The Woman Who Lived

The Doctor informs Me that the imminent Great Fire of London was caused by the Terileptils, referring to the Fifth Doctor story, The Visitation (1982).[1][2]

The Doctor states that he is "on record as being against banter". This is a reference to "Robot of Sherwood" when the Doctor chastises Robin Hood and his Merry Men for their light-hearted banter.[1][3]

The Doctor informs Me that she may come across Captain Jack Harkness, given that his life, like hers, is indefinitely extended. The Doctor already expressed his dislike and avoidance of immortals in a conversation with Jack in Series 3's episode "Utopia".[4]

The Doctor calls Me 'Zorro' after the masked outlaw created by Johnston McCulley, first appearing in 1919.[2]

Struan Rodger previously provided the voice of the Face of Boe in three episodes between Series 2 and Series 3.

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Rotten Tomatoes (Average Score)	8.89[6]
Rotten Tomatoes (Tomatometer)	85%[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
The A.V. Club	A[7]
Paste Magazine	9.8[8]
SFX Magazine	[9]
TV Fanatic	[10]
IndieWire	A[11]
IGN	9.2[12]
New York Magazine	[13]
Daily Telegraph	[14]
Radio Times	[15]

"The Woman Who Lived" received universal critical acclaim, with many critics labeling it the best of the current series.[16][17][18] On Rotten Tomatoes the episode has a score of 85% based on reviews from 20 critics, with an average score of 9.0, being beaten by Heaven Sent. The site's consensus reads: "The Woman Who Lived" concludes a Doctor Who story for the ages, with a performance by Maisie Williams that is both fun and thought-provoking".[6] Elements of the episode especially praised by critics included the performances of Capaldi and Williams, the episode's dark visual tone and the dialogue between the Doctor and Me.[16][17][19]

Catherine Gee of The Daily Telegraph awarded the episode a full five stars, citing Peter Capaldi's performance as a standout, as well as Catherine Treganna's screenplay: "It was, at times, a beautifully written episode – and less clunky than some of Steven Moffat’s offerings. With an aged, well-read, worldly wise pair to play with, scriptwriter Catherine Tregenna was able to give the dialogue a literary feel."[20] Writing for IGN, Scott Collura gave the episode a 9.2–"Excellent" rating, praising the conclusion of the Me arc and dropping hints for the second half of the season. He called the episode "fun but also heavy", and praised other aspects of the episode including the parallels between the Doctor and Me, the exploration of Me's past and Clara's mysterious absence from the story.[12] Ross Ruediger of Vulture.com also responded positively to the episode, particularly praising "the complex back and forth between the Doctor and Ashildr/Lady Me" as "remarkable". He also praised Ed Bazalgette's direction and ultimately awarded the episode four stars out of five.[21] Patrick Mulkern of Radio Times also awarded the episode four stars out of five, calling it "a dark and beautiful study of immortality and short lives". He especially acclaimed the episode's visual style, saying "The first 19 minutes takes place in the dead of night, the only available light coming from candles or the Moon. It all looks fabulous and is a triumph for the director Ed Bazalgette and director of photography Richard Stoddard". He also stated that "The philosophical interludes between the Time Lord and Ashildr are what make this sing" and praised Williams' performance as "superb".[19]

The A.V. Club's Alasdair Wilkins acclaimed the episode, awarding it a perfect 'A' grade for the second week in a row. He especially praised Maisie Williams's performance, declaring "Her work in last week’s The Girl Who Died was very good, bringing nuance and humanity to what in lesser hands might just feel like just another random historical character with hints of deeper mystery. But her work in 'The Woman Who Lived' is an order of magnitude better, if only because she is asked to do so much more here than she was last week." Though Wilkins found fault with the episode's "quickie" climax resolution, he ultimately believed that: "[W]hatever small deficiencies there might be in the ancillary elements are more than offset by how strong the core of this episode is." He closed his review by stating "The episode's meditation on the sorrow of immortality is more than enough to vault this into the show's uppermost echelon".[17] Mark Rozeman of Paste Magazine also heavily praised the episode, awarding it a score of 9.8 out of 10, the highest of the season thus far. Labelling the episode "first and foremost a character study", he further said that the episode " stands as perhaps the strongest entry of Season Nine thus far". He closed his review by stating "Despite its lavish production design as well as impressive stunts and effects, it’s an episode that ends up feeling highly insular and contained in a way that few Who stories do", and also praising Capaldi and Williams' performances as "compelling" while ultimately calling the episode "a crowning achievement to an already strong half-a-season".[16] Kaite Welsh also lavished praise onto the episode, calling it "legendary" and "a seminal episode for the series". She further stated that it "should be an episode that goes down in Doctor Who history", closing her review by saying that the episode "was so good it defies letter grades" – she ultimately awarded it a perfect 'A' grade.[18]