In the conclusion of 2004's excellent The Last Samurai, we see Tom Cruise kneeling before the young Emperor following the death of their mutual friend and teacher Katsumoto. When the Emperor asks how Katsumoto died, Cruise responds that he will tell him how he lived. In many a great life, the final chapter will always pale in significance to the many before it, and we would do well to remember what their life meant to us, rather than dwelling on their death. This week, the Doctor takes his own unorthodox approach to this sentiment as he checks back in with the former young Viking, Ashildr, now blessed and cursed with immortality. The season has already shown us how she died. Now, let’s see how she’s been living.
The Woman Who Lived - Many centuries after the defeat of The Mire, the Doctor re-encounters the now immortal Ashildr while on the trail of an alien artefact in the 17th century. She’s masquerading as the highwayman/woman known as “The Knightmare” while harbouring a secret purpose. How will The Doctor fare coming face-to-face with the consequences of his actions?
This 6th episode offering is comparable to the recent Before The Flood in that it’s the conclusion of two part story, but vastly different from its part one. In fact, were it not for the connecting character of Ashildr, it would be a standalone episode and that really works in its favour. The previous week is merely alluded to as a starting point with the focus being on the effects and changes immortality has it had on Ashildr leading our favourite time traveller into the Dr Frankenstein conundrum: Did I create life or just a monster? Maisie Williams is again on fantastic form as she conveys the emotional hardships of her un-killable state. The observations of her journals and the limitations of her mind create the fascinating prospect of self-selective memory. She literally decides what she wishes to remember and forget about herself, and it makes complete sense for such unnatural control to eventually mutate into a full blown God complex. She identifies herself as being ahead of her time but still forced to wait for it, “You didn’t save my life Doctor you trapped me inside it”. This bridges nicely into the alien aspect of the episode as the McGuffin amulet and “action figure of the week” fire-breathing fluffy counterpart present the chance to ascend beyond the constraints of her existence, but the ultimate price it incurs sees her rediscovering (or more likely remembering) her lost humanity. The only downside is that the culminating dramatic action is a bit of an anti-climax. This is a talk-heavy episode and the sudden action interjection feels too much like a peace offering to kiddy section of Who viewers.
Ashildr’s immortality also becomes a point of reflections on the Doctor’s own actions, most notably his ever rising count of ex-assistants. While Ashildr wouldn’t be the first immortal companion (Captain Jack does get a respectful name check), there's a nice observation she would reduce his collateral damage. Yet just like any couple, the point is well made that it’s exactly their similarities that make them ill fitting companions, “People like us we go on too long, we forget what matters, the last thing we need is each other”. This ultimately reinforces not just the core values of the Doctor/Assistant relationship (that he needs someone as different from himself as possible to bring out the best parts of him) but also to mortality itself.
That people who can’t die have nothing to live for, “Human lives are short but those lives do matter”. Without opening the spoilers book too far, Ashidlr’s farewell to the Doctor is a very curious one that implies the (emphatically welcome) possibility of her return before the end of this series. As much as many are theorizing it, the odds of her replacing Clara as a lead character seem slim to none, especially after they’ve just spent most of the episode convincing us what a bad idea it would be! Instead, it looks like we could see Maisie Williams adopting a River Song style recurring role which she should easily be able to maintain around her other career commitments. Speaking of Clara, her predominant absence from the episode was definitely the right choice. She would have been a complete third wheel to the Doctor/Ashildr relationship, and any character is always better staying off screen than making a bad appearance.
The Woman That Lived is also a very fun episode with a lot of good laughs in it. From Ashildr’s early catch up montage of her many lives and faked deaths through the ages to the Doctor being roped into Highwayman accomplice duties, and of course, the mass “laughing in the face of death” gag fest at the hanging scene. The Doctor’s viewpoints on puns and banter seem to be worryingly circumstantial, but there’s no denying the results when he crosses that line. The glasses are back, but they’re actually a great laugh being used a bandit mask. However, one other long standing prop feels very out of place: the psychic paper. Even with the consideration that people are seeing what they want to see, the whole idea of wallet ID flashing is a few centuries ahead of itself, and the episode could have easily done without it. There’s also a few too many loose plot elements being juggled around in the first half of the episode before things become more concise.
For the most part, this week’s offering is incredibly enjoyable and masterfully scripted by veteran Torchwood writer Catherine Tregenna (so the understanding of immortal characters makes sense). It slips off the wagon in odd places, and like several Marvel films, doesn’t feel like it needs the big action finale it tries to deliver. It’s yet another excellent change up for this season as it refuses to be pigeon holed over a running tone or have a cracks in the Universe/Bad Wolf ominous link forced upon it. The result is we get to enjoy great episodes like The Woman Who Lived without wanting to extrapolate their events off into the distance; to just live in their moments.