The Woman Who Lived ( TV story ) " The Woman Who Lived " explored the darker aspects of immortality — the relativity of time and the short period of human lives being key focuses . This is something the other immortal to adventure with the Doctor , Jack Harkness , had experienced as well . It once more shows how the Doctor feels about his ability to outlive those he travels with , and why he chooses young humans . As the Doctor tells Ashildr , the longer one lives , the more they look at the negatives and the bigger picture ; it ' s thanks to the " mayflies " that they ' re able to put their years of experience to better use . The episode is one of the few notable companion - lite episodes , which feature the Doctor travelling with no companions or with his companion on a brief " break . " Other key examples are " The Deadly Assassin " and " Midnight " . Synopsis . Adventuring on his own for a while , the Doctor seeks out an artefact of great power that could spell disaster in the wrong hands : the Eyes of Hades . However , he soon comes face to face with consequences of one of his past acts of compassion , when he meets an immortal he created , who has now lost all hope with heart filled with centuries of pain . Plot . In 17th century London , a stagecoach belonging to Mr Fanshawe and Lucie Fanshawe is travelling through the woods ; it is stopped by a highwayman . The coachman recognises the rogue as the infamous outlaw : the Knightmare . The rogue manages to scare them into not resisting by revealing the glowing eyes of a " demon " in the forest behind him ; the Knightmare tells them it ' s his accomplice . Not too far away , the TARDIS materialises , and the Twelfth Doctor departs , holding a Curioscanner . Back to the robbery , the Knightmare demands something specific of Mrs Fanshawe ; she seems to know what the rogue wants . However , at that moment , the Doctor enters the carriage ; he greets everyone in passing , saying he is tracking something . The Knightmare , annoyed , tells the Doctor that he ' s in the middle of a robbery . The Doctor says he wasn ' t paying attention and asks for the robber to repeat himself . However , the Doctor ignores him again , going on to say , " Usually , someone hits me at this point , but she ' s taking the Year 7s for tae kwon do . " The Doctor ' s scanner leads him to a case on the back of the carriage , which the Knightmare attempts to stake claim on . However , the carriage races off the moment they ' re both behind it . The Knightmare tells the Doctor that he ' s ruined his robbery ; however , the Doctor tells " zorro " that he bungled his . With nothing else to do , the Knightmare unmasks , revealing himself to be Ashildr , who can mimic a man ' s voice ( thanks to years of practice ) . The Doctor is surprised to see her , but is more surprised that she has forgotten her original identity due to the centuries that have passed ; Ashildr now calls herself " Me " as there is no - one who can remember her now . Ashildr takes the Doctor to her home , where she reluctantly agrees to let him help her steal the object they ' re both after from the Fanshawes ; she now lives in a mansion thanks to hoarding treasure over the years . She vaguely informs the Doctor that she now has an accomplice , whose glowing yellow eyes watch the Doctor from the shadows . Ashildr repeatedly asks the Doctor to take her with him to see the universe , but is turned down ; after all , it ' s a bad idea to keep company with yourself ( or in this case , someone too similar ) . Ashildr reveals that she dislikes keeping company with other humans , as their lifespans are like smoke that can be blown away . However , the Doctor notes that she ' s tried to help humanity , even founding a leper colony ; Ashildr points out that when she helped cure a village of scarlet fever , she was drowned as a witch by the small - minded people , but was able to swim away . The Doctor sees that Ashildr keeps several diaries , since her memory is still in its original human - limited form , thus keeping her from remembering everything that ' s happened . Ashildr asks the Doctor what it ' s like for a ( near ) immortal like himself , to keep trudging through the centuries , losing all those who are important to him . The Doctor , seeing a foil to himself in the regard that he ' s lonely ( and thus keeps taking on companions ) , explains about the pain ; however , unlike Ashildr , he has come to live with it as living in isolation is much worse . The Doctor takes time to read through one of Ashildr ' s diaries , where he learns that she attempted to have what any woman would want in a normal life : a husband and children . However , her immortality proved troublesome , as she returned years later to see an old , senile version of her beloved , and later lost children to the plague ; the pain of these events were recorded , so she didn ' t have to keep reliving them through the centuries . However , the Doctor notices some pages were ripped out ; there were some things Ashildr found too painful to remember . Outside , Ashildr takes to her accomplice , explaining that an alien like the Doctor would be useful in their plans . Later , they break into the Fanshawe estate , and find their prize : the Eyes of Hades , a glowing purple jewel . Escaping , they accidentally awaken Mr Fanshawe , who looks for them in the wrong direction . Ashildr is ready to kill for her escape , but the Doctor convinces her to escape through the chimney ; she is less than happy with the idea , but complies and continues prodding the Doctor with questions . Escaping into the forest , they are surrounded by other highwaymen , lead by the Knightmare ' s rival — Sam Swift the Quick . Swift thinks the Doctor is the Knightmare ' s sidekick and father , which annoys the Time Lord , who taunts the thief for the redundant title . Ashildr quickly disarms her rival , sending him and his cronies fleeing in fear . Back at Ashildr ' s mansion , the Doctor wishes to meet her accomplice . He learns its a fire - breathing alien from Delta Leonis called Leandro . Ashildr and Leandro want to use the Eyes of Hades to open a portal to leave Earth , but it requires the life energy of someone to work ( in other words , a death is needed , hence why it has the name of the Greek god of the underworld ) . They considered using Ashildr ' s aged butler Clayton , but soon learn Swift has been captured and will be hanged that day . Tying the Doctor up , Ashildr sees luck favouring her when authorities arrive to check on " Lady Me " ; she claims the Doctor is the Knightmare ' s sidekick and leaves , asking the Doctor just be imprisoned due to his advanced age . The Doctor tries passing himself off as an undercover officer from Scotland Yard , but realises it hasn ' t been founded yet . Seeing Ashildr leave with Leandro in her carriage , the Doctor tells the guards that the Knightmare is escaping and that he wishes to go to the hanging . The guards inform him there ' s a 20 pound bounty on him , which is a treasure compared to their pay , so they ' d rather not take him to be hanged . The Doctor tells them where they can find Lady Me ' s treasure ; they let him go and give him a horse in exchange . At the hangman ' s noose , Swift is making jokes to buy himself a few more minutes ; some of them are insulting , but still funny . Leandro waits impatiently in Ashildr ' s carriage , yelling for Swift to hang already . The Doctor arrives , assisting with Swift ' s delay ; Ashildr manages to overrule the comedy and get the hanging to begin . Swift asks for a kiss as his last request ; Ashildr complies and places the Eyes of Hades on him . Leandro reveals himself , breathing fire in triumph . A portal opens , revealing Leandro was an advanced scout for his people , the Leonian s , to invade Earth . To her own shock , Ashildr finds that she still cares ; she asks the Doctor what she should do . The Doctor has Ashildr use the Mire repair kit he left with her on Swift , healing him ; the excess of life energy causes the Eyes of Hades to backfire and closes the portal . Leandro is vaporised by his fellow warriors for his failure . In a pub later , Ashildr wonders if Swift is now immortal like her . The Doctor guesses that the excess that would have caused this may have been burned out in the portal closing , but is unsure himself ; just in case Swift is immortal , he asks Ashildr keep an eye on him . It ' s at that moment that Ashildr realises why the Doctor won ' t take her with him ; it ' s because her view point is too much like his own , and he needs someone who sees things differently . The Doctor mentions having travelled with another immortal named Captain Jack Harkness , and that she may be running into him in the future . Ashildr then says she ' ll take the role most of the others that have met the Doctor have , protecting the world from his good intentions . Later , in the TARDIS , the Doctor is playing his electric guitar , deep in thought . Clara arrives , and the Doctor accepts her hug . Clara explains that the Doctor helping her student , Evie Hubbard , with an " imaginary " interview with Winston Churchill paid off ; Evie got an A . The Doctor looks at the selfie taken of Evie and Clara , taking notice that Ashildr is the background ; he pretends nothing is wrong . Clara wonders where they ' re going , to which the Doctor says it ' s her choice ; she asks for somewhere new and magical . After explaining there ' s nothing new and magical under the sun , the Doctor tells her that they ' ll be checking above it . Clara hugs him again , saying she ' s not going anywhere . Story notes . Filming locations . " to be added " Production errors . " to be added " Home video releases . DVD releases . " The Woman Who Lived " was released on DVD as part of " Doctor Who : Series 9 , Part 1 " on November 2 in region 2 and November 3 in region 1 . A subtitling error on some copies the Region 1 DVD release displays the Doctor ' s line , " Of course ! " when speaking to Leandro and Me as , " Oh shit ! " . Blu - ray releases . " The Woman Who Lived " was released on Blu - ray as part of " Doctor Who : Series 9 , Part 1 " on November 2 in region 2 and November 3 in region 1 . External links . Transcript of " The Woman Who Lived " on " Chrissie ' s Transcripts Site "