The Woman Who Lived

257 – "The Woman Who Lived"
Doctor Who episode
The antagonist of the episode, Leandro (Ariyon Bakare), and Me (Maisie Williams)
Cast
Doctor Peter Capaldi (Twelfth Doctor)
Companion Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald)
Others Maisie Williams – Me Rufus Hound – Sam Swift Elisabeth Hopper – Lucie Fanshawe John Voce – Mr Fanshaw Struan Rodger – Clayton Gruffudd Glyn – Pikeman Lloyd Llywelyn Reuben Johnson – Pikeman William Stout Ariyon Bakare – Leandro Gareth Berliner – Coachman Daniel Fearn – Crowd 1 Karen Seacombe – Crowd 2 John Hales – Hangman Will Brown – Voice of The Knightmare
Production
Directed by	Ed Bazalgette
Written by	Catherine Tregenna
Script editor	Nick Lambon
Produced by	Derek Ritchie
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Brian Minchin
Incidental music composer	Murray Gold
Series	Series 9
Length	45 minutes
Originally broadcast	24 October 2015 (2015-10-24)
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "The Girl Who Died" "The Zygon Invasion"
List of Doctor Who serials

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer)	83%
Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score)	9.0
The A.V. Club	A
Paste Magazine	9.8
SFX Magazine
TV Fanatic
IndieWire	A
IGN	9.2
New York Magazine
Daily Telegraph
Radio Times

"The Woman Who Lived" is the sixth episode of the ninth series of the British sci-fi series Doctor Who. It was written by Catherine Tregenna and directed by Ed Bazalgette.

The episode is set in England, 1651, featuring a highwayman revealed to be Ashildr (now going by the name of "Me" and under the alias of The Knightmare) and "her fire breathing accomplice", when "The Doctor, on the trail of an alien artifact, is brought face to the face with the consequences of his own actions".

Alone and on the trail of an alien artifact, the Doctor interrupts a highwayman known as "the Knightmare" carrying out a highway robbery in 1651 England. The Doctor finds the artifact in the coach's luggage but the vehicle drives off before he can take it. Talking to the robber, he finds that 'he' is in fact Ashildr, the Viking girl made immortal in the previous episode. Over her 800 years of everlasting life, she has lost many of her memories, and has isolated herself in order to avoid the pain of losing loved ones. The Doctor learns that she has renamed herself "Me" due to her loneliness. She begs the Doctor to take her away from this world, but he refuses. Flicking through her journal, the Doctor finds memories ripped out and pages stained by Me's tears. He also discovers that Me previously had three children, all of whom she lost to the Black Death.

Me and the Doctor steal the artefact from a house, flee by climbing out of the chimney and escape an ambush by a rival highwayman, Sam Swift. The Doctor calls the artifact 'the Eyes of Hades' and he theorises that it is linked to ancient Greek mythology as a way of opening a portal to the afterlife or into space. The next morning, the Doctor finds out that by day, Me is "Lady Me" and lives as a wealthy woman with a servant. He then meets Me's ally Leandro, a leonine alien stranded on Earth who was the artifact's original owner. In return for Me tricking the Doctor into helping him, Leandro has agreed to let her come with him to travel the galaxy. However, in order for the portal to be activated, the artifact requires another person's death. Me ties up the Doctor and states her intent to kill her old blind servant Clayton for this end, but the Doctor opposes it. Two pikemen arrive to announce that "the Knightmare" is reported to be in the area and Sam Swift is about to be hanged at Tyburn. Me hands the Doctor over to them and sets off to use Swift's death instead of Clayton's to activate the artifact.