The Woman Who Lived Trivia Quiz

Answer: England 1651

The episode opens with a highway robbery of a stagecoach, a somewhat common scene in 17th century England. The Doctor firmly establishes the time frame when he says that he has "a pardon signed by Cromwell." Oliver Cromwell effectively governed England after the death of Charles the First in 1649, and served as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England from December 1653 until his death in September 1658.

The Doctor arrives in 17th century England in search of an alien artifact, because searching for alien artifacts is a hobby (see "Planet of the Dead"). He discovers that the highwayman is none other than Ashildr, the Viking girl that he saved centuries earlier. "What took you so long, old man?" she asks.

The Doctor mentions that there will be a fire in London (in roughly fifteen years time). When Ashildr asks if she caused it, the Doctor says "No, it was the Terileptils." This is a tribute to when the Fifth Doctor fought the reptilian species in "The Visitation" (1982). At the end of the episode, the Terileptils accidentally started the Fire of London.

Answer: Agincourt

Ashildr (Lady Me) specifically mentions being at Agincourt. Henry V of England defeated a much larger French army using archers, proving the value of longbows in war. The British casualties were very minor, while the French suffered at least 7000 dead. Agincourt was fought on October 25, 1415, Saint Crispin's Day. It is located in northern France, near Calais. The battle is a centerpiece of the Shakespeare play "Henry V."

Hastings was the pivotal battle in 1066 in which William the Conqueror gained control of England. Bannockburn was when Robert the Bruce defeated Edward the II in 1314 and won freedom for Scotland. The siege of Orleans was where Joan of Arc made a name for herself in 1429.

Maisie Williams gives a superb performance as someone who has learned that living forever has a high price. Williams is probably best known as Arya Stark on "Game of Thrones." She has been on the show since the pilot, and has managed to survive five seasons - an impressive achievement given the show's high body count.

Answer: 800 years

Ashildr mentions that it had been 800 years since she had seen the Doctor. He mentions that he had seen her, when she was founding a leper colony. Ashildr has used the time to become a superior fighter - she notes the 10,000 hours rule regarding becoming an expert, and then says she had ten times that to become a super soldier.

Unfortunately, immortality is not all that it's cracked up to be, as the Doctor himself can attest to. Ashildr has had to watch many people die over the centuries, and it has left her jaded and bitter.

Answer: The Eyes of Hades

The artifact was the Eyes of Hades. It supposedly provided safe passage for the dead to the underworld. The Doctor and Ashildr discovered that the mythology was real, and that the jeweled object had the power to open portals to other dimensions using the life energy of someone who was dying.

The Cup of Athlestan was a golden cup stolen by Lady Christina de Souza in "Planet of the Dead" (2009). The Firestone was the jewel in "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (2008)."The Emerald Tiger" is a Big Finish audio story from 2011 featuring the Fifth Doctor.

Answer: The Quick

Sam Swift the Quick attempts to steal the Eyes of Hades from Ashildr and the Doctor, and she manages to defeat him in hand to hand combat. Sam later becomes central to the plot when he is arrested for his thieving ways. Sam is sentenced to death, which was not unusual in 17th century England, where criminal justice was quite harsh.

Ashildr and her alien friend attempt to use Sam's death to open a portal to another galaxy using the Eyes of Hades. It turns out that its really an alien invasion of Earth, and Ashildr has to use the healing chip from the Mire helmet to bring Sam back to life and save the Earth. The question of whether Sam will be immortal was left unanswered.

Sam Swift was played by British comedian Rufus Hound. A native of Surrey, he is probably best known for the science fiction comedy series "Hounded" (2010).

Answer: Delta Leonis

Leandro, who appears to be some sort of human/lion hybrid, stated that he was from Delta Leonis. He had fled his home planet and crashed on Earth. We don't really learn much about Delta Leonis, although the inhabitants are capable of breathing fire.

Alfava Metraxis is where the Byzantium crashed and the Doctor fought the weeping angels in "The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone" (2010). The Delta Magna system is featured in the 1979 adventure "The Power of Kroll". The Eye of Orion was a planet visited by the Fifth Doctor in "The Five Doctors" (1983).

Leandro was played by Ariyon Bakare, who got his big break on the British soap "Doctors" from 2001 to 2005. If you want see what he looks like without the lion makeup, check out "Tyrant" (2015) or "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" (2015).

Answer: Clayton

The butler was named Clayton - it was uncertain whether this was his first or last name. Lady Me (Ashildr) had intended to kill him to open a time portal, but Clayton was spared by the timely arrest of Sam Swift.

Greeves was the butler in "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (2008). Nimrod was the Neanderthal butler at Gabriel Chase in the 1987 adventure "Ghost Light".

Struan Rodger (Clayton) is a veteran actor who has been working in television and films since 1972. If his voice sounded familiar to "Doctor Who" fans, it was because Rodger was the voice of The Face of Boe in "New Earth" (2006) and "Gridlock" (2007).

Answer: Training in Tae Kwan Do

At the very start of the episode, the Doctor mentions something to Ashildr about Clara taking Tae Kwan Do classes. This was a Clara-lite episode, with Ms Oswald appearing only in the very last scene.

Jenna-Louise Coleman announced that she would be leaving "Doctor Who". Given past practice during the first 10 years of the show, it is likely she will be leaving during the series finale. Leaving the Doctor alone at Christmas - once again.

Answer: Winston Churchill

Clara said that Evie Hubbard was supposed to write an imaginary interview with Churchill. The Doctor replied that she should have mentioned it was imaginary. It has been established that the Doctor and Churchill are good friends. Ian McNeice had quite memorable appearances as Churchill in "Victory of the Daleks" (2010) and "The Wedding of River Song" (2011).

The Tenth Doctor met both Queen Victoria ("Tooth and Claw" (2006)) and Agatha Christie ("The Unicorn and the Wasp" (2010)). The Twelfth Doctor suggested that Clara had an argument with Gandhi in "Under the Lake" (2015).

Answer: Catherine Tregenna

Catherine Tregenna wrote "The Woman Who Lived", the sixth episode of series nine. Tregenna has worked in the "Doctor Who" universe before, writing several episodes of "Torchwood". She has also written for the hospital drama "Casualty" and the British version of "Law and Order."

Ed Bazalgette directed "The Woman Who Lived" as well as the prequel "The Girl Who Died". He also directed "The Doctor's Meditation", the short which introduced series nine. Bazalgette has been working as a director since around 2000, but before that he was the lead guitarist for The Vapors, famous for the song "Turning Japanese."

Peter Harness is the writer on "The Zygon Invasion" and "The Zygon Inversion" (2015), the next episodes in Series Nine. Harness co-wrote every episode of the first season of "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" (2015).

Sara Angharad is the makeup supervisor for "Doctor Who". She is the one responsible for the cool lion makeup, as well as many of the other monsters on the show since 2012. Angharad started working on the show with "Aslyum of the Daleks" (2012).