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| The Doctor and Clara investigate a crashed spaceship in Victorian London. |
1 episode. Approx. 80 minutes. Written by: Steven Moffat. Directed by: Ben Wheatley. Produced by: Nikki Wilson.
THE PLOT
In Victorian era London, Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh) and her assistant, Jenny (Catrin Stewart) find themselves at the scene of a most unusual arrival: That of a live dinosaur! Vastra is able to use Silurian technology to contain the creature, which then coughs up the very thing that brought it here: The TARDIS!
The Doctor (Peter Capaldi) is even more disoriented after this regeneration than usual. Vastra takes him to her estate to rest, but he stumbles out during the night - just in time to see the dinosaur burn to death, the latest in a series of what have been labeled cases of "spontaneous combustion."
The Doctor is reunited with his companion, Clara, just in time for both of them to be captured by the being responsible for these mysterious deaths: A mechanical, half-faced man (Peter Ferdinando), who has been using pieces of his victims to keep himself and his technology running.
"This isn't a man turning himself into a robot," the Doctor realizes. "This is a robot turning himself into a man, piece by piece!"
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor has only has limited appearances in the first half, but he does get a terrific early scene in which he first views his new face in the company of a very nervous homeless man (Brian Miller). Capaldi plays this wonderfully, moving between weary sadness, confusion, and dangerous instability in a way that feels completely organic. The hint of something dangerous remains even when the instability fades, and his final confrontation with the half-faced man is outstanding in both the writing and performance. The overall performance is more subdued than either of his immediate predecessors - But that's not a bad thing, and I suspect I'm going to enjoy Capaldi's irritable-yet-melancholy Doctor.
Clara: More interesting than Clara's overwritten, clearly audience-anticipating reactions to the new Doctor's age is her response to his new personality. The smug flirtiness of the Eleventh Doctor has been replaced by irascibility bordering on outright rudeness - Something she does seem to be adapting to as they explore the crashed spaceship under a Victorian-era restaurant, right up until he abandons her in a moment of cowardice (a call-back to one of the Sixth Doctor's poorer post-regenerative moments). "I don't know who you are anymore," she tells him sadly - Though, thanks to a last-minute intervention, she does just barely decide to stay to give him a chance to prove himself.
Madame Vastra/Jenny/Strax: This episode shows a few cracks in the so-called "Paternoster Gang." Vastra is quick to become judgmental over Clara's understandable shock at the Doctor's change. In the midst of seeing him stumbling around like a cross between a drunk and a lunatic, while wearing a strange face that's older than a renewal surely should be, she plaintively wonders if he can please change back - Hardly an unreasonable reaction. Vastra's response is to treat her like "a stranger" until Clara finally has enough of this and snaps at her - which, to the script's credit, earns applause from Jenny. Speaking of Jenny, she seems a little tired of her wife treating her as a servant in private. She's very sincere when telling Clara that she loves Vastra, but she's not blind to Vastra's faults - and it looks like she might be just about at her limit with a few of them.
While the Vastra and Jenny material has some interest, this episode is where I've officially become tired of Strax. His first appearance indicated a more three-dimensional characterization, particularly his "dying" realization that "I'm a nurse!" Episodes since have ground him steadily into two-dimensional comedy relief, and hearing him address beautiful women as "boy" and declare his intent to kill people for the glory of the Sontaran Empire has officially become tiresome. I know we'll see these characters again. I ask only that when we do, Strax please be given at least half a brain cell and be allowed to be more than just the butt of some now thoroughly played-out jokes.
THOUGHTS
"This face... It's covered in lines, but I didn't do the frowning. Who frowned me this face?"
-The Doctor, in the midst of regeneration confusion, sees his new face for the first time.
The Eleventh Hour set the tone for Matt Smith's Doctor - racing along at a breathless, breakneck pace, with clever plot turns and clever dialogue shooting by so fast that it takes two or three viewings to fully catch all of it. It was like watching his entire era in a microcosm.
I can only hope that Deep Breath will be similarly true for this new Doctor. The Twelfth Doctor's debut is noticeably slower-paced than most of the stories of his predecessor, with a nicely melancholy atmosphere hanging over the entire piece. A lot of this is credit to director Ben Wheatley, who did some acclaimed independent feature film work before directing this episode. His visual eye and ability to maintain an atmosphere even during comedy relief moments is a huge boost to this episode.
Steven Moffat's script overcompensates for Peter Capaldi's age, with far too many people remarking on how old he is. Capaldi is no more than middle aged and appears to be in pretty good condition. From the way Clara and others react, one would think the Twelfth Doctor was lugging around a canister of oxygen and a heart monitor while they tried to find him a good nursing facility! We get it; he's older; can future episodes please assume we've accepted that and move on?
That said, once the Doctor and Clara meet at the restaurant that's actually a front for the Menace of the Week, the story comes completely to life. I love the entire restaurant scene, particularly when the new Doctor and Clara continue to swipe irritably at each other even after realizing they have walked into a trap. Clara's encounter with the half-faced man is also superb, the dialogue classic Moffat at its best. The android interrogates her for information about the Doctor, threatening to kill her if she doesn't speak. She refuses, telling him now he has to kill her. "Never start with your final sanction. You've got nowhere to go but backwards."
Finally, there's the Doctor's quiet scene with the half-faced man near the end. Their encounter is more a conversation than a confrontation. Capaldi's Doctor is weary and sad, the android already knowing that there is no way out for him. There are no grand threats or proclamations. Just two people trapped by their natures. The question at the end isn't whether the Doctor pushed him or he jumped - The question is whether that difference ultimately matters in the slightest.
Overall, this is a good episode - Not as good as The Eleventh Hour was, but still certainly above average. With excellent performances and a second half that is basically one good scene after another, this is a promising start for a promising new Doctor.
Overall Rating: 8/10.
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