The first episode to blur the lines of what constitutes a two part story, The Woman Who Lived follows on from The Girl Who Died but has a different writer and is set 1000 years later. It was known to star Maisie Williams again though and with such a similar title, it had to be part two...
We join the story amid a highwayman's ambush as The Nightmare robs a stage coach - he's faster than Sam Swift the Quick and deadlier than Deadly Dupont! The Nightmare is quick to pour derision on their pseudonyms but it's too late, the pompous grandiose of swashbuckling music is already tipping this episode over the edge and we're only just passing the first minute! The Nightmare appears to be in league with the devil as his accomplice hiding in the bushes has bright glowing eyes. Meanwhile, the Doctor steps out of his TARDIS with a gadget, clearly in search of something until he stumbles upon and rambles through the robbery, oblivious to the threats hurled at him until his gadget finds what he is looking for and it becomes clear that the Nightmare is after it too...
It all sounds quite exciting at this stage, if a little silly. The Nightmare's voice has clearly been dubbed on afterwards and is poorly performed, reminding me more than a little of Amy and Amiability (an episode of Black Adder The Third) in which the Prince's would-be fiancée is revealed to be a similarly masked highway man going by the name The Shadow. No surprise then that just before the titles roll, the Nightmare's natural voice is heard and he removes his mask to reveal that he is in fact a she and is none other than Ashilda! The Doctor is almost speechless, simply uttering "You?!" to which comes the reply "Yes. It is Me. What took you so long old man?" - probably Miss Williams's poorest line delivery and definitely squarely in line with the Black Adder episode that may well have provided inspiration (which in turn had been inspired by The Wicked Lady)
Thankfully, the Black Adder and comedy stylings mostly end there. However, the episode goes heavy on dialogue and light on action. The whole point of the episode is to explore what it means to be immortal, or at least impervious to natural threats to life. The Doctor points out that the Mire medical implant may be able to heal Ashila, but it doesn't make her indestructible. "I don't need to be indestructible," she coos, "I'm superb" and she's had time to become superb. As she puts it, "It takes 10,000 hours to master a skill. 100,000 and you're the best there's ever been." But she also tells of the pain she suffered by having several children and watching them all die. She keeps a diary to remind herself of things that she's forgotten - Infinite life, normal sized memory. However, she remembers the Doctor, the man who saved her life, and she remembers Clara because she is his weakness "She'll die on you," she warns the Doctor, "She'll blow away like smoke."
And talking of Clara, she is nowhere to be seen. The Doctor explains that she is taking year 7 for Taekwando... which is rather odd for an English teacher! Very much a throw way line to excuse the writer from having to include Clara in what turns out to be a very thin story at best. There is no room in the narrative for anyone else without adding an extra sub-plot whereby Clara could be off doing something away from the Doctor as he talks with Ashilda...
Ashilda has lived so many lives she has had to keep moving on because she never ages. She has had too many names to remember and simply thinks of herself as Me (which sounds really awkward when talking about her!) It is well thought through but I'm afraid I fell asleep briefly on first viewing because it's all quite slow and dreary to watch. Things perk up half way through as comedian Rufus Hounds appears after 23 minutes as Sam Swift The Quick and injects some light entertainment with jokes and banter, much to the Doctor's dislike of course "You've got your dad as a side kick!" This is a stark contrast to the darker first half and it shows. With Sam finding himself sentenced to hang he becomes a stand-up comedian to entertain the gathered crowds "While you laugh, I live" he bawls, desperately trying to keep from the hangman's noose. Then as the Doctor shows up, Sam draws him in as his comedy foil "Doctor! Doctor, I'm a robber" "Have you taken anything for it?" "Err, Doctor, Doctor!..." "Quick man, I'm running out of patients!" etc So once again, despite disliking banter, the Doctor uses it to help save a life...
Much of the episode passes with little use or reference to the Nightmare's accomplice and while there is a little mystery about him (he is a lion like man called Leandro, the last of the Lionians. Don't worry, that's not really a spoiler, there's no real tension from its mystery. There are times when I felt it could have worked in the classic series with more time to fill. I could imagine Me visiting him several times with food and updates on how things are going and him getting increasingly impatient. Instead, he feels like a very sidelined character that is suddenly the instigator of Me's actions and he is the one who want the amulet for... well, for the action sequence that finally gives the episode a meaning beyond "It sucks to be immortal", so I won't say any more.
This is where Clara should have been inserted. Some kind of interaction with Leandro, building his character up to someone we care about or fear. Maybe giving the viewer's an insight into what is being planned and hoe the Doctor is actually becoming part of something bad. Alas, Clara isn't there until it is all over. She comes breezing into the TARDIS and suddenly the episode comes to life. She talks about a girl that the Doctor helped and shows him a photo of her. Clara hasn't spotted it, but in the background watching from a distance is Me... He asks her where she wants to go and they have a little playful exchange. Clara gives the Doctor a gentle hug from behind and he says "I've missed you, Clara Oswald" "Don't worry, daft old man. I'm not going anywhere." but there is worry on his face as they set off.
There are some really nice moments and some great developments, but I struggle to love this episode because it doesn't seem to know what it wants to be and Clara's absence weighs heavily - not on the Doctor but on the story. There's a lovely call back to Peter Davison's The Awakening when he warns Me that there's another plague coming and a big fire that tears through London "Excellent." she says playfully, "Maybe I start it..." "No, that was the Terileptils" (another point of interest here is that The Awakening was when the Doctor first lost his Sonic Screwdriver, as he did at the start of this series. On that occasion it wasn't seen again until the TV Movie. There's a moment when Me asks to travel with the Doctor but he refuses saying it would not be good, but she is clearly itching for bigger adventures.
A final mention goes to the final poignant conversation between the Doctor and Me. He explains why they can not travel together and she explains that he's had an impact on this world, making waves. She realises that she will have to stay and look out for the people he leaves behind and be the "Patron Saint of the Doctor's Left Overs" and that everyone will be glad that he saved her...
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