Doctor Who: Deep Breath

[Rocketboy1313]

I did not care for this episode strictly from a production standpoint.
The whole episode is too dark, and the blocking is too close.
Also, everything is really static, lots of scenes of people sitting and talking with ostensibly no pressure or tension to the scene, having tea, being in a cafe, there is a plot going on but the characters seem to be too busy bullshitting about each other's personality flaws to get at it.

I pretty much always hate episodes in which characters tell the audience about their personality traits rather than just showing them. They talk about Clara's personality too much, they talk about the Doctor too much. It sucks.

[BlackoutCreature2]

There were times when I really liked Capaldi's take on the Doctor, but for most of his run he really wasn't given much to work with. I didn't always like everything that Moffat did during Matt Smith's run, River Song being the top of that list, but it always felt like he had a game plan with what he wanted to do, he had a direction he wanted to take the series. During Capaldi's time it just felt like Moffat was throwing whatever he could think of against the wall to see what stuck. The show desperately needed new blood behind the scenes long before it needed new blood in front of the camera and Moffat should've left with Smith.

[Sir Will]

I didn't like this episode much. Clara is terrible and I don't like cranky Doc either. He's not terrible and it works sometimes but overall I like Capaldi more each season.

[Wargriffin]

I liked Clara with 11 but with 12 it depended on the episode

[RobbyB1982]

Another problem with Clara is she was wittier and more interesting when she was first a Dalek...
and then more interesting again when she was an 19th century girl. The actual Clara we got, the third one, wasn't anywhere near as interesting in personality or dynamics and that was always a dissapointment. Also that she had to stay a bit of a blank slate for the sake of the mystery (that had lousy payoff) and then get saddled with the baggage of being the companion that was around for the 50th? Ouch.

Her arc in Capaldi's season was much better, as she actually had one... but then she stayed on for a third season and really had nothing to do.


Now, one of the problems with Capaldi was basically everyone, from the fans to the writers, wanted him to play his angry cursing Malcolm Tucker role again... and thats not really how he wanted to do the Doctor and it showed, it was an awkward fit, but they settled into him better by season 2.

Sadly, even after a whole season I still don't feel like Jodie Whitaker has got *it*. Thats mostly the scripts she's being given but her doctor has... no personality at all? Most Doctors have me at least a little on board by their second episode, but....

The show desperately needed new blood behind the scenes long before it needed new blood in front of the camera and Moffat should've left with Smith.

We know as a matter of public record Moffatt was ready to leave by the middle of Capaldi's run... and he was probably actually ready to leave after the 50th, but there was just no one to replace him and so he stayed on. His burnout here and on Sherlock was pretty palpable as the quality slipped. Matt Smith Era is probably going to be my favorite for some time, his personality and the kind of stories he had are 'just about everything I ever wanted from Doctor Who.

Capaldi was good as the Doctor, but like most doctors, he gets some great episodes that are all time classics like Mummy on the Orient Express, Flatline, and the season finales.... but he also had some really bad episodes like Kill the Moon and the forest episode, and the rest are just sort of there. Not good, not bad, not memorable.

(Still say a huge number of the problems with KtM would have been solved by just making it an alien moon instead of Earth's.)

[Fianna]

Chuck's description of the 12th Doctor's "What is wrong with you idiots!?" attitude is the reason I've never really been able to get into Doctor Who (regardless of which Doctor we're talking about). I like a lot of the stories, but I can't stand the Doctor's arrogance. Or rather, I could stand the Doctor's arrogance, if it didn't so often seem like the writers believe his arrogance is one hundred percent justified, and share in his mix of contempt and pity for anyone who doesn't hop on the "The Doctor is the best!" bandwagon.

[User 2632]

Capaldi was good as the Doctor, but like most doctors, he gets some great episodes that are all time classics like Mummy on the Orient Express, Flatline, and the season finales...

It took me a few minutes to remember which episode Flatline was... and I think that's the problem I have with Capaldi's first season. They just weren't as memorable as they should have been.

If you'd have asked me which episode "Deep Breath" was before watching the video, I'd have guessed it was the one that was actually Under The Lake / Before The Flood. Y'know, because of the underwater base and everything.

I'd completely forgotten about Capaldi's first story.

[jadenova]

"Please don't change."

Hmm. Is Clara talking about the physical change or the mental change?

[BunBun299]

It annoyed me greatly that they retconned the Doctor's theft of the Tardis from ''I stole this to go travelling/do good in the universe'' to Clara telling him which one to pick, making her in effect the most important companion he has ever had. If you don't like her that is a pretty big turd to swallow. This is even worse than the ''Tardis is a woman'' episode.
Sigh. I do very, very much prefer the classic series but I had so much fun with 9 and 10 that I cannot say I am not a fan of the first half of the new series. The second half is very much Stargate Universe for me; one or two good episodes here and there but mostly a blot on what came before.

I think almost everyone missed the point of that scene. The Great Intelligence had spread itself all over the Doctor's Timeline to undo everything he'd ever done. One of the things it altered was which Tardis the Doctor stole. Clara was undoing that, redirecting him back to the correct Tardis. If not for these shenanigans, the Doctor would always have gone to that Tardis.

[Hazumu]

As of now having finished Capaldi's run, I think Capaldi's doctor works a lot better when he seems to give a crap about those who he is saving, as opposed to acting a bit like a sociopathic prick who doesn't seem to care that others are dying around him. "Your friend is the top layer of goo if you want to say a few words" comes to mind.

Say what you will about Missy, but her showing how similar they were really seemed to wake him up about the fact that he's not that different from her, and made him a much more compassionate individual.

Your post inspired me to finally create an account, instead of remaining an occasional lurker in the forum. I definitely agree that Capaldi came off as far too callous in the begining. In fact, the line you cited almost made me stop watching.

Sorry for the absolute randomness of this post. I just felt that yours summed up my own feelings on the subject so succinctly that I was compelled to say "Thank you" (I actually involuntarily said it aloud when I first read your post ).