It's far too early to draw any conclusions as to how Peter Capaldi and the writers will define the Twelfth Doctor -- but that isn't going to stop me or any fan of the series.
First, the episode is pretty much of a corker. With a new, weird opening sequence, we start out with a story involving a dinosaur, the Paternoster Gang and cyborgs in the Victorian Era. Most of the fun lies in figuring out who the new Doctor is.
Of course, all the Doctors are variations on the basic character laid down half a century ago by William Hartnell. Even so, there is enormous room for variation and the better episodes have taken advantage of the actors' strengths. Capaldi's predecessor, Matt Smith, was brilliant at playing an alien so bizarre that he did not understand how weird he seemed to humans. The comedy would frequently overwhelm the stories. Capaldi is equally adept at comedy, but he is not playing the clown that Matt Smith does. When he babbles, you can hear the confusion that he feels. If show-runner Steven Moffat and Capaldi mean to go on in this way, then we have not just a regenerated Doctor to look forward to; we have a regenerated show.
First, the episode is pretty much of a corker. With a new, weird opening sequence, we start out with a story involving a dinosaur, the Paternoster Gang and cyborgs in the Victorian Era. Most of the fun lies in figuring out who the new Doctor is.
Of course, all the Doctors are variations on the basic character laid down half a century ago by William Hartnell. Even so, there is enormous room for variation and the better episodes have taken advantage of the actors' strengths. Capaldi's predecessor, Matt Smith, was brilliant at playing an alien so bizarre that he did not understand how weird he seemed to humans. The comedy would frequently overwhelm the stories. Capaldi is equally adept at comedy, but he is not playing the clown that Matt Smith does. When he babbles, you can hear the confusion that he feels. If show-runner Steven Moffat and Capaldi mean to go on in this way, then we have not just a regenerated Doctor to look forward to; we have a regenerated show.