Face the Raven

Did You Know?

• The read through for this episode was on 28 May 2015 and filming ran from 8 June to 25 June.
• Joivan Wade originally appeared as Rigsy in Flatline in Series 8.
• Maisie Williams featured as Ashildr/Me in The Girl Who Died and The Woman Who Lived.

Plot

Rigsy reaches out to the Twelfth Doctor and Clara for assistance, displaying a tattoo on his neck that ticks downward in numbers, though he cannot recall how he got it or anything from the previous day. The Doctor, Clara, and Rigsy follow his movements to a hidden street in present-day London, a refuge for extraterrestrial beings who use telepathic alien worms to appear human. Me, the immortal mayor of this street, reveals that she condemned Rigsy to death after he was accused of killing Anah, a two-faced Janus. The punishment was a Chronolock, a tattoo that counts down each minute, and when it hits zero, a Quantum Shade—a creature that looks like a raven—arrives to kill him. Rigsy was also given an amnesia drug to erase his memory of the street. Me lets the Doctor and Clara try to prove Rigsy innocent. Clara discovers that the Chronolock can be transferred to someone who accepts it willingly. Believing Me would not let her die, Clara takes Rigsy’s Chronolock without telling the Doctor, hoping to buy more time.

The group meets Anahson, Anah’s psychic daughter, and learns that Me used Rigsy to lure the Doctor to the street. Me is afraid of someone Anahson cannot name. The Doctor examines medical data from the stasis pod where Anah is kept and realizes she is still alive, locked inside by a device that fits the TARDIS key. When the Doctor inserts his key, the device clamps a metal ring around his wrist and takes the key. The ring is a teleportation device meant to send the Doctor far away, protecting the street from attacks by unnamed people Me made a deal with. Me demands the Doctor’s Confession Dial. Me then tries to remove the Chronolock from Rigsy but finds Clara has taken it; Clara broke the contract Me had with the Shade, and Me cannot reverse it. The Doctor grows furious and threatens Me, insisting she save Clara, but Clara calms him, asking him not to be upset or seek revenge. She says her farewells and steps into the street to face the Shade, which kills her. Back inside, the Doctor warns Me to stay away from him. Me activates the band, sending the Doctor away. The Doctor later pulls out his response cards, first used in Under the Lake, to help him be kind as he tells Rigsy about his impending death.

Reception

The episode was watched by 4.48 million viewers overnight in the UK, a 19.9% audience share, and received an Appreciation Index score of 84. Consolidated figures were 6.05 million viewers. On Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 20 critics gave a positive review, with an average rating of 8.7 out of 10; the site's consensus reads: Face the Raven delivers the much anticipated departure of a beloved Doctor Who character in a farewell handled admirably by both Coleman and Capaldi. In The Independent, Jon Cooper praised the episode as a heady mixture of science fiction, Gothic whodunnit and emotional rollercoaster. Conversely, Patrick Mulkern's review for Radio Times was more critical, stating it was at best pedestrian and mostly dull and uninvolving.