Rate "Deep Breath"

The launch of not just the eight series of Doctor Who since the show returned in 2005, but also the chance to meet a new Doctor.  Peter Capaldi makes his debut as... are we officially calling it the 14th Doctor now?

London, 19th Century.  The return of the Paternoster Gang.  A Tyrannosaurus Rex plaguing the city.  Mysterious figures who seem to move with a strange, clock-like mechanical stilted-ness.  A companion who no longer thinks she understands whether the Doctor is really the same man anymore.  And a bit of redecorating...

Take a deep breath, everyone.  The Capaldi era has just begun.  So let's be hearing what you thought of it.

This thread will remain closed until transmission of the episode in the UK on Saturday, August 23, 2014.  Which means for any North American Wrinklies, the standard spoiler disclaimer applies: in the interval between UK transmission and US/Canada transmission, if you come into this thread be warned that portions of the story could well be spoiled for you.

I won't see it this evening as we're at the Proms. Great planning!

4/5 and that's because I'm being generous. It was a very good episode but there was enough in there that I didn't like for it to not get a 5. I'm starting to worry that Clara will suffer from what plenty of other companions in that they just didn't work with their second Doctor. Atric was better with 4, Peri with 5, Mel with 6 and Rose with 9. I hope not however as I think she's a far better character than any of the others mentioned and it's not an acting problem, it's a writing one.

But it was a very enjoyable episode and no mistakes can be made: this is Doctor Who and it is brilliant.

Johnstone, I got the same sort of feeling about Clara's role, post-regeneration. I think some of that was down to this Doctor's version of post-regeneration crisis, so I'm going to set those concerns aside for the moment and see what transpires in upcoming stories. I also think that phone call from Matt Smith helped to seal the transition.

Anyone catch Madam Vastra's line: "Here we go again" upon seeing the new Doctor? Those were the Brigadier's exact words upon watching Pertwee regenerate into Baker. Nice touch, that.

What caught my attention in this episode is that, in a very un-Doctor Who way, the story seemed to take a while to get itself going. The pacing seemed off. Then again, cut-up for commercial insertions on this side of the Atlantic, the entire episode took an hour and forty minutes play out.

But... ATTACK eyebrows! I can relate to that. 4/5 from me.

3/5. Capaldi was good, but I thought the story was a mess. Clara's interacted with more Doctors than any other companion, so her being so freaked out by regeneration just felt wrong. At some points it seemed more concerned about getting in another reference to an old story than telling the current one.

Clara had the fortune of having 'her' Doctor as someone who was naturally funny and charming in an awkward, clownish sort of way. Now she's got this aged, serious, cantankerous sort, and she doesn't know what to make of him. The first few episodes of this series will be interesting to watch from a character standpoint.

Nick Barlow wrote:3/5. Capaldi was good, but I thought the story was a mess. Clara's interacted with more Doctors than any other companion, so her being so freaked out by regeneration just felt wrong. At some points it seemed more concerned about getting in another reference to an old story than telling the current one.

She might have known what was going to happen, but that still didn't mean she was going to like it when she did. She is in mourning for her Doctor, going through all five steps in one story.

1. Denial - "Can we change him back?"
   
2. Anger - "I'm cross, so very cross.'
   
3. Bargaing - "If you are still The Doctor..."
   
4. Depression - "I don't think I know who The Doctor is any more."
   
5. Accceptance - "Then your fetching."
   

It's got 4/5 from me because the subterranean stuff was super.

I was going to give this one 5/5. Sadly, the last few minutes with Michelle Gomez chewing the scenery caused it to drop a point.