Well, it was months in the making, which included a special to introduce the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi to the world. So how did the first episode fair you ask with the new Doctor? Overall, it was a successful launch. But, the jury is still out. The one thing that is clear is how each one of its predecessors tackled the role in their own unique way. There is no question on Capaldi’s acting ability. And only time will tell on his take on the Doctor that in theory should be different from those who came before him.
Warning spoilers ahead…
The episode opens in 19th century London with a T-Rex walking around. Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax are present there. To their surprise, the T-Rex coughs up the TARDIS. Strax goes and knocks on the door to investigate. This is when the new Doctor quickly appears and disappears after shushing Strax. A moment later the Doctor reappears but he is not quite himself. He doesn’t quite recognize everyone, at least my name. I guess two thousand years of regeneration can make anyone including the Doctor a bit fuzzy. He even has a hard time recognizing Clara as his companion, something that concerns Clara greatly.
A common theme in the episode is how much older the Doctor looks even though he has a brand new face. This is a theme I believe will continue beyond this first episode. So much of Deep Breath is about rediscovery. The Doctor trying to rediscover who he is and who everyone else is. For Clara, it’s rediscovering who the Doctor is and her place as his companion.
When the Doctor disappears, Clara comes across an ad in the newspaper that references “Impossible Girl” a name the Doctor use to call Clara. She along with Madame Vastra believes is from the Doctor. This belief leads Clara to a restaurant. The Doctor does indeed arrive as well. Each one believes that the other placed the ad. The Doctor soon realizes that there is something very wrong with this restaurant. No one is breathing or eating and his thoughts are confirmed when her and Clara attempt to leave and is immediately surrounded by these non-breathing patrons.
They sit back down and a waiter approaches them. He begins to name different organs and the Doctor deciphers that this is what “they” intend to take from them. When he rips off the face of the waiter to reveal a machine underneath, he and Clara and strapped to their seats and begins to descend. When it reaches the bottom, it turns out they’re in an ancient spaceship that harvest’s humans. This is where they discover a cyborg, but not a normal cyborg of a man becoming a robot but a robot turning into a man.
The Doctor leaves Clara behind as the cyborg begins to wake up. Clara pretends to be a robot and holds her breath. She slowly away to find a way out but struggles to hold her breath. When the other robots including the cyborg discover her, they surround her and she passes out. When she wakes up, the cyborg threatens her with torture if she didn’t tell him where “the other one” is. Clara stays strong knowing that the Doctor will arrive to save her. Her feelings are just as the Doctor does arrive. Also arriving was Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax who have disabled the facility and have called the police.
The cyborg bolts and the Doctor gives chase. The two battle with each other but it’s a standstill. The cyborgh seeks the “promised land”. The Doctor says there is no such thing and wants him to self-destruct but the cyborg says that it’s against his basic programming to do so. The Doctor counters by saying that murder is against his but one of them is lying. The scene shifts to show the robots shutting down. Later we see the cyborg impaled on a weathervane. How he got there? We may never know.
Clara is left with Madame Vastra, who offers to have Clara stay with her, Jenny and Strax. But she points out that she has on good authority that the Doctor will arrive soon. No sooner that being said, the sound of the TARDIS is heard. Clara rushes to see him and finds that the TARDIS has been rebuilt. He tells her that he has made some mistakes and that he needs to fix some of those.
This is where the most poignant part of Deep Breath comes when The Doctor asks Clara if she wants to stay with him. Clara isn’t sure because doesn’t have the same connection to him as she did to the previous Doctor. When Clara’s phone rings, the Doctor encourages her to answer it by teasing her that it’s her boyfriend. Clara answers the call and it’s the Eleventh Doctor calling her prior to his regeneration. It’s an emotional scene for both. He tells her that as scared as she is, the man in the TARDIS is even more scared. He tells her that the Twelfth Doctor needs her help more than she knows. He then tells her his final goodbye.
The Doctor appears and asks again her again if she’ll stay? He admits he is starting to remember the past. He wants her to see him for who he is now and not who he once was. They hug. Realizing that the Doctor didn’t take Clara home but instead they’re in Glasgow, they decide to have coffee and take it one adventure at a time.
The final scene shows the cyborg waking up and being greeted by a woman named Missy. She refers to the Doctor as her boyfriend and hoped that he wasn’t too mean to him. She then welcomes him to the Promised Land. That’s’ the end of story or should I say, the beginning?
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
