Odin (David Schofield) threatens the Viking villagers inThe Girl Who Died (2015).
In 2015 Jamie Mathieson co-wrote The Girl Who Died with Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat. Whose idea was it to pit the Doctor against Vikings in this episode? “That was all Steven,” says Jamie. “I’d pitched four or five full-page outlines. There was one with an earworm, but someone said, ‘Oh, Toby Whithouse is doing that [in the episodes Under the Lake and Before the Flood].’ I was like, ‘Oh, that’s fine, I’ve got an underwater idea...’ And Toby was doing that as well. I had a Zygon idea but Peter Harness was doing that – everything was already covered! So it’s almost like they took pity on me. They said, ‘Steven has always wanted to do the Doctor meets Vikings, how about that?’ I said, ‘Great!’
Jamie Mathieson, who co-wrote The Girl Who Died with Steven Moffat.