Not the best of openers, but does it's job. Introduces Twelve in a unique way. I wasn't too fond of the episode as a whole, as it seemed rather silly at times. The humour was on and off, with some jokes being downright hilarious ("Don't look into that mirror; it's furious!") and some being rather cringeworthy (see: Pasternosta scenes). The episode succeeds in being darker, that's for sure, in both the writing and directing. Above average TV, but not impressive by Doctor Who's standards.
The writing was rather up and down, with many unnecessary scenes and bad dialogue, yet many amazing scenes that make way for a great first series for Capaldi (hopefully I won't look back at this in a few months time and realise just how wrong I was). Apparently Moffat started this episode by thinking of a great first scene, the dinosaur scene, and work from there (he said this in the Q&A after the cinema broadcasts). This was apparent in more than one way. The dinosaur was just unnecessary in my opinion, and I do think that was just the result of Moffat writing the first scene first with no idea on the story. But yeah, up and down writing. Very different from before, but still clearly 'Moffat'
The directing is to be hugely complimented. The episode was very atmospheric and dark. Ben Wheatley never ceases to amaze. It seemed quite cinematic, which makes sense given Doctor Who's huge budget now and the length between series, but the directing deserves applause and certainly helped the episode along. You can't help but be impressed by the scale of things in a mere TV show.
The characters and acting were on and off too. I still fail to see the point in the 'Pasternosta Gang', consisting of Vastra, Jenny and Strax, and don't like them. They're very 'Moffat' characters in that he makes them seem like huge, important characters to the show and the Doctor whereas they're just there for comedic affect, bad advice from Vastra and support for homosexuality (which is great if done well). However, Twelve strikes me as a great character, I just hope he stabilises and becomes himself soon, because he feels all over the place. Maybe that's needed right now. Nonetheless, Capaldi's a great actor. I finally like Clara to a degree. She's still annoying to me, but enjoyable a lot of the time.
Murray Gold never ceases to impress either. The 'I Am The Doctor' variations are gone and it's a completely new, different soundtrack. I tried to pick out Twelve's theme, but I didn't know which it was; or even if this Doctor has one. Somehow Gold's music remains gold even now, working for every scene. It doesn't seem to blast out as much in this episode either, unlike before. Aye, the music is possibly just as impressive as the directing.
Smith's cameo was really appreciated by me. Unlike Tennant and Russell, who had Ten say thing like "I'll die and some new guy goes sauntering away" and "I don't wanna go", making many fans hate Moffat and Smith before they'd even started, Smith and Moffat had the Eleventh Doctor openly welcome Twelve. To me, the scene wasn't just speaking to Clara, but to the audience. "It's alright. Help him become him. He's still me. He's the Doctor". That along with Capaldi saying that he remembers saying that made me realise that they are the same person, not that Eleven had died and Twelve is "sauntering away". I think it was needed for this darker Doctor and is possibly my favourite thing about the episode.
The villain is extremely well done. I didn't like many things about it, such as the way the ending was handled, but it looked very well done and I think that some themes surrounding it, such as the skin balloon, were quite dark by Doctor Who's standards. It's stretching the whole 'children's show' thing is originally had. I rather liked the comparisons with the Clockwork droids back in 2006, but I wish they either took that further or just ignored the comparisons, as it felt unnecessary.
Not a fan of where all of these arcs are going. I was hoping that Moffat had ditched that and was going simpler. The whole 'where did I get this face from', 'promised land' and 'woman in the shop/restaurant' thing doesn't become too big and take up lots of time. I have faith, though, as Moffat seems to recognise his flaws and is trying many new things, such as the much darker episodes with more death and implied scenes.
One thing I was looking forward to was the 'breathing room', something series 7B didn't have. We definitely got that, but if don't think it was put to good use. A lot of silly running around scenes and pointless discussions just for the sake of it. But I loved the scenes like the restaurant scene and the TARDIS scene at the end. Much preferred to 7B's story after story with no character development and rushed plots, though. If it continues like this I'll prefer the show to last year.
Overall, isn't an amazing episode by Doctor Who's standards, but is still worthy of a good 6 or 7 out of 10. I'll be nice and go with 7/10. It's definitely not for everyone and is very different to Smith's era. I found myself enjoying it in a very different way to how I enjoyed Smiths' series. I've found most Doctor openers to be fairly average, if not below or slightly above, and this is really no different. Capaldi has potential and I hope I'm not disappointed in the future.
The writing was rather up and down, with many unnecessary scenes and bad dialogue, yet many amazing scenes that make way for a great first series for Capaldi (hopefully I won't look back at this in a few months time and realise just how wrong I was). Apparently Moffat started this episode by thinking of a great first scene, the dinosaur scene, and work from there (he said this in the Q&A after the cinema broadcasts). This was apparent in more than one way. The dinosaur was just unnecessary in my opinion, and I do think that was just the result of Moffat writing the first scene first with no idea on the story. But yeah, up and down writing. Very different from before, but still clearly 'Moffat'
The directing is to be hugely complimented. The episode was very atmospheric and dark. Ben Wheatley never ceases to amaze. It seemed quite cinematic, which makes sense given Doctor Who's huge budget now and the length between series, but the directing deserves applause and certainly helped the episode along. You can't help but be impressed by the scale of things in a mere TV show.
The characters and acting were on and off too. I still fail to see the point in the 'Pasternosta Gang', consisting of Vastra, Jenny and Strax, and don't like them. They're very 'Moffat' characters in that he makes them seem like huge, important characters to the show and the Doctor whereas they're just there for comedic affect, bad advice from Vastra and support for homosexuality (which is great if done well). However, Twelve strikes me as a great character, I just hope he stabilises and becomes himself soon, because he feels all over the place. Maybe that's needed right now. Nonetheless, Capaldi's a great actor. I finally like Clara to a degree. She's still annoying to me, but enjoyable a lot of the time.
Murray Gold never ceases to impress either. The 'I Am The Doctor' variations are gone and it's a completely new, different soundtrack. I tried to pick out Twelve's theme, but I didn't know which it was; or even if this Doctor has one. Somehow Gold's music remains gold even now, working for every scene. It doesn't seem to blast out as much in this episode either, unlike before. Aye, the music is possibly just as impressive as the directing.
Smith's cameo was really appreciated by me. Unlike Tennant and Russell, who had Ten say thing like "I'll die and some new guy goes sauntering away" and "I don't wanna go", making many fans hate Moffat and Smith before they'd even started, Smith and Moffat had the Eleventh Doctor openly welcome Twelve. To me, the scene wasn't just speaking to Clara, but to the audience. "It's alright. Help him become him. He's still me. He's the Doctor". That along with Capaldi saying that he remembers saying that made me realise that they are the same person, not that Eleven had died and Twelve is "sauntering away". I think it was needed for this darker Doctor and is possibly my favourite thing about the episode.
The villain is extremely well done. I didn't like many things about it, such as the way the ending was handled, but it looked very well done and I think that some themes surrounding it, such as the skin balloon, were quite dark by Doctor Who's standards. It's stretching the whole 'children's show' thing is originally had. I rather liked the comparisons with the Clockwork droids back in 2006, but I wish they either took that further or just ignored the comparisons, as it felt unnecessary.
Not a fan of where all of these arcs are going. I was hoping that Moffat had ditched that and was going simpler. The whole 'where did I get this face from', 'promised land' and 'woman in the shop/restaurant' thing doesn't become too big and take up lots of time. I have faith, though, as Moffat seems to recognise his flaws and is trying many new things, such as the much darker episodes with more death and implied scenes.
One thing I was looking forward to was the 'breathing room', something series 7B didn't have. We definitely got that, but if don't think it was put to good use. A lot of silly running around scenes and pointless discussions just for the sake of it. But I loved the scenes like the restaurant scene and the TARDIS scene at the end. Much preferred to 7B's story after story with no character development and rushed plots, though. If it continues like this I'll prefer the show to last year.
Overall, isn't an amazing episode by Doctor Who's standards, but is still worthy of a good 6 or 7 out of 10. I'll be nice and go with 7/10. It's definitely not for everyone and is very different to Smith's era. I found myself enjoying it in a very different way to how I enjoyed Smiths' series. I've found most Doctor openers to be fairly average, if not below or slightly above, and this is really no different. Capaldi has potential and I hope I'm not disappointed in the future.