Timelord Thoughts 6 - The Woman Who Lived

I love stories about highwaymen. History and literature is littered with the tales of Sixteen String Jack and Captain Macheath, the Wicked Lady and John Austin (and not forgetting Richard Mace of course). I've even got the complete box set of the 1970s "Dick Turpin" series starring Richard O'Sullivan. So when I originally heard that this episode was going to be set in that time period and feature Maisey Williams as a female masked thief, I was really looking forward to it. And then "The Girl Who Died" came along and suddenly things weren't looking quite so rosy. So after last week left a very unpleasant smell, would it a case of a sweeter scented bouquet for:

The Woman Who Lived

• It all starts well with a moody moonlit shot of the carriage trundling through the trees before it grinds to a halt in front of a masked figure on horseback. A shame then that those playing the coach driver and the toffs inside are some of the most unconvincing actors I've ever seen, even if they are ripping off "Blackadder The Third"...
• Equally whoever was doing the male voice for 'The Knightmare' sounded like they were reading from an autocue and it had stuck on idiot mode or something. Plus it doesn't even look as if the real actors mouth behind the cloth is even moving in time to the words.

• First mention for "Sam Swift the Quick" - obviously named after the real life highwayman, 'Swift Nick' John Nevison. He was given the name by Charles II after supposedly completing the 200 mile ride from Kent to York to give himself an albi against a robbery he had committed - a feat later attributed to Dick Turpin, although the truth is that neither of them probably did it. There was also a Swift Nick in the "Dick Turpin" TV series I mentioned above, played by Michael Deeks. No one ever called 'Deadly Dupont' though.
• Out pops the Doctor with his nice looking tracking device that goes beep. Our resident composer decides that what this establishing shot needs is a plinky plonky comedy theme. I despair, I really do. I'm starting to think that he's not actually scoring this stuff at all - it's some junior tea boy who's been mashing the buttons because Mr Gold can't be arsed any more and has gone off down the pub. It's the only explanation for why he consistently gets it so tonally wrong. I'm mean it's not "Delta and the Bannerman" levels of incompetence but it's not far off. Forget "Moffat out!", I'm starting the "Murray Gold out!" campaign right here.
• OK I'll admit I'm not a total misery guts. It was pretty funny when the Doctor barges his way through the carriage oblivious to what's going on around him. His comment of "passing through like fish in the night" is very reminiscent of the Seventh Doctor's frequent use of malapropisms (at least in his early stories).

• Once again the "Knightmare"'s voice sounds as weak as an newly graduated geography teacher trying to control an unruly class. If you are going to have Ashildr impersonate a man (and yes, it's obvious it's her) then at least have something with a bit more...resonance and authority.
• The Doctor's repeated failed attempts to listen to the highwayman while concentrating on his scanner is good too. I'm still not completely sold on Capaldi's delivery but humour coming out of his grumpiness or alienness is far better than the lame attempts at out and out gags last week.
• So no Clara this week? "She's taken the year 7's for taekwondo". Well even with Miss Oswald absent I bet we still see the series themes carried forward.
• The "my hesist - no it's my robbery - Zorro" stuff is a bit overdone but I'll give it a pass. Less so for the clunky part where they have to come up with some dialogue for the Doctor in order for Ashildr to take her mask off.
• "Yes, it is me".  Seriously, no one ever talks like that. I know the "me" thing is important later on but it just sounded so bad.
• And with her final line before the theme crashes in, a thousand fan theories of who Maisey Williams was going to be have just gone up in smoke.
• It's sweet that Ashildr remembers the Doctor even after hundreds of years (although as we find out later she has forgotten pretty much everything else from the Viking time). However, maybe it's also just a teensy bit worrying.
• The first hint that our immortal Viking maiden has been busy in the intervening centuries. A leper colony doesn't sound like much fun though.
• I think Ashildr is very lonely. Her response of "You mean you haven't come for me?" is tinged with such sadness.
• The look on the Doctor's face when Ashildr reveals that she barely remembers her name let alone the people from her village. He can't believe it. 
• Even if you did live for centuries, even if everyone you ever knew or loved had died, I am not sure that you would give yourself a name such as "Me". Names are bound up with who we are. They are part of our identity Call yourself "The Immortal" or "Kang" or "Doctor"."Me" is just so....nothing. Has Ashildr seen so much and been so many different people that she has lost all sense of identity?
• "My own companion". That's telling. Is this what the Doctor could become like if he didn't have someone accompanying him in the TARDIS?
•  Ashildr (sorry I can't keep calling  her "Me", it will get too confusing) has lost all her awe and respect for the Doctor. Now it's just indifference.
• I guess you have to do something to fill the endless centuries. Robbing is just as good a pastime as any - especially if you can't die.
• The Doctor has a 500 / 2000 year diary. River Song kept a diary of her encounters. This is just the logical extension of that - hundreds of years wrapped up in paper. She must have had to re-write some of it several times over the centuries though - not to mention the transportation costs !
• All these lives that Ashildr has lived. All these glimpses. Anyone would think that BBC Books had a tie in novel coming up.
• Didn't the Fourth Doctor tell Leela that she would have loved Agincourt?
• The 10,000 hours Ashildr refers to comes from the 2008 book 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell, in which he postulates that this is the rough amount of "deliberate practice" time you would need to master any skill. However others have argued against this since and even Gladwell has stated that you would still need "natural ability" to become something like the best bowman in history. Even 100,000 hours would not be enough (and anyway that's over 11 years of solid practice!). It's a lovely idea though.
• Is six arrows a minute very fast? I'm no archer so I wouldn't know, but one every ten seconds doesn't sound that fast. 
• It's a chilling moment when the Doctor asks "How many people have you killed" and she replies" You'll have to check my diaries". "Me" seems to have lost all touch with her humanity.
• Although she admits to saving lives too, when the Doctor does it, he brushes it off as if it was nothing. Ashildr seems to be almost bragging and at the same time dismissive of the "ungrateful peasants"
• Love the line about the Terileptils starting the Great Fire of London (some might say it was the Fifth Doctor and his clumsy way with a burning torch...)  
• Ah, so some of Ashildr's disinterest in her past lives starts to make sense. If she only has a human sized memory no wonder she forgets something from two hundred years ago. I can barely remember what I did last week. It's also an insight into one of the things that makes the Doctor special. He doesn't have a normal memory it seems.
• Would that really be what it would be like to live forever? Last so long that you get jaded so even the most wonderful or horrifying experiences. An infinite number of tomorrows until all your emotions runs out and all that is left is a hollow shell?  I don't want to die before my time but immortality? It doesn't sound much fun.
• Ashildr is so desperate to escape the confines of Earth and the lives of the "mayflies", but the Doctor knows...
• As she walks away from the Doctor I can't be sure  if that look on her face is boredom or amusement or cold calculation. Maisey Williams is doing some good stuff here.
• Not only is she immortal, Ashildr is trapped in the body of a sixteen year old girl. I'd hate to still look like my sixteen year old self !
• And now we reach the point where the episode really pulls on the heartstrings and even Murray Gold doesn't fumble it. The story of Ashildr's lost children is terrible and pretty strong stuff for a show that's meant to be aimed at children. "...still I am not brave enough to die". We hold onto our memories of our departed family and loved ones. The sorrow stays with us, even if it's in the background after a time. But you would want to forget after a hundred and fifty years.
• She doesn't really reveal what was on those torn out pages in her diary though. Was it things too terrible to remember or is there a darker secret she is hiding?

• I'm not sure that Doctor would have let Ashildr go outside like that to meet her companion with the glowing eyes without following her. He doesn't quite trust her.
• The Doctor is right. She is de-sensitised to everything.It's almost robotic. Definitely inhuman.
• "The man who runs away". Someone's been storing up an awful lot of bitterness there.
• The Doctor want's to show off his gadget but Ashildr neatly undercuts him. She doesn't treat the Doctor like a sidekick. More like a pet.
• I just wish the mask was a bit more superhero domino-mask and a bit less fancy dress shop.

• Oh just p**s off! The sonic shades can light candles now? Ridiculous.
• There is a real sense of one-up-man-ship going on here.Neither of them approves of the other.
• The location work is superb. It's a beautiful old house and although some might say it's not period-detail accurate, I don't really care when it adds so much to the ambience of the episode.
• The Eyes of Hades are a stunning jewel but I can't help but think that the name might just be a tiny bit prophetic.There is a lot of talk of death (or lack of it) this episode and Hades is of course the Greek god of the Underworld.
• No Doctor, that slow running and loud bang as you shut the door won't attract the attention of anyone, honest...
• Into the realms of farce now with the snoring man on the sofa.
• Hang on, what happened just then? There were three sudden jump cuts that didn't fit together and the dialogue didn't match either. Something was clearly cut out and edited together very sloppily. 
• I actually thought Murray was going to keep the music low key all the way through to heighten the tension  - but no, just like the man in the gown, he appears to have woken up. To be fair it's not too bad until sleeping beauty comes back with the gun and then the volume starts to rise.
• Can I just say - I like a word like "blunderbuss"
• Oh, watch out Doctor.Ashildr has noticed that Clara is one of your weaknesses. I'm not sure that's a good thing.
• Despite her total lack of empathy for normal humans, there is definitely the glimmer of jealousy in Ashildr's words to the Doctor.
• "How many have you lost? How many Clara's". Right there. The Doctor's look right there has advanced my theory one more step.
• Here comes Rufus Hound with his terrible puns and his badly fitting fake beard. Now I'm no fan but I can see that he's a good fit for the part of a ruffian con artist / highwayman. Let's hope he has better luck with his lines rather than he did remembering basic Doctor Who facts on a live TV show.
• I'm not sure about "Bingoboy", but  "Dandiprat" is a genuine 16th century saying for a diminutive person. Don't you just love the English language?
• I'm with you on the banter, Doctor.
• A nice bait and switch fight scene but I could have done without the comedy "swoosh" sounds - and has Maisey's mask got even bigger?
• "Can you confirm that I'm not your dad?" I did laugh at that one. Best humourous line so far.
• When the Doctor states "kill him and you make an enemy of me", watch Ashildr's subtle reaction... 
• Back at the mansion, Ashildr dresses up for a night of the town. I don't think cocktails have been invented in the 16th century though.

• Okay so the Doctor *did* pick up on the Hades connection. Maybe I missed this bit first time round.
• The final plea from Ashildr to go with the Doctor sounds incredibly desperate and sad. But the Doctor knows that two immortals travelling round the universe would be disastrous. He knows that he needs his mortal companions to keep him grounded, If he took Ashildr, how long before he ended up a cold, unfeeling creature like her? He's headed down that path before. This is where the relationship with her starts to turn. I'd watch your back Doctor.

• A big impressive entrance for Lion-O, sorry - Leandro. If only he'd turned up in the 21st century where cats rule the world already, he'd have been welcomed with open arms (and a bag of cat-nip).
• I still think he looks like Vincent from the late 80s "Beauty and the Beast" TV show.

 

• I don't think Ashildr has really thought this through. Even with just 30 seconds on screen you can just tell Leandro is lying through his fangs.
• Hmmm. Every single death is a tiny little fracture in reality is it? Are we looking at a many-worlds theory here where every death creates a new leg in the Trousers of Time.? What happens if you stop one of those deaths? 
• Ashildr really is a cold calculating unfeeling bitch isn't she? She wants what she wants and will let nothing stand in her way. However, just one episode ago didn't the Doctor say "I can do anything and if you don't like it you can go to hell"? (I'm paraphrasing sightly). Context is everything. Is it okay to kill a "monster" like the Fisher King but not okay to kill Clayton?
• A lion that roars flame? Apart from looking cool it's another allusion to Greek Myth - this time the Chimera. The Ancient Egyptians also had a fire-breathing lioness war goddess.

• So now we come to the nub of the matter - Ashildr *really* blames the Doctor for all of her troubles. He could "save" her. Take her off the "slow path". But he abandoned her and she hates him for it. It's the most powerful, best acted scene in the whole episode.
• And just like that the Doctor switches and calls the creature from Delta Leonis (why not call the planet "Aslan" and be done with it?) "Lenny the Lion". I don't think I'd take too kindly to being compared to a 1950s ventriloquist puppet whose catchphrase was "Awwww don't embawass me".
• Maybe Ashildr does have a death wish.She certainly doesn't seem to care what happens to her - or anyone else for that matter.
• Who's idea was it for the camp, badly acted soldier boys? It's taken a strong scene right off a cliff. And why do they have a warrant poster for the Doctor? It's a bit fast considering the theft of the Eyes of Hades only happened last night and when did the Doctor reveal his name? (did I miss that as well?) Maybe Leonadro did it or maybe it happened in that badly edited bit. I think the image looks a bit Pertwee-esque too.

• The whole bit with the guards shooting the chandelier is just stupid. Did the director think "the audience might be getting bored with all this talking, lets throw in some crap comedy"?
• Of course Scotland Yard doesn't exist yet but the Battle of Dunbar does. It's where just one year before this story, in 1650, Oliver Cromwell beat the Scottish forces of King Charles II
• I'm not sure the Newgate and Tyburn timelines are equally as accurate but it doesn't matter in the context of the story. It's a prison and a place of hanging. That's good enough.
• I quite like how Sam Swift acts like he's the headline on "Live From The Apollo". Rufus Hound is certainly playing to his strengths and he's created a very likeable character.

• That's not Capaldi on the horse is it? He's not great at acting like he is riding sadly.
• The "well hung" joke is nicked from the same episode of Black Adder, but is it appropriate for this show? I think it's mostly harmless. I'd have left out the follow up gags though.
• Just like a comedy crowd, the Tyburn mob turn nasty quickly. Leandro's voice seems to have got deeper too.
• You know the first time I watched the Doctor and Sam swap punchlines, I cringed a bit.This time I see it for what it is - a desperate, last ditch attempt to delay the inevitable. To hold off death for one more moment. It gives the Doctor time to find an answer. It's not the cleverest solution but it works.
• The woman in blood red kills for her own agenda. I'm starting to be convinced that Ashildr is irredeemable.
• I think the "purple, colour of death" line will come to be important again later in the series.
• Told you Lion-O couldn't be trusted. 
• So Ashildr cares now? Just because she couldn't get her own way and was betrayed? I don't buy it for one minute.
• Leandro's other dimension might come back too. Was it hell? Is that where you go when you die? Last series for a bit of fun I theorised privately that the story of Clara and Danny Pink might have been the reversal of another tale from Greek mythology - the story of Orpheus, where he descended into the underworld to rescue his wife Eurydice from death. Now I'm starting to think that maybe Moffat is using the tragedy properly. Will the Doctor have to descend into a SF version of hell to rescue Clara?
• It's a noble gesture but Ashildr is going to have to put up with Sam's groan-worthy jokes for eternity now.
• The Tyburn mob are a fickle lot. One minute they are calling for Sam's death (or the Doctor's) the next they are cheering him like a hero after dodging a few flaming fireballs.
• There area fair few pubs named "The Swan With Two Necks". There was one in London too, but again I think they've fudged the timelines for artistic licence as that one existed in the early 1800s. I think.
• Once again the Doctor is not entirely sure what he has done in creating another (possibly) immortal being. This won't be the last we see of Ashildr and Sam Swift, I'm confident of that. I can't see them striking up a romance though despite the last kiss to a condemned man. 
• Wasn't it Donna that said that the Doctor needs a companion to remind him what's important? At least this Doctor can admit it to himself. Ashildr still only has an immortal for company, so unless she lets humans back into her life, is she destined to revert back to her old ways?
• I know that others will have picked up on the similarities between Ashildr /  The Doctor and Hob Gadling / Morpheus the King of Dream from Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" comic series. Hob Gadling is made immortal by Dream's sister Death. He meets Dream once every hundred years in a tavern to recount his life. At one point he too fell into despair after losing his wife and children. There are a lot of touchpoints.

• Perhaps we should all live each day as if it is our last like the Doctor descibes. It might make us appreciate things a little more. I read somewhere that if we ever discover the secret to living hundreds of years (organ replacement or downloading our minds into robot bodies let's say), the human race would stagnate. Innovation and ideas and development would stop and eventually we would just give up our of sheer boredom because there was nothing new in the world. Death defines us, makes us strive forward and want to leave a mark or a legacy.
• I was wondering when the Doctor would mention Captain Jack. Does "He'll get round to to you eventually" refer to his famous omnisexuality? I'm sure it does.
• Yet another reference to tidal waves in time. The Doctor's impact on Earth must be immense by now. It sounds like Ashildr is having a similar effect.
• Now that *does* sound like an ominous threat. If Ashildr sees herself as Earth's protector *against* the Doctor, and the mess he sometimes leaves in his wake, it could put them it direct opposition to each other. I don't think this ancient Viking girl in a young body is quite as reformed as she seems.They might not be enemies in the normal sense but she is going to be big trouble down the line.
• The guitar makes a comeback but this time is really fits the melancholy mood. I've been trying to place the chords.as they sound very familiar.
• The Doctor does do banter (of a sort). But only with Clara it seems. It was right to have her not in this episode, yet her return now all full of excitement and life lifts things before they get too morose and is a nice counterpoint to Ashildr's lack of emotion.
• Exactly how many of Clara's pupils has the Doctor taken on a trip in the TARDIS now? Those ripples must be getting bigger and bigger...
• I *love* sherbet lemons. I miss all those shops that were around when I was a kid with the huge jars on the wall behind the counter.
• Uh oh. That's not good. Just who is Ashildr spying on? There must be a lot of resentment towards Clara still because the Doctor takes her on his travels and not the immortal. Will Ashildr be the cause of Clara's eventual downfall (you know it's coming / has come already).

• The Doctor seems so at ease with Clara now. What a change from last season. He shows genuine affection for her. That last hug is lovely.
• "I'm not going anywhere". That look, almost directly to camera. He knows and we know. It's too late. Clara's card is marked - and it wears a black hooded robe and carries a scythe.

Conclusion:

Well that was far better than I expected from the Next Time trailer and I think I may have enjoyed it even more second time around. The alien Lion-O and his magic amulet was pretty superfluous to the real meat of the episode, which deftly covered the "curse" of being near immortal and how it can change you for better or worse. It also allowed some revealing insights into the Doctor's life and further reinforces the notion of why he needs companions. It was reminiscent of series one's "Boom Town" in places. Despite my lambasting of his comedy or action music earlier, I have to admit Murray Gold didn't do too bad a job on some areas. Much more tolerable than last weeks travesty.

"Me" or Ashildr or whatever she now calls herself is bound to be important later on - I don't think that grudge against the Doctor is going to go away soon. As for Swift Sam? Well I can't see him teaming up with Ashildr (at least not for long) so maybe he will be the fly in her ointment and turn out to be the real hero of the piece. There was nothing here to contradict my theory of where things are headed, but it's still going to be interesting to see how the story unravels.

One final thought. Although "The Knightmare" is a reasonable enough name for a highwayman, maybe it has a deeper significance in the terms of an immortal sixteen year old. After all, the Tenth Doctor talked about fighting an army of monsters in the Last Great Time War. The Skaro Degradations, the Army of Meanwhiles and Neverweres lead by the Could've Been King. The Horde of Travesties. And something created by the Daleks called the "Nightmare Child"...