**Spoilers** Series 8, Episode 1 - "Deep Breath"

Mr Rhode Island Red

I agree with anyone who says there was only enough plot there to comfortably fill a normal episode length.

It was OK of an episode. Plot sagged a bit. Some great lines though (Tom Baker and Amy Pond references, hints at the upcoming Scottish independence referendum with the eyebrows:D). Also loved Strax throwing the newspaper, found it really unexpected and humorous.

Capaldi will grow into the role, but it might take a while; he's a great actor but I'm not completely sold on him being a great doctor just yet.

WomanSkirtFan8

tommy2bad wrote: »

Loved the ambiguity in the doctors speech to the robot at the end. Ahem cross out ambiguity and replace with duality, it was clearly intended to be applicable to both of them.

Some good lines, I'll be using 'these are attack eyebrows' myself. Some poor plotting but I suppose they are setting the Capaldi story arch up as well as trying to introduce a new Dr and tell tonight's story so I'll let it go.
I got the robots from 'girl in the fireplace' early on and I'm wondering if the 'promised land' is the place Amy grew old in, in The Girl Who Waited?
We shall see!

yes. I also enjoyed the episode. I think Peter Capaldi will be an excellent doctor given time. the start of the episode is very reminiscant of Tom Baker's first doctor who 'Robot' where he deat with the post-regeneration trauma brilliantly. Also loved Matt Smith's cameo at the end.

can't wait for next week's episode!

Spon Farmer

Capaldi was great - as usual - and Coleman too.

However, the majority of that episode was just pap.

Nearly 30 minutes before the story actually began and the ridiculous lizard detective. Again.

:P

Sonics2k

ixoy wrote: »

The clock work robots are reprised from "The Girl in the Fireplace", from Season 26 (Season 2 to some here). There he flirted with Madame de Pompadour, who gets mentioned here. She seemed to have fallen in love with him so I'm guessing that's her at the end.

I picked up on them being the clockwork robots from the Girl in Fireplace quite quick, and I did like he couldn't quite remember them or Madame de Pompadour too, but it couldn't be here. He returns to France later in the episode to find she's already died (which made me really sad as I thought the actress was great, and frankly gorgeous), so I don't see how or why it would be her.

As long as it's not River Song, who I am so bloody sick of.

WomanSkirtFan8

[QUOTE=As long as it's not River Song, who I am so bloody sick of.[/QUOTE]

yes i absolutely agree. don't want to see her again. Her arc is done

Ginny

Or Rose and the teeth, although she is hamming it up in Penny Dreadful.

zanador

Really enjoyed it - I think Capaldi will be great and very dark (and morally ambiguous). An interesting Doctor!

Frank Lee Midere

Why the spoiler tags?

CastorTroy

Sonics2k wrote: »

As long as it's not River Song, who I am so bloody sick of.

You don't think she'll show up to confront The Doctor's "girlfriend"?

So is Victorian London the new modern day London? They seem to go to one as much as the other these days.

Felt sorry for the poor dinosaur.

Wonder why he couldn't remember Madame de Pompadour. Did it mean something or was that just him not being all there yet?

Really liked the cameo.

Did have trouble hearing some of the dialogue at times. May just have been due to it being rambling, but I did need to rewind and turn on the subtitles.

Having watched the latest episodes of A Touch of Cloth, Capaldi reminded me so much of John Hannah.

tommy2bad

Sonics2k wrote: »

As long as it's not River Song, who I am so bloody sick of.

Spoilers Sweetie!

Also Starring LeVar Burton

As a standalone episode it was fairly lackluster, but as a setup for Capaldi and for Clara dealing with the regeneration it did the trick.

Some fantastic lines throughout.

scream

Wibbs wrote: »

[...]I found him a bit frenzied, finding his voice, but it'll be interesting to see him grow into the part.

Yeah, I agree. I hope that was just a case of confusion due to the regeneration rather than 'the way it's going to be'. When Peter Capaldi was announced as the new Doctor I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I didn't dislike the manic characteristics of the last two Doctors, but I was really looking forward to a bit more seriousness from this one.

doctorwhogirl

Wibbs wrote: »

I liked his first outing. Different tone anyway. Like a weird cross between Baker and Ecclestones docs with extra moral ambiguity. I found him a bit frenzied, finding his voice, but it'll be interesting to see him grow into the part.

I think you've nailed him with the Baker/Ecclestone comparison.

Love how he's embracing the scottishness. I think it isn't as solid a start as Smith in terms of laying out on the table who this Doctor is. With Smith, the overt "wackiness" was made clear the minute he dipped fish fingers in custard.

I like how he's building it up (hopefully). To me it was somewhat similar to Ecclestone's start in that there's room to grow with him.

I agree, the storyline was a bit wishy-washy but I too clocked on (pun intended) to the clockwork droids early enough, most likely due to the sound engineer!

I haven't particularly liked Coleman yet I like the opposition between her and Capaldi. She grew on me significantly during the episode!

Smith at the end completely unnecessary. Agree with another poster in that it was such an obvious "calm down, we know he's old" to the fan girl arena.

All in all, pleased, looking forward to the episodes!

Think I saw Vod from Fresh Meat making an appearance and I LOVED the highly subtly Only Fools and Horses reference regarding the broom. That was a fabulous nod to Trigger who himself appeared in Victorian London in Who!

Spon Farmer

Sonics2k wrote: »

As long as it's not River Song, who I am so bloody sick of.

I hope she is out for good.

Worst character in anything ever.

T-Bird

First thought it was parody of "Doctors wife". Then obviously changed to "Girl in fireplace". However, at end have kind of mixed the two, Paradise might be TARDIS Land with fountain being main console in the TARDIS. Probably stupid, but not if am right at end :P...

Basq

Watched in the cinema and I enjoyed it to be honest.

I will say one thing, I was more impressed at Capaldi's first outing than Smith's (and I was a huge fan of Smiths Doctor).. definitely something a bit more off-kilter with Capaldi's Doctor - he's got the presence and comedic ability (when needed) but clearly troubled!

Onwards and upwards from here.. I'm hugely looking forward to Capaldi mature into the character from here.

Screen at the cinema was far more packed than the 50th but great atmosphere (despite cringey applause and hollers at various moments).

EDIT: It was brave of Moffat to clearly make this episode more about Clara's conflict with the new Doctor than the Doctor himself. And Jenna Coleman thrived!

Wibbs

Basq wrote: »

It was brave of Moffat to clearly make this episode more about Clara's conflict with the new Doctor than the Doctor himself. And Jenna Coleman thrived!

Reminded me of the very first episode of the reboots, where pretty much the entire point of view was from Billie pipers angle. Who is this guy, what is he doing to my world and what comes next kinda vibe.

off.the.walls

Only thing! We didn't get to see the wardrobe picking scene! We didn't really get to see the moment where he steps in to being the doctor yaknow? With smith it was the roof top with tennant it was on the ship when he came out. They really needed that moment to just be like this is the doctor!

doctorwhogirl

off.the.walls wrote: »

Only thing! We didn't get to see the wardrobe picking scene! We didn't really get to see the moment where he steps in to being the doctor yaknow? With smith it was the roof top with tennant it was on the ship when he came out. They really needed that moment to just be like this is the doctor!

That could be part of his doctor though, not into all the trimmings?

Thoughts on the new tardis? I liked his high back chair! And the round things.

Mycroft H

Strax is great.

Flinging the Times at clara was a bit unexpected.

tommy2bad

Thinking about it, this would be classed as a doctor light episode if it weren't the first one. Clara carried the show, possibly because the writers were unsure about an older doctor holding the fans. It worked well enough especially as the paternoster gang were their to help out. I'm wondering if we will see more play with the age thing or is that now done with? "Where did I get this face" and the broom analogy hinting that this doctor has doubts about himself, it could become interesting to see a doctor that wasn't as cocky as 9, 10 and 11.
I liked the new tardis, cant say the same for the new titles, a bit too shiny and cgi looking.

jasonb

CastorTroy wrote: »

Having watched the latest episodes of A Touch of Cloth, Capaldi reminded me so much of John Hannah.

Interesting comparison, considering that both the Doctor's Wife and Amy were in it (though Amy ended up being the star's daughter, instead of his mother in law!).

I enjoyed it, but definitely have to watch it again. Like others, I missed some of the dialogue. Some great lines that I did hear though, like Clara being an ego-maniac and the Doctor 'killing' her hair 'cos it was out of place. Loved the Scottish jokes - 'I can really complain now' - and him first thinking everyone else's accents had changed.

Thought the main bad guy was very good, you actually felt for his plight in a way. I do reckon the Doctor pushed him in the end. Thought the whole 'don't breathe' thing was a little 'don't blink'. It was one of lots of nods to other episodes, most of which have been listed here already.

All in all, a good episode, definitely needs to be watched again. I found it funny how much I didn't want to like the new Doctor, and really missed Matt (especially when he appeared, him and Clara nailed that scene); but that's exactly how I felt when David left and Matt took over too! Such is life as a Doctor Who fan I guess.

J.

P.S. New titles and music didn't grab me at all, theme tune was maybe an octave too high?

Wibbs

doctorwhogirl wrote: »

That could be part of his doctor though, not into all the trimmings?

Or another nod to Ecclestone. He just showed up fully formed as it were and what I liked most about his look was it wasn't one. It wasn't quirky, nor affected. No trimmings at all. Ordinary bloke walking down the street with a hint of aggression in his style. Well unless you're weirdo WW2 buff like me who was thinking WTF he looks like a junior officer from Das Boot... It was and is a radical departure from the history of the series with each regeneration tending to be a bit pantomime in look(but hovering around Edwardian dandy on acid), which is part of the show. Ecclestones guy was serious covered up with awkward whimsy and so maybe this is the angle for the new fella.

jasonb wrote: »

P.S. New titles and music didn't grab me at all, theme tune was maybe an octave too high?

Liked the visuals, but IMHO the theme has gone downhill even further and the Smith theme was a downhill trend to start with. It reminds me of the downhill trend to the them after Baker's doc. For me the best theme versions are the original and the Ecclestone/Tennant ones.

doctorwhogirl

Some interesting theories on Missy this morning on the interwebs.

mocata

Loved capaldi himself as the doctor, has all the elements. Episode itself seemed a bit clunky, lots of best bits from other successfull episodes mashed together. Clara of all companions would hardly need much schooling in doctor regenerating. Some v funny lines. That woman from green wing has stayed in character between jobs obviously, take out the robot and it could have been lifted direct from that show.

liz lemoncello

By way of introduction, I’ve recently begun to post on boards and I am making my way around to areas of interest. This is my first time here in “Arts”. I began to watch DW with the reboot, by accident. I turned the tv, noticed Eccleston and thought, “That’s the guy from the movie ‘Jude’ and “Cracker’. Nothing else is on. Why not give it a try?” Then I was hooked.

I usually watch each episode twice, and I’ll rewatch later today, but my first impressions are that it started slowly, and I’m sorry to say, kind of bored me, but then it picked up.

I think they spent too much time on Clara’s reaction to the new Doctor. It might have been better to have dealt with her discomfort over a couple of episodes. I think it interfered with the pacing of the rest of the storyline.

I like the Paternoster Gang, Strax is always amusing, but I worry they might be being overused. I assume they were used here because Clara needed to see friends of the Doctor accept the regenerated version.

There were some great lines, “Nothing is more important than my ego mania.” “Don’t look in that mirror; it’s furious.”

I am a huge Capaldi fan; I have great confidence in his acting and I believe he will prove deserving of my admiration.

Frank Lee Midere wrote: »

Why the spoiler tags?

Do we need to use them if the subject line begins with "Spoilers"?

The Master

Short and sweet

Loved the episode
I think Capaldi will be fantastic in the role

Hated hated hated the Smith cameo.
This is a new doctor it's his era, doctors have come and gone no need for the it's still "him" rubbish
Clara has seen all his faces she knows he changes

Mr.Saturn

It felt like a teaser at times. It lacked that Atraxi 'basically, run' of Smith's opener, or the 'this world is defended' of Tennant's, where we pretty much got The Doctor's M.O, but I'm feeling that's kinda the point. Substantiating that, the fact the only bit of true character development we got was the cliffhanger of push/jump; it's looking a draw-outer. We're not getting The Doctor whole for a little while, and that makes next week's, judging by the preview at the end of 'Deep Breath', that little bit more interesting.

NyquistFreak

mocata wrote: »

That woman from green wing has stayed in character between jobs obviously, take out the robot and it could have been lifted direct from that show.

Oh I have high hopes for Michelle Gomez, she'd make a great companion...

Enjoyed the show, there were some great one liners that had me in stitches, and that scene with Strax and the newspaper, yes. I'm getting a bit fed up of Madame Vastra, and secretly hoping she won't be too much of a feature for this season, although I'd take her just to get more Strax in!

Beano

mocata wrote: »

... That woman from green wing...

thats where i knew her from.