Face the Raven
| 260 – "Face the Raven" | |||||
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| Doctor Who episode | |||||
Clara finds the Quantum Shade.
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| Cast | |||||
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Others
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| Production | |||||
| Directed by | Justin Molotnikov | ||||
| Written by | Sarah Dollard | ||||
| Script editor | David P Davis | ||||
| Produced by | Nikki Wilson | ||||
| Executive producer(s) | Steven Moffat Brian Minchin |
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| Incidental music composer | Murray Gold | ||||
| Series | Series 9 | ||||
| Length | 50 minutes | ||||
| Originally broadcast | 21 November 2015 | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer) | 81% |
| Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score)) | 8.4 |
| The A.V. Club | A |
| Paste Magazine | 8.5 |
| SFX Magazine |  |
| TV Fanatic |  |
| IGN | 8.4 |
| New York Magazine | |
| Daily Telegraph | |
"Face the Raven" is the tenth episode of the ninth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 21 November 2015. It is written by Sarah Dollard and directed by Justin Molotnikov. This episode presented the rare death of a companion, in this case Clara Oswald as played by Jenna Coleman.
Joivan Wade reprised his role as Rigsy from "Flatline" and Maisie Williams returned for her third episode in the series. This episode also featured a passing return of the Judoon, the Ood, the Ice Warriors, the Silurians, the Cybermen and the Sontarans.
Rigsy contacts Clara through the TARDIS' phone, asking for her and the Doctor's help. They arrive at Rigsy's flat in London, finding he has settled down with a wife and newborn daughter. He has no idea of the origin of a tattoo on the back of his neck that is counting down towards zero, and lacks any memories of the previous day's events; his mobile phone is also cracked and data from the previous day wiped. The Doctor scans him with the TARDIS, discovering he had contact with aliens in the last day, and is due to die when the countdown reaches zero. Though the Doctor feels there's nothing he can do, Clara insists that he try. Assuming the presence of aliens hiding in London, the three look for a trap street where they might be hiding. They eventually come across it, aided by a flood of memories that Rigsy recalls once the TARDIS is able to restore the data on his mobile.
Within, they find themselves among several aliens, using a misdirection system to both hide the street from the average humans, and to make themselves appear human to each other. The aliens are led by Ashildr, who acts as mayor among the group. Ashildr, still going by the name Me ("The Woman Who Lived"), explains the aliens here are refugees, and that Rigsy had been sentenced to death for killing Anah, a two-face Janus female; he was injected with Retcon to forget what happened, and then given the time to say goodbye to his loved ones; the tattoo is a Chronolock that leads a Quantum Shade, appearing normally as a Raven, to its bearer and kill them when the mark reaches zero. The Doctor and Clara believe that Rigsy had been framed. Ashildr allows them to investigate, but tells them they have to convince those that live on the street of Rigsy's innocence to keep the tense truce between the various alien species that live there.
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Wikipedia