I know that a lot of
people are not fond of Steven Moffat as a writer, and during the Matt Smith era
there were a lot of negative comments regarding the stories for each
episode. I have to admit also that there
are some stories that still don’t make much sense to me but no doubt at some
point, when I re-watch them they will eventually make some kind of sense. I hope!
Well, given that this
again is Steven Moffat at the helm, I sat with the family and watched the 12th
Doctor in action. And you know
something, I bloody loved it. There was
something familiar however about the way it began. It was almost as if the 12th was
the older version of the 10th, babbling on as he does, collapsing
and spending the first portion in bed.
But Capaldi wasn’t for staying in bed, he was doodling on the floor, he
was out on the roof tops, he was beckoning the dinosaur back to him, he was
investigating why the dinosaur internally combusted, he was in the water, then
in an alley way staring at his face in a broken mirror, wondering where he’d
seen that face before.
And I recall shouting at
the television “Caecillius’ and ‘John Frobisher’. I suppose you have to wonder how the
regeneration faces are chosen, something of which we’ve never really thought
about. But they would have to have come
from somewhere. So that was a good
explanation, and ties up one of those lingering questions about Capaldi appearing
in Doctor Who prior.
It was also great to see
the Clockwork droids, although these were different to the droids on the ship
the SS Madame de Pompadour. These were
from the sister ship, SS Marie Antoinette.
There were a lot of
moments during the episode that not only had the Doctor recalled seeing them
before, but so had I. It’s been nagging
that garden, I’ve seen it before, and if I’m not mistaken I’m sure it was
during the 10th Doctor era, but I could be mistaken – I often am!
There were nods right
across the board in this episode, a nod to Roger Lloyd Pack when the Doctor
explained to the droid about it being like a broom. It was no longer the original broom, it had
changed it had upgraded so many times; it could no longer be classed as the
original.
I was a little thrown
over Clara’s reactions to the Doctor, especially given her title of the
‘Impossible Girl’ who had been there during each Doctor’s journey, somewhere. Here was Clara who had seen the man she loved
change from the young man with old eyes to the old man, with a Scottish accent
and angry eyebrows! Rose Tyler had seen her Doctor, the man who had grabbed her
hand in the basement of the store she worked at and told her to ‘Run’, who
turned into a skinny man in a suit, all smiles, with big hair and ‘no second
chances’ attitude.
The phone call from
Trenzalore nailed it and it was nice to see Matt, that fond farewell, from the
graveyard of the Doctor.
I liked the nod to Sarah
Jane Smith as the Doctor misses by miles at taking Clara home, by landing the
TARDIS in Glasgow.
The story was
brilliantly executed, the dialogue fantastic, and the comedy elements, they
were pretty predictable but delivered well.
And for once, I understood the entire story, so does this mean that
Moffat took all those comments on board from the fans and finally listened?
The steam punk fan made
design of the titles worked fantastically for the episode. Although many noticed the music, I hadn’t
noticed much of a difference. I suppose
after a while you get used to the title music unless they add a heavier beat to
the intro.
I look forward to the
second episode with excitement as my favourite villainous characters are back.
If you loved the return
of the Time Lord and would like to voice your comments then why not post below,
or write an article about your feelings at Capaldi becoming the 12th
Doctor. Did you love the episode or
loath it? Whatever your opinions about Capaldi, the storyline, the characters
in general, why not drop us a line, the usual method – Facebook, Twitter or
email us at projecttorchwood@ymail.com
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