An Hour of Who a Day: 07/04/15

July 4: "Deep Breath"

After an 8-month wait since "The Time of the Doctor", it's finally time for Peter Capaldi's debut story. There was a hint of trepidation for many as they waited for Matt Smith's debut, but this time it's been eager anticipation: Capaldi is, after all, one of the more distinguished and respected British actors going right now -- he even has an Oscar (for Best Live-Action Short Film, 1993's Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life). He's also one of the oldest actors to play the Doctor -- 55 years old at the time he was cast, the same age as William Hartnell.

The opening scenes show us an energetic Doctor, however, as he bursts out of the TARDIS, confused as he confronts the Paternoster Gang and the giant dinosaur he's inadvertently brought to 19th-century London. And because it's a new Doctor, it means we get a brand-new title sequence and a new arrangement of the theme tune to accompany it. The titles are really gorgeous (and inspired by a title sequence by fan Billy Hanshaw!), all clockwork gears and a swirling clockface as the TARDIS travels through time -- and we get Capaldi's eyes in the sequence, so it's nice that they've kept (part of) the Doctor's face in there. The theme is much stranger, being more ethereal than we're perhaps used to, but it quickly grows on you -- and it's nice to see them willing to expand their horizons.

Stuart Manning's retro-inspired promotional poster
for "Deep Breath" (from Exclusive Doctor Who
Deep Breath poster revealed)

But, anyway, back to the story. Steven Moffat seems to be slightly concerned about how a much older Doctor would be received by the casual audience, and so that perceived uncertainty is what ends up driving much of "Deep Breath". Clara is incredibly unsettled by the new Doctor's appearance and behavior, uncertain if this strange new man is in fact the same man that she's been traveling with. (Although you'd think if there was ever a companion who'd be equipped to handle the regeneration of the Doctor (all right, besides Romana), it'd be Clara, who traveled through the Doctor's timeline and saw all his previous selves.) She's clearly intended to be the audience's surrogate, but what's interesting is how she's berated for this behavior; Madame Vastra strongly upbraids her ("You thought he was young? ... He looked like your dashing young gentleman friend. Your lover, even. ... But he is the Doctor. He has walked this universe for centuries untold, he has seen stars fall to dust. You might as well flirt with a mountain range"), while the Doctor is initially presented as addled but more likeable.

This is a post-regeneration story, of course, so we get a Doctor who's not completely settled yet. This is a marked contrast from Matt Smith's debut, where he basically hit the ground running; here, Capaldi is portrayed as addled for much of this, confused about basic human conveniences ("So you've got a whole room for not being awake in," he comments, upon being told what a bedroom is. "But what's the point? You're just missing the room"). In fact, Steven Moffat seems to be pushing this new Doctor to be more strange, more unpredictable; because he has the Doctor surrounded by familiar characters, it gives him the license to make the Doctor less audience-accessible. It's a good decision, and the conversation with the tramp (hooray, Brian Miller's back!) is really quite wonderfully stream-of-consciousness. (Although I'm not sure we needed to point out, even obliquely, that Capaldi has been in the show before -- is it really too much to accept that there just happens to be another person in the universe (two if you include John Frobisher) that looks like the twelfth Doctor?) And what's clear -- particularly in the restaurant scene -- is that Capaldi and Jenna Coleman have great chemistry, playing off each other really nicely. Their interplay and timing is perfect, and you get the sense that Clara is starting to warm to this Doctor, even though he's being insulting toward her ("Hang on. 'Egomaniac, needy, game-player?' ... That was me?" she says indignantly, after realizing what the Doctor said about the ad in the paper that neither of them placed). Of course, that goes away when the Doctor seemingly abandons her in the Half-Face Man's ship, but it's still nice while it lasts.

The abandonment stuff is clearly designed to make us uncertain of this new Doctor's actions (plus it gives Clara a nice chance to shine, as she confronts the Half-Face Man and dares him to kill her), but no worries, this is still the Doctor, as he comes to her rescue and stops the Half-Face Man and his clockwork cyborgs. ("You can't patch up a spaceship with human remains," the Doctor says. "You know, this really is ringing a bell," he adds, in a reference to the series 2 episode "The Girl in the Fireplace".) It might be a darker Doctor though; the ending is left deliberately ambiguous as to whether the Half-Face Man jumped out of his epidermis balloon or was pushed by the Doctor, and it's certainly clear that Capaldi is very comfortable playing cold steel and fury scenes.

So maybe that's why Moffat felt compelled to provide the final scene, where Clara rejects the new Doctor ("I'm sorry. I'm, I'm so, so sorry. But I don't think I know who you are any more," she tells him), only for the eleventh Doctor to call her from Trenzalore, to ask for her help with his future self. (Thus making this the fastest return to the show for a previous Doctor.) It's a sweet scene, although it does feel a bit odd; maybe if you haven't fully accepted the new Doctor yet, it's a nice reassurance that it's the same man, but for the rest of us it's a tad redundant; we don't need the old Doctor explicitly telling us that it's gonna be OK. Still, that's not Matt Smith's fault, and he does a nice job with it -- and it is a nice surprise to see him again.

"Deep Breath" is still a bit difficult to get a handle on; the Paternoster Gang are as solid as ever (although is Strax getting dumber?) and Jenna Coleman shines as the somewhat lost Clara, but Capaldi's Doctor remains a bit of a mystery, even by the end; we're not quite sure who he really is, what he'll be like, and so there's a missing sense of satisfaction as the credits roll. And unfortunately there's not enough there to really hang on to, and the main threat of the Half-Face Man and his minions isn't quite developed enough to make up the difference. But that's OK; it's still early days, and we'll come to know who the twelfth Doctor is over the following eleven weeks and beyond -- and there's little doubt that Capaldi will be fantastic in the role, based on what he does with the material he's given here. It's just a shame that "Deep Breath" is a little too insubstantial a story to really grab hold of -- not bad by any means, but not as good as it could have been.