Doctor Who - 8x01 Deep Breath - Review

Here we go again...

A new season and a new Doctor. Deep Breath marks the first full episode of Peter Capaldi as the infamous Doctor Who. And there is definitely a lot to take in. Mainly for the fans of the reboot who are used to the young dashing Doctors from the previous 6 series (7 if you want to call Christopher Eccelston dashing) who are heavily critical of Capaldi's casting. Mainly because he is not young and dashing. And most of that criticism is from rabid fangirls. But Capldi is something else though. What is he? Let's begin.

Things don't start out with a bang, but it starts out with a gigantic oversized T-Rex wandering around London in the 1800s. And that T-Rex vomits out a Blue Box that all Doctor Who fans will know as the TARDIS. Resident Victorian London Doctor Who characters, Madam Vastra (lizard lady detective), her human wife Jenny, and her Sontaran butler Strax. The trio are greeted by the new Capaldi Doctor and his companion Clara (Jenna Louise Coleman) who appears to be not too happy about the Doctor's new look. Their arrival could not be more appropriate as someone is causing people in Victorian London to spontaneously combust. But with the Doctor trying to figure out who he is and Clara not knowing if she knows him anymore, could they find their friendship and save the day once again?

The answer to that question is yes, but the road getting there is a long one. This Season Opener is a long one, clocking in at 70 minutes. Though given what has happened in the episode, I don't really think it was necessary for it to be this long. Especially given the subject matter of the first 30 minutes of the episode: DEALING WITH THE DOCTOR BEING OLD!

Yes, for the first 30 minutes of the premier, The Doctor has suffered a slight bit of memory loss or rather jumbled up memories. Seeing as how the first 30 minutes is suppose to convince us Capaldi is the new Doctor, it really doesn't seem like it. Mainly because for the most part, he was still acting like his predecessor, Matt Smith, at the beginning of the episode. He was talking fast pace and be jovial. Though Capaldi does valiantly with trying to bridge the transition between Smith to himself, it is jarring seeing Capaldi trying to act like the quirky Matt Smith Doctor. It didn't detract so much from his performance, but some viewers may be turned off by it. Luckily I wasn't one of them.

The other thing that was woven into the first 30 minutes was the fact that Clara was complaining about The Doctor looking Old. This is mainly due to her seeing all his regenerations getting younger and younger, as well as being Smith's companion for his final run. So here, Clara question why would The Doctor choose to have an Old Face, only to be berated by Madam Vastra that the Doctor has always been old. It even brings up the idea of romantic tension between Clara and Smith's Doctor. This segment of the episode is definitely for pointing out to Fan Girls that Doctor Who is more than just a handsome man, because in reality he's not a handsome young man. He is an old, and now very ancient alien. This point has to be hammered home to Clara, who despite claims to understand she still is in denial that her dashing Doctor is now an Old Man. Whether Fan Girls watching Clara's part of the story gets that bit of dealing with the Doctor is now Old and has always been Old shall be seen in the future to come.

But now on to when the more interesting stuff happens. The remaining 40 minutes of the episode play out like a standard Doctor Who episode. There is danger, and the Doctor has to stop it. And lucky for the viewer, Capaldi's Doctor starts to act like what we will know as Capaldi's Doctor. Remember when I said he was something else? Well, he is something else. He's dark. Very dark. This is a dark and dry sarcastic Doctor. There is still an occasional joke, but instead it seem to be more insulting that funny. And when he talks, it is like an evil genius who cannot be defeated. Capaldi's Doctor is almost very cold but extremely calculating. This is evident from how he handles the antagonist of this episode, a machine who is trying to be human. He declares that he's going to have to kill him. A statement like that would be shocking for New Doctor Who fans, but for old ones it is nothing new. In fact, this is the resurgence of Tom Baker's Doctor: The Mad Man with a Time Machine. Only while Baker's Doctor is cackling mad, Capaldi's is cold and psychotic. His Doctor is unpredictable and his motives are almost ambiguous. Especially given the fate of the first episode's antagonist. Is he still a good man?

However, despite appearing that way, it is clear that he still cares about Clara. Though probably not the way it seemed from Smith's Run. The Doctor makes it clear to Clara that he is not her boyfriend, although she denies that she thought of him that way, but that even with a new personality, he still cares. This becomes clear to Clara after receiving a message from an Old Face, who helps giver her closure as well as embrace that Capaldi's Doctor is still her Doctor. Just not one that she can fall in love with anymore, but still loves him. Their relationship will definitely be the emotional anchor that Capaldi's Doctor needs, mainly because this Doctor is what I would like to call The Dark Doctor. The Old School Doctor from before the Reboot has Returned, and his attack eyebrows are ready for anything.

It's too bad that despite the great character development in this episode, you'll notice that I didn't spend too much time talking about the episode itself. Well, to put it shortly, the episode wasn't that great. This would've been a great episode if it weren't the first one. Usually these things need to start out with a bang and immediately show us who Capaldi's Doctor will be. But the fact that it spent too much time with Capaldi thinking he's still Smith's Doctor and not getting to him being his own Doctor right away, detracts from the momentum. It is still a fine episode, but this is really a big long rant by the creators to the fans: He is old now, deal with it. And for the Old Fans, he is Dark again. You happy? Cause I am.

SCORE: 7.5/10 - Great character development, but a not so great start

STATUS: Continue To Watch, especially because of this new Dark Doctor

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