Face The Raven

Alas poor Clara… Considering the Doctor Who production team are so secretive and tight lipped over their scripts it seems surprising that Peter Capaldi turned up on The Graham Norton Show on Friday and pretty much gave away the ending of the following day’s episode in one go. The odd thing is that it didn’t actually pan out as I expected it to. Doctor Who assistants don’t usually get killed off (Adric was the notable exception when he was blown up back in 1982) although they do sometimes have a less than rosy ending, for example Amy and Rory being zapped back in time to eventually die of old age or Donna losing her memory.

The episode itself was fantastically written. I checked out Sarah Dollard’s writing history and she started out on Neighbours. She has also done some good stuff too such as Merlin, Being Human and a Welsh language series called Cara Fi (which I haven’t seen since it’s years since I’ve been able to pick up S4C). In some ways this had a Harry Potter feel to it which is very much what Steven Moffat has tried to allude to since Matt Smith’s first episode. This worked well for this story, not least of which it was easy to suspend disbelief and enjoy the human drama that was central to the script.

One thing I wasn’t expecting is just how dark Maisie Williams’ Ashildr character has become. Since the last time we saw her she has become quite tyrannical – not just manipulative but now a megalomaniac control freak, ruling over her band of misfits with threats and malice. This does seem to rule out her becoming the next companion but I can see the character appearing again in the future.

I suppose that leaves Clara’s exit which I had imagined would happen as some sort of timey-wimey, happily-ever-after way but instead we got to see her stoically facing up to her imminent demise. It made for genuinely moving drama – as my wife put it: they now warn against sex, violence and bad language before programmes but they never seem to have a box of hankies warning. The only thing I am wondering is whether this really is the last we will see of Jenna Coleman – I caught a glimpse of the cover of Doctor Who magazine in Asda and… well, spoilers anyway!

This is the first part of a three part finale. The last time they did this was with Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last Of The Timelords which struck me as being one of the best build-ups with a grossly unsatisfying climax. I hope they don’t make the same mistake again but from what I can tell, the three episodes this time will be very different from each other. Next week will see Peter Capaldi’s Doctor on his own. I’m looking forward to it.