Doctor Who: Deep Breath (Series 8, Episode 1) - REVIEW

Doctor Who is back for the first full series in over four years! Yes, the last time we have this pleasure was with Series 5 in 2010, and had Series 6 and 7 split up across 2011, 2012 and 2013. Of course sadly we have an Autumn series instead of a Spring, which for me just seems like its going into competition with every other Autumn show. All the US stuff, not to mention the BBC's own Atlantis with Strictly, the horrible new show and whatever anyone else puts on. This is a bit of a silly decision: eight months a year with no family Telly and then Autumn and Winter with too much? Yeah, great schedule guys.
This is probably down to not only Steven Moffat and co working on the long-awaited and ultimately slightly disappointing third series of Sherlock, but also to BBC America wanting to put this on at Prime Time. Well, now we've got a lot of geeky stuff to watch (and if you have Sky, you have EVEN MORE).
This long wait doesn't seem to have hindered the actual quality of the series though, but seems to have given it more time to work out this new direction. In fact, I think Mr Moffat actually has a plan, and The Time of the Doctor was just a barrier he needed to cross to get to the great stuff!
In fact, as soon as the episode begins we feel a change. There's more CGI and Visual FX for starters, with a dinosaur rampaging around Victorian London and belching up a TARDIS. Then the Paternoster Gang discover a rather strange new man in The Doctor's clothes with Clara, with a lovely homage to The Christmas Invasion, leading to...possibly the best opening titles we've had since Tom Baker's! The sheer creativity of the new titles is purely down to the fan who designed them, and I believe them to be brilliant! It doesn't look realistic and isn't based on logic, but on the creativity of the show and of some styalised visual metaphors. The Doctor travels in space and time, so we naturally journey through a clock and through space with loads of planets and stars and...THAT THEME TUNE!
For me, the theme tune should either sound creepy or alien. As much as I love Peter Howell's, I think Dominic Glynn's seemed to get the scary part. Recently the theme has been getting various re-jigs, and at long last we have a completely new one - something that again we have seen for four years. This new theme sounds both alien and slightly creepy, and its clear that we're going in a more retro direction for the show that we really needed to see, and with a new Doctor (who has only his eyes visible in the titles) that is much older, grumpier and fiercer we might just go back to the old days.

All this and still I haven't got to the episode. Well, there's nothing more to say other than: set-up, with a creepy nemesis to give us some action. In fact, it ends with all these big question marks. Who was the woman in the shop? Who sent the Doctor and Clara to the restaurant? Is the half-faced man really in Heaven? What and where is Heaven? Who the hell is Missy? Is the Doctor really her boyfriend? (I hope not, after Capaldi made such a big no-no about flirting). In fact, I worry that we're just getting this all set-up so Episode 11 and 12 can go "ah, this is what this is all about!" I'd rather we hadn't had the final scene in the Promised Land, as it just adds to the weight of set-up in the episode.
Saying that, the clockwork droids (as that was what they really were) were a great subtle return and were truly terrifying! If this is how scary Doctor Who will be each week from now on, I'm a happy fan.
The T-Rex was a nice addition, and the plot felt nicely settled in with the set-up and regeneration after-effects.
Capaldi was brilliant as The Doctor, with some truly great moments. It was also nice to see Matt Smith again, and I felt his cameo wasn't too intruding for me. All of the jokes and everyone's reactions to Capaldi was great and I really enjoyed watching this episode.
Clara FINALLY is showing more of a character, after various hints across her last ten episodes. Her role feels a lot bigger and I hope this carries on in the rest of the series. I do hope she isn't leaving this year, just as she has more to do. I love Jenna Coleman in the role, as I feel she adds so much to Clara's personality. Her interactions with Capaldi should be great to watch. Jenny was a great addition to the episode, and while I would have liked her to do more with Clara, we instead had to settle with Vastra, who is just getting so cryptic and wise that its just boring now, and Strax, who seems to have used all of his jokes now. While I am happy for Jenny (and maybe Vastra in smaller part) to return (new companion maybe, if Vastra gets killed and Strax goes off to work in Scotland?) as she's good, but the others...meh.
The TARDIS' tweak is nice, and I'm growing more used to Capaldi's outfit, so what else is there to say?
Ben Wheatley was a brilliant director, Steven Moffat redeemed himself, the pacing was great, there was a lot more focus on the characters rather than monster plots, Murray Gold gave us a new score and it was visually very impressive!
Overall, I'd give Deep Breath a 9/10 for being a chilling, hilarious and overall brilliant episode to watch. Bring on next week!