Take a deep breath Whovians. Doctor Who is officially back with Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman opening the new season last Saturday as the legendary doctor-companion pair.
Almost exactly a year after Capaldi was revealed as the new doctor, the new series premiered in UK today with first episode "Deep Breath" by series showrunner Steven Moffat. According to Cnet.com, the episode is the perfect concoction of vintage Moffat style. There's clever dialogue, quotable quotes, adrenaline-pumping action, and scenes that have just the right sinister suspense.
In the episode, we see Capaldi jumping right into the middle of action with a trip to Victorian London where he has to figure out the source of a series of lethal spontaneous combustions. Oh. And there is a dinosaur as well too.
To ease viewers into the new lead, familiar faces also return to the first episode as well. In the premier, fan favorites Madame Vastra and Strax make a comeback to assist the 12th doctor in his new adventure, IGN.com spills.
The 80-minute episode has a cinematic scale to it that only master of macabre Ben Wheatley could pull off. The movie director who helmed the premier effortlessly established an eerie atmosphere for the robots-yes there were robots too!-which required the characters to hold their breath to escape detection. (Weeping angels, anyone?)
Variety.com also gives nod to the undeniable chemistry between Capaldi and Coleman's characters. Despite Clara dealing with trust issues regarding the new Doctor, everyone can see instant rapport between the two during their centerpiece restaurant scene. Rather than underlying sexual tension common to past doctors before, however, the scene shows the ability of the two to push each other's buttons.
Deep Breath was full of meta references for evolution and transformation (robots and dinosaurs, hello?) and the premier episode capped and finished it off with a tribute to past Doctors. The opening was a light-hearted and rather comedic remembering delivered by Strax who recounted the doctors using a condensed and rather repetitive regeneration timeline while the closing shifted to a more sentimental mood featuring the passing of the symbolic baton.
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