28 August 2014

The same yet very different (Review: 'Doctor Who' 34.1, "Deep Breath")

So after eight months, the 'Twelfth Doctor', as played by Peter Capaldi, finally makes his debut on our screens... and it was definitely worth the wait. The 80 minutes flew by and I highly enjoyed the episode.

Ten points from this:
  • Bit disappointed with the new title sequence; possibly it's the theme arrangement.
  • The Twelfth Doctor is excellent; even in his post-regeneration confusion. He's very alien in a much different way to his predecessor; while the jokes are still there, he's a much colder and more withdrawn character, looking pretty scary at times.
  • Clara seems to have been considerably better written here than at previous time; she sold the whole difficulty with accepting the Doctor's regeneration very well indeed.
  • The dinosaur was great to see (and I liked the joke about the neck), but it was obvious why it couldn't have stayed too long.
  • There was also some lovely Scottish jokes; remember both Moffat and Capaldi are from Scotland. The independent eyebrows joke in particular.
  • Indeed Moffat's script contained a number of superb bits of humour;
  • Great CGI all round; even with the budgetary issues the show is always facing, I never spotted anything ropey.
  • I liked the call back to a previous Moffat episode.
  • It was nice to see the Paternoster gang back again, but I wasn't too impressed with Strax, who lacked the number of funny lines that he got last time.
  • That was a lovely surprise appearance at the climax; I didn't know that was coming and I'm glad it wasn't leaked.

Conclusion

A superb start for a great new Doctor.

9/10

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