Review: Doctor Who Season 8, Episode 1 – Deep Breath

The wait for the new incarnation of the Doctor was finally over – and, the first episode of this new series was also to have cinema showings. I was able to get tickets to see the episode in the cinema; I was very excited! As much as I liked David Tennant and Matt Smith, I did think the time was right for an older actor to play the role one more, and to have a darker Doctor.

This episode was longer than the average 45 minutes, being a feature length of about 76 minutes. At Christmas 2013, Matt Smith had regenerated into Peter Capaldi, and the episode picked up where that Christmas episode had finished. However, it did feel that there was an explanation missing of why a dinosaur ended up in Victorian London at the start of this episode.

There were familiar faces back in the form of Madam Vastra and Jenny. The new Doctor was confused about who he was and his surroundings. The dialogue in the script was good; some funny lines, but also some dark moments as well. The pace of the episode was slow in places, but then quickened up.

The interaction between Clara the companion and the Doctor was pretty intriguing –  it may take awhile for Clara to trust this new Doctor. The point of view of the audience, with a new episode for a new Doctor, is comparable to the uneasiness of the companion with the new Doctor. There were some scary moments in the episode; some of the younger audience members were visibly scared of the enemy, for example. One even left the cinema during a scary part and didn’t come back. Unfortunately he didn’t have a sofa to hide behind!

I think the new Doctor was amazing, and there was even a surprise cameo from someone near the end! I hope that the rest of the series continues to be amazing. Showrunner Steven Moffat wrote this episode. With some seasons of Doctor Who, it seems the Showrunner does write a lot of the episodes; it would be nice if there were a few more different writers to give a fresher perspective on the show. We will have to see if there is any fresh new writing talent in this series.