Who Reviews A Deeper Breath by DJ Forrest

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 12^th 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 12^th was the older version of the 10^th, 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 10^th 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 12^th 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