From looking around I think its pretty safe to say that 'The Girl Who Died' has been the most divisive story of series 9 so far. People seemed to have absolutely loved it or absolutely hated it. Personally, I absolutely loved it! After series 9's ambitious beginning and the following timey wimey adventure, this story is exactly what I love, a fun romp with a wonderful (though maybe not hugely original twist). It may have been a 'filler' story but it was still smart and interesting with some wonderful stand out scenes whether it be the comedy or the dialogue. On the other end of the spectrum I've seen a lot of disappointed fans, the episode wasn't very original in that some things had been done before, specifically Ashildr, who now being apparently immortal is a little too similar to Captain Jack, but I think with the circumstances being different and with the way they turn out (it seems Ashildr becomes a bit of a baddie from the trailers) this for me makes up for that. Fans have also complained that we should have got better material from Jamie Mathieson who wrote arguably the best episodes of series 8 as well as the hype of Maisie Williams character but hopefully we've learnt maybe we shouldn't go into an episode with high expectations. Ultimately, I felt the point of this adventure was to explain The Doctors face (Peter Capaldi played a marble trader in Pompeii in series 4's 'The Fires of Pompeii'). And so this allowed for a wonderful flashback to that story of The Doctor saving Peter Capaldi's character and his family from the volcano Vesuvius. It was great to see the Tenth Doctor and Donna in the flashback (oh Donna how I miss you) and the explanation of the Twelfth Doctors face does work, basically his way of reminding himself to save someone and in this story it was Ashildr (he's obviously never heard of post-it notes). So I liked that explanation. (also, Donna sort of created the Ashildr hybrid by making the Tenth Doctor save Peter Capaldi's character and making the Twelfth Doctor save Ashildr - a stretch, I know but anything to make Donna seem even more amazing!) Speaking of the Ashildr hybrid, the Twelfth Doctors actions reminded me of the 'Time Lord victorious' from the 10th Doctor story 'The Waters of Mars'. I didn't really understand why Ashildr deserved to be brought back to life when so many others have died. Or why The Doctor didn't get a whole load of those things to bring people back to life. As for the rest of the story, some great scenes and effects. The very first scene was great, giving us a glimpse at another adventure, it was wonderfully directed. The scenes with the Vikings on the spaceship were wonderfully done, some great characters, though a lot can only be described as 'Viking' but a lot of characters were only there for a bit of comedy. The Doctor speaking baby was put to better use than in 'Closing Time' and made for some interesting dialogue though maybe a little unrealistic. I loved the way they trapped Odin and The Mire, I felt this was quite original yet again a little unrealistic but paired with the Benny Hill theme it was hilarious. Odin was a good character with a decent reason to be there (collecting adrenaline) but he didn't pose much of a threat and wasn't really anything new. Similarly the Mire certainly weren't as terrifying as The Doctor led us to believe and were a basic 'Monster-of-the-week'. Finally I must talk about how stunning the final scene was, though slightly cheesy it was wonderfully done paired with great music (this episode was the best in a while for music). It reminded me of a scene in Men In Black 3 in which Will Smith's character jumps from a building and goes back in time. I felt the scene would have been better if buildings appeared as the camera circled her to show the passing of time this would have looked really cool but it looked fantastic nonetheless and I can't praise it enough. Next weeks episode looks just as exciting and hopefully it'll be just as good as this one. Next week I'm expecting Ashildr to be a bit of a baddie. In the next time trailer she says things like 'Kill or be killed' and as the camera swirls around her in this weeks final scene, her expression changes from a kind smile to sort of anger. I'm also wondering who she'll choose to live forever with her or if she really will live for ever... (at least The Face of Boe will have a friend).
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About this areaThis area will be where I write reviews on Doctor Who DVD's classic and new. The area is split up into episodes of the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and new who to make it easier for me and you to see them. Enjoy! Archives
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