Doctor Who "Deep Breath" (spoilers possible)

[Tenzhi]

I tentatively like the new Doctor...  The only thing that really bothered me about the episode was the out of place cartoon sound effect during the psychic link.

[FatherXmas]

1)  Don't forget that Doctor Who is a show targeted at families with kids.

2)  How else do you indicate it's either Vastra deflected or overpowered the link thus knocking him out?

I love Strax.

[Tenzhi]

It was even funnier when he said "and we will NOT melt him with acid" and made the same villainous gesture for emphasis.  Strax does amuse.

Also: I, too, miss all the round things.

[Aggelakis]

I love the fact that he repeatedly asks where he got his new face, saying that he's seen it before. That being a nod to Capaldi's previous role on the show as not-the-Doctor.

[Ohioknight]

I love the fact that he repeatedly asks where he got his new face, saying that he's seen it before. That being a nod to Capaldi's previous role on the show as not-the-Doctor.

Apparently Capaldi's role in the Vesuvius ep. and his role in Torchwood are both going to be referenced in some manner -- Davies said he had a theory that explained the multiple Capaldi's in the Whoniverse and apparently Moffat thinks it's a cool idea that works even better with Capaldi/Doctor.

[Eoraptor]

I enjoyed it a lot. Though I have a feeling they are going to do with the Victorian London characters what they did with River... take a somewhat clever idea and run it flaming into the ground over about two seasons.

Also, am I the only one who gets just a hint of Doc Emmet Brown in Capaldi's Doctor?

[GamingGlen]

I'll be Clara's boyfriend.  Jenna is such a cutie. 

I like the Victorian characters.  Perhaps lizard woman and Strax are long-lived and we can see them in a few different time periods (even if just over couple hundred years).

[Shifter]

It reminds me a lot of the Tom Baker regeneration. He was dark and mysterious in the beginning if I recall correctly. It feels like they wanted to do him homage with this, and  the older doctors in general. They even threw in a long scarf reference. As to the episode itself, the entire episode felt more like a defense of their decision to bring in an older doctor than an entertaining story. Trivial, but I did not like the new intro. I thought it was, cheesy.

[Aggelakis]

The new intro is based on a fan-made creation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXOBHnWiinY

[artbunker]

I love Dr Who. I watch classic and modern Who . But something felt off in this episode. I think it was the fact that he doesnt know himself yet. I have watched the leaked episodes as well. They get better , but this first episode was too aimed at the folks who didnt like the fact that the doctor is older and there wont be no type of sexual tension between him and his companions . 

I think this is going to be a season arc issue of the DOCTOR finding himself and who he really is.  It 's just that with 9,10, and 11  we knew what type of Doctors we were getting from the first episode. Not so with this one .

[eabrace]

I'm trying to recall, but in the recent big event where they brought all of the doctors together across time, didn't they make it a point of spelling out that each of the last few regenerations has been gradually forgetting the doctor's past?  Wouldn't this just be the natural extension of that phenomenon?

[Shifter]

I'm trying to recall, but in the recent big event where they brought all of the doctors together across time, didn't they make it a point of spelling out that each of the last few regenerations has been gradually forgetting the doctor's past?  Wouldn't this just be the natural extension of that phenomenon?

Already in the thread title, but just in case: *SPOILER ALERT*

That makes sense. I was thinking that they would have just blamed it on him regenerating past the typical max regeneration at some point in the episode but that never happened. He seemed to have all his marbles back by the end of the episode.

[saipaman]

It was even funnier when he said "and we will NOT melt him with acid" and made the same villainous gesture for emphasis.  Strax does amuse.

Strax was the best thing about the episode.

[Mental Maden]

I, for one, am glad they are going in a different direction with the Doctor.  It was beginning to get old having "tension" between him and his companions and I think it's interesting to explore that dynamic being gone.  The exchange with him stating he's sorry but he wasn't her boyfriend and her defensive response "I didn't think you were" and him admitting that he never said it was her mistake was very interesting.  Grumpy, old and dark is a welcome change.  Will it last though, who knows? But I think it will be fun watching.

Prediction: this "radical" change of the Doctor to an older man will be radically "course corrected" next regeneration and we will get a female Doctor (mid 30s to 40s) next time around.  I put my name on it.    Further prediction: it will be a short run though.

[Tenzhi]

I enjoyed the "I'm not your boyfriend" moment a lot, even if (or possibly *because*... just a little bit) the Doctor momentarily became a purple cat thing with a pink bunny girl companion.

[Twisted Toon]

I really need to see this episode!!!  Good thing it airs again on Saturday a couple of hours before the next episode.

I missed out on the premier episode because I was (helping) laying network cable in the attic of the house...among other things.

[HalcyonS]

I enjoyed it but I did find it interesting how Jenny and Vastra kept saying they were married and one was the others wife.

[Aggelakis]

I enjoyed it but I did find it interesting how Jenny and Vastra kept saying they were married and one was the others wife.

Why? They've been partners (the PC word for lesbian lovers) in every episode they've appeared in. It's not interesting. It's just an extension of their relationship.

[Twisted Toon]

Why? They've been partners (the PC word for lesbian lovers) in every episode they've appeared in. It's not interesting. It's just an extension of their relationship.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe they've been marred almost since they were introduced.

[Eoraptor]

I know they were married in the xmas special.

[Mental Maden]

In Who related news. http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/08/karen-gillan-als-ice-bucket-challenge-pink-ranger#more She's so awesome and this video is just her kind of kooky weird.

[HalcyonS]

Why? They've been partners (the PC word for lesbian lovers) in every episode they've appeared in. It's not interesting. It's just an extension of their relationship.

I know they have been but it seemed like they were being very unsubtle in saying they were married a bunch of times as opposed to how it had been handled in the past.

[Eoraptor]

I know they have been but it seemed like they were being very unsubtle in saying they were married a bunch of times as opposed to how it had been handled in the past.

Someone on my slash fic home pointed out that. It seems less down to any actual structual change to their characters, and more to it being hammered home repetedly and clumsily in this particular episode tot he point of excess, as though the writers had only recently become aware that "gay marriage" is a thing and wanted to use it as often as humanly possible.

personally I find the almost Dominance/submissive aspect of their relationship far more compelling.  they claim it to be the act of a housemaid and her Dutchess to fool the public, but clearly it continues on behind closed doors.

[Korbian]

All in all, I loved the episode.  But... 

As much as I love Vastra, Jenny, and Strax, I'm not quite sure why they received so much screen time that wasn't crucial to the plot.  I know part of it was to show off their "sonic devices"- Vastra's hatpin, Jenny's gauntlet, and Strax's lorgnette.  Those nifty props were the winning designs of some really talented kids who entered a BBC contest.  Part of me also hopes it was to gauge audience reaction, as I know a spin-off has been discussed, at least among the fans.  I would watch the heck out of that.     As for the nature of Vastra and Jenny's relationship, I agree that it's probably a political statement of sorts.  Moffat has been taking a lot of flak for his portrayal of female characters lately.  Not to mention that classic Who featured strong women who were very into the equal rights of women.  Vastra and Jenny kind of tackle gay rights and the strong female thing in one fell swoop.

I'm also very bored with Moffat's pandering to the fandom.  He did it all throughout the Christmas special with the shaved head/eyebrows gag, and the letting Matt's Doctor get old and live a full life so the fans wouldn't feel like he was being taken too soon or whatever (at least that's what it felt like to me).  And now he does it with the "accept me for who I am now" routine with Clara.  I understand that the show has reached new popularity levels with all these new young fans that are in love with their hot Doctors, but when you basically stop the show for a while just to send a message to all those fans, or even just to make a joke (as with the "delicate" eyebrows), you lose integrity.  Next he'll just be picking up some fan fiction and making episodes out of that.

Am I being too mean?  I'm sorry, I'm getting tired, and it's been a while since I've gotten to rant and/or rave about Doctor Who. 

Other than that, I loved it.  Very curious to see where they will go with it.  So many references and possible clues!  I'm also amazed at how easily I just accept Capaldi as the Doctor without reservation.  I attribute it to his love for and familiarity with Doctor Who, and also to the fact that I've been catching up with classic Who, and have been through several regenerations recently anyway.

P.S.- I have no idea how to punctuate around parentheses, so apologies if I've offended any grammar fanatics out there. 

[Heroette]

A theory I just came up with.  What if in a future episode, Donna Noble accidently runs into the new Doctor?  She would recognize him from Pompei.  I wonder if that would trigger her memories?

[Eoraptor]

All in all, I loved the episode.  But... 

As much as I love Vastra, Jenny, and Strax, I'm not quite sure why they received so much screen time that wasn't crucial to the plot.  I know part of it was to show off their "sonic devices"- Vastra's hatpin, Jenny's gauntlet, and Strax's lorgnette.  Those nifty props were the winning designs of some really talented kids who entered a BBC contest.  Part of me also hopes it was to gauge audience reaction, as I know a spin-off has been discussed, at least among the fans.  I would watch the heck out of that.     As for the nature of Vastra and Jenny's relationship, I agree that it's probably a political statement of sorts.  Moffat has been taking a lot of flak for his portrayal of female characters lately.  Not to mention that classic Who featured strong women who were very into the equal rights of women.  Vastra and Jenny kind of tackle gay rights and the strong female thing in one fell swoop.

I'm also very bored with Moffat's pandering to the fandom.  He did it all throughout the Christmas special with the shaved head/eyebrows gag, and the letting Matt's Doctor get old and live a full life so the fans wouldn't feel like he was being taken too soon or whatever (at least that's what it felt like to me).  And now he does it with the "accept me for who I am now" routine with Clara.  I understand that the show has reached new popularity levels with all these new young fans that are in love with their hot Doctors, but when you basically stop the show for a while just to send a message to all those fans, or even just to make a joke (as with the "delicate" eyebrows), you lose integrity.  Next he'll just be picking up some fan fiction and making episodes out of that.

Am I being too mean?  I'm sorry, I'm getting tired, and it's been a while since I've gotten to rant and/or rave about Doctor Who. 

Other than that, I loved it.  Very curious to see where they will go with it.  So many references and possible clues!  I'm also amazed at how easily I just accept Capaldi as the Doctor without reservation.  I attribute it to his love for and familiarity with Doctor Who, and also to the fact that I've been catching up with classic Who, and have been through several regenerations recently anyway.

P.S.- I have no idea how to punctuate around parentheses, so apologies if I've offended any grammar fanatics out there.

No no, not mean... I've felt the past three seasons have all spent toooo much time playing up to the internet based fan reaction rather than writing stories which serve the characters. though, ironically, neil gaiman's episode about the tardis WAS technically fan fiction, and it is generally well recieved LOL.