Doctor Who -- Deep Breath Review

Review of Deep Breath – Doctor Who, Series 8, Episode 1


Ah, where to begin? I watched this episode three times in the last three days, because the first time I watch anything it's usually just to be entertained and I miss a lot.


Well, for starters, although Moffat seems to despise the Victorian era, he also seems to have a weird thing going for it. All I can say is, I was super disappointed when I realized that Madam Vastra and Jenny would be in the very first episode; I hate them, and I think Moffat's worldview is about as subtle as the Fireproof movie. Shut up with the acceptance junk and get on with the actual story.


The dinosaur was … corny. Also illogical. When was the last time that anything (except Captain Jack, which was also silly but at least made a tiny bit more sense) traveled with the Tardis while being on the outside? The Tardis is supposed to dematerialize. That's like the most basic piece of Who knowledge out there. If you materialize in a house, you dematerialize out of the house. The house doesn't travel with you.
Another reviewer said that the only reason the dinosaur is there is because Moffat's inner eight-year-old stamped its foot and refused to allow the script to go on without it.
The whole scene with Madam Vastra and Jenny talking to the Inspector while the dinosaur stamps around (and does surprisingly little damage, if any) is insipid. Jenny, especially, seems like a simple 'as you know, Bob' character. She likes to tell everyone on screen what we can (or should be able to) see with our own eyes, just in case we're stupid enough to miss it. Madam Vastra's disdain for humans (and especially men) is quite annoying and shouldn't win her any points with viewers of a show where humans are the ones the Doctor likes the most; why the Doctor is friends with Vastra at all is a puzzle to me.
Anyways, if you took out Vastra and Jenny, and just had Clara and the Doctor crashing in Victorian era London, the story would be pretty much intact because neither the lizard nor her lover (which gives me the creeps just writing it out) contribute anything except info dumps and generic 'don't judge cuz judging is bad' stuff. In fact, the whole story would have been much tighter without Vastra or Jenny. One example of this is, after the dinosaur spontaneously combusts, the Doctor asks if there have been any similar murders. Vastra says yes. Not too much later, the Doctor finds a newspaper where the spontaneous human combustions have been reported. In other words, there was absolutely no need for him to ask Vastra about it, because he would have found out anyways.
Another weird thing is, how does Vastra know about regeneration? She's only met Eleven, and the Doctor doesn't just go around handing out that kind of information. She also says, “Here we go again.” As if she's seen him regenerate before, which of course she hasn't.
Also, Vastra is just disturbing (eating people. OhhhhK); Jenny is disturbing because she thinks it's OK. This. is. Not. OK. It's especially not OK for the kids who are watching this show; isn't it supposed to be a family show?
I will say that, as always, I loved Strax. I wish we could have him without the PaterSnoozer gang.


Moving on to Clara, she was quite annoying from the minute she came out; but at least it's nice to see her actually get mad at the Doctor (though for less reason than she's had in the past), because she seemed incapable of anger (or any realistic emotions) with the Eleventh Doctor. But her annoying way of saying, “You need to Calm. Down.” is used three times in the episode (with slight variation in the wording) and made me think she was trying too hard at first.
I really think Clara could be a good companion in spite of the silliness of the Impossible Girl storyline; thankfully, she does seem to get better in the middle of the episode. She's quite obviously a very good actress whose talents haven't been used to the full for most of her time with the Doctor; but in the restaurant and underneath it she shows her talent, especially during her confrontation with the chief droid; it also shows a different Clara than the one we've seen before: quick thinking and smart, but also human.
Of course, her character takes a nosedive after all the excitement is over and she keeps on saying that she doesn't know who the Doctor is anymore (even to his face; how insensitive can you get?). Maybe Moffat is realizing that his silly Girl Who Saves the Doctor plot was, well, silly. And now he's trying to make us forget about it and make Clara just a regular girl who's never heard about regeneration and is afraid that a Doctor with a new face isn't the same as 'her' Doctor.
But, since she is scattered along his timestream, and since she knows more about him than any other single companion, she of all people should be able to accept him and stop the nonsense; let's hope that in future episodes, we don't hear a word breathed about it.
All in all, Clara was pretty good in this episode, better than I'd expected but not quite as good as I'd hoped.


And now, of course, for the Doctor himself.
I wasn't sure what to think at first. He rambles and panics and is very amnesiac from the moment he steps out of the Tardis, but it's kind of amusing while also making you feel some sympathy for him; he's obviously gone through a rough ride, is confused, and needs a nap.
After his nap, he gets up and starts drawing complicated mathematical equations all over the room with a bit of chalk (where he got more chalk, and why that first piece of chalk was there in the first place, I don't know), but I really liked that bit. I always like it when the Doctor is shown as having a remarkable mind; the Eleventh Doctor didn't really show it that much, usually stumbling upon the answer in a haphazard or slapstick way. This scene reminds me a bit of the scene in '42' where the Tenth Doctor explains the next number in the sequence at top speed, then asks whether recreational mathematics are even taught anymore.
It's quite a good scene where the Doctor tries to reassure the dinosaur; and also, when the dinosaur combusts, his, “Sorry. Sorry.” is very good; you really feel that the tragedy is hard on him, and it helps bring him to his senses.
The scene in the ally with the tramp is really good; possibly my favorite bit out of the whole episode. It's comedy lies in the fact that, while we know what the Doctor is talking about, we also can see it from the tramp's point of view and we understand the frustration of both of them. The tramp reminds me of Wilf, Donna Noble's grandfather, and I liked him tremendously. My favorite line of his: “They are mighty eyebrows indeed, sir!”
In this scene we get a good idea of the Doctor, finally, although he still seems a bit crazy. I got some Tenth Doctor vibes from him, just a bit, which was nice.
However, throughout the first and second times I watched the episode I was wondering who he really reminded me of. On the third time, I got it: this Doctor is very, very close in many ways to the Fourth Doctor. I can't really explain it, but it's something to do with the way he talks, and also the way he figures things out. Whether it was intentional or not, I like it.


The Doctor meets Clara in the restaurant, and here we have some fun banter between the two of them for just a moment. His way of finding out what is wrong in the room is very Doctor-y, and then we get to see them as a team briefly.
I think it's quite telling about the new Doctor that he leaves Clara (even if just for a moment) because it seems so … selfish, and so unlike what the other Doctors would have done. Of course, we realize now that he never actually went very far, and even brought Clara back to the droid, but it's so different that it's a bit shocking; he even goes so far as to refuse her the screwdriver because 'I might need it'.
His confrontation with the droid in the escape pod is interesting. Here is where he reminds me most of the Fourth Doctor. However, his speech was just so-so in my opinion, particularly the way he delivered it, but also because it doesn't make sense. The droid says, “It is beautiful.” And the Doctor counters that with, “No it's not. It's just small.” I think that the droid should have said something else, or else they should have put the speech in at a different place. To me it seems like Moffat thought up what was to him a great speech, so he just shoved it in there.
The resolution is … interesting, for lack of a better word. I think this is possibly the first time we've ever seen a villain defeated but not seen how it was defeated. Not sure if I like that.


When Clara and the Doctor are re-united on the Tardis, again, the Doctor has a speech which doesn't make sense in the immediate context. He says, “I'm the Doctor. I've lived for over two thousand years, not all of them good. It's about time I did something about that.” It's not like Clara asked him anything; the speech just came out of nowhere. Is this going to be part of the Twelfth Doctor? Him just saying random things with no connection to what was just said? But those are really minor complaints.
I'm still not sure whether I like the Doctor's new found uncertainty; Capaldi plays it well at least.


Now let's talk about the actual plot, and I'll try to be quick because this has gotten pretty long.
The villain is pretty good, fairly creepy, but the logic of some elements is missing. I'm sorry, but skin doesn't stretch like rubber, nor can an escape pod be made out of skin. That's just … weird. They live in an era where there are huge amounts of metals of all kinds, and they're using skin on their ship? Nope, doesn't work for me.
Then, Moffat does what he does best and decides to do self-references. He couldn't stand just having robots turning themselves human. Instead, he has to hark back to The Girl in the Fireplace, which by itself was a good episode, and link them together in a significant way. Why? Why? They are nothing alike, not really. Oh, and then we find out that it's happened in yet other ships! This really lacks imagination, and also confidence. He needs to let a story stand on its own, without having to be propped up by other stories, but I don't think Moffat has written one story like that since he took over the reins of the show. Every single episode has relied on an elaborate and overarching story (not just a theme); in some instances it worked, in others it didn't. I was hoping this series would be different, but apparently not. Even if the out-of-control-droids is over (which I seriously doubt) we then have the absolutely ridiculous ending. Hey! This is a droid. He fell onto a spike and was impaled. Why do we now have him, unimpaled, in a creepy, fake looking garden with a creepy lady who is going on about her 'boyfriend'? The episode should have ended with Clara and the Doctor leaving in the Tardis. Finis. At least if you're going to have interconnected stories, do it a bit more subtly! Seriously.
Ah, subtlety. That elusive thing for Moffat. There were quite a few instances of being banged over the head with a point instead of letting it play out naturally.
One last thing: Moffat's success with the 'Don't blink' has turned his head. Next it was 'Don't look away or you'll forget', and now it's 'Don't breathe'. Now, I can kind of see how it would trick the droids when Clara held her breath the first time. But when they're all fighting the droids, nope. Clara says, “Don't breathe! They're stupid!” My question is, who is stupid? The droids, or the people who think the droids could actually be that stupid? Enough with the silly, 'Don't do … whatever'. It's tired. Let it go. And don't ever, ever bring it back.



So, what would I rate this? I would give it 4 out of 5 stars, because it has some very good moments, and I think there is a lot of potential in this series, in spite of the silly overarching story we've already got going on. Clara and the Doctor look as if they have some chemistry, and if she's written right she could become a really good companion. I like the Doctor a lot; can't say I love him yet, but I like him enough to be eager to watch more.