The Girl Who Died (TV story)

The Girl Who Died
Doctor:	Twelfth Doctor
Companion(s):	Clara
Featuring:	Ashildr
Main enemy:	Odin, the Mire
Main setting:	Earth
Key crew
Writers:	Jamie Mathieson and Steven Moffat
Director:	Ed Bazalgette
Producer:	Derek Ritchie
Release details
Story number:	255
Premiere broadcast:	17 October 2015
Premiere network:	BBC One
Format:	1x50 minute episode
Doctor Who television stories
← Previous	Before the Flood
Next →	TBA
Production order
← Previous	The Witch's Familiar
Next →	TBA

The Girl Who Died was the fifth episode of the ninth series of Doctor Who produced by BBC Wales.

The story is notable because it reveals the reason as to why the Twelfth Doctor regenerated with the same appearance as Lobus Caecilius: to remind himself to, no matter how impossible it seemed, always save someone, as he had saved Caecilius in his tenth incarnation.

It also revisited the idea of something alien taking over a historic era by impersonating an important figure. The concept was last seen in Robot of Sherwood.

Synopsis

The Doctor and Clara are forced to help protect a Viking village from the Mire, one of the deadliest warrior races in the galaxy. Are they fated to suffer death due to being outnumbered? So what is it about a simple Viking girl that interests the Time Lord?

Plot

to be added

Cast

• The Doctor - Peter Capaldi
• Clara - Jenna Coleman
• Ashildr - Maisie Williams
• Odin - David Schofield
• Nollarr - Simon Lipkin
• Chuckles - Ian Conningham
• Lofty - Tom Stourton
• Limpy - Alastair Parker
• Hasten - Murray McArthur
• Heidi - Barnaby Kay

Crew

Executive Producers   Steven Moffat and Brian Minchin

General production staff Line Producer - Tracie Simpson Production Manager - Steffan Morris Location Manager - Nick Clark Unit Manager - Iestyn Hampson-Jones Production Co-ordinator - Adam Knopf Assistant Production Co-ordinator - Sandra Cosfeld Production Assistants - Hannah Jones, Jamie Shaw Unit Drivers - Sean Evans, Kyle Davies Production Accountant - Simon Wheeler Script department Script Editor - Nick Lambon Script Executive - Lindsey Alford Camera and lighting department 1st Assistant Director - Scott Bates 2nd Assistant Director - James DeHaviland 3rd Assistant Director - Danielle Richards Assistant Directors - Chris Thomas, Gareth Jones, Natalia Alexeeva Script Supervisor - Steve Walker Camera Operator - Mark McQuoid Focus Pullers - Jonathan Vidgen, Steve Rees Grip - John Robinson Camera Assistants - Cai Thompson, Matthew Lepper, Scott Waller Gaffer - Mark Hutchings Best Boy - Andrew Gardiner Electricians - Andrew Williams, Bob Milton, Gareth Sheldon, Gawain Nash, Rob Fernandes	Art department Supervising Art Director - Dafydd Shurmer Production Buyer - Sarah Free Set Decorator - Adrian Anscombe Props Buyer - May Johnson Storyboard Artist - Mike Collins Concept Artist - Chris Lees Graphic Artist - Matthew Clark Standby Props - Liam Collins, Ian Davies Standby Carpenter - Paul Jones Standby Art Director - Nick Murray Props Master - Paul Smith Props Chargehand - Kyle Belmont Props Storeman - Jamie Southcott Props Driver - Gareth Fox Props Makers - Alan Hardy, Jamie Thomas Construction Manager - Terry Horle Construction Chargehand - Dean Tucker Practical Electricians - Christian Davies, Austin Curtis Costume department Costume Supervisor - Simon Marks Assistant Costume Designer - Georgie Sayer Costume Assistants - Andie Mear, Ian Fowler, Jenny Tindle	Make-up and prosthetics Make-up Supervisor - Sarah Angharad Make-up Artists - Megan Bowes, James Spinks Prosthetics - Millennium FX Movement Stunt Co-ordinators - Crispin Layfield, Gordon Seed Choreographer - Ailsa Berk Casting Casting Associate - Alice Purser General post-production staff Post-production Supervisor - Samantha Price Assistant Editors - Becky Trotman, Robbie Gibbon On-line Editor - Mark Hardyman Special and visual effects VFX Editor - Dan Rawlings Colourist - Gareth Spensley Sound Sound Recordist - Deian Llŷr Humphreys Dubbing Mixer - Mark Ferda Sound Maintenance Engineers - Tam Shoring, Christopher Goding Dialogue Editor - Darran Clement Foley Editor - Jamie Talbutt

Not every person who worked on this adventure was credited. The absence of a credit for a position doesn't necessarily mean the job wasn't required. The information above is based solely on observations of the actual end credits of the episodes as broadcast, and does not relay information from IMDB or other sources.

References

• The false Odin feeds on adrenaline and testosterone.
• The Doctor asks Clara if she can see a nebula.
• A Viking snaps the sonic sunglasses. However they still seem to work.
• The Vikings would die with honour.
• The Doctor, when asked what happened, mention the Big Bang, the dinosaurs and bipeds.

The Doctor

• The Doctors reads his Two Thousand Year Diary to remind himself of the Mire, a reference to his Five Hundred, (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen, etc.) and later, Nine Hundred Year Diary. (TV: Doctor Who)
• The Doctor references Clarke's Law, which states that "any sufficiently advanced form of technology is indistinguishable from magic."
• The Doctor is saving Velosians from being attacked.
• The Mire takes the Vikings to their spaceship, to their extracting room.
• The Doctor attempts at a Viking saying by saying "Fly like a bird, run like a nose...".
• The Doctor suggest the leftover Vikings are web-designers, before realizing that one didn't exist at that time.

Creature

• The Doctor suggests that a Love Sprite have found its way into his space suit.

Popular culture

• The Doctor gives a bearded Viking the nickname of "ZZ Top". He calls another Viking "Noggin the Nog".
• The Doctor owns a painting of Dutch painter Rembrandt.

Story notes

• This story features the use of footage from The Fires of Pompeii and Deep Breath when the Twelfth Doctor finally realizes where he got his face.
• This is the 100th story of the BBC Wales era of Doctor Who.

Ratings

• BBC One: 4.85m
• BBC America: to be added

Filming locations

to be added

Continuity

• The Doctor attempts to use his sonic sunglasses. (TV: The Magician's Apprentice et al)
• The Doctor uses his the catchphrase originated from his third incarnation: "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow".
• The Doctor is able to speak Baby, much like his predecessor. (TV: A Good Man Goes to War, Closing Time)
• The Sixth Doctor had previously wanted to save someone because he grew to like her, though on that occasion Evelyn Smythe stopped him from changing history to do it. (AUDIO: Arrangements for War)
• The Doctor uses his yo-yo.
• The Doctor reads his Two Thousand Year Diary. He previously read his Five Hundred Year Diary (TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen et.al.) and his Nine Hundred Year Diary. (TV: Doctor Who)
• The Seventh Doctor also referred to Clarke's Law. (TV: Battlefield)
• When Clara says there's something in the spacesuit, the Doctor said she did spend a long time in the "spider mines". (TV: Kill the Moon)
• The Doctor said he's not a hugger. (TV: Deep Breath et.al.)
• The Doctor had previously wondered where he had gotten his face, and had theorized he was trying to tell himself something. (TV: Deep Breath) He finally realizes his face matches that of Lobus Caecilius and that the message he was telling himself was to save a person. (TV: The Fires of Pompeii)
• Upon thinking about how Ashildr's situation will play out now that she is functionally immortal, the Doctor says, "Time will tell. It always does." His seventh incarnation said this to Ace when she hesitantly asked if they "did good" after the Shoreditch Incident, aware that the victory over the Daleks came at the expense of many lives. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
• The Doctor states that Ashildr is immortal "barring accidents". (TV: The War Games)
• The Third Doctor had previously met the real Odin. (PROSE: The Spear of Destiny)
• The Eighth Doctor had previously given someone immortality while saving their life. (COMIC: The Road to Hell)
• The Seventh Doctor previously talked about ripples in time and their effect on the universe. (TV: Remembrance of the Daleks)
• Captain Jack Harkness also became immortal after he was brought back to life, in that case by Rose Tyler. (TV: The Parting of the Ways (TV story))

Home video releases

DVD releases

to be added

Blu-ray releases

to be added

External links

to be added