10 Doctor Who Deleted Scenes That Should Have Been Left In

In The Woman Who Lived, Ashildr is reunited with the Doctor, 800 years after they first met. But all is not well.

Ashildr has come to feel trapped by her life of immortality, imploring the Doctor to take her with him. And after reading her diaries – specifically, an entry about the devastating loss of her children during the plague – he begins to understand why.

What you might not have realised is that the Doctor already knew about this tragic chapter of Ashildr’s life, because he was actually there.

This deleted cutaway shows Ashildr passing a plague doctor in the street (which, fact fans, is the same location used for the Viking village in The Girl Who Died). The figure remains silent, watching Ashildr as she goes, before removing their mask… to reveal themselves as none other than the Doctor, looking much more bedraggled than usual.

There are multiple reasons why this scene should've been left in. For starters, it adds more depth to Ashildr’s story, and shows us a lesser-seen side of the Doctor too.

It would've also allowed us to add another costume variant to the Twelfth Doctor’s already substantial wardrobe. And one-off costumes are always the most exciting!