Inspirations: The Woman Who Lived

The Woman Who Lived is not so much the second part of The Girl Who Died, despite the title structure, as a sequel - showing what happened to Ashildr after the Viking episode.

In order to save her life alien medical technology has been used, which has rendered her immortal. The Doctor had at least left her a second Mire device, if she wished to provide herself with a fellow immortal to act as a partner.

After a scene-setting sequence in the 17th Century, where the Doctor seeks an alien artefact in England only to find it being stolen by a highwayman, we get to see how Ashildr lived her life up to this point - for the Highwayman is a highwaywoman. Ashildr is now local aristocracy - Lady Me - but has turned to crime for a bit of excitement.

One of the things which the production team wanted from this episode was to show someone travelling through time by the "slow road", comparing it with the Doctor's jackdaw meanderings through history.

This was also designed to be a companion-lite episode as it's about the relationship between the Doctor and Me, so Clara only features at the start and at the end.

We see her in medieval times as she fights at the Battle of Agincourt with Henry V (25th October 1415). She did settle down with a husband and had children at one point, but they all died of the plague. As this episode is set in 1651 it can't be the Great Plague of London, so is probably the Black Death, which arrived in England in June 1348. By December when it abated it had killed between 40 - 60% of the population.

We also see her being accused of witchcraft, presumably because she has taken on the role of wise woman in a small rural community. The ducking stool was in use in England over a very long period, going back to Saxon times. This episode can't relate to the notorious campaign in eastern counties by Matthew Hopkins as that was in the mid 1640's, and she is already an aristocrat by 1651. There was a peak of witchcraft trials after 1562 when new legislation came in, so presumably this event can be placed in that period.

It was writer Catherine Tregenna (the first female writer on the series since 2008's The Poison Sky) who decided on the main historical setting.

1651 saw the climax of the Third Civil War, with the Royalist defeat at hands of the Roundheads at the Battle of Worcester that September, following which Oliver Cromwell established the Protectorate in place of the Monarchy. It was a lawless time and highway robbery and other property crimes flourished.

Lady Me's home is said to be at Hounslow, to the west of London, and Hounslow Heath was notorious for highwaymen as two major roads to the south west of England crossed it.

The most famous fictional female highway robber (apart from Barbara Windsor in Carry On Dick, of course) is also a thrill-seeking aristocrat - Lady Skelton in The Wicked Lady (1945), as played by Margaret Lockwood. This was remade in 1983 with Faye Dunaway in the lead role. It is reputedly based on the life of Katherine Ferrers (1634 - 1660), who terrorised Hertfordshire and was shot dead during one of her robberies.

One female highway robber who is said to exist was Susan Higges, who is mentioned in a ballad from 1640 and is reputed to have had a criminal career spanning two decades. She dressed as a man to commit her robberies in Buckinghamshire. She was the inspiration for Renegade Nell  - the character depicted in the recent Disney+ series. Her career of crime came to end when she murdered a woman who was able to identify her before dying, and she ended her life on the gallows.

Talking of which, Sam Swift is due to meet his end at Tyburn. This was the site of a famous place of execution, close to where Marble Arch stands today at the bottom of the Edgeware Road. Public executions took place here from the 12th to the 18th Centuries, until they moved to the vicinity of prisons such as Newgate. It was from Newgate that many of the condemned would travel to Tyburn, stopping off for the odd flagon of ale as they progressed along Oxford Street. At one point the gallows - the "Tyburn Tree" - comprised a large tripod affair that could accommodate a dozen or so people at a time.

The alien of the episode is Leandro - a leonine being who just happens to come from the planet Delta Leonis. The Latin name for the lion is Panthera Leo. The constellation of Leo derives its name from the Nemean Lion - a mythical beast slain by Hercules as one of his 12 labours. And of course we have the zodiac sign of Leo the Lion (July 23rd - August 22nd). Leos are said to be natural born leaders, but can also be arrogant and stubborn.

The Doctor calls Leandro "Lenny the Lion", referring to the ventriloquist dummy used by British entertainer Terry Hall from 1954 through to the 1980's.

Next time: Clara is beside herself as UNIT and the Zygons play Truth or Dare, in a sequel to the 50th Anniversary story...