Warning – Episode 1 Spoliers Ahead
The new series of Doctor Who started tonight with Peter Capaldi stepping into the shoes of everyone’s favourite Timelord. So how was it? As you can tell from the title of this post, the episode was not great. In fact it was pretty poor. However the silver lining here was Capaldi’s Doctor. It’s common for the introduction to a new Doctor to be slightly below par. David Tennant’s first appearance had him sleeping for nearly the whole show and Matt Smith was quite annoying on his debut. We know that both men went on to become beloved versions of the Gallifreyan. Tonight’s episode did nothing to buck the trend of dull opening episodes.
It started off well with a giant dinosaur in Victorian London puking out the TARDIS but from there we saw the most generic Doctor Who show in recent memory. Storywise this abides by the rule ‘when in doubt, evil clockwork robots’. Which no one cares about but this was all about the new Doctor and from the evidence presented this could be a great one. Peter Capaldi gave hints about his portrayal by telling supporting characters to ‘shut up’ repeatedly, retaining his Scottish accent, and being passive aggressive towards companion Clara.
The bright spots in this dreary story were the scenes with the Doctor and Clara with them exchanging sparky banter and displaying a good amount of chemistry. The quality dipped though when Capaldi was off-screen and we were left with the annoying supporting characters of the lizard, the cockney, and Humpty Dumpty. Hopefully when the Doctor and Clara shake these losers we’ll have some excellent Saturday evenings.
Much like the clockwork bad guys you can see the gears clicking into place for another series long arc from wrier Steven Moffat. Hints are dropped about what I think is a link to the Girl in the Fireplace episode but I may be wrong. Also could this Doctor be a ruthless killer? Hopefully the writers have the balls not to wimp out on this and actually follow through with a badass Doctor. Capaldi going all Malcolm Tucker on the Daleks could be the best television ever. We’ll see what happens, but right now I’m really liking this new guy.
What did you think of tonight’s episode? What about Capaldi? Let me know in the comments below!
Screenkicker! 
One and done more activity from companions than the doc.Should have picked a younger actor
LikeLike
I can’t stand Clara. I wish he pushed her out of the fucking skin balloon. I love Humpty though. He cracks me up.
LikeLike
I found Clara more annoying in the new one than in the others. But she might be better next time. I’ll wait and see
LikeLike
I liked it. I’m fairly new to the Doctor Who phenomenon having only watched since Matt Smith’s first episode, so the robot thing didn’t really strike me as generic. High hopes for Capaldi, but man I loved Smith. Great work mate.
Adam.
LikeLike
I really liked Smith too, he’s a favourite of a lot of people. You should watch the Eccleston and Tennant series too, I’m guessing this episode links back to one of the best Tennant ones. I might be wrong though!
LikeLike
I’ve caught a few on the Tennant ones at random and certainly enjoyed them.
LikeLike
I was really really bored by this episode… : (
LikeLike
Me too, it started soooooooooooo slow and i just don’t like all the shitty sidekick characters. Especially the little dude who looks like a particularly painful dump
LikeLike
Haha! YEAH! Hate those characters. God I hope it all gets better… : (
LikeLike
Haha I love that Capaldi’s Doctor tells people to shut up! Personally, I hope that’s going to be his catchphrase–“Fantastic,” “Allons-y,” “Geronimo,” and now “Shut up!” Seems about right. Good review, dude. I liked this episode a bit better than you (and Mutant and Eric) did, but it definitely could’ve been better. Here’s hoping it does up from here!
LikeLike
I actually had more fun with this episode than you seem to have had, but we are agreed on Capaldi being excellent this far in. I took to him immediately in the role!
LikeLike
Episode 3 – Robin Hood, God help us. What has happened to Mark Gatiss’s writing? He has written some excellent episodes. Trouble is, new Doc Who Peter Capaldi hasn’t got his persona sorted yet. He has run out of time (what an ironic state for a Time Lord to be in). Always thought he should reprise William Hartnell and go tetchy and irritable. So sad to leave viewing after 51 solid years since the series started. N
LikeLike
I am still like 3 doctors behind, damn gotta catch up!
LikeLike
Peter Capaldi is great- it’s the writing, editing and directing that has fallen into the void… the pacing is staggered, and the story lines are dismal. It’s possible the new guys at BBC have decided to milk the cow dry, and sell it off for jerky.
LikeLike
I agree with you completely. Maybe they should have delayed this series until they had enough good episode stories. I just feel sorry for Capaldi, he deserves better material to work with.
LikeLike
Capaldi Great.. everything else absolute dog doo doo. I have a total lack of enthusiasm towards this new season and have in fact decided to stop watching. The mistress! dear god. All the options to chosen from you went for that one! Snoreville.
LikeLike
You’re totally right Jo. I feel sorry for Capaldi, I think he’s great but is getting lumbered with shit stories. I’ll keep watching but I’m really disappointed. Thanks for your comment 🙂
LikeLike