Died’ is a so-so episode that becomes more about advancing the metanarrative for this series rather than about the episode itself.

Capaldi continues to grow as the Doctor in his sophomore series. I love his ability to weave humor into the drama, and he is clearly growing confidence in the role. He definitely takes some of the best traits of classic Doctors but still makes them his own. I also appreciate the subtle ways that Clara continues to develop, particularly as we know her time is almost at an end. Unlike previous episodes this series, she has some real moments to shine here, particularly her scenes with Ashildr.

After the victory and Ashildr’s death, we think the episode is over. Then we get a real treat as the Doctor finally remembers his familiar face. The flashbacks to ‘The Fires of Pompeii’ and the Doctor’s revelation as to why he chose this specific face are handled well, leading the Doctor to make a questionable choice in regards to saving Ashildr’s life. I thought this reveal worked, as it was an explanation that was simple without having to waste too much time explaining. With the theme of this series being about consequences, I look forward to next week’s installment.

Overall, this is a decent episode that will always be eclipsed by its final ten minutes.

Next: What Did You Think About 'The Girl Who Died'?

More from Winter is Coming

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

So there you have it — our collected thoughts on Doctor Who’s latest episode. But what did you think about ‘The Girl Who Died’? Take our poll and tell us your thoughts:

Next week, the Doctor and Clara meet Ashildr once again — but this time centuries later in England. Here’s the description Steven Moffat gave to Radio Times for ‘The Woman Who Lived’:

"England, 1651. The highwayman known as The Nightmare is plaguing the land. But the Nightmare is not all he seems, and his fire-breathing accomplice who lurks in the shadows is clearly more than human… The Doctor, on the trail of an alien artefact, is brought face to the face with the consequences of his own actions. For once he encounters someone who won’t let him turn his back on the things he has done. But will the Nightmare be his friend or foe? It may well take till the end of the universe to be sure…"

And in case you missed it, here’s the trailer for next week:

We’ll have a full episode recap Saturday evening after the episode airs and another round table review on Monday. For more on ‘The Woman Who Lived’ and all the upcoming episodes, check out our guide: Doctor Who Series 9: Everything There is to Know So Far.

What did you think about ‘The Girl Who Died’? Any pet theories or thoughts you’d like to share? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Next: Doctor Who Recap: 'The Girl Who Died'