Doctor Who: Deep Breath Review

Dear lord, you've got no idea how long I've waited to write that title. Anyway, last night saw the premiere of

Doctor Who's eighth series (of the new show), Deep Breath, which saw Peter Capaldi in the role of the Twelfth Doctor for the first time in a full episode. The question is, was the wait worth it? Answer: yes.

Previously:

A mysterious message rang out across the universe, drawing all sorts of creatures and species to a planet called Trenzalore. Also there was the Doctor, who found that through a Crack in time in a clock tower in the town called Christmas, down on Trenzalore, the Time-Lords were attempting to return, asking a single question to know that it was safe; Doctor Who? The Eleventh Doctor, having sent his companion Clara Oswald back home to stay safe, found himself in the midst of a war on Trenzalore for over nine hundred years in an attempt to keep the Time Lords and the people of Christmas and Tenzalore safe from those who declared war (Sontarans, Daleks and Cybermen to name a few). Just as he was about to die of old age, however, Clara Oswald managed to convince the Time Lords to save the Doctor. They granted him a new cycle of regenerations, and, after a heartbreaking goodbye to an old friend, the Doctor changed before Clara's eyes, into a brand new man, with kidneys of a new color, and the TARDIS was crashing....

Synopsis:

With a dinosaur in the Thames, the newly regenerated Doctor crash lands-kinda-into Victorian London, with Clara Oswald by his side. Finding themselves teaming up with the Paternoster Gang once more, the Doctor and co. find themselves wrapped into a dangerous mystery. But the real question is, as Clara begins to wonder, is the Doctor still the Doctor?

Review: Minor Spoilers Throughout 

   Wow. I thought that Day of the Doctor had the most interesting TARDIS landing of all, but Deep Breath showed me that I was wrong. The episode, which is about 75-80 minutes long (about ten to fifteen minutes short of a Sherlock episode, I believe) was filled with adventure, danger, and tension. The Twelfth Doctor is certainly interesting, and a bit eccentric at first, but nevertheless, at the end is essentially the Doctor.  

   The real part of the episode (despite the mystery and the monsters and the Paternoster Gang) was Clara dealing with the new Doctor. The scenes with Clara, Jenny and Vastra were done well, with Vastra not being so kind about Clara being upset about losing Eleven, and being replaced by a man who....hasn't particularly gotten over the post-regeneration madness, yet.

     Other parts of the episode also showed Clara's 'bossy control freak', as she described herself in Time of the Doctor under the affects of the truth field. Clara and Twelve's chemistry so far is wonderful, and I particularly like the amount of bickering that they do. Twelve in particular is....well, a Sherlock Holmes-y Doctor, which is what I kind of liked. When he's off and about on his own, you can't help but wonder, 'He's going to go back them...right?'. Also, the scene with the [spoilers] and Clara, really reminded me of something that Sherlock would do to Watson. Twelve so far is amusing, funny, yet serious and a bit dark, but still at the heart of it all, the Doctor. 

    The ending scene was perfect to me, and was really something that they've never done before, and it was bittersweet, a bit funny and put a smile on my face, even if it was a tad heartbreaking. Of course, it all ended happily with some Coffee and some Chips... or did it?

    The after-coffee-and-chips scene (well, I can't call it after credits scene, can I?) was particularly interesting, featuring someone who wasn't-Casting Spoilers-supposed to show up until the finale, or at least I thought-End Spoilers. However, I'm curious to see how this arc is going to go. Other tad bits about the episode that I forgot to mention above was: 

Who was the Woman in the Shop?

Who put the ad in the Paper?

Also, the new title sequence! Ah! I liked the design of it all (which was actually based on a fan's titles they did), but I haven't grown accustomed to the new theme yet. 

Next Week on Doctor Who: We go...Into the Dalek.

What did you think of the episode? What did you think of the Twelfth Doctor? Are you looking forward to the next episode? Comment below!
-Tegan