The much anticipated debut episode of Peter Capaldi's Doctor is finally here at long last. Steven Moffat had already crafted the perfect introduction to a new Doctor in The Eleventh Hour so
how would he tackle it this time around? When Russell T Davies had to introduce his second Doctor, David Tennant, he was only on his second series whereas Steven Moffat is now on his fourth. Would he be able to breath new life into the show after being around for so long? In a way he has found the middle ground. There is a lot that is familiar about Deep Breath, but in terms of character, we appear to be going in a new direction once again.
Matt Smith's debut in The Eleventh Hour shared a lot in common with Jon Pertwee’s debut in Spearhead from Space. Both stories had new Doctor and new companion starting at the beginning of the new decade. Deep Breath borrows the structure of Robot in that it eases the transition between Doctors by surrounding him many familiar elements of the past including Clara, Vastra, Jenny and Strax. Even the enemies in this story, the Clockwork Droids, are taken from The Girl in the Fireplace. One of my only real concerns with this episode is whether it took too much of this old lore for granted. Where UNIT can be summed up as the Doctor's military friends, or Jackie and Mickey are his companion's family, casual viewers who are less aware of the show's history might
have been a bit confused as to what a reptile woman and a Sontaran were doing wandering around Victorian London. Vastra's background is slightly more complex and a lot of the jokes around Strax rely on a knowing how Sontarans are supposed act and how they are subverted.
As is usually the case in new Doctor stories, the first act focuses on the Doctor and the companion adjusting to the regeneration in different ways. In this case Clara is not happy. Some viewers found it strange that Clara would be annoyed at Doctor's change of appearance having already seen the other Doctors in past episodes. The answer is simple: she may have seen different faces but she never gone thriugh the experience of seeing an actual regeneration before. In previous stories, she has always had her Doctor, the Eleventh, by her side. Now that Doctor has gone for good and she is left with this complete stranger. This part of the story is quite slow paced, which some viewers might find off putting. There is a dinosaur rampaging around outside, but it feels like a distraction to keep the kids excited and is not a harmful creature. It is also used to parallel the new Doctor, an ancient beast stuck in the wrong time. The sudden, unexpected spontaneous combustion of the dinosaur is what propels the Doctor into the plot. The apparent monster is a fake to be killed by the real monsters.
The action-adventure side of the plot eventually kicks in at the halfway mark with the Doctor and Clara meeting at Mancini’s Family Restaurant which is being used by the clockwork robots from Girl in the Fireplace, to capture people and harvest body organs. The witty banter between the Doctor and Clara gives a better idea about where these characters may be going in future.
The Clockwork monsters themselves are even more gruesome this time around, adding human body parts to their own design as well as to their ship. It's a nice reversal on the basic idea behind the Cybermen. Their leader, the Half-Faced Man, looks particularly good with his odd eyes and the clockwork visible beneath the skin of the face. He is a fairly straightforward character, and an uncomplicated old enemy for the new Doctor to prove himself against.
Peter Capaldi is, unsurprisingly, good as the Doctor. Critics were saying that he would be a dark Doctor but he is actually really funny, especially in the post-regeneration scenes when he is horrified by his face or harassing tramps. When the dinosaur dies we see his more caring side. The "darkness" only really starts to show when he appears to abandon Clara in the clockwork droid ship, only to return later in disguise. This is when he is fully formed, a grumpy force to be reckoned with. The darker edge returns again when he faces down the Half-Face Man. Did he persuade the Half-Face Man to commit suicide by jumping out of the zeppelin, or did he push him out? Overall it feels like this what the Colin Baker Doctor should have been.
Jenna Coleman has always been a good actor, but was poorly served by the "impossible girl" story arc.Without that baggage, we can see the character more clearly, and Jenna Coleman is very good at showing the distress that Clara feels about this new man. It was also nice to get a glimpse of Clara's difficult school days and her vulnerability, which in turn, provides the means for Clara to stand up to the Half-Face Man.
The Paternoster Gang are pretty much the same as ever in this episode. The only real new development is that Vastra and Jenny kissed. Strax is, as ever the weakest link of the team, making the same old violent jokes long after the humour has worn thin. Still, the part where he hit Clara in the head with a newspaper was hilarious.
There are a lot of questions left over. Who left the advert in the newspaper? Who left Clara thwe Doctor’s phone number? And who is the mysterious “Missy”, who appears at the very end of the episode to welcome the Half-Face Man to “Heaven”. She seems a bit familiar to River but I will give them the benefit of the doubt and see where they go with her. Odds are she is the woman who gave Clara the number, but I could yet be wrong.
There are a few minor plot niggles, such as why the droids combusted bodies before they took the body part. I can at least understand that they might need to take down the dinosaur since it is a harder thing to attack but why bother with the other humans? The scene where Strax gave Clara a medical exam felt like the point where I was ready for the plot to move on.
The new title sequence is the best one in ages. Having had a “Space” opening credits in the 80s, it’s nice to have a “time” based opening credits for the 10s. It’s time we had a break from the variations of the time vortex which were becoming a little boring. I also liked the chimes in the titles.
In conclusion, this episode may not have been the bold new beginning that The Eleventh Hour was, but it was an enjoyable 80 minutes of television. Peter Capaldi is a promising new Doctor and seems to have good chemistry with Jenna Coleman. I look forward to seeing the development.
8/10
Next Week: The inevitable Dalek episode. Will Phil Ford find a new angle on a very familiar enemy, or will this just be a rehash of Dalek? Hopefully the former.
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