34.01: Deep Breath

[HoopyFrood]

Well, seen it now and I really enjoyed that! I agree it took a little while for it to warm up, but yes, after the alleyway part it was great. Attack eyebrows -- I bet that's because of the special and all the talk about his angry eyebrows!

I love how cautious and unsure he is. Even if it's just at the moment, it's refreshing to see a Doctor who's not all "I know this, I know that". And oh, his awkward hug. Bless him. I think he was definitely hanging on to Smith traits at the beginning -- "my sexy laddddy" was very Smith, exactly how he'd say it -- but by the end was settling into something new. Looking forward to seeing how that develops.

Jenna and Peter are great together, the lines just roll out. Love how snarky they are at each other.

 

[Vince W]

Now that I've seen Deep Breath I think Capaldi may become the best modern era Doctor yet. The episode started off a bit wobbly but it got its legs and really improved towards the end. And I hope we see more Strax. I look forward to more.

Also the new opening and music is much better I thought.

 

[HareBrain]

Yes, I liked it -- I think it might be the only modern-era Who episode I've happily sat all the way through (though to be fair I didn't try many). I love Capaldi -- all the other modern Doctors have set my teeth on edge for some reason (sorry Tennant fans), but I could watch him all day. And I liked the bizarre lizard-detective and her household, whoever she was. Strax made me laugh with his telling Clara to stop worrying about the Doctor: "He's probably had his throat slashed by one of the violent poor".

Some ropy bits, but overall very encouraging.

Having mentioned Tennant (and I'm sure I'm not the only one to point this out) doesn't it now seem strange that he was made to have an English accent, when Capaldi has been allowed to make the most of his Scottishness?

 

[Lenny]

Having mentioned Tennant (and I'm sure I'm not the only one to point this out) doesn't it now seem strange that he was made to have an English accent, when Capaldi has been allowed to make the most of his Scottishness?

It could be argued, as Tor have in their review (very good the Tor reviews - I recommend them!), that this fits in with what Vastra was saying about each Doctor's experiences informing his next regeneration - Ten adopted his accent for Rose, whilst Twelve has gone Scottish because of the impact Amy had on him.

In addition, the accent adoption comes up again. Though it was never implicitly stated in the show, Russell T. Davies said that the Tenth Doctor adopted his particular accent because of the imprint Rose made on him. He changed to sound like her. Here we see the Twelfth Doctor do something heartbreaking; Amy always made him feel safe, and so he suddenly adopts her accent when he’s frightened, then keeps it. We know he’s still specifically missing her because he name checks her to Clara (while talking about how much more useful Amy would be in their current situation) when he can barely remember a thing. So that echo of Amy will always be there, with this Doctor. He kept a little piece of her to comfort himself.

Haven't a clue if RTD actually said that or not. He did apparently want Capaldi as a Doctor, though, and had an explanation lined up for his face appearing here and there (the Fires of Pompeii episode, and in the Torchwood Children of Earth series).