JellyPages.com

Whovians Enter Here...

Whovians Enter Here...

24 August 2014

Deep Breath. Series 8, Episode One

Deep Breath-Opening Episode


The events of Saturday the 23rd of August, did not bode well for the start of the much awaited 8 series from Doctor Who. It begun with torrential rain, The Who store closing early, mater's shoes practically dissolving on a busy highstreet, before she was then asked by a total stranger, if she knew of any places that he might frequent, so that he could purchase a woman of the night, like she was some kind of East End pimp. True story. I'm just amazed that he escaped with certain parts of his anatomy intact.
Things begun to look up when on entering the cinema, we were met by two Cybermen along with the first and second Doctors, William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton. Not the real ones of course. What was the giveaway? Well I don't think that Troughton was a cockney in real life an oh yes, they're both dead.

The New Doctor and Clara

Finally, at 7:35 pm, the lights dimmed, the curtains drew back and we were treated to a 15 minute film of Commander Strax of the Sontaran Empire, Hilariously vlogging about the Doctor and his previous incarnations.By the time the programme started, not only did we find ourselves with a new Time Lord, but there was also a new opening title and a reworking of the theme tune.

Synopsis: Deep Breath- Series 8. Episode One

The opening sequence begins with a Tyrannosaurus Rex, stomping through the waters of the Thames... In Victorian London. But there appears to be something stuck in the dinosaur's throat. What could it be? Why the TARDIS of course. Ms Rex (yes, it's a female) finally spews out the TARDIS, along with a confused Doctor, who is still fighting the effects of his recent regeneration and an equally confused Clara.


Ms T. Rex

Elsewhere, there is 'Half Face Man,' a Cyborg who has been harvesting the organs of humans, via a Zombie filled restaurant, in order so that he can become human and reach the 'Promise Land.'
The title 'Deep Breath', is taken from the fact that in order to evade the Cyborgs, Clara and eventually the rest of the Paternoster Gang, have to hold their breaths to avoid being detected.

Half-Face Man


Review

Okay, I may have be a little hasty in my opinion of Peter Capaldi being the new Doctor. I wasn't entirely convinced by him for the first twenty minutes, but his manic performance and equally manic sense of humour, soon grew on me. I also felt that Clara played by Jenna Coleman, was given more of a character in this series then she had been previously. Gone was the happy happy girl and in it's place a more thoughtful Clara. The villain, as all good villains should be, was creepy and a little on the scary side. And his story line, using human parts to fix his ship, was strangely reminiscent of the 2006 episode 'The Girl In The Fireplace,' in which clockwork androids kill members of a crew and use their organs to repair their own ship, the SS Madame de Pompadour.

Although not as dark as someone of the Matt Smith episodes, there were some genuinely dark moments. But these were overridden by the humour that ran throughout. There were many nods back to previous Doctors, like Capaldi deciding on what clothes to wear and disregarding a long scarf, "It looked stupid." And mention of the Sottish Referendum, via his eyebrows becoming a separate state. The best part however, was the return of The Paternoster Gang made up of Strax, Madame Vastra, a reptilian female from the race of the Silurians and her companion and wife, Jenny. Though I have to say, that I wasn't prepared for the shot of Vastra 'sharing her air' with Jenny, which looked suspiciously like they were eating each others faces.

Jenny, Madam Vastra and Strax

Finally, Matt Smith makes a small appearance from the future, where he implores Clara, to give the new and much older him, a chance after she decides that she can no longer be his companion as she feels that she doesn't know who he is since his renewal. It was a great way to say goodbye too Smith, (mater almost cried like a 3 year old) before handing the reigns over to Calpaldi.

 Overall, it wasn't the best opening to a Doctor Who series and it felt a bit sluggish at times, but it was still a good way to spend 90 minutes. Looking forward to what else Mr Moffat has up his sleeve.




6 comments:

  1. I must try and watch it at some point, I am glad it went better than you thought it might. It is never easy to create a new doctor, I always feel they need one of the doctors to hang about for a while.

    Sorry to hear about Miss Lily's shoes and her problems with a strange chap. There are a lot of strange chaps about it is why I live in the country doing battle with Zombies, it is far more straight forward.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rob i was prepared to give Capaldi a chance but i still wasn't expecting him to be as good as he was, or as funny. It's always hard to let go of previous favourites and to accept a new Doctor, but i think that Capaldi will prove the critics wrong.

      Mater had to hop along the streets like she had a wooden leg until we came to a shoe shop. And the strange man just provided us with endless entertainment.

      Delete
  2. Mr Z, it was quite funny actually. I'm not sure what made the guy think that I was some sort of a madame, but I laughed so hard, I'm almost burst my Victorian lace bodice and spat out my tobacco pipe.

    Good review Spawn, though I'm still not convinced by Mr Capladi.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder if it would make a difference seeing it on the small screen. (by the power of hypno, YOU WILL watch it again on Friday)

      Matt Smith is gone Mater. Let him go.

      Delete
  3. I expected the Doctor to act strangely at first. After he met up with Clara at the restaurant things seemed to settle down. Overall a great beginning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David, i think the critics forget that after each regeneration, from Troughton through to Smith, that each Doctor has to get use to their new incarnation and find out what type of person that he will become. From the reviews, they just expected him to regenerate and then get on with it. I agree, the restaurant scene is where the partnership between him and Clara was present again and after that, we begun to see the true personality of the new Doctor. I really did enjoy it.

      Delete