Doctor Who 9x10: Face the Raven

Secret streets, unseen by the public view are a popular recurring trope in fantasy fiction as seen in the London below of Neverwhere or Diagon Alley of Harry Potter. Doctor Who has always dealt with the fantastic in the mundane, what with the Tardis being an ordinary object hiding a fantastic realm, so it is surprising that it has taken them this long to do this episode. When Clara's old companion, Rigsy summons Clara and the Doctor to Earth to help him with a tattoo that counts down,  it leads the Doctor and Clara to track down one of these trap streets.

The story is divided into three sections. These are the search for the trap street, events within the trap street and the final revelation at the end. The pacing seems a bit off in all of these scenes. The scenes of the Doctor, Clara and Riggsy searching for the trap Street only takes around nine or so minutes of screen time, but somehow it feels like they take forever. There's a nice demonstration of Clara's recklessness when she is hanging out of the Tardis but otherwise it feels like these seuqneces could have been trimmed.

Upon arriving at the trap Street it transpires that the place is a refugee camp run by none other than Ashildir/Me. She reveals that Riggy's tattoo was given the tattoo after supposedly killing a woman. The tattoo is linked to a quantum shade which takes the form of a raven. Again, it's an interesting conceit that reminds audiences of the work of Neil Gaiman. The notion of a refugee camp also nicely harkens back to The Zygon Invasion.

Although the murder mystery is presented as being the main plot, the script doesn't seem particularly interested in it. The Doctor isn't particularly bothered to find the killer and the solution is fairly easily resolved. At least the two faced aliens who can see into time were an interesting creation.

The solution to the murder mystery leads to what  feels like the meat of the episode. Ashildir laid a clever trap. But Clara has taken on Rigsy's tattoo and she becomes the victim of the Raven. Her death is a shocking moment but one can't help feeling that it will be reversed at some point in the next two episodes. The scene is played very well by both Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman but as a genre savvy audience member, it is difficult to feel it.

Ashildir has taken an interesting development in this episode. Having been a young girl, and a villain, now she is becoming like the Doctor, defending a small patch of the planet Earth. However, unlike the Doctor, she has been forced to compromise by making a pact with the unknown individuals who want the Doctor prisoner. I doubt this is the last we'll see of her.

The street itself is well realised, even though this is obviously the budget saving episode and Murray Gold has a particularly good piece of music.

The episode ends with a lot of answered questions. Who were Me's benefactors? How will the Doctor cope without Clara? Is this truly Clara's final death? It  feels like the first part of a three parter. As a result my opinions may change. As it is this episode currently feels a bit middling. With so much hanging on Clara's death, which may or may not be permanent, it may be two weeks before one can judge the episode.

7/10