Daleks and Cybermen beware, a new Doctor is in town.
After the phenomenal season 7 finale showing the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) regenerating into the new 12th Doctor (Peter Capaldi), the BBC released the dawn of a new era with its new season 8 premiere episode “Deep Breath” on Aug 23.
Following the announcement of the new 12th Doctor, most new fans of the series were shocked with the introduction of an older Doctor.
Fans of the classic Doctor Who series have always understood that older men have usually played the character of Doctor.
In the new modernization of the show, fans saw younger-looking incarnations of the character as played by the 9th, 10th and 11th Doctors.
As both sides make their arguments as to why or why not the Doctor should be old again, the question still stands, will Capaldi be a good Doctor?
From the trailers of Doctor Who for the new season, fans got a glimpse of a dark and more serious Doctor. In “Deep Breath,” we see the Doctor adjusting to his new body, causing him to not really be at full-functioning capacity just yet. This is expected with regeneration cycles that will be familiar to fans of the series.
This body adjustment caused the episode to showcase the more comedic side of the Doctor; Capaldi’s sense of timing with his jokes really works, and when he switches into serious mode, fans will definitely feel his presence on screen.
The chemistry between the Doctor and his companion, Clara (Jenna Coleman), was very enjoyable to watch as she struggles to accept the new incarnation of the Doctor.
“Deep Breath” had all the things fans would love about Doctor Who: humor, suspense, a menacing villain, and a good load of Doctor references; however, some plot details of the story fell a bit flat toward the end.
The main issue going against the episode, is how it handled the demise of the villain, causing the episode to feel anti-climatic for a series premiere.
Despite feeling like a filler episode, Capaldi’s performance as the Doctor was fantastic. It will snag any naysayers with doubt about what kind of Doctor he would be able to portray. With a little tightening up on the scriptwriting for future episodes, we could have ourselves one of the most iconic Doctors ever seen on screen.
Nice, awesome review! Really well-written. I agree with a lot of your points. I felt that the ambiguity towards the end regarding the villain’s demise came out of nowhere, but I accept it because it does create another story arc. I’m intrigued enough. I loved how “Deep Breath” was an episode used to not only introduce Capaldi, but introduce how Clara and the new Doctor’s relationship was going to be (related to the adjustments you were talking about). In this particular episode I enjoyed Moffat’s take on the difficulties of becoming the new Doctor and having to deal with one that you’re not used to.