Everyone
seems to have a different idea of what a spoiler is. I think of spoilers as
anything that is meant to be a secret until you watch it. A spoiler reveals a
fact or detail about a storyline that is meant to catch you off guard.
Otherwise, it’s an appetizer. I am going to give a review of the first full
episode with Peter Capaldi as the Doctor. I will not give out information on
the few items in the episode that are meant to be a surprise. I will deal with
other aspects of the episode.
I want to
start off stating that I half heartedly suspect that this “leak” was
intentional. I think Steven Moffat is so excited about this new series himself
that he somehow allowed this “leak” to happen. Why else will they be screening
the new episode so far in advance in Wales? Do they actually believe that those
people will stay silent about what they have seen? If they want to keep it
secret, they can do so and they know how to do so. They kept the 50th
anniversary on the low down and that plays into my suspicion here.
I also want
to say that this episode played beautifully in black and white, and that also
plays a little into my suspicion that this was intentional. It’s one way to
present the episode in black and white without much complaining. This episode,
in black and white, had a Patrick Troughton, early Jon Pertwee vibe to it. I
haven’t enjoyed a black in white episode in a very long time. I do hope that
when the DVD comes out, it comes with the option to play it in black and white.
So, for the
review; I loved the episode. Peter Capaldi on his first outing did amazing. I
am not a fan of “regeneration jitters” like some people are. I rather preferred
the approach taken with Troughton and Pertwee after regeneration. Tom Baker
started the tradition of bizarre behavior following regeneration and they went
all out with Peter Davison. Colin Baker tried to kill his companion following his
regeneration and Sylvester McCoy was so goofy and off the wall that it sadly
turned me off to the rest of his tenure.
Capaldi is
a blend of all of the above. I was overall impressed with his first foray as
the Doctor. What I was not a fan of was Strax, Jenny, and Vastra. They’re in
the episode and painfully so. I really am not a fan of their characters. There
is a dinosaur in the episode, for part of it anyhow. I thought at first that it
was “Invasion of the Dinosaurs” version II, but that wasn’t the case here. I
like the Doctor’s reactions towards the beast. It made for good material.
The enemy
is a really neat looking robot ~slash~ humanoid type being that has a speaking
style that is almost without emotion. I like it. The Doctor really has
wonderful dialogue with this being and we see a much darker Doctor emerge,
especially in regards to how he handles “enemies”. There’s one point in the
episode, and this may be considered a little bit spoilery, but the Doctor
actually abandons Clara and leaves her with the monster. It makes the Doctor
look very selfish and I love how they play it out. It was a surprise to me. It
all works out in the end, but that’s part of the fun that I’ll leave to you
watching the episode.
After they
dispatch the enemy (or so they think), the Doctor takes the Tardis out for a
new refit. I’d love to see how it looks in color, but it looks pretty good in
black and white. He returns for Clara and we see the Doctor has a new piece of
furniture in the Tardis. It reminds me of a piece of furniture that Sylvester
McCoy had for a little while in his Tardis, although I’m sure it’s not the same
one. It does make the Doctor seem older and more thoughtful when we see him use
this item. The last five minutes of the episode or so are well worth the price
of admission. This episode is about the change in the Doctor and Clara’s
relationship. They point out Clara’s pettiness. That is one of the few good
scenes with Vastra. I’ll give her that. In fact, there is a sequence between Vastra
and Clara that explains the last 9 years of Doctor Who and why the Doctor
appeared so young while actually being so old. It was a brilliant explanation.
The Doctor
seems comfortable in his skin during the last five minutes and yes, there’s a
much talked about cameo during this time. I’ve heard people say, especially
those who have read the scripts, while not seeing the show, that they think it’s
tacky. It certainly didn’t come across as tacky to me. I thought it was pretty
good. I’m a Doctor Who fan from a long time ago and it really was nice to see.
The ending
of the episode sets up a story arc that is looks very promising. We see our old
foe isn’t down and out as we have been led to believe. There’s a new lady in
town who thinks she’s the Doctor’s girlfriend, and in this episode, the Doctor
starts to realize that there’s someone out there, going back into last season,
who is influencing chains of events in his life. I think his interest is
piqued.
Listen, if
you want to know more, then go watch the episode. You certainly won’t regret
it. I didn’t. I still plan on watching it in August. It’ll be interesting
seeing how this looks in color, but again, it looked and played great in black
and white. If nothing else, it has got me more excited for the new series of
the show. I think that was the whole reason behind the supposed “leak”.
I see there
has been some complaining online from people who are saying that the new Doctor
picks on Clara a lot. Listen, go back and watch Hartnell’s episodes. He picked
on his assistants too, especially Ian Chesterton. Many times he couldn’t even
get his name right! I’m glad to see Capaldi returning to this approach towards
his companions. For far too long we’ve seen the Doctor be too cushy with his
assistants, even kissing them. This Doctor isn’t the hugging type! I’m very
excited to see where Doctor Who goes now. I’m afraid that they are going to
lose some of the audience who tunes in to see a soap opera version of the show,
but for old die hards like me, it’s a very promising start!
