It's refreshing to have a regeneration story which really digs into the transition between incarnations from the perspective of the companion. It's something that's usually ignored or resolved quickly or circumvented completely by introducing new companions at the same time. I think the episode strikes a good balance between the scepticism felt by Clara (and perhaps the audience) and the return to normality demanded by the narrative of the show; it would've been tedious for Clara to be so suspicious for more than one episode. It makes both the new Doctor and Clara feel more rounded as characters and establishes the basis for their relationship in the coming series. The presence of the Paternoster Gang also helps to smooth the transition and provide some genuinely amusing and much-needed comic relief.

The plot with the robots is interesting enough and has a couple of really good moments (like Clara holding her breath in the ship and the confrontation between the Doctor and the Half-Face Man) but feels rather perfunctory because the focus is on the Doctor and Clara. It's a slow burner but I think it does about enough to earn its longer run time and I prefer the more sedate pace over the typical zaniness you see in the revived series.

New Who Review #105

Deep Breath

This story was fun. It's a good way to introduce the new doctor Peter Capaldi. I really loved the performance Peter gave and having a returning villain was nice. I love this era of the show as this is my favourite doctor of course. It's also a tricky one for clara because she has to accept that the doctor isn't the same as he was and that he has changed. I didn't really like clara in this one because she was just straight up mean. Although I really like how she's getting out of her Impossible girl arc now and getting more confident as a character. This series arc Is missy and the promise land. I really love this arc and everything it brings with it. Overall a good introduction story for the 12th doctor with some returning villains. 9/10

Not as bad as I remembered it being. Still has a lot of pacing issues. There are a number of scenes that could be cut and you wouldn't miss them at all. Strax doing a medical examination of Clara? Nobody needs! Capaldi is superb right out of the gate and Clara continues to shape up into being more than her shitty origin story stuck her with. I do hate how much Moffat falls back on the lazy joke of oh aliens not understanding human behavior. Strax offering Clara a bucket of water, this is humor?

Also slightly resent how much the show felt it needed to convince people to give Capaldi a shot after their hot boyfriend Matt Smith left. I know the reasons why they had to do it and I know they took a huge hit in the ratings department but he's too incredible in the role for anyone to doubt him. Plus that teaser at the end? Welcome to a whole new show and boy oh boy it's gonna be fun.

"You can't see me, can you? You look at me and you can't see me. Have you any idea what that's like?"

AKA: "Sweeney Todd without the pies."

If The Eleventh Hour was Nu Who's caffeinated answer to Spearhead from Space - right down to the post-regeneration Doctor stealing his outfit from a hospital - then perhaps it was inevitable that the influence of Robot would loom largest over Deep Breath. An earnest reevaluation rather than a ground-up reboot, with a manic new incumbent upending an adventure seemingly engineered for their predecessor. Just as Tom Baker was given licence to run rings around Jon Pertwee's UNIT co-stars, Peter Capaldi is able to bid farewell to the Paternoster guest cast of Matt Smith's era, and more specifically Series 7B. There's also a faint hint of Castrovalva here, as that dive into the Thames (having supposedly "taken up the case") proves to be a misdirect: in both midsections Peter Davison and Peter Capaldi wander off for a confused bout of introspection and self-discovery in lieu of solving the plot. Speaking of the Paternoster gang, Vastra and Jenny are hardly an obvious fit for an inaugural story, yet both contribute to Clara's metatextually resonant struggle of accepting this new Doctor, alleviating her and the audience's anxieties even before Smith's poignant torch passing cameo.

Naturally Clara provides the connective strand that facilitates the handover, and Steven Moffat seizes his opportunity to quietly reintroduce his companion in a post-Impossible Girl context. Deep Breath consequently jettisons the divisive baggage of Series 7B's mystery box arc, enabling Clara's characterisation to shine through afresh and allowing Jenna Coleman more room to, well, breathe as an actor. The sequence where Clara is apparently abandoned by the Doctor and tearfully stands up to the Half-Face Man - following an intense escape attempt where she almost asphyxiates herself - is the highlight of the episode, with Coleman delivering a performance that is simultaneously fiercely defiant and achingly vulnerable. Capaldi's return acts as triumphant punctuation to this, reaffirming the viewer's trust as he literally tears off a Smith-shaped mask to reveal a brand new hero. It's telling that this is the moment Murray Gold chooses to debut his Twelfth Doctor theme, a relentless composition of constant rising action that ranks among his best work.

To use a second tedious title reference, this all feels like a breath of fresh air. As much as I enjoyed the preceding three series of the Moffat era, it was clearly time for a change. Peter Capaldi's mere presence electrifies proceedings, and while he doesn't entirely define his incarnation here, there is a great deal of pleasure to be derived from observing him experiment with the part, wondering what kind of persona he will adopt. The Half-Face Man makes for an unnerving first foe, effectively coupling Peter Ferdinando's mannered physicality with some eery design. And the direction by Ben Wheatley (the British auteur behind Kill List, Sightseers, and A Field in England) is pleasingly cinematic with some subtle audiovisual flourishes. The chief criticism I can make here is Strax, whose comedy dialogue was already wearing a bit thin in prior appearances. But frankly, if that's my only noteworthy complaint then you're probably doing something right. Overall, Deep Breath is an impressive introduction to the Twelfth Doctor, not to mention an equally impactful reintroduction to Clara Oswald. Much like Series 8 as a whole, it's underrated as hell.

I hadn’t seen this story since around the time of transmission (~10 years) so was interested to see how my feelings had developed on this story in the meantime.

It’s a tale of two halves for me. Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman’s performances anchor the episode with a commanding and reassuring presence. With Ben Wheatley on direction duties, the episode has a very cinematic and polished presentation. However, I’m not sure he fully controls the tone in the first half. There’s an apparent struggle—perhaps stemming from the script as well—to decide whether the episode is a comedy, a family-friendly bank holiday movie, or a searing, serious drama.

Some of the heightened drama, particularly Clara’s conversation with Vastra about the Doctor’s appearance and whether to accept him, hinges on the notion that Clara has always been romantically drawn to the Doctor. I struggle to believe this, as the short time she spent travelling with Matt Smith’s Doctor didn’t properly convey that kind of relationship, so this aspect of the story falls flat for me.

The portrayal of Jenny and Vastra feels one-note, with their scenes often reduced to flirting with each other or others. They come across as overly sexualised women in the typical Steven Moffat style. While Moffat is undeniably talented in many ways, this recurring issue in his writing of female characters is distracting and, frankly, off-putting.

I think they should have done away with The Paternoster Gang (as fun as they are) in this story and make everything brand new. Moffat said that he was doing  what was done with Robot and maintaining the vibe of the previous era in the first story, I think this missed an opportunity for a fresh start straight out of the gate.

However, from the restaurant scene onwards, the show blooms into a rollicking adventure, then effectively delivers some potent emotional beats as well as a well balanced showcase for Capaldi’s dramatic and comedic flare. By the end of the story I am fully invested and excited for more of the 12th Doctor’s era.

The element that undoubtedly has grown on me the most was the scene with Matt Smith’s Doctor on the phone and Capaldi’s Doctor talking to Clara on the other end - I found that to be a very impactful device. Whereas on transmission I found myself wishing that the 12th Doctor had his first episode fully to himself. I’m glad this has grown on me.