Doctor Who - Series 8, Episode 1 - Deep Breath
And so begins a new era of Doctor Who.
Eight months after we had the first fleeting glimpse of Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor, we finally get to have our first full episode with him. Is he everything we want him to be? Yep, definitely, perfectly slotting into the role as if he's been doing this all his life (which, given his very public love of the series and character, who probably has been doing).
I'll go out on a limb and say that it's possibly my favourite debut of a character so far. I must be the only person who didn't warm to Matt Smith in his first episode (I'm so warm about him now that I'm almost nuclear, please understand, but I just didn't feel it for most of the opening until the very end), and David Tennant spent half of his first episode asleep (though he owned it pretty much straight away after that). Previously I'd have probably said that Christopher Eccleston impressed me most upon his debut, but there's something more about Capaldi here that just grabs me; possibly it's because I just couldn't picture exactly how he'd play the character, and now that I've seen it I'm sold 100%. He's got the intensity of an older figure, whilst perfectly nailing the comedy that we'd expect from a younger Doctor, perfectly wrapped up in the gravitas of one of Britain's best television actors.
From his first almost-drunken stumblings to his conversation with a tramp down a back alley, we see a Doctor struggling to deal with himself post-regeneration, showing worrying signs of a lack of respect for others (would he really steal the tramp's coat), but a magnified eccentricism as he goes about tracking down clues to a series of murders. When he later meets Clara in a restaurant and helps defeat the enemy of the week, his demeanour begins to calm somewhat, and what is likely to be the more standard-fare of Capaldi's delivery becomes apparent, which would seem to be that which we've been promised; a Doctor who is distinctly more alien, not quite as keen on explaining or apologising for what he's up to, and someone who is most definitely NOT going to become his companion's boyfriend.
Inevitably I've talked about Capaldi exclusively so far, but Jenna Coleman is fantastic, too. With a much different role this series than the 'Impossible Girl' of last, I'm hoping that the fandom in general will find more reasons to warm to her. I'll admit that her previous storyline was one of my least favourites of New-who, because of it's execution and lack of intriguing titbits as it progressed (unlike how most of the other series-long arcs have played out) and not due to her portrayal. Indeed, Coleman has such a wonderful smile and sense of fun about her she's impossible not to love in my opinion, and I'm hoping her different relationship with The Doctor this year will bring out the best in the storyline.
Her frustration, anger and woe at the loss of her Doctor, and the appearance of this grouch and erratic new one is really the central core of this episode, and the troubling moment where The Doctor appears to abandon her as he reasons that there's no point in both of them getting caught is rather a shocking one, both to her and to us. Of course, it appears to just have been a part of his bigger plan eventually, but for a moment we really don't know whether he's actually going to be standing behind her when she hedges her bets that he will. Otherwise, she has a great scene there where she stands up to the Half-Face man and calls his bluff.
Her frustration, anger and woe at the loss of her Doctor, and the appearance of this grouch and erratic new one is really the central core of this episode, and the troubling moment where The Doctor appears to abandon her as he reasons that there's no point in both of them getting caught is rather a shocking one, both to her and to us. Of course, it appears to just have been a part of his bigger plan eventually, but for a moment we really don't know whether he's actually going to be standing behind her when she hedges her bets that he will. Otherwise, she has a great scene there where she stands up to the Half-Face man and calls his bluff.
The appearance of the Paternoster Gang is always welcome, particularly Strax. Madame Vestra and Jenny have some great moments (particularly involving a painting), but Strax steals the show time and time again. Yes, I'm sure he annoys a lot of people, but I find him hilarious every time. It's always welcome to have a bit more Strax!
I wasn't quite as taken with the villains as perhaps I'd have liked. It was nice to visit the clockwork droids from Series 2's The Girl in the Fireplace, but I never particularly found any sympathy for the main villain, even though his was essentially a sad story of someone just trying to find paradise. Sad, yes, but he killed a dinosaur who The Doctor managed to tell us (though translation in his sleep) was really depressed and heartbroken at being ripped away from her home, so sod him.
Thinking about it, I've not really mentioned the episode's storyline at all. It certainly has a 'villain of the week' feel, but then most Doctor-debut episodes do. It serves to introduce the new Doctor, have a bit of conflict with his confused companion (which led to a wonderful scene in the restaurant, full of very funny lines), and then let us head on without further thought. Except that's not entirely true; there were two moments towards the end that are very important, for two very different reasons. The first was the not-unexpected-in-the-slightest-if-you-use-the-internet moment where Clara receives a phone call from Matt Smith's Doctor, telling her that the new Doctor needs her help more than she needs his. It was wonderful to have just a tiny bit more Matt Smith, and led to Capaldi's best delivery of the episode, where he told Clara, 'You look at me and you can't see me. Have you any idea what that's like?'
The second was the appearance of Missy, who we've been told already is the Gatekeeper of the 'Nethersphere'. No-one was expecting her appearance so early one (just like Clara in last series' opening episode), so naturally the internet is now abuzz at her true purpose. There's a good deal of speculation that she's a new incarnation of The Master (Missy being short for Mistress being the female equivalent of Master) or the Rani (because it's always the Rani), though both of these seem too easy to be true. Whatever the truth, she apparently believes The Doctor to be her boyfriend, we can be sure to see her again before the two-part finale, and Michelle Gomez completely owns the role in the precious little time we see her for. She also appears to be the one who gave Clara The Doctor's number in her first episode, and also took out the newspaper advert that got them back together in this episode, so she clearly wants the two of them to be together. For good or for bad, though? That's the real question. My bit of speculation? That strange 'crunch' noise she does before she starts twirling like an insane Mary Poppins has something to do with her storyline, but only the gods (and Moffat) know what.
There were two more moments that are important to the character of this new Doctor personally, but that aren't going to affect the overall plot in the same way (or so we're led to believe). The first is the reason why The Doctor looks as he does. It's pretty much confirmed here that Time Lords choose the face they wear based on past experience, with The Doctor speculating that he chose this face to send a message to himself (though he doesn't know why and can't remember who the face belonged to). Mr Moffat has already said, however, that this is just a minor thing so though I'd like a full explanation, don't expect it to affect the story too much. The second moment is the ambiguous nature of whether the Half-Face man committed suicide or was pushed by The Doctor, but to be honest I don't think it really matters as to the answer. We know that The Doctor will do whatever it takes to save the innocent (barring genocide for a second/first time (depending on how you look at it), based on the Ninth Doctor's reaction to the idea at the end of Series 1), so it's not that big of a deal if he did push the droid, though the idea he could have does serve to give the impression of a 'darker' Doctor.
There were two more moments that are important to the character of this new Doctor personally, but that aren't going to affect the overall plot in the same way (or so we're led to believe). The first is the reason why The Doctor looks as he does. It's pretty much confirmed here that Time Lords choose the face they wear based on past experience, with The Doctor speculating that he chose this face to send a message to himself (though he doesn't know why and can't remember who the face belonged to). Mr Moffat has already said, however, that this is just a minor thing so though I'd like a full explanation, don't expect it to affect the story too much. The second moment is the ambiguous nature of whether the Half-Face man committed suicide or was pushed by The Doctor, but to be honest I don't think it really matters as to the answer. We know that The Doctor will do whatever it takes to save the innocent (barring genocide for a second/first time (depending on how you look at it), based on the Ninth Doctor's reaction to the idea at the end of Series 1), so it's not that big of a deal if he did push the droid, though the idea he could have does serve to give the impression of a 'darker' Doctor.
Overall, I can say two things with certainty; one, Peter Capaldi already owns the role of The Doctor and we're very safe in his hands, and two, I'm more excited than ever to see what's coming next. It's going to be different than Matt Smith's era but that's what we need. We need a break from what we had before, in the hands of one of Britain's best actors, and with one of Britain's best showrunners still at the helm. Whatever happens this season, it's going to be one hell of a ride.
8/10
