If I had a heart, I could love you. If I had a voice I would sing. After the night when I wake up, I’ll see what tomorrow brings. It may not be Ragnar and Rollo screaming, “Your death is on its way” but this week, Doctor Who goes Vikings! They’ve previously crossed paths way back in the black & white days during 1965's The Time Meddler but this marks the first modern appearance for the big men of Scandinavia. So grab an axe, make your best attempt at growing a beard, and see what this episode brings.
The Girl Who Died –When The Doctor and Clara are captured by a village of Vikings, they become besieged from above by The Mire, some of the deadliest warriors in the Galaxy. When all their bravest Vikings are quickly taken, The Doctor is left trying to save those that remain from further onslaught. This includes the young Ashildr (Maisie Williams – Game of Thrones).
On the surface, this episode is a familiar feature of any series. A “history with an alien twist” episode, like past visits to Pompeii, Sherwood Forest, World War II, and many more. They’ll always pop up at some point because they can very easily be a lot of fun by playing on the general knowledge facts and stereotypes most viewers will already have rather than creating new impressions of an alien race. This is done well here as we meet the considerably less brave and savage Vikings. There are some great laughs from making them more intellectual and squeamish. The best of course being the dubbed “Heidi” passing out at the sight or later even the mention of blood (thank Thor he’s not a vampire). The episode also finds some good fun with Norse mythology, both from the Doctor’s unconvincing Odin impression (“I am very very cross with you!”) and The Mire’s similar effort, broadcasting from the clouds like a heartfelt call back to Monty Python’s Holy Grail (which just celebrated its 40th anniversary). The Mire leader (credited as Odin) links in nicely to the historical setting as he’s presented as effectively a space Viking. Not just in his attire but his thirst for good battle and distain for peaceful negotiations, “You almost had me talking, talking is for cowards”. He’s effectively leading an intergalactic raiding party so it’s almost a shock his spaceship isn’t longboat shaped.
In what’s becoming a recurring theme for this series, the extent of the Doctor’s time travelling intervention again rears its head. Right from the opening (and nicely dramatic) “end of an adventure” setup the importance only making small changes to time lines rather than big is stated, “It’s ok to make ripples but not tidal waves”. There is a couple of really good morale and psychological reflections on the gravity of such principles. That sometimes this means letting good people die knowing you could have broken the rules to save them which is something the Doctor has to live with. This is even linked back in to some past minor exceptions (“Just save someone”) as if to show that every now and then his heart and conscience will trump his logic. This even becomes a case in this episode with immediate consequences and a very curiously echoing the earlier prophecy from Davros concerning a “hybrid” of two great warrior races, just not the Time Lords and Daleks as he predicted. Clara functions very well throughout the episode as she encourages him to find his patented impossible solution, “Start winning doctor, it’s what you’re good at”. Although the end plan may be a bit too slippery an eel, it’s still very enjoyable as it plays out (when doesn’t Benny hill make things better?). There are good plays on ideas of reputation and the galactic equivalent of YouTube shaming.
There are quite a few call backs to episodes past this week. The best by far is the return of the Doctor understanding and speaking baby (Stormageddon, you’re still the man). Accept this time around rather than being wielded for comedic purposes it becomes an incredibly powerful dramatic tool as the Doctor verbalises the baby’s oddly poetic fears. It embodies their state of peril that while they are deeply afraid they still some small form of hope. The sonic glasses have been a fan divisive feature of this series but if their mishap here is their end at least they went out on a hilarious high.
The final thing that must be addressed is the water dancer in the room. Maisie Williams upcoming appearance was arguably the most publicised thing about this new Who series due to her (well deserved) popularity. So it’s really great to see that this episode is not “The Maisie Show”. Her character plays a key role but remains just a supporting character without over exploiting her. Given the setting, the writers could have happily drowned the episode in Thrones references but they haven’t. As such she feels very relaxed and enjoyable on screen. Certain events imply there’s more of her to come, and that’s definitely a good thing (yep, you guessed it, it’s another 2-part story).
After the rushed an inconsistent Before the Flood, The Girl Who Died is the ideal response for the series. It keeps the plot simple and lets the entertainment derive from characters more than the events. Capaldi’s remark about, “Act as if you know their plan and sometimes if you’re lucky they’ll actually tell you it” is the best line of the series so far and one of the best summations of the Doctor we’ve ever had. That one it can take all the way to Valhalla.