The Girl Who Died (TV story)

 was the fifth episode of the ninth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales.

The story was notable for revealing the reason as to why the Twelfth Doctor regenerated with the same appearance as a previous character, Lobus Caecilius: to remind himself to, no matter how impossible it seemed, always save someone, as he had saved Caecilius during his tenth incarnation. Once previously the Doctor had taken on the appearance of an individual he had met before, when Colin Baker, who had played the Time Lord Maxil, later played the sixth incarnation of the Doctor. But unlike the Twelfth Doctor, it was never explained how or why the Sixth Doctor took on an appearance similar to Maxil's, or even acknowledged onscreen.

It also revisited the idea of something alien taking over a historic era by impersonating an important figure. The concept was last seen in Robot of Sherwood.

Synopsis
The Doctor and Clara are forced to help protect a Viking village from the Mire, one of the deadliest warrior races in the galaxy. Are they fated to suffer death due to being outnumbered? So what is it about a simple Viking girl that interests the Time Lord?

Plot
Clara is floating in space, calling the TARDIS for a pickup. However, the Doctor is busy trying to resolve a conflict, and is having trouble locking on to her location. Clara then notices that something is in her spacesuit; the Doctor suggests its a brain-eating parasite with an odd name - Love Sprite. Within moments of it getting too close to Clara's head, the Doctor materialises the TARDIS around him and takes off her helmet. As Clara re-ajusts, the Doctor squashes the creature; he explains that he sent the hostiles far away from their battlefield.

The Doctor decides to land the TARDIS to check on any damage. However, the moment they land, they are surrounded by vikings. The Doctor pulls out his sonic sunglasses, gloating that he wears the highest technology that the primatives will ever see on his face. A viking takes the glasses and snaps them in two. Seeing that he should have had a backup plan, the Doctor flatly tells Clara that they're going with the vikings.

The Doctor and Clara are enchained and dragged by the vikings to their village. The leader gifts a girl named Ashildr with the right half of the Doctor's sonic sungalsses; she seems to think its a weird kind of eye patch. Clara wonders if the Doctor has a plan, which he does; freeing himself, the Doctor loudly declares that he's cross with the vikings, tossing his yo-yo upwards. "Surely, you would recognize the sign of Odin." The vikings declare the Doctor is not Odin, to which he begins protesting until the image of a man who looks like Odin appears in the sky; obviously outdone, the Doctor gives up on the ruse.

Odin declares only the best warriors will get to dine with him in Valhalla; at the mention of that mechanical suits appear and begin scanning the townsfolk, rounding up the most fit warriors. Clara tries getting Ashildr to use the sonic sunglasses to open her cuffs, but this alerts the sentries, who teleport both of them and the vikings on-board a ship hidden behind Odin's projection. The Doctor points out that for vikings, they do a very poor job of noticing when they're pillaged.

On board the ship, Clara notices that her cuffs are off and that the warriors are impatient to meet Odin. One tries opening a door in front of them, only to be zapped into dust. Clara and Ashildr manage to open the door, barely escaping the next zap that reduces the other warriors to dust as well. They come face-to-face with "Odin", who Clara knows is an alien; the fake God downs a green vial of liquid made from the warriors' adrenaline and testosterone. Clara attempts a peaceful negotiation, but Ashildr, now knowing her people have been tricked, declares war on the fake Odin. "Odin" welcomes it, sending Clara and Ashildr back; the battle will commence the next day.

The Doctor, reading his 2000 Year Diary, discovers that the species is the Mire, who typically leave others alone if they get what they want; they are a deadly warrior race, like the Sontarans. Clara returns at that moment, explaining Ashildr's blunder. The Doctor tries explaining that the best option for the villagers is to run, but fails due to their pride; he decides instead to teach them basic combat, nicknaming them as he hates to waste time learning names. After seeing Ashildr practice swordplay on a puppet of Odin, the Doctor has a stroke of genius and rounds everyone up - "There is going to be a war: we're going to win the Hell out of it!" With the help of Ashildr and "Lofty" the blacksmith, the Doctor begins setting up a nasty surprise for the Mire.

The next day "Odin" arrives with some of his men, and are lured into a barn. On the Doctor's cue, a bucket of eels is startled; their electric charge is channeled into an anvil in the barn, creating a magnetic effect that lifts the Mire soldiers' helmets off. The Doctor quickly gives it to Ashildr, who uses the visual link to trick them into thinking a puppet of a sea monster is a real one attacking them. Ending the ruse, the Doctor shows "Odin" the recording of this embarassment on Clara's phone; he threatens to upload it to the Galactic Hub (and thus ruin the Mire's reputation) if they don't leave peacefully.

The Mire leave without any further conflict. However, the Doctor discovers that using the Mire helmet has drained Ashildr's heart, leaving her dead. The Doctor is left brooding about the loss, with Clara trying to comfort him. Looking at his reflection, the Doctor remembers back to when he first saw it, wondering once more "who frowned me this face?" It's at that moment that the memory comes back to him; Donna Noble had encouraged him to always try to at least save someone even in a fixed point, and he saved Lobus Caecilius' family from Pompeii's destruction. He tells Clara that he chose this face to remember to always save someone. The Doctor then yells to the sky "If there's anyone watching who disagrees, to hell with you!"

He takes a chip from the helmet and rushes over to Ashildr's corpse. He places on her head and activates it, bringing her back to life; its the medical kit for the Mire soliders. The Doctor gives her father a second chip, telling him its for whoever she wants; he explains to Clara that the kit would likely keeping repairing her, preventing Ashildr from dying. The second chip is to prevent her from being alone for eternity.

Returning to the TARDIS, the Doctor is left wondering if he did the right thing; when he's emotional, he makes mistakes. And he sure was emotional just now. Clara assures him everything will be fine, because what he did was born of good intentions.

Ashildr is then seen in a montoge of time passing her by, but with age never affecting her. As the screen pulls in to her face, she is shown to have stopped smiling and is now angry...

Cast

 * The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
 * Clara - Jenna Coleman
 * Ashildr - Maisie Williams
 * Odin - David Schofield
 * Nollarr - Simon Lipkin
 * Chuckles - Ian Conningham
 * Lofty - Tom Stourton
 * Limpy - Alastair Parker
 * Hasten - Murray McArthur
 * Heidi - Barnaby Kay

The Doctor

 * The Doctor owns a self-portrait by Dutch painter Rembrandt.
 * The Doctors reads his Two Thousand Year Diary to remind himself of the Mire.
 * The Doctor implies that he is immortal.

Individuals

 * Heidi has Haemophobia, which he later "upgrades" to a fear of even the mention of blood.

Species

 * A Love Sprite within Clara's space suit nearly kills her.
 * The Vikings use electric eels to defeat the Mire.
 * The Doctor aids Velosians in a war.
 * The Mire feed on adrenaline and testosterone.

Technology

 * A Viking snaps the sonic sunglasses in half. They still seem to function, at least to a degree.
 * The Mire possess spaceships which have extracting rooms.
 * Clara uses her iPhone to record "Odin" whilst retreating from the image of a sea serpent.
 * The Doctor uses a Mire medical kit to "repair" Ashildr.

Popular culture

 * The Doctor gives a bearded Viking the nickname of "ZZ Top", and another "Noggin the Nog".
 * Clara adds a piece of music she calls "The Benny Hill Theme" to the video of the Mire's defeat.

Story notes

 * This story features the use of footage from The Fires of Pompeii and Deep Breath when the Twelfth Doctor finally realises where he got his face.
 * This is the 100th story of the BBC Wales era of Doctor Who.
 * This is the third episode in a row that we hear the Cloister Bell rings, the first time this has happened on the show.
 * The FX shot of Clara floating in space was seen in the "Next Time" trailer at the end of Before the Flood where it was shown in an incomplete state. The shot as seen in the episode itself is complete.
 * Brian Blessed was originally cast as "Odin", but had to drop out due to illness.
 * The Radio Times programme listing was accompanied by a small colour head-and-shoulders shot of Ashildr dressed in armour, with the accompanying caption "Doctor Who / 8.20 p.m. / Viking girl Ashildr (Maisie Williams) becomes the focus of the Doctor's attention".

Ratings

 * BBC One: 4.85m
 * BBC America: to be added

Filming locations
to be added

Production errors
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Continuity

 * The Doctor attempts to use his sonic sunglasses. (TV: The Magician's Apprentice et al)
 * The Doctor and his companions previously tried to resolve a conflicts peacefully, only to have their efforts made pointless. (TV: The Poison Sky, Cold War, etc)
 * The Doctor attempts to "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow," a statement he used often during his third incarnation, and would occasionally be used by later incarnations. (TV: The Sea Devils et.al.)
 * The Doctor is able to speak Baby. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War, Closing Time)
 * The Sixth Doctor had previously wanted to save someone because he grew to like her, though on that occasion Evelyn Smythe stopped him from changing history to do it. (AUDIO: Arrangements for War)
 * The Doctor tries to pass himself off as the head God of a religion. In his first incarnation, he was mistaken for Zeus by companion Katarina and others. (TV: The Myth Makers)
 * The Doctor uses his yo-yo. (TV: Robot et.al.)
 * The Doctor reads his Two Thousand Year Diary. He previously read his Five Hundred Year Diary (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen et.al.) and his Nine Hundred Year Diary. (TV: Doctor Who)
 * The Seventh Doctor also referred to Clarke's Law. (TV: Battlefield)
 * The Cloister Bell rings. (TV: Logopolis et.al.)
 * The Doctor's orange spacesuit is used. (TV: The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit et.al.)
 * The Doctor states that he's not a hugger. (TV: Deep Breath et.al.)
 * The Doctor had previously wondered where he had gotten his face, and had theorised he was trying to tell himself something. (TV: Deep Breath) He finally realises his face matches that of Lobus Caecilius and that the message he was telling himself was to save a person. (TV: The Fires of Pompeii)
 * Upon thinking about how Ashildr's situation will play out now that she is functionally immortal, the Doctor says, "Time will tell. It always does." His seventh incarnation said this to Ace when she hesitantly asked if they "did good" after the Shoreditch Incident, aware that their victory over the Daleks came at the expense of many lives. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
 * The Doctor states that Ashildr is immortal "barring accidents," echoing a statement he previously made in reference to the Time Lords. (TV: The War Games)
 * The Third Doctor had previously met the real Odin. (PROSE: The Spear of Destiny)
 * The Eighth Doctor had previously given someone immortality while saving their life. (COMIC: The Road to Hell)
 * Captain Jack Harkness also became immortal after he was brought back to life, in that case by Rose Tyler. (TV: The Parting of the Ways)
 * The Doctor previously met Vikings in his first incarnation. (TV: The Time Meddler)
 * The Doctor demonstrates his skill at swordplay. The First, Third, Fourth and Tenth Doctors also demonstrated this. (TV: The Crusade, The Sea Devils, The Masque of Mandragora, The Androids of Tara, The Christmas Invasion) The Twelfth Doctor previously engaged in a sword fight with Robin Hood, on that occasion using a spoon rather than an actual sword. (TV: Robot of Sherwood)
 * The Doctor recently had to forcefully stop Mason Bennett from trying to save Alice O'Donnell from being slain by the Fisher King to avoid altering history. (TV: Before the Flood)
 * The Doctor worries that saving Ashildr's life will have a negative effect on time, and that he did it because he had gotten emotional. In his tenth incarnation, he interfered with a fixed point in time (TV: The Waters of Mars), as River Song also did, and ended up causing more harm than good in altering the flow of history. (TV: The Wedding of River Song) Both of theses instances were influenced by putting their own personal feelings above the consequences of their actions.
 * Odin compares himself and the Vikings he killed to a farmer and his cattle, just like Miss Kizlet did with the Great Intelligence and the human minds it captured. (TV: The Bells of Saint John)
 * The Doctor notes how small changes in the course of time can go from ripples to tidal waves. In his seventh incarnation, he once made a similar comparison to the consequences of choices individuals make, saying, "Every great decision creates ripples, like a huge boulder dropped in a lake. The ripples merge, rebound off the banks in unforeseeable ways. The heavier the decision, the larger the waves, the more uncertain the consequences." (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)

DVD releases
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Blu-ray releases
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