I really did not connect with Face the Raven. By this point in watching the series, Clara had so many potential endings racked up at this point, including outright deaths, that I was and still kind of am simply numb to the character. Her ending and death here is well acted by Jenna Coleman and she is certainly talented but any affection I have for the character was long worn out. So the whole death and big sacrifice here felt really unnecessary, while you just know the Doctor is going to react poorly in a way that just doesn't feel true to a character who has survived and lost so much by now. This is a guy who, at least in theory, has lost children to war. Certainly it makes sense that the Doctor would care about Clara, that makes sense, but it does not feel it should break him so thoroughly, as we will see when this all falls apart in Hell Bent. It does lead to the wonderful Heaven Sent, at least.

Beyond the big moment everyone remembers, the rest of the episode is remarkably empty and disappointing, in my opinion. The shelter for aliens feels great as a concept, but it felt severely underused while Ahisldr kind of feels pointless here. The raven story is fine as an idea but the script simply doesn't feel polished enough to execute this idea. If it weren't for Coleman and Capaldi doing some awesome acting this episode wouldn't really offer much at all, but they definitely elevate what material is here.

The special effects are also really underwhelming. We aren't going for impressive sets here and are reusing costumes, of course, but even the Raven itself kind of feels like an empty threat when it is just a basic CGI bird passing through Clara. I just did not enjoy this one and don't think I could recommend it.

New Who Review #127

Face the Raven

This story was heartbreaking. I loved the story of this and the trap street it was really fun and having rigsy back was cool. It's nice to have Me back again but this time she is kinda a bad guy. She set up bait to lure the doctor almost killing rigsy in the process. The story was great but sadly every good thing has to come to an end and this time it's clara. Clara Is my favourite companion so watching this one always upsets me. I can't bring myself to watch her die because it just breaks my heart. Her death is done so beautifully too with the slomo and the music it was so Beautiful. The doctor is sent off somewhere that leads into part two of this three parter. Great story with an emotional ending. 10/10

An intriguing set up with clever ideas falls flat as soon as Me enters the story. The momentum of the story relies on the audience looking forward to seeing Ashilder back and Maisie Williams having enough charisma in the bank as an antagonist, but for me she is a limp baddie.

The pairing of Rigsy (“local knowledge!”) Clara and The Doctor is a real treat though. I wish I could have seen a bit more of them outside of the contexts that didn’t work. Rigsy made for an excellent recurring character.

The way that trap street worked and how the masked aliens behaved didn’t always make sense to me. Why is a friendly Cyberman being repaired by an Ood? Some of the pairings didn’t quite ring true.

While Clara’s exit, and the exact rules around how the raven works is a bit contrived, the emotional beats really work and there are some powerful scenes between The Doctor and his companion.

Clara dies!.....nuff said

Amazing start for an outstanding three parter.