TV Review: “Deep Breath” (Doctor Who Season 8 Episode 1)

The Doctor is back!!!

We’ve all been waiting for over a year, with only a couple of special to tide us over. And now here we are, Season 8 of the modern Doctor Who series starring the brand-new Doctor, Peter Capaldi.

The jury’s still out on how Capaldi will rate. The first episode with a new Doctor is always a bit awkward as both I and the characters around The Doctor adjust to his new face. But right off the bat, there are a few things I like about Capaldi’s Doctor:

1. He speaks with a Scottish accent.
2. He’s older than any other Doctor in the modern series.
*3. He believes that there is some significance in his choice of face and that he is trying to tell himself something by having made this choice. Hmmmm ….

Well, I have to give Moffat credit. He’s big on ideas. Not so great on follow-through, but he once again has me intrigued.

The one glaring problem with this weekend’s Season 8 debut was companion Clara, who doesn’t seem to serve much of a purpose now that her “Impossible Girl” arc is over and whose personality has fallen victim to the demands of the plot. Her reluctance to accept the new Doctor didn’t ring true to me on many levels. First, she’s a smart girl. Second, she’s a brave girl. Third, she sacrificed herself to save The Doctor by splitting herself into pieces and following him around through time and space. I’m not sure what the current incarnation of Clara knows about the other lives she lived, the other Doctors she saved, but she knows he changes faces so her dismissal of him felt far more thematic than honest. Having Matt Smith call her from the end of his life was a particularly bad touch, one that left me with very little respect for Clara as a character.

Nevertheless, I remain hopeful about the new season ahead!

Posted in Movie and TV Reviews.