Series 9, Episode 10 | 1 part | First broadcast: 21 November 2015 | Writer: Sarah Dollard | Director: Justin Molotnikov
Cast
- Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor
- Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald
- Maisie Williams as Ashildr / Me
- Joivan Wade as Rigsy
- Naomi Ackie as Jen
- Simon Manyonda as Kabel
- Simon Paisley Day as Rump
- Letitia Wright as Anahson
Summary
The Doctor’s former graffiti-artist friend Rigsy reappears with a mysterious countdown tattoo on his neck and no memory of how it got there, leading the Doctor and Clara to trace him to a hidden “trap street” in the middle of London, a secret refuge for disguised alien immigrants and refugees, governed by none other than the now-immortal Ashildr, who now goes by “Me.” Me reveals she sentenced Rigsy to death by “Chronolock,” a tattoo that summons a lethal Quantum Shade in the form of a raven when it reaches zero, having framed him for the murder of a resident named Anah, though the Doctor and Clara ultimately prove his innocence. Believing Me would never truly let her die, Clara secretly transfers the Chronolock to herself to buy the group more time to investigate, unaware that the contract cannot be undone once broken. When Me discovers Clara has taken the curse, she is horrified to learn there is no way to save her, and in the show’s most devastating companion departure since its 2005 revival, Clara calmly accepts her fate, urges the grieving Doctor not to seek revenge, and walks out to face the raven alone.
Interesting Facts
- This episode marks Jenna Coleman’s on-screen departure as Clara Oswald after two and a half years as a regular companion, though she would return briefly in the following two-parter to close out her arc.
- The trap street is populated by numerous background aliens familiar to long-time fans, including a disguised Sontaran, a Judoon, an Ice Warrior, and an Ood caring for a Cyberman.
- Me demands the Doctor’s “confession dial” in this episode, a plot device first introduced in the series opener “The Magician’s Apprentice” that becomes central to the following two episodes, “Heaven Sent” and “Hell Bent.”
- Clara’s final words to the Doctor — “don’t be a warrior… be a Doctor” — deliberately echo a nearly identical plea she made to the Eleventh Doctor in the 2013 special “The Day of the Doctor.”
- Rigsy previously appeared as a character in the Series 8 episode “Flatline,” making this his second and final appearance in the show to date.
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