Doctor Who Series 9 Episode 6 - "The Woman who Lived"
England, 1651. Deadly highwayman 'the Knightmare' and
his sidekick come face to face with the Doctor on the dark streets of London.
SPOILER ALERT: Some spoilers may be revealed in this review.
So this week was the concluding part of the current two parter which carried over episodes five and six of the series. I'll start off by saying that now having watched parts one and two of this story if you compare it to the previous two stories we've had before this, this story has to be the weakest of the series yet, but does it mean to say that it is a bad story, no not at all. I think for me its difficult coming up with story ideas for Doctor Who, because Doctor Who is not a simple show and when have strong story ideas as presented over the last four weeks it is tricky to contrast and compare and develop your tastes in different things because of all the versatility we have going on in Doctor Who. You can go from a Dalek story to a historical story set in the past and after having just watched a Dalek story you probably can't get into it as much because there isn't enough excitement in it to hold you in.
This episode 'The woman who lived" was written by writer Catherine Tregenna who previously wrote for Russell T Davis's spin off Doctor Who series Torchwood. I think its good to get female writers on to Doctor Who and its a shame that not a lot more female writers are being used. In this instance, I hope Tregenna goes on to write more Doctor Who because I think she tells a really compelling story which is a surprisingly deep study of human morality.
The Doctor meets Maisie William's character again, now a woman on the run from the law as a dangerous highwayman seeking a valuable prize. Coincidentally The Doctor is looking for the same thing for a different reason obviously. It's just that meeting which reminds him that now is the time for him to resolve an issue that he created, that has gone on over time.
It was England 1651, a brilliant time in earth's history. It set in one of my favourite time periods which is the 17th century. The Doctor and Ashildr meet again, The Doctor was tracking exo planetary energy, emitting as it turned out to be from an amulet that could open inter-universe portals. Ashildr was also after the same amulet. However she had a secret, a hidden conspirator in the form of a lion faced Leonian alien called Leonardo which looked really cool and effective, I was very impressed with the make up. I thought the make up was excellent.
To activate the portal a death was required, what followed was a play of morals and an examination of the human psyche. Will Maisie William's be back? who knows? It's Doctor Who anything can happen. As I said before its not a simple show.
If last week's felt a bit rushed for some people The woman who lived unfurled at a steady, considered pace. I liked how Ashildr's story was given the time it needed to develop to allow the enormity of living forever time to sink into the audience's consciousness.
After all in Doctor Who immortality is more or less an everyday topic. But this episode shows how in reality, it would be a nightmare. To watch all your family and friends die in front of you, and to witness countless destruction and to see everything that matters to you turn to dust, it would be hard to cope with. It's The Doctor's fault Ashildr is how she is. I love the scene where she explains how everyone who has known her by the name of Ashlar is gone so she calls herself "Me" instead, it makes sense and is also very sad to think that she does have nobody when you think about it.
Rufus Hound was in this one as Sam Swift, and he's the comedic oaf of a character. I don't really have much of a comment on his character really. It didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. I heard that he steals all the lines, through laughs and stupid jokes. It wasn't like that at all. I may not find Rufus Hound remotely entertaining or funny in the slightest but he was alright. Neither good or terrible just alright.
The comedy was a little below par, clearly over powered by the seriousness of the what the story was about.
In conclusion the story is resolved by reversing the actions used to open the portal. Ashildr realises she can't allow death and destruction to happen on innocent people, so she uses the chip the doctor gives her to bring Sam Swift back to life, does this mean he is immortal too? Yes and No, its explained that he maybe used so much power closing the portal it brought him back to life and that's it.
The last five minutes was the best part of this episode for me, the final scene in the pub and in the TARDIS Clara's brief appearance, it left with the suggestion that Maisie Williams could return. 3/5 giving this story a 5/10 overall. Not bad.
Next week looks interesting. Its been a while, but worth the wait. We're finally getting a proper Zygon story since 1975. "Day of the Doctor" doesn't count because that isn't considered to be a proper Zygon story. There is a subplot but its not about them.
NEXT WEEK : The Zygon Invasion.
