8X01 "Deep Breath" Grading/Discussion)(SPOILERS!)

[Count Zero]

They've redecorated the beginning. I don't like it.

Neither do I. That is, I do like the idea behind it but the CGI looks horrible in places, especially the TARDIS. I watched the episode in the cinema and it really stuck out. It's a bit less obvious on TV ( I rewatched the ep when I got home) but still noticeable. The CGI was also a bit bad in the shots of London and the dinosaur. Well, at least, it'll make me appreciate the SFX in Invasion of the Dinosaurs more the next time I watch it.

Overall, it was a good episode and I already quite like the new Doctor - not that I was having much doubt about that beforehand. For some reason, I never had any trouble adapting quickly. He is quite different, though. And what's more, I got the impression that he's also been written differently. The two restaurant scenes (first with Clara, and then with the half-face man) seemed much more drama-like than what is customary for the show. Not many of Capaldi's predecessors could have pulled it off and for most, it would have felt out of place. I hope they keep this sort of writing up as it makes the show feel more mature.

Capaldi did channel a few other Doctors along the way, not just in the beginning during the transition from being the Eleventh (or rather Twelfth ) Doctor. When he was going through the garbage in the back alley I felt he channeled Ten when discovering he was Scottish. It made me chuckle but it's possible I'm overinterpreting things.

I also liked the ambiguous end of the villain. Personally, I don't find the question whether the Doctor pushed him or not all that mysterious. We know he's a cold-blooded killer when he needs to be. But given it's Moffat the question will probably be part of an overly complicated arc and laden with meaning. In the same vein, I also believe that the reference to The Girl in the Fireplace was important and that it will be revisited later on in the series. I don't think I like Clara getting the Doctor's phone number being tangled up in the mystery and probably related to Missy.

There were two minor issues with the story. The first is that it was next to impossible for the droids to get the tissue of the dinosaur they needed. One moment the dinosaur is fine, the next it bursts into flames. It keeps burning and the droids are made out of inflammable material so there wasn't really any time they could have had access to the dinosaur to extract what they needed.
The second is the scene below the restaurant when Clara thinks she's going to be killed by the half-face man. A few minutes later, we learn that she could have called for help by the Paternoster gang at any point. In fact, she could have done so before, when she and the Doctor were still in the restaurant and it became clear they were trapped. She didn't because it served the story.
In both instances story logic was sacrificed for visuals (the dinosaur suddenly erupting in flames, the Paternoster gang rushing to the rescue from above) which I feel is typical Moffat. Well, I suppose it can be reassuring that some things never change.

As for Clara not coping well with the regeneration it helps to bear in mind that she doesn't remember her fractured lives to save the Doctor all that well and that losing one's Doctor is different from meeting previous ones. Also, the new Doctor acted pretty crazy right after regeneration.

 

[Nightowl1701]

the fact that Clara, who has seen all the previous Doctors, couldn't cope with a new regeneration.

It wasn't that she couldn't cope with a new regeneration. She, like all the weeping fangirls internet memes made fun of, couldn't cope with the fact that the old regeneration, her Doctor - her boyfriend, all her protests to the contrary notwithstanding - was dead and gone. That's what that whole plot thread (and Smith's cameo) was all about: Making her see that a) No, the Doctor's not your boyfriend, never was, never could be and b) No, he's not dead, not completely, he's just wearing a new weathered face, a Scottish voice and a marginally different personality.

If she'd been around instead of Rose when, say, Eccleston turned into Tennant, she wouldn't have acted the way she did. She'd have been like "Hmm. OK. Still hot. Different kind of hot, but still hot." But from heartthrob to old grey-haired man? A girl who (we now know thanks to Strax) dreams of 'muscular young men doing sport'? Of course she short-circuited.

 

[Mad Jack Wolfe]

Didn't like: ... the fact that Clara, who has seen all the previous Doctors, couldn't cope with a new regeneration.

How did Clara get introduced into the Doctor's timeline? She was thrust into it in a myriad of fragments when she dove into the Doctor's Trenzalore rift. She never had to deal with a regeneration before this one. So of course she's thrown off by it. It's pretty simple when you think about it.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Not blinking, not breathing. Is Moffatt trying to turn me into a neurotic mess?

I quite enjoyed it. I liked the threat they were against. I liked the "not breathing" gimmick. I liked the pace. The episode did quite well by slowing down and letting scenes breathe a bit. The restaurant scene is a perfect example of that.

Clara's storyline was a touch disconcerting, but I think the reason it seemed disconcerting is that it hit a little close to home. Obviously not in the boyfriend sense for me, but the Doctor as the dashing action hero. I almost feel like I need assurance that he's still the same. To their credit, they didn't do this by having him act like Matt Smith and hope you forget. Instead, they tried to tackle it head on. I thought it worked for the most part, but, if I had to pick a reason, that would be it.

 

[Admiral2]

Now that was more like it.

-Thank God for Peter Capaldi! I love that face! It's like someone took Hartnell and Troughton and cloned them! I haven't liked a Doctor this much since Eccleston!

-When are Vastra and Jenny getting their own spinoff? I'm serious.

-Love the new opening!

-Still not super in love with Clara.

Will keep watching...

 

[sidious618]

I thought this was absolutely brilliant. Loved every second of it. The episode did a lot of work in developing Clara, something the last season desperately needed, and I grew to like her a lot more. Capaldi? Well, what can I say? The man's even better than I hoped. Can't wait to see where the season takes us.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

Didn't like: ... the fact that Clara, who has seen all the previous Doctors, couldn't cope with a new regeneration.

How did Clara get introduced into the Doctor's timeline? She was thrust into it in a myriad of fragments when she dove into the Doctor's Trenzalore rift. She never had to deal with a regeneration before this one. So of course she's thrown off by it. It's pretty simple when you think about it.

Plus in Day of the Doctor didn't Clara mention that she barely remembered the trip through the Doctor's time stream hence the reminder about who the War Doctor was.

 

[Kruezerman]

Fabulous. Finally bringing Who back into drama instead of kid flicks. I didn't exactly like the intro but...that's it. It was perfect as a standalone episode BUT, I'm afraid of Moffat making more arcs while still having so many still unfinished.

 

[Squiggy]

I liked it, but agree with what most are saying about the new intro. The BBC version looks like a very cheap knock off. Fonts, color, resolution...everything about the one aired tonight looks like a rough pass.

I do wish they'd get over Victorian London. It's almost like its a crutch at this point.

 

[bigdaddy]

I liked it. I liked the dialog from the Doctor and the little jokes. I liked how the last one was worried that he's now old looking. The scene where current Doctor was yelling at Clara "I'm not on the phone, I'm right here!", it was perfect.

 

[Aldo]

I loved it! Even though I was a bit skeptical on Capaldi (I loved the casting, but wasn't sure how he'd pull it off) I can now say I'm 100% sold. I also love the tone, it's still got the humor and the whimsy, but overall it feels like a much more mature show. I'm not sure if that was just for this episode or if it will hold up for the whole series, but I really loved it.

I do wish they'd get over Victorian London. It's almost like its a crutch at this point.

I prefer it to the RTD years where he set every other story in present day London.

 

[bigdaddy]

I do wish they'd get over Victorian London. It's almost like its a crutch at this point.

I prefer it to the RTD years where he set every other story in present day London.[/QUOTE]

I agree, it's much better than the present day carp RTD did.
!
And how tall was that dinosaur? It looks like it's 300 feet tall!

 

[Worf2DS9]

I enjoyed it a lot! Love Capaldi as the Doctor! I liked the Jenny/Vastra banter, but the Strax humour is getting old. Repeated dialogue from past episodes seemed more tired than clever (Jenny/Clara about the Doctor mirrored Jackie/Rose at the beginning of The Christmas Invasion, and Clara's remark about the Doctor redecorating was Ten's line from Day of the Doctor). Can't wait for next week!

As for the opening, I'm okay with the the visuals, but I don't like the high pitch of the new theme arrangement much.

 

[DWF]

Peter Capaldi was excellent as the new Doctor and generally I don't really like the posternoster gang but they were pretty effective here. I loved seeing Brian Miller as the hobo who's clothes the Doctor stole. And really Matt Smith's wasn't needed, Clara seemed to be getting a handle on the new Doctror til he left on her. The length of the story worked in Capaldi's favor I think it allowedd him to play the part a bit, some of his reactions reminded me of the tV movie. But I do have a better feeling about Capaldi's Doctor than I did about Smith's Doctor. I also loved the line about the scarf being in his past. I also thought the clockwork robots were creepier here than in The Girl In The Fireplace. And we got to meet Missy as well.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

There was quite a lot of silly humour, at least at the beginning, which was not funny, but annoying. The Doctor falling fast asleep with a *BOING* sound effect, or Strax throwing the newspaper into Clara's face is childish even by Moffat's standarts, and the banter between Madame Vastra and Jenny appears forced instead of witty. Less would have been more.
Also, Moffat's habit to put ideas into an episode without actually doing much with it brings us a dinosaur in Victorian London simply to go up in flames (and to look good in the trailers, I guess).

But apart from these flaws at the start, the episode was quite good, the characterization of Capaldi's Doctor is promising, and the plot was actually good, and also had some depth to it, with many of the philosophical questions the Doctor throws at the robot villain applying to himself as well.

All in all, a good start for the new Doctor.

 

[kirk55555]

I thought it was good. It had some problems, but overall I enjoyed it. I really like Vastra and friends, so it was great to see her. The villain was interesting, and I liked the "no breathing" thing. I liked The Doctor, and I thought he had some great lines, both when he was normal and when he was crazy.

I think the story did feel long. It probably would have worked better as a standard sized episode. Clara's reaction to the regeneration also felt a bit weird. I thought the intro looked cool, but the new version of the theme wasn't very good. As for the ending, I liked the Matt Smith cameo, and The Doctor telling Clara that he's still the person she knew. I'm not sure what to think of "Missy" though, and I can't decide if I want her to be a female version of The Master (unlikely, but possible) or not.

Overall, I think it was a good beginning. A bit too flawed to be excellent, but a good start for a new Doctor.

 

[tomalak301]

Now that was more like it.

-Thank God for Peter Capaldi! I love that face! It's like someone took Hartnell and Troughton and cloned them! I haven't liked a Doctor this much since Eccleston!

-When are Vastra and Jenny getting their own spinoff? I'm serious.

-Love the new opening!

-Still not super in love with Clara.

Will keep watching...

I was thinking this all throughout the episode. We need a Vastra/Jenny/Strax spin off, pronto. I love those characters, especially the scenes with Strax and Clara.

That was a decent episode. I didn't really like the motivations of the robots, or maybe I was confused by it. They wanted to get to a promise land and harvested human parts to make their ship fly to do so? I thought it could have been a lot clearer than it was. I did like the gimmick of the cyborgs not harming you when you're not breathing though. Yeah it's like Don't Blink, but I still liked it.

The best moments of this episode were the character moments. You've got Strax with comic relief, and then there was Clara, having to adapt to this new old guy and not the Doctor she was used to. I was really surprised by the Matt Smith cameo, and that scene might have been the best scene of the episode. It was a way to help her, and I think the audience, get used to this new Doctor and make that transition better. It seemed like Doctor Who in the States got more popular in the Matt Smith Era (You now have pre and post shows with Chris Hardwick for one) so maybe this was to make the US fans happy and I appreciated it.

It wasn't excellent, but it was very very good. I'm looking forward to Capaldi growing in the role, and I liked him here, other than the scene with him pretty much scaring the older gentlemen in the Ally. Once he actually "became" the Doctor, it reminded me of when Smith put on the outfit and just took control. Can't wait to see Capaldi do the same as the season goes on.

 

[PorthosShadow]

This was a pretty decent season premier but it did remind a lot of "The Christmas Invasion".

 

[Joel_Kirk]

It seemed like Doctor Who in the States got more popular in the Matt Smith Era (You now have pre and post shows with Chris Hardwick for one) so maybe this was to make the US fans happy and I appreciated it.

I was under the impression that it was popular in the US when Tom Baker was the Doctor, unless you're referring to the continuation. In that case, I was under the impression that anyone with access to the internet or BBC America was watching Doctor Who when Eccleston took on the role.

 

[tomalak301]

It seemed like Doctor Who in the States got more popular in the Matt Smith Era (You now have pre and post shows with Chris Hardwick for one) so maybe this was to make the US fans happy and I appreciated it.

I was under the impression that it was popular in the US when Tom Baker was the Doctor, unless you're referring to the continuation. In that case, I was under the impression that anyone with access to the internet or BBC America was watching Doctor Who when Eccleston took on the role.

First of all, the Eccleston and some of Tennant's era were on Sci Fi. Secondly, I don't remember them getting as much publicity as Matt Smith did. Yeah people have been watching, but it seems like the show grew in popularity at the later stages of Smith's run, at least from a media and promotion standpoint.