Doctor Who - Series 8

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Kaii

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#1
I know that sometimes Whovians and gamers overlap, so I thought this might be a good forum to bring this up. What do you guys think of the first episode of series 8, "Deep Breath"? How does Peter Capaldi stack up to Matt Smith, David Tennant and Christopher Eccelston? What do you think of the new intro?

I thought that "Deep Breath" was incredibly uneven. There were some solid throwbacks to past episode and I thought it did an okay job setting up the problems that will likely arise between the Doctor and his companion this season. However, there were a lot of parts that I thought were disappointing.

The first half of the episode I thought was actually kind of terrible. We all remember David Tennant and Matt Smith's regeneration episodes, where we see the Doctor go through the side-effects of regeneration: namely exhaustion and the craving for weird foods. But we never had to watch the Doctor be a senile old man with weird names for people. Even that would be okay if it didn't mean him getting amnesia and then suddenly losing it.

I thought the episode got a whole lot better after the Doctor and his companion wound up in Mancini's strange clockwork-robot restaurant. The scene in the restaurant was one of my favorites and I thought it showcased the potential for a workable dynamic between the Doctor and his new companion. I liked the reprisal of the clockwork villains from "The Girl in the Fireplace" and I thought the mechanical acting of the extras was genuinely great. I also liked the references to the SS Madame de Pompadour and to the fact that the Doctor was unable to remember what had happened.

However, the villains were a lot less scary in "Deep Breath." The gimmick of "Deep Breath" felt similar to "Blink," where our plucky heroes could remain safe as long as they did not do something basic to human survival. The weird, antiquated racial stereotypes were more comical than scary; the original French revolution-style androids were infinitely more terrifying.

Although I found the resolution unsatisfying (why can't a Sontaran with a laser gun unable to take out any clockwork soldiers with knives?), I thought that Peter Capaldi delivered a great speech toward the end and really showed off some of his talent. I liked that they left open the possibility that the 12th doctor might capable of murder. I think that the scene with Matt Smith was actually really well done, though it unfortunately demonstrates that Matt Smith has a lot more on-screen chemistry with Jenna-Louise Coleman than Peter Capaldi, whose stiffness with her is played for laughs.

And, entering spoiler territory: I really liked the very end, set in the Promised Land. I loved the ending teaser.

Who is Missy, the woman in the Promised Land? A younger River Song? Someone we haven't seen yet?
 

APZonerunner

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#2
Bumping this thread for some opinion on all this... though will make it short.

I'm starting to get a bit tired of Moffat's version/vision of Doctor Who, and I'm ready for somebody new. That's true. However, there's still a lot to love here. Capaldi has long been one of my favourite actors in Britain - he had a wonderful turn in Torchwood, of course, and is obviously a bit of a national icon for Malcolm Tucker. He is, as I would've expected, utterly excellent as The Doctor. So good, in fact, that he's making episodes that otherwise would be worse an absolute ton better.

Deep Breath - too long. Too self indulgent. This could've been 60 minutes instead of the 75 it was with utter ease, but I guess they wanted to sell cinema tickets. Weirdly disjointed and largely unnecessary scenes, like Strax/Clara with the medical scanner, could be chopped entirely. I really am a bit tired of the schtick of Vasta, Jenny and Strax too, really... they're not bad, they're just not interesting any more. It's the same few beats - "YES, we're inter-species lesbians" & "I don't understand humans" played out repeatedly and it's a bit of a bore now. That said, at the core of this episode there's a very strong concept, some lovely execution with the look of the half-face man, Capaldi's excellent and Clara finally shows some signs of life beyond being gorgeous. So, y'know. Good. It's the weakest first episode a new Doctor has had since 2005 IMO, but it's still a solid one.

Into the Dalek - A lot of recycled concepts, but this is a GOOD thing at this stage. It's interesting, I think, to see a new Doctor in a new place in his life tackle situations that are remarkably similar to other scenarios we've already seen. Clara good again, Capaldi with the swagger and confidence as if he's been in the role for years already - it's just a really good little episode. Not mindblowing, but very good! My only criticism, really, is I'm not and have never been a fan of Moffat's sitcom-like characterisation (I much preferred RTD's more real, grounded, soap-opera-ish stuff) and so all the stuff with Danny banging his head off the desk just makes me cringe a bit. Same as the establishing Larry's character in Blink with the "forgot to put on trousers" scene - it's just sitcom shorthand and I'm not a fan. Some are, that's fair enough.

Robot of Sherwood - Campy and fun. Capaldi again just excellent, Clara showing continued improvement. Not much else to say. Good fun, good energy. Shame they had to cut some fairly important expository/plot stuff in the wake of the recent executions.

Listen - Moffat wrote this to prove a point, obviously, and he does prove it. He can still do a 'Blink'. It's a great showpiece for Capaldi (apart from the sitting on top of the TARDIS thing which I sort of wish wasn't in there, how amazing is that pre-titles sequence?) and gleefully simple. The stuff with Danny/Clara and future-descendent is cool - again, in the restaurant, I wish the sitcom characterisation would go away, mind. The ending has proved a bit controversial, and I don't mind it in concept, though I could've really done without the twee speech from Clara that makes her even more important than she already is to who the Doctor is. Still, best episode probably since Series 5 - it's a very special little piece.

RE Missy and all that, I hope she doesn't turn out to be River. Something about her is leaving me cold, but it's because with the "my boyfriend" and sassiness currently she's impressing upon me as another River, and one of those was enough.
 

Kaii

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#3
I'm starting to get a bit tired of Moffat's version/vision of Doctor Who, and I'm ready for somebody new.
Couldn't agree enough. This season has felt, in some ways, very one-trick-pony. Deep Breath: Don't breathe. Listen: Don't look. Time Heist: Don't think guiltily. We get it, Moffat. Don't blink worked great for you, do it ten more times. If they do another suspenseful close-up on a person not-doing-something, I might scream.

That said, despite the above complaints Listen and Time Heist were quite good. Time Heist was a genuine good time. Solid premise, good execution. A corny bit in the middle where they announce that it's a "Time Heist" and do some hand-wavy nonsense, but it gets better as it goes. I liked the nice little twist at the end; even though it was a bit sappy, I appreciate it not being entirely predictable.

Moffat's great strength is still horror, but it's not speech writing. Listen is a great example of that -- he all but ruined a solid episode with a terrible monologue at the end. Even the Doctor doesn't ever sound quite right. I feel like they started off the season not knowing how to write for Peter Capaldi and that they're only just figuring it out. After hearing continually genius things come out of his mouth in The Thick of It, Doctor Who feels jarringly flat. Capaldi has basically not had a single memorable line so far. That said, the series is picking up speed and if it can maintain this momentum to the finale, it might actually turn out okay.