Well, here we are, faithful viewer! I’m still struggling to get caught up with all the classic episodes I haven’t been talking about here (I should be able to start posting about them soon, though, so stay tuned!). I thought I should take a break from them, however, and talk about–OMG!!–the first episode with our newest Doctor, Peter Capaldi!
Photo credit, primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk
It’s always good to start a season off with a bang, and a T-Rex in the middle of the Thames in the middle of Victorian London certainly accomplishes that. And a misplaced dinosaur is a big enough problem by itself for a newly regenerated Time Lord, but the plot thickens when the dinosaur is burned to death, forging a new link in an increasingly long chain of combustion deaths. With the help of the Paternoster Gang and Clara, the Doctor must come to terms with his new face and stop the villains who are burning the residents of Victorian London.
Photo credit, http://www.knowitalljoe.com
Before I talk about the rest of the episode, I just want to briefly express some sour feelings I have about it. At the risk of airing spoilers, I will say that this episode features the same clockwork automatons that terrorized Madame de Pompadour in “The Girl in the Fireplace.” Clockwork robots: Adorable when they sing and dance, terrifying when they’re harvesting your body parts. My problem with their appearance in this episode is that they’re another instance in an not-great trend with Moffat episodes. Deathly clever as he might be (and, in fact, is), the Moff has a tendency to recycle his monsters. If watching the classic series has taught me anything, Doctor Who is best when it’s unpredictable, and I’d hate to see this shiny new series head down any kind of boring path.
Save that for The Big Bang Theory.
Oh yeah. I just went there.
That’s not to say that this episode wasn’t enjoyable, because it very much was. The script was sharp, the pacing was tense, the cast was on point. It’s always a delight to see the Paternoster Gang; Strax was on top form, and Madame Vastra & Jenny were as adorable together as ever. If anybody’s got the Doctor’s back when he needs help, it’s that lot.
Photo credit, en.wikipedia.org
–Sidenote: I’d like to take a moment and shout with joy about Vastra and Jenny’s kiss in the eleventh hour of this episode. First lady-with-lady kiss in Doctor Who history, huzzah! And if I may say, it was long overdue. It’s a little awkward to have a married couple who doesn’t ever kiss on a TV show. Just saying.–
Photo credit, http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk
Ultimately, however, the main attraction in this episode was Peter Capaldi in his first turn as the Twelfth Doctor. The teasers we got in anticipation of this new season promised a dark and dangerous Doctor, as opposed to Matt Smith’s gangly goofball approach to the role (and I use the term “gangly goofball” with the highest respect, of course). While there was a bit of goofiness at the start, which was to be expected, but it all soon got deathly serious and…endlessly fascinating. With his aching existential questions about his frown-lined face and debates about humanity with automatons, this Twelve is a different animal from Eleven by a wide margin.
Photo credit, flickfilosopher.com
As far as his relationship with Clara is concerned, I think we’re in for a wild ride. After multiple reassurances that she won’t go skipping out on the Doctor now that he shows a fraction more of his age than he did before (which were all deeply touching), it seems that our Team TARDIS is going to be a lot more contentious than it was before. I’ll be honest, faithful viewer, the prospect of bickering between the Doctor and Clara is kind of thrilling–I didn’t realize how much I missed Doctor vs. Companion arguments. Reminds me of Nine and Rose in the early days, you know?
Photo credit, http://www.nerdist.com
Well we’re off to a great start with the new season and the new Doctor! We’ve already got some big action under our belts, as well as some big questions that we still need answers to. Who, for example, is Missy, and where is this place she calls Heaven? And why do I get the feeling that there’s no possible way it would be safe to trust her?
Photo credit, tardis.wikia.com
Stay tuned ’til next time, faithful viewer, when our new Doctor has an encounter with his oldest enemy…
An American Whovian in TV Land 