Doctor Who "Deep Breath": Start of Something New

It has been a while since Doctor Who has graced the tv screen and now it's back with season 8 and it's opening episode Deep Breath. The real point of the whole episode though was to get us used to Peter Capaldi's doctor and to give us a feel for it. To be honest, we didn't see much of the new Doctor back in the Christmas special when Matt Smith had his final episode and Capaldi appeared for a couple of seconds leaving us to no idea what kind of Doctor this was. I do admit that I miss Matt Smith since he was my Doctor and the first Doctor I tuned into when I started Doctor Who. I am willing to keep an open mind though and not automatically hate this new Doctor. It was interesting to see though how Clara (and the audience) had to get used to this new Doctor and the changes he brought. Let's not forget Madam Vastra, Jenny, and Strax joined in on this adventure.

Deep Breath started out with a dinosaur spitting out the Tardis and landing in London. There is where Vastra, Jenny and Strax meet Clara and the Doctor with his new face. The Doctor is confused about everyone and passes out. They head back to Vastra's place where they place the Doctor in bed and talk. Then the dinosaur they brought back with them is set on fire and they race out to the scene. The Doctor arrives on horseback while the others in carriage. This is when the Doctor notices a man in the crowd who is not bothered by the scene. Soon after he leaves Clara on her own to investigate. The Doctor grapples with his new regeneration and trying to figure out who is stealing body parts.

Deep Breath did well in introducing this new Doctor to us and getting us ready to get over Matt Smith's departure (still miss you). It did give us a much better idea than what we last saw of Capaldi's Doctor. There is still room though for us to further relate to this new Doctor as Moffat has promised that it will take a couple of episodes to understand this new Doctor. I also understand why the series went with an older man to bring the series closer to it's roots. Doctor Who in the past was played by older man, but in recent times younger faces such as David Tennant and Matt Smith has changed things up. For Capaldi's Doctor, I like the humor and sarcastic side that he brings. My personal favorite line is when the Doctor makes a mistake and says, "I hate being wrong in public. Everybody forget that happened." They also made little references to Amy and Capaldi's earlier appearance in Doctor Who. Also love that cameo at the end.

Now I can't say that Deep Breath was the best opening episode for season 8 and the new Doctor. I remember Matt Smith's opening episode being more exciting than this, but then again he was younger and had more energy. Even David Tennant's opening episode was decent. The organ stealing robots really didn't feel like opening material. The story really felt like it was spotty in areas. Then there is that mysterious woman (who I think might be River Song) who seems to be planning things for the Doctor. My main issue so far with Capaldi's Doctor is that you are no longer distracted from from of the cheesy effects. Like you can tell which scenes are CGI or not happening. Also silly noises for humor are not really necessary because comedic timing can have the same effect.

Deep Breath does show me the potential for Capaldi's Doctor and what he will bring to the series. People are saying though that he is bringing Doctor Who back to it's roots, but not as an original fan, I personally don't relate to that. I will try to not close my mind off to this new Doctor and ignorantly believe that Matt Smith is the only Doctor for me. Deep Breath did show that Doctor Who still is a good thriller once and a while despite the "meh" story. Not thrilled about Doctor Who throwing them to the Daleks next week. Isn't there a cool new monster to kick off the new Doctor? You can't live off old monsters forever, even if they were the ones that put Doctor Who on the map. See you all next week.

What did you think of the new Doctor? What was your favorite moment of Deep Breath?