Welcome to your summer vacation through space and time, all from the comfort of your couch and TV. We’re spending our COVID-19 summer (and a little bit of autumn) winding our way through Doctor Who history, focusing on one episode from each Doctor’s tenure through to the Capaldi era. (Want to know what we’re watching? Here’s the schedule!)
We are at the end of our main Doctor Who trip today, with the Peter Capaldi episode “The Girl Who Died,” which was also the 100th episode of the revival series (and another one of those episodes we covered when it initially aired). Get ready for some Viking adventure with the Twelfth Doctor and Clara . . . and wait, is that Arya Stark? Even though this episode aired just under five years ago (October 17, 2015), here’s your warning: Spoilers!
1. The Opening Sequence
Over six decades of Doctor Who opening titles, the ones from the Capaldi era are my favorite: the steampunk gears, the spiraling clock, and the silhouette of Capaldi’s eyes, calling back to his introduction in “The Day of the Doctor” and the “floating face” that was a part of the credits in the classic era.
What you may find interesting is that this sequence has its roots in a fan design. Graphic artist Billy Hanshaw came up with his own design for opening titles, which impressed Steven Moffatt so much that he contacted Billy to help create a more professional version for the series. Talk about a dream come true! (I do hope Billy was properly compensated for his time and effort.)
2. “I’m Not in the Mood for Vikings!”
Comics fans may certainly be in the mood for Vikings this week with the release of “Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology” #1, but the Doctor certainly wasn’t when he went to scrape a brain sucking alien off of his shoe (that just a few moments ago had Clara in great danger) and found himself in the 9th century. These Vikings are not impressed with his technology, so it’s off to the village they go (though in shackles).
The Doctor’s initial plan of taking the boss out gets upended when Odin summons an alien robot army to start taking out the Vikings. Clara is able to save some folks using The Doctor’s sunglasses to transport half the village to a ship in space, but she ends up making things worse: the aliens (the Mire, led by Faux Odin) are coming back tomorrow for revenge.
There’s going to have to be a long term plan to take down these aliens. The Doctor’s initial plan is for the village to run, to save Earth from future Mire invasions. Clara, Ashildr, and an unnamed baby appeal to his better nature, so it’s time for battle training.
3. Arya and The Doctor
Much like Carey Mulligan, we see the potential for Maisie Williams as a long term companion of The Doctor in her determination to save her village. And with that determination is tempered realism, knowing that 24 hours from now, everyone will be dead – – and calling The Doctor out on his fake optimism. She’s also loyal, deciding to stay in her village no matter what, for they love her.
She may not want to leave her village, but she also has a lot of the traits that would make her perfect in the TARDIS. As we find out later, she does get to travel through space and time – – just in a different way.
4. My Face
The Tenth Doctor episode “The Fires of Pompeii” birthed not one but two Doctor Who actors to the big leagues. One of them was Karen Gillan, who came back as Amy Pond. The second was Peter Capaldi.
In that episode, Donna Noble convinced Capaldi’s Lobus Caecilius to save his family from Pompeii’s destruction, and to always remember to save someone no matter the cost. The Doctor realizes that’s why he took this face: a reminder of his oath to save lives. That snaps him out of his moodiness caused by Ashildr’s death (which came at the hands of the Mire helmet that they use as part of their plan), and gives him the solution.
Continued belowIt’s a clever way to tie continuity in to the current story without missing a beat.
5. Premonition
“People talk about premonition as if it is strange. It’s just remembering in the wrong direction.”
The Doctor uses this explanation when questioned by Clara about his subconscious connection to Ashildr, which becomes revealed in the final act as a life he must save. He finds a medical chip in that Mire helmet, which he gives to Ashildr, reviving her. But that chip comes with a cost: it will continually fix her, meaning she will live forever. This sets her up as Me, the immortal being that The Doctor and Clara will see again several times this season – – and the one that will lead to Clara’s departure from the TARDIS.
Although we’re led to believe The Doctor just came up with this idea in the heat of the moment, his premonition comment does have me thinking he knew this all along.
TARDIS Trivia (our Afterthoughts section)
- Fake Odin aka the Mire leader’s first appearance in the sky reminds me of God’s appearance in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
- Clara’s iPhone has an app that adds Benny Hill music to any scene, and while such an app doesn’t exist, it would be brilliant.
Next week, we close out this series with “An Adventure in Space and Time,” the 2013 TV film about the series’s creation. If you want to watch along, it’s available on Britbox.
Classic Doctor Who episodes (First through the Seventh Doctors) are available on the streaming subscription service Britbox (available in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. at the time of this writing). If you’re in the U.S., Latin America, Puerto Rico, and Europe, you can also get your classic Who fix via the free streaming service Pluto TV, which has its own Doctor Who channel!
Revival episodes (Ninth through Twelfth Doctors) are available worldwide on Amazon Prime, and in the United States on HBO Max.
