Warning: Time-Altering Spoilers Below
“Doctor Who” has recently returned for its eighth season, and fans of the show have been eagerly anticipating its return since the 2013 Christmas special—and for good reason, too. Because with the start of a fresh season, a fresh face is in tow for the titular role of the iconic British sci-fi series that ran strong for nearly 51 years.
Well. A somewhat fresh face.
Anyone who watched the 2013 Christmas special knows that the 11th doctor, portrayed by Matt Smith, reached his regeneration in the final scene of the episode, transforming into the older, significantly grayer 12th Doctor, portrayed by Peter Capaldi.
In the nearly eight months since the special aired, fans have been wondering how well Capaldi would fare as the Doctor after Smith won over audiences with his charming and youthful take on the centuries old time lord. With the first episode of season eight, fans would get their answer, as the 12th Doctor would be put into action for all to judge.
And he did not disappoint.
Capaldi’s take on the character was something that truly reflects the more classic side of Doctor Who. Capaldi exhibited the sternness of Willam Hartnell’s First Doctor with the aloofness and dry humor of Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor.
Capaldi’s Doctor also had the best one-liners in the entire episode, which mixed in with Capaldi’s brilliant acting creates a charm that nearly equals that of Matt Smith.
However, even though there’s a brand new Doctor for writer Stephen Moffatt to play around with, the Doctor seems to take a back seat to the other characters and main plot of the episode. And yes, Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint and Strax return in this episode.
The first episode of season eight, appropriately titled “Deep Breath,” begins with an agitated Tyrannosaurus rex taking a stroll through Victorian London.
Yes. You read that correctly.
Onlookers gather in horror to watch the prehistoric creature stumbles through the city. The citizens are eventually joined by Vastra, Jenny and Strax and begin to take readings of the beast in an attempt to help the local police inspector figure out how a dinosaur could possibly turn up for a walk through the Thames River in the middle of the day.
“She must have time travelled,” Vastra says.
Whovians, you already know what’s about to go down.
Suddenly, the dinosaur, whom Vastra insists to Jenny is a female, begins choking on something. Something is caught in “her” throat. She begins to heave for a moment before literally hocking the Doctor’s TARDIS across the river.
The TARDIS, covered with dinosaur loogies crashes onto the banks of the river with a mighty thud. The blue police box is an all too familiar sight to Vastra, Jenny and Strax, who run over expecting to greet an all too familiar face.
Strax bangs on the door of the TARDIS and orders whoever is inside to “exit the box and surrender to the might of the Sontaran Empire.”
Gotta love Strax.
The door swings open as the newly regenerated Doctor peers out to “shush” Strax, who is left in utter confusion as the Doctor retreats back inside the TARDIS.
“Doctor?” Strax asks.
The door slowly opens once more as the Doctor slips his head through the narrow crack. He seems utterly lost and confused as he stares down Strax as if he’s never seen him before. The Doctor creeps out of the TARDIS, running through the names of the seven dwarves and trying to figure out which one Strax could be.
And thus begins an incoherent rant by the Doctor as he paces around the beach trying to make sense of what is going on. And this scene could be used to sum up the Doctor for the first half of the episode. It appears as if he has completely lost his mind.
Vastra later implies that it is an effect of his recent regeneration, saying, “He is lost within the ruin of himself.”
“Ruin” seems to be the appropriate word because this is the first glimpse at the new Doctor’s first episode and it is filled with strange dialogue. The scene could be off-putting to many viewers because of how bizarre Capaldi’s acts.
But that is just a testament of how talented Capaldi is as an actor. He can make you feel uncomfortable and he can make you feel sad for his character just by his frantic rambling.
What is even sadder is at this point in the story the Doctor can not even remember Clara’s name as she walks out of the TARDIS. It is here that viewers get their first glimpse of Clara in season eight, who is portrayed by the wonderfully talented Jenna Coleman.
She appears shaken by the recent strange turn of events and even seems to be genuinely angry with the Doctor, which is something we haven’t really seen before.
The Doctor then begins to speak with the Dinosaur (because apparently dinosaur is one of the many alien languages he can speak) before passing out on the riverbank. There’s genuine confusion as the characters ask Clara just who that man is. Clara, who is clutching the Doctors hand, assures them it’s the Doctor.
“Well, then. Here we go again,” Vastra says.
Then we are introduced to the show’s new opening theme, which has had a major update both musically and visually. The notes are more high pitched than normal and it is unclear the opening design of the time vortex will be themed to match the episode just like in season seven.
The next bulk of the episode involves Clara trying to come to terms with the Doctor’s regeneration. She seems to be suffering from some sort of shock, hinting at various points in the episode that the Doctor may be some sort of imposter.
This is evident in a key scene between Vastra and Clara, which is also one of the best scenes of the episode. It adds a new depth to Clara’s character that is both realistic and emotional.
We are also introduced to the episode’s antagonist, an unbelievably creepy robotic man who steals people’s organs in order to keep his cybernetic body alive. He is known in the credits only as “the half-faced man.”
The Doctor eventually ends up running through the city alone in a manic state as he tries to figure out to figure out why people, as well as the dinosaur, have been spontaneously combusting into fire. His quest lands him in an awkward scene with a homeless man as the Doctor begins to have an existential crisis.
“Oh! I’m Scottish! I can complain about things!” the Doctor proclaims.
The Doctor and Clara eventually meet up again in a restaurant halfway through the episode as both follow a tip in the morning newspaper that each thought was drafted by the other.
The two butt heads in passive aggressive dialogue, which highlights the most entertaining scene in the entire episode, and one of the most entertaining interactions between characters in the show’s recent history. Capaldi’s Malcolm Tucker character from “the Thick of It” seems to peer through in this scene.
Before too long, the two realize there is something ominous about the restaurant. The Doctor points out the people who are dining in aren’t actually eating, but following a clockwork loop of movements.
They eventually find out that the restaurant is actually a spaceship from the future belonging to a species of mechanical humanoids, the leader of said species, the half-faced man, traps them in the lower reaches of the ship.
The Doctor and Clara easily escape their shackles with the help of the Doctor’s handy sonic screwdriver, leading to one of the most interesting points in the episode where the Doctor and Clara are separated by a metal door with Clara being trapped with awakening robots.
Clara pleads with the Doctor to give her his screwdriver. The Doctor begins to turn away from Clara before coldly denying her request and leaves her behind.
This is something that totally breaks the mold of what is expected of the Doctor. This is the first hard piece of evidence that hints that this new doctor really is a new Doctor. The fact that he seemed so indifferent to leaving Clara in danger says a lot about the 12th Doctor’s character.
Clara is left alone to fend for herself amongst a large number of robots in what is Coleman’s greatest display of acting talent so far in her run with the show as she suffers a nervous breakdown while trying to maneuver through gloomy halls filled with sleeping robots as she holds her breath.
The only way the robots can distinguish humans from other robots is if the human breathes or not, thus the title “Deep Breath.” The scene is unnerving and will make you feel for her character as well as question the Doctor’s motives even more.
The Doctor eventually saves Clara from the half-faced man by disguising himself as a robot, revealing he never really left her in danger to begin with. Vastra, Jenny and Strax break the ceiling of the main hall to hold off the robots while the Doctor chases down the half-faced man.
As all the fighting goes on, the restaurant takes off into the London sky attached to a large balloon made of human skin.
The less said about this, the better.
The most important scene of the episode occurs when the Doctor and the half-faced many square off with each other near an opening in the restaurant that leads straight down into the streets of London far below.
The Doctor argues that the half-faced man actually wants to die, despite his threatening demeanor. The half-faced man wishes to reach “the promised land,” and after countless centuries of trying return to the home he’s lost, the only way for him to reach this place is to suffer termination.
The half-faced man argues that self annihilation is against his basic programming, the doctor retorts that murder is against his own basic programming, for it is widely known in the doctor who universe that the doctor is a dedicated pacifist.
After a brief scrap, the doctor says that one of them is lying about their basic programming and they both know who that is. The last shot of the scene is the two men staring each other down near the opening to the restaurant. The scene then quickly shifts back to the lower levels of the ship.
Clara and the gang have been holding their breath as Clara tries to open one of the doors to no avail. As the group gasps for air, the robots close in, ready for the kill.
But before the robots can advance any further, they suddenly shut down and the tension is relieved as the robots collapse to the ground. The next shot is of the half-faced man’s robotic corpse impaled on the top of Big Ben. The camera then cuts to the Doctor staring down in deep reflection before his eyes glance up at the camera.
One of the big questions that viewers will take away from this episode is whether or not the Doctor threw the half-faced man to his death, or if he willingly jumped. This scene may shock fans of the show because this scene may be a hint that the Doctor may be turning away from his peaceful ideals.
The episode closes with the Doctor returning Clara to the present day in the TARDIS, which now features an updated interior design. The Doctor explains to Clara that he’s made many mistakes and he needs to make amends for them.
He asks her if she’d like to stay, and she declines. Clara walks out of the TARDIS with little resistance from the Doctor. As the doors close behind her, she receives a call on her cell phone. She answers only to be surprised with the 11th Doctor’s voice on the other end.
This turns out to be the most emotional scene of the entire episode, as the 11th Doctor pleads with Clara in his final minutes on Trenzalore to help his regenerated form because he knows how scared he is feeling. He also tells her not to be afraid because the Doctor will always be the Doctor.
In the end, she decides to go on with the Doctor because she sees him for who he is and not who he was.
It is easy to assume that Clara’s misconceptions about the new Doctor reflect the possible feelings fans of Matt Smith had about his leaving the show, and his final message to Clara was a message to the fans to trust in the new Doctor and believe in him.
It was nice to have some more closure about the 11th Doctor’s end and the ending gives viewers more hope about the future of the series.
The final scene of the episode opens with the half-faced man waking up in a bright garden. A woman dressed eerily similar to Mary Poppins greets him, commenting that she hopes her “boyfriend” wasn’t too mean to him. It is safe to assume that her “boyfriend” is the Doctor.
The half-faced man asks who she is and where they are, and she replies that her name is Missy and they are in “Paradise.” The woman then gets up and bites at the camera before dancing around the garden, waving her umbrella around.
It is believed that Missy will be the main subject of the season’s story arc and some theories are already popping up around the internet as to who she may be. Some people believe that “Missy” is actually short for “Master” or rather a gender swapped version of the name. This would mean a return of the Master.
Some people are actually arguing that it may be a regenerated River Song because she mentioned the Doctor was her “boyfriend.”
The most popular rumor is that Missy is actually the Rani, an antagonist from the days of the Classic Doctor Who era. The Rani is an infamous rogue time lord who enslaved entire planets. Some people have even suggested that the garden is shaped like a modified TARDIS deck.
Despite some questionable directing and despite how the episode left us with more questions than answers to the recent events in the Doctor Who universe, the darker, more serious season eight return was a strong one. Peter Capaldi’s Doctor shows great promise and the storylines are shaping up to be quite ambitious
The second episode of season eight, titled “Into the Dalek”, airs Saturday August 30th on BBC America.