YOOOO! My favourite Doctor Who reviewer is back! Lets go, Harbo, you should make reviews of everything up to Jodie's era! (honestly past then, i couldn't care less.)
"Even if Moffat starts writing one-handed again" had me chuckling. Oh wow, the obsessional infatuation he had toward Clara Oswald and his own muse Jenna Coleman. 🤣🤣
Honestly what I love about Capaldi's Doctor is that it feels like he's learned to accept his past as the War Doctor and has grown from his time on Trenzalore. He's shedding the mask that was the 11th Doctor's child-like nature, a mask we've saw slip from time to time, and is coming to terms of who The Doctor is. Leaving him to ask if that makes him a good man?
Very similar thoughts from me. Capaldi is actually moving on from the past, dealing with it then moving onwards. 9/10/11 were all ways of coping with the immediate aftermath of destroying Gallifrey. But 12 was the first one freed of the guilt, and now dealing with the responsibilities that left him with and what it meant to go on after no-one else would. That’s also why I had some hope in 13, there was space for a progression there, from the dark acceptance of responsibility in the shadow of recently shed guilt to the excitable embrace of the job they loved before the death of Gallifrey and still did after. Sadly it didn’t quite play out like that.
11 was what Clara WANTED. 12 is what she NEEDED. Rose began catching feelings for 9, and was rewarded with 10. Two relationships that great progression.
I think with some stronger writing more akin to the tone here, Into the Dalek and Heaven Sent, and less of the wacky stuff that seemed to increase in S8 & 9, he could have been 'the best' certainly of the modern era. He deserved at least another season too it felt like when we really got our teeth into him and knew him it was announced he was leaving :/
One last thing I promise. I really Like Capaldi's costume and the variations of it in the later series. It feels very Capaldi. It is kind of common knowledge that he was in bands and stuff in his youth and university years and his looks give like 60s mod mixed with aged rockstar. especially with the longer hair. Think like Rod Stewart or someone like that. I dig it.
Capaldi's first series was a triumph. I absolutely adored it and he quickly became my new favourite Doctor. Clara also works much better with him than with Smith imo.
While I agree that Clara works better with Capaldi's Doctor than she did with Smith's I don't agree that his first series was a "triumph', ( though it does contain two of my favorite Capaldi episodes. "Mummy On The Orient Express' and 'Flatline' both by Jamie Mathieson. ) In my opinion Capaldi's best season was his last...series 10.
Fair enough to both of you, I haven't seen his other series as many times as his first, but in this series, almost every single episode is one of my all time favourites. Partly because of some really good sci-fi concepts, partly because his brazen sarcasm is at its funniest here.
@@littleredruri I'm just the opposite. I thought the stories of those series were mostly much more dull and the constant 2 parters really annoyed me. I like 2 parters every now and then, but I prefer episodic shows to more serialised ones, and if I don't like the plot or concepts of a 2 parter, that just means I have to endure a story I dislike even longer, making me resent it.
I always love how they leave the fate of the half face man ambiguous. Did he fall? Did he jump? Or was he pushed? We know the Doctor has that darkness in them and that if it came to it they would take a life. And with you know those first post regeneration moments being chaotic and the Doctor being unstable and unpredictable after regeneration combining that with the inner darkness we know the Doctor has makes that a very interesting moment.
It's not really ambiguous though. The Doctor threw the robotic man off. It's all in the preceding dialogue. The bot says that self-termination is against its basic programming to which the Doctor responds, "And murder is against mine." After the physical struggle between them ends, 12 adds that one of them is lying about their basic programming. Which one was lying? The Doctor, of course. We've seen the Doctor kill before and know that they were willing to murder two whole species to end the Time War. They don't relish killing, but they will do it. We know the Doctor is the one lying. The Doctor killed the robot man.
@@MarkWiseTechnowatching this episode today, the tone in which the robot says yes in response to ‘one of us is lying about our basic programming’ I felt it was clear that it was him lying.
I remember once disliking Capaldi's doctor but now I wish I'd just accepted it from the start, he's now my favourite doctor of all time, and sure I grew up watching Tennant and smith but Capaldi's doctor truly cemented my love for the show. Every episode capaldi is in just becomes better just thanks to his absolutely brilliant performance. I miss his doctor far more that any other and I'd pay to no end just to see him back in the show even for a minute.
The Final confrontation between the Half faced man and Capaldi have always made this episode for me, along with the final scenes between Clara and The Doctor, adore them
@@NileSWPhotography Exactly, especially considering I've heard different people be assured that he killed him or assured that he didn't. The ambiguity means depending on how you read Capaldi's doctor, particularly in Series 8, he could be someone who would kill him to save everyone or in fact that the half faced man decided he was past his time and that he should not go on further and never had anything against self destruction. Regardless the day is saved but the Doctor stands above the dead body
Deep Breath fixes all my issues with the Smith-era almost instantly. It's such a triumph of a story that still is so underappreciated. Series 8 goes up in my estimation every time I rewatch it.
@@mayotango1317 This is the most, "if you like pancakes then you must hate waffles" comment I have ever seen. How are you drawing any sort of comparison here?
2014 was definitely a game changer for fans to accept Capaldi as the new Doctor. It took me till “Listen” to accept him as the Doctor. This episode was a nice start for a solid season. Can’t believe it’s almost a decade since it premiered, I feel old. (But I’m still young)
Took me all the way until Flatline before I really saw and accepted him as the Doctor (in his first big speech really, where he exits the TARDIS and declared he is the Doctor and is there to defeat the monsters). Perfect moment for him to click and I've adored him ever since.
@@TheMoodbeam yeah that was a good moment and have to admit took a few episodes to accept him and now I look back and can't even imagine having to go that xD
He clicked for me near instantly, from his very first scene at the end of Time of the Doctor. Throughout Deep Breath I was already fully on board and I think that definitely contributed to him quickly becoming my all-time favorite incarnation.
Having studied paleontology at uni, I have to take umbridge with your feathers comment. My tutor worked on fossils so detailed you can tell what colour they were, and that is absolutely incredible
@@HarboWholmes I disagree. It looks real and visceral, more so than the movie-monster style we're used to. It makes them into what they always were, animals. Also, some of the scariest animals on the planet today are fluffy as hell, so we know for a fact that your fuzziness has very little impact on how scary an animal can actually be.
Current understanding is T rex didn’t have feathers (except maybe juvenile fuzz). But on dinosaurs which definitely had feathers, like raptors, I think it can look cool. The fan shaped tails, and feathers crests. Massive upgrade from the JP design
I remember seeing this in the cinema and I really enjoyed Capaldi as the Doctor because of this being more philosophical about whether he is a good man etc. He and Coleman’s chemistry was immediate as well. I also realised as well that Coleman does a lot more slapstick humour than any other companion in NuWho, I could not see any other companion getting a newspaper thrown at them (which is hilarious because it’s so different to the humour we’ve seen before), or getting pushed into the shaft by Missy in s9. When Capaldi was announced I was also really excited to see DW go back to the roots of “grumpy old man”/educator role/not love interest like we saw from Classic Who. Series 8 as well is such a good consistently strong series. Nothing but praise!
Por esos motivos que empezó a agradarme Clara más conTwelve que con Eleven. Con Clara y Twelve la chispa se notó de inmediato desde que tuvieron esa cita en el restauran
I love 12 and his attack eyebrows (I also love his numerous callback references to older doctors that remind the viewer "these are all the same person")
Series 8 was my introduction to the show and to this day Capaldi is my favourite Doctor. I just love everything about 12. The banter, the outfit, the distracted rambling, the age, the accent, the eyebrows, everything just works to make me fully believe that this is a man who has seen galaxies fade into nothingness over the course of his life.
The Capaldi era is my absolute favourite era of the show, and Deep Breath my second favourite new Doctor introduction - I'm so happy that you really gave it the justice it deserves!
I think we can forgive the 9-10 regeneration out of action period for a good reason, the doctor absorbed the heart of the tardis from Rose which nobody is supposed to do and did a lot of damage to his body. In other doctor deaths have been relatively minor in comparison needing less sleep..
When new who first aired, I watched pretty much every episode, but stopped watching just before the end of Series 7A (I did see DotD though) so I didn't see Matt's regeneration. So when the phone call scene happened in deep breath it was a very powerful scene for me as a viewer. I figured a new Doctor would be the best point to jump back into watching Doctor Who, but I wasn't expecting to get to see Matt again. Such an amazing scene both in the programme itself and how it works outside the programme to transition viewers from 11 to 12 as you say. One of the most memorable scenes in the whole franchise imo.
"Even if Moffat starts writing one-handed again" had me chuckling. Oh wow, the obsessional infatuation he had toward Clara Oswald and his own muse Jenna Coleman. 🤣🤣
Awesome review (: While I completely agree with you about 12 and the episode in general - I feel like people always hate too much on Clara's reaction, and the episode doesn't help that at all. I mean, I never felt like it was all about his appearance for her, and she even practically told Vastra as much. It wasn't the mere fact of him appearing older, but more about how he was behaving, leading up to and then following his regeneration. She was worried about his condition, and about the future of their relationship, which is understandable.. But she never actually judged him or rejected him. I think what I mean becomes super apparent when you take the events of "Time of the Doctor" into consideration too.. I mean talk about an emotional rollercoaster! Let's think of it from Clara's POV: 1. She wakes up Christmas-eve morning, nervous about having to cook dinner for her entire family. She's clearly stressed and it's not going great. The food won't be ready on time and to top it all, she made the mistake of inventing a boyfriend. When she calls to ask the Doctor for help, he hardly even listens (I know, he had more important stuff going on, but again we're thinking about everything from Clara's POV). 2. When he does eventually show up, he meets her family naked - embarrassing her, and then promptly leaving (as far as her family is concerned), sticking her with having to explain everything like always. 3. He then drags her into an adventure, which is fair enough - But as soon as he realizes what's going on, he sends her away without any warning or explanation. Again, we as the viewers understand why it's way to dangerous for Clara to stick around, and we might even understand his reluctance to say goodbye. But, for Clara, it was sudden af. 4. Once she does get back, after a 300 year long trip through the time vortex (which has gotta be scary and traumatic by itself), he's not even apologetic. And still, she forgives him as long as he promises to never send her away like that again. He promises, only to ofc, break the promise mere minutes later - Sending Clara away AGAIN, with no goodbye. 5. She has to go back home to her family dinner, thinking she's never going to see him again, and having to "act normal" while her step-mom talks her ear off about setting her up with someone else.. Like it was any other "break up", or as if the Doctor was in any way replaceable. 6. When she finally gets back to the Doctor - It's only to say goodbye to him, as he's literally dying. It's worth noting he wasn't the one to bring her (Tasha Lam was), and he seems surprised to see her there, which indicates he wasn't the one to ask for this goodbye. Understandably, she can't act too mad at him given the circumstances, but it doesn't mean she forgot about everything that happened so far. 7. The Doctor then regenerates, which yeah, is also like saying goodbye to a friend in a way, even if she does understand that he's still the same person. He also puts them both at risk, given the fact that he knows better than regenerating in the TARDIS mid-flight by now, and yet he still does it anyway. 8. After being chased by a T-rex and crash-landing in victorian London, he proceeds to act rude towards her, doubting and not listening to Clara in the least, even about facts such as her own name. Now, again. we as the viewers know that it's regeneration sickness. We understand why he's being more erratic than normal, why he's having a hard time remembering things and why he keeps passing out. But Clara doesn't. She might have met other incarnations of the Doctor before, but this is still her first time experiencing the actual regeneration process, and the Doctor (of course) hasn't prepared her for it in the least. She's scared, and worried, as anyone would be given this situation. 9. She then has to deal with judgment from Vastra - which again, wether you feel like it's justified or not, I think it's clear that what Clara really needed at this point was reassurance and compassion.. Not someone to rub salt in the wound and come at her with accusations. Even 11 understood this, which is why (I think) he made that phone call in the first place. 10. The Doctor then proceeds to disappear, leaving her to once again, worry about his well-being... But now, she also starts to worry about being stranded alone in Victorian London. Note that up to this point, THIS HAS ALL CANONICALLY HAPPENED IN A SINGLE DAY FOR CLARA. 10. The next day, she wakes up to Strax checking her over like a "new recruit". He's acting like she's truly there for good, which practically confirms her fears that the Doctor might not be coming back for her. This gets even worse, when she finds the ad in the paper. At this point, Clara is understandably furious. The Doctor not only disappeared on her, leaving her to worry about him all night long, but now he's playing mind games. 11. Minutes after finding out that the ad wasn't from the Doctor, he practically leaves her behind for real while in clear danger (!), under the guise of saving himself. This was the worst possible thing he could have done in this moment, since Clara was clearly already struggling with everything that's happened in the last couple of days. It wasn't about his face, or the fact that he's somehow less "dashing" now. I seriously think everyone would be just as worried and upset given what she's gone through. 12. Even after finding out that the Doctor didn't actually leave her in danger, it understandably does very little to assuage her concerns. He's still playing games in a way which, from her point of view, seems to not care at all about her or her feelings.. He could have said something to clue her in on the plan, but instead he chose to use her fear/tears, against the robots. That is jarring from someone who's supposedly still her best friend. She needs to see that he's still the same person, but he's making it incredibly hard. E.g. He then leaves her AGAIN, taking the TARDIS with him - and once again, it's without a goodbye or any explanation. She's truly unsure if she knows him anymore, and who can blame her. I feel like the context of Time of the Doctor is so important here, and yet people constantly ignore it - choosing to attribute Clara's doubts to the fact that he's no longer a young-looking, dashing guy. That might be partially due to how her actions were framed in this episode, which is the only part that ever truly bothered me about it. I get that Moffet was trying to have Clara be a surrogate for the audience like you've said, but in points it still undermines Clara's character.. I feel like they could have focused more on any of these other points above, as a reason for her wanting to leave, without putting so much emphasis on the Doctor's change in physical appearance. It made a lot of people think of Clara's rejection as purely shallow or whatever, when really - When you look at it from her perspective, I think that her reaction makes sense just as much as the Doctor's hurt does. Basically, neither of them is truly wrong or at fault here, they just see things differently and it's part of the beauty of this story imo. Sorry for the long rambling comment lol.. But Clara is my favorite companion, and that's something that always bothered me about the way people view this episode. Other than that, I do agree with everything you've said. This episode was a great start to 12's arc, a great introduction to his Doctor and a fun story overall. I just wish the whole Clara side of it was handled a bit better, but maybe that's just me IDK.
Wua! Es sorprendente que todo esto salieran de tu mente, hasta pensaria que solo copiaste y pegaste, pero no. Es evidente que eres un fans real de la serie y de Clara. ¿Que si estuvo largo tu comentario? Para nada sigue asi, en lo personal me encanta leer comentarios largos que muestran y explican con argumentos de manera tan profunda. Es extraño y escaso encontrar este tipo de comentarios a cerca de la serie y eso es lo destacable de un fans verdadero, porque hay algunos que solo lo ven por mirar y ante cualquier disgusto que no les agrada solo se lanza a criticarla sin analizar el contexto real con comentarios simples y cortos. En lo respecto a Clara, el desarrollo de su personaje tuvo evolucion en la 8-9serie. Admito que no me agradaba al principio con 11th. Pero luego de ver este episodio y el dialogo con Twelve en el restaurant cambien el concepto que tenia de ella. Siendo unos de mis duos favoritos y perfect en la serie
so excited to see you taking on capaldi's era! (I scoured your videos for ones on the twelfth doctor when I first found your channel like a month ago, so I'm glad the timing of your reviews through all the series means i didn't have to wait long!) I think this is such a good episode for establishing that yes, clara will finally get the proper characterization and character development that she deserves and that the dynamic between her and the doctor is going to be vastly different and much more interesting now that we've left behind the pedestal of the impossible girl storyline. i also think this episode does a really good job of reassuring the viewer that the flirtatious vibe of eleven and clara will not be issue here by having it actually be acknowledged and discussed. It would've been confusing if they established the new twelve and clara dynamic without ever confronting the elephant in the room, especially since in The Time of the Doctor, she literally admitted in the truth field that she fancied him. I think it's handled really well because we get an admittance of romantic feelings from the Doctor ("I never said it was your mistake") paired with a very clear, 'but things cannot be like they were before, and if you continue travelling with me you have to know that i can't be that for you' ("clara, I'm not your boyfriend"). and then instead of dramatizing the issue with a drawn out thing, the scene moves on. their dynamic is endlessly more fascinating than the flatness of straightforward flirtation that we saw with eleven and clara, and i think that little scene in deep breath is so important in clarifying how the relationship will evolve moving forward. (I also think it's fascinating because the struggle to define what their relationship means is key throughout all of series 8 and then in series 9 the writers have given up on pretending that they're not deeply in love lol, but that's just how i see it)
This episode leaked early prior to release but without the visual effects and most of the music. The scene at the end of the episode where the Doctor says "just see me" was so much more impactful without the silly, chirpy music they ended up with in the final edit
Great review of Deep Breath! I remember this story was broadcasted on the first week of my senior year in High School and it was a great way to wrap up the first week of my senior year. I really do like the dark direction they took, and I was like this is pure Doctor Who. I love Peter Capaldi in this story and Peter Capaldi is my second favorite Doctor in the new series. I really do love the 11th Doctor's phone call to Clara and that was such a touching moment and this story is a good sequel to The Girl in the Fireplace.
While I think Capaldi got saddled with very hit or miss scripts, when the scripts hit, they hit fuckin' hard. Heaven Sent was a genius episode that I don't think could've been carried solo by any Doctor besides Capaldi. He's so intense.
Honestly, I don't know if it was the writing in Deep Breath or the fact that I already liked Capaldi as an actor but it was honestly one of the easiest Doctor transitions for my mind to except right out of the gate. It was also probably helped that it was Vastra giving the lecture because I totally had a crush on her so of course I would agree with her reasoning lol
Deep Breath was the first Doctor Who episode i ever watched live, after binging the whole new series on netflix a few months prior, right after my 11th birthday. it has such a special place in my heart to this day, and Twelve will always be my Doctor because of it and the rest his seasons, because i was there to experience it in real time. it’s almost been ten years since then, but i will always look back on that year, and this episode, with love
I’ve watched this episode maybe 6 times and I only just noticed this. When he tells the robot dude that he bets ‘you don’t even know where you got that face’ then shows him the mirror. The other side of the mirror is The doctor looking into the mirror too, releasing he still doesn’t know where he got his own face👍🏽 brilliant use of camera work.
I always loved how it was open ended if the Doctor pushed the half faced man or if he jumped. It was also alluded that since he’d been alive for millions of years that he didn’t want to carry on.
I always liked the post regeneration episodes because it allowed the actors playing the Doctor to have some fun. This in turn allows the audience to have fun and get in the laughs and comedy in preparation for the more serious moments
I love Deep Breath. "Who frowned me this face?" What an incredible start to what would become one of my favorite Doctors ever. Capaldi was so underrated when his episodes were airing, I'm so glad to see a lot of people nowadays talking about how brilliant he was. I didn't like Clara during the Matt Smith era because she felt so one-note to me. It felt like she was only on the show because of "impossible girl" mystery. But Deep Breath was the first episode where I actually started to like Clara. Yes, she and 11 had good chemistry but it felt like a rehash of Amy having the hots for 11. I was so damn tired of companions being attracted to the Doctor it completely soured me on Clara. But with Deep Breath, I was so happy to see a different side of Clara and I love that they moved her relationship with the Doctor in a new direction. I think her relationship with 12 is so much more compelling and complex than what she had with 11. Also we hadn't had a companion follow the Doctor through a regeneration since Rose (and Jack). It was cool to see a companion have to adjust a new Doctor.
Estoy de acuerdo con lo que mencionas. Es verdad que al principio no me agradaba Clara(aún no superaba a los Ponds) pero con Twelve luego de ver este episodio cambie de opinion, el desarrollo de su personaje va en evolucion a medida que avanza la serie 8y 9. Que ellos se volveron mi dúo favorito
Capaldi frequently played 12 as a Stoic. Clara even references Marcus Aurelius, this ties in with Capaldi's Roman other, but more so his character and the stark contrast with 11s fidgeting, manic character. 12 is constantly concerned about his character, is he a good man? All his greatest speeches in this era are about character. Do what is right, good, honest, decent, kind. 12 the Stoic.
For me this was my most eagerly anticipated start to a new Doctor. It really didn't disappoint. And it also has my favourite Doctor and Clara scene, which was the really funny conversation about the newspaper ad at the restaurant.
it's so weird to me to learn that fans didn't like capaldi at first. i got back into DW with 11 but 12 quickly became my favorite of new who. he was so scattered and dry, but i loved it.
Fantastic review -- you really pull a lot of threads together, even getting to Missy! I've loved Peter Capaldi forever -- literally for 2/3 of my life, since his amazing performance in Local Hero in 1983. Thanks for loving him, too.
I loved it overall, the only downside for me is that I felt Capaldi was channeling a little too much of 11's energy at times early on, but once he was out of the dressing gown and into his outfit he really started to cement his own personality on the role.
To be honest, every single succeeding Doctor channels some of their previous incarnation mid post-regenerative crisis since the Davidson Era. The previous personality doesn't totally rubs off after regeneration: it just get blotted upside-down, and had the vestigial remnants gradually fading into non-existence. None of the four early Doctors ever showed this tendency during their post-regenerative traumas, so it was speculated that the reason why the Doctor started to showcases some vestiges of his former incarnation creeping and fading were due to the d*ing Fourth Doctor merging with The Watcher mere seconds prior regenerating, that their fusion somehow affected any of his ulterior incarnations. This is after all since then that the Doctor started to suffer of outbursts of regenerative energy going overdrive. You could no longer approach him when he was regenerating since then, and that was well before the Ninth Doctor absorbing and expelling back the Time Vortex energy emergy out of his body and having any of his regenerations going nuclear, literally, ever since.
This episode is criminally underrated. The more I watch it the more I like it (which is the case with Twelve's whole era tbh). I even rate it higher than Eleventh Hour at this point, not because it's better but because it feels like a progression of that, less accessible to general audiences but more made for fans.
i still remember when i watched this episode in broadcast for the first time in a chilly sunday morning and i really liked it, coming from the 50th expectations were high, but Capaldi became my favourite Doctor ever since, hard to believe 9 years has passed and even harder to believe that i’ve been watching this show for 13 years
0:24 at last, i've found someone talking about doctor who that actually has good taste. couldn't agree more, 12's era is the best of the show in my opinion, and for every reason people say they are "bad" are the exact reasons I love it so much. heck yeah love your videos so much! just listened to the listen one lol, so good!! really great thoughts, one of my favorite eps!
I still remember what I was like in high school and after so much time has passed I don't envy my teachers and I appreciate what they were going through back then.
Clara was already in my top 2 companions before this episode even came out but deep breath cemented her as my favourite, would I have wanted to see more smith and Clara? Yeah. But at the expense of 12 and Clara? Absolutely not
You've convinced me that this is a really good episode, and everything's thematically linked really well. However, I still can't believe that Clara would have that reaction after having seen all of the Doctor's prior incarnations literally episodes beforehand, and after she had just interacted with three different incarnations all at once in the 50th.
Her best friend of several years suddenly has a different face and personality, it doesn't really matter if you know it's possible, experiencing it firsthand (which meeting the previous incarnations is not, as, while they are technically the same person, it's easy to separate them from your version. It's like she says in the climax of the 50th "I never pictured YOU doing it") is very different.
Clara and the Doctor's relationship changed from being flirtatious into something closer to a married couple. They have to trust each other completely and be honest. I didn't understand it when this season first came out, but it makes a lot more sense rewatching it years later. It's a romance of unsaid words.
Of course Clara want sure about 12. Just look at the way he treats her in the first half of the episode, it's very different to how ten treated rose. He completely disregards her as if she's a glob of dog poo on his shoe. Sure, we can attribute that to post-regen amnesia, but it always annoyed me that madame vastra was so hard on her for being hesitant. Like HER doctor disappears and this new guy is rude and angry, and not just the eyebrows.
I just rewatched this yesterday. The difference in quality between this and the previous series is so noticeable. Steven Moffat actually writing a script that isn't over-ambitious and actually feels redrafted. It feels like one of his series 5 (or series 1-4 scripts) and it's just a joy. Not to mention Capaldi instantly shines as a brilliant actor!
I was guilty of dismissing Capaldi's Doctor at first. I was burned out from 7B, and the new dark, abrasive incarnation just put me off of the show completely. I came back a few years later to give it a second chance, and he's my favorite incarnation now. I love the sense of humor, I think he was the perfect choice for the character arcs the show explored, and even when the scripts weren't that great, Capaldi always brought everything he had to every scene he was in. I could've watched him be The Doctor for 3 more seasons at the very least.
To me, the perfect case of continuity includes Deep Breath. Peter Capaldi's first appearance was in Day Of The Doctor. During the "All Thirteen!" scene, you can see Capaldi's hand pull the lever upon the TARDIS console. However if you look in close, the tint on the TARDIS is still the 11th Doctor's TARDIS 7B console room blue. This makes me connect Deep Breath and 12's inclusion within Day Of The Doctor with one scene. I'd like to think he had this scene immediately after 12 left Clara behind with Jenny and Vastra back in the 1880s. This might've been the 12th Doctor's first little outing to himself. Who knows how many hours, days, months or years he had spent out by himself, seeing the universe again with new eyes and a new body. During this time, he might've gotten pulled out of his own time to be apart of his own boot strap paradox. Remembering his involvement with Gallifrey's saving, 12 must have remembered he had to be apart of this redemption and thus gave us the "all 13" scene, meaning that scene with his eyes took place after Deep Breath BEFORE IT EVEN HAPPENED!! Then as a self congratulations, he decided to redecorate and change the vibe to his TARDIS to give it a more homely life.
this was the first doctor who episode i got to watch at release! i remember going to see it in the movie theater with my friends from middle school. i’d been watching since elementary school but this was the first time i’d got caught up enough to see the episode air. great memory and a great episode
3:50 What do you mean by that??? Dinosaurs having feathers is proven fact. T-Rex probably didnt have full bird-like flight feathers, but it almost certainly had at least something vestigial resembling the hair on elephants at least
I really enjoyed the Capaldi as the Doctor. It was risky and brave how they drastically changed the character. One of the issues I had with this era though was the color scheming. They definitely wanted to reflect more serious tone of the show through it, yet at one point you realize everything has these bluish grey tones and to the end of season 10 you really get tired of it. They really overused this color scheme. Although that's not that crucial
My headcanon for the ending is that, during the fight, the Half-Faced Man realised that the Promised Land _wasn't_ real and simply gave up. This means that, whilst the Doctor wasn't _forced_ to kill him, he still feels the guilt for inadvertently pushing the Man off.
I don't even mind this episode for 12 or any of that. The one thing that made me mad was Vastra stealing the Brigadier's "here we go again" line in a context where it made less sense (it made less sense because the Brigadier saw the 2nd and 3rd doctor before his regeneration into the 4th, while Vastra only saw the 11th and still used the word "again" here because REFERENCES TO CLASSIC WHO).
Great review! A great intro episode to what would become one of the greatest Doctors of all time! I would say his series 8 Doctor is just really good, but his series 9 & 10 Doctor is outstanding!
I grew up with Tennant but series 8 sold me on Capaldi. His performance is great and I wish I watched his run while it aired. I can’t wait for the rest of the reviews
I LOVED Capaldi's Doctor and think he is one of the Best Actors to play the character (My favourite is still split between Pat Troughton and Matt Smith but it's really close up there). Deep Breath was great and a fantastic launching point for the new Doctor. The biggest mis-step however, that dragged this series down, was Clara and Danny Pink. Clara had done her job and taking this series to phase her out, choosing to stay with Danny only for him to die and her leaving heartbroken was bold, brilliant and felt right. Only for a last minute rewrite on "Last Christmas" to ruin that. Anyway, Deep Breath gave us a new direction for the Doctor, the Time War was now resolved and part of his past. He had still been shaped by that past, but he was no longer the fairytale wizard that made the world magical to forget his past. He was still the Doctor, but with a new perspective.
I hate to be honest, but as much as Capaldi is THE Doctor… The first half of this super long special kinda drags for me. I’m not a fan of this episode because I feel like it’s at fault unintentionally for alienating the Doctor who fan base and leading it to its loss of cultural relevance (even though it’s still pretty popular today) Part of it is the Victorian trio just completely dumping on the whole clara/Eleven thing and talking down on her like it was an egregious thing. It just felt like a direct nod to how the fans of Doctor who were in love with the smith and Tennant era and idk if it’s just me but it rubbed me the wrong way. It was kinda like a slap to the face. As much as I love the Capaldi era, first impressions are very important, and this first half definitely stumbled a lot with its pacing. THAT BEING SAID, everything past the restaurant scene is GOLDEN!!! Like that is top tier doctor who. And I freaking cried during the final scene with Elevens call.
Great video!! This was the first episode that I ever got to see aired live and it holds such a special place in my heart. I'm so glad that, as you point out, it managed to hit the ground running
One thing I've noticed is that, when the show is in trouble, the Doctor's costume becomes more outlandish and colourful (Colin Baker's Sixth and Jodie Whittaker's 13th)
I never went past Angels in Manhattan throughout every watch through. I’ve only gone past now (as in a literal week ago) because I wanted to see Trenzalore, but I didn’t go past the loss of Amy and Rory because they were my very first companions - i didn’t want them to die so I never let myself see it happen. When I saw 11s regeneration I was sobbing like a baby because he was *MY* Doctor. And then I immediately had the same reaction as Clara to 12’s line about his kidneys. It really threw me off but I liked it. I watched this episode initially being skeptical of Capaldi and the new direction, but he genuinely won me over and now I think he’s me 2nd favourite already and I’m only a few episodes in. It’s not that he’s not Whimsical or bombastic, but that he is in a much different way to Smith and early Tennant. Plus the outfit is so goddamn cool
As much as I like Eleventh Hour, this is my favorite “New Doctor introduction” episode. Capaldi became my favorite Doctor over his run and it began here. Plus they sort of gave us “Governess/Barmaid Clara” back and I feel she was written a great deal better starting from this episode. Plus Missy. The Missy arc is one of my favorite things in the new series.
This episode resonates with me so much because when mat Smith originally regenerated I was sceptical and didn't think capaldi fit the roll, i never gave him a chance and stopped watching the show. When I re watched the entire show at the start of the pandemic lockdowns, I gave him a chance and now he is my favourite modern incarnation of the doctor.
First, I agree that this was a wonderful episode and a great way to introduce Capaldi's Hartnell/Colin Baker influenced Doctor, which was a gutsy move by Capaldi and Moffat. One point, though: you should have credited Peter Ferdinando by name, as his performance as the Half-Face Man was brilliant, especially his half man/half machine voice and his superb eye acting, which told a terrific story by itself.
I’ve always taken the 12th doctor/Clara dynamic to be a second attempt at a Six/Peri, only with a competent writing and production team behind the scenes. The Capaldi doctor was exactly what this show needed, as it was a 180 degree turn from the somewhat twee sachrine turn Matt Smith was basically coasting on. The Capaldi doctor was everything odd and abrasive about the character without the personable sheen of 10 and 11.
Thank you thank you thank you for starting your series 8 coverage, been watching your coverage along with the rewatch of the show. So interested to see how you feel about this one :)
If only more people realized that the "final sanction" joke had been borrowed from "Dylan Dog: Dead of Night". Once you cock the hammer on the gun, all you've got left to escalate threat is shaking it at the target.
OK can we take a moment and acknowledge the fact that Smith‘s doctor had not one but two desktops through his run he’s the only doctor that ever changed his desktop mid run. Remember the original one that we saw him with was this whimsical kind of kiddush, yellowish, and old glass desktop but now or later he changes it to be more space ship after the ponds got lost in Time one would assume that Homie feeling or whimsical feeling must have worn off in the spaceship by is him brooding because it’s more mechanical more stone cold. It reflects what he was feeling at the time which is why he needed someone like Clara.
Glad to see the reviews are back Harbo! (Though I have enjoyed your non-review content!) Been REALLY anticipating your Series 8 reviews due to your beforementioned love for the Capaldi era. I recently rewatched the whole era, and upon rewatch, I love the era much more than I did back in the day. For this episode, for example, I remember not loving "Deep Breath". But on rewatch it's great! Particularly, I LOVE Clara in this episode! I love how it forces her into a unexpectedly uncomfortable situation, having to deal with a Doctor who is so different from one she knew. Really is Jenna's episode! And alot of my nitpicks from back in the day I've put aside, too. Oh, and that end scene is GREAT! However, this is just me personally, but I still don't love how Moffat dialed up the quirkiness on The Doctor to...well...12, in this episode. I know he's just regenerated, but I feel it went a bit too far. Plus I felt it didn't land the "Am I a good man?" take they were doing with 12 that later episodes would do better. Overall, though, thumbs up for "Deep Breath", and anyone who hasn't watched it in a while, perhaps give it another go, as Harbo says. It may surprise you...
I was actually one of the people on the Dr. Who periphery and only seen 10 and 11, After seeing some highlights of 12's tenure, I think I was way too quick to dismiss the show when it switched leads... Thank you for making these reviews, I always wanted to chew on the messaging from these shows some more and your channel is a great way to gauge what flavors are being presented.
I can't wait to see the next reviews of this era. Capaldi was my favorite Doctor and series 8 was one of my favorite series of the show. Can't wait for the next reviews.
Try Readly! With my link you can get 2 months free, which can be canceled at any time: gb.readly.com/harbowholmes-23
YOOOO! My favourite Doctor Who reviewer is back! Lets go, Harbo, you should make reviews of everything up to Jodie's era!
(honestly past then, i couldn't care less.)
Hey Harbo, has anyone ever told you that you almost look a bit like Daniel Radcliffe?
"Even if Moffat starts writing one-handed again" had me chuckling.
Oh wow, the obsessional infatuation he had toward Clara Oswald and his own muse Jenna Coleman. 🤣🤣
The Quintessential Doctor. 😎
Honestly what I love about Capaldi's Doctor is that it feels like he's learned to accept his past as the War Doctor and has grown from his time on Trenzalore. He's shedding the mask that was the 11th Doctor's child-like nature, a mask we've saw slip from time to time, and is coming to terms of who The Doctor is. Leaving him to ask if that makes him a good man?
Very indeed!
Very similar thoughts from me.
Capaldi is actually moving on from the past, dealing with it then moving onwards.
9/10/11 were all ways of coping with the immediate aftermath of destroying Gallifrey. But 12 was the first one freed of the guilt, and now dealing with the responsibilities that left him with and what it meant to go on after no-one else would.
That’s also why I had some hope in 13, there was space for a progression there, from the dark acceptance of responsibility in the shadow of recently shed guilt to the excitable embrace of the job they loved before the death of Gallifrey and still did after. Sadly it didn’t quite play out like that.
The phone call scene was amazing way to pass the torch. Capaldi’s strength as an actor really shines through when he says “You can’t see me.”
11 was what Clara WANTED. 12 is what she NEEDED. Rose began catching feelings for 9, and was rewarded with 10. Two relationships that great progression.
I love this tbh. 12 and Clara's relationship to me screamed "platonic soulmates" which culminated in the toxicity that it was in Hell Bent.
If you like relationships like rose and the doctor then you don't know Doctor Who
The episode that insta-fixed Clara's character and introduced us to the greatest of all the doctors
Eh, debatable
Not saying I hate Peter Capaldi, just, don't think he's the greatest doctor.
I kind of agree I didn’t really like his episodes but personally think his characterization of the doctor was the best
Slay literally
I think with some stronger writing more akin to the tone here, Into the Dalek and Heaven Sent, and less of the wacky stuff that seemed to increase in S8 & 9, he could have been 'the best' certainly of the modern era. He deserved at least another season too it felt like when we really got our teeth into him and knew him it was announced he was leaving :/
It’s weird to think how this episode is almost 10 years old.
curse you for reminding me
@@richardmillhousenixon I deeply apologize
No... don't do that
how are these comments 22 and 19 hours ago lol
😳
One last thing I promise. I really Like Capaldi's costume and the variations of it in the later series. It feels very Capaldi. It is kind of common knowledge that he was in bands and stuff in his youth and university years and his looks give like 60s mod mixed with aged rockstar. especially with the longer hair. Think like Rod Stewart or someone like that. I dig it.
This!!
Capaldi's first series was a triumph. I absolutely adored it and he quickly became my new favourite Doctor. Clara also works much better with him than with Smith imo.
I think Series 10 is better.
While I agree that Clara works better with Capaldi's Doctor than she did with Smith's I don't agree that his first series was a "triumph', ( though it does contain two of my favorite Capaldi episodes. "Mummy On The Orient Express' and 'Flatline' both by Jamie Mathieson. ) In my opinion Capaldi's best season was his last...series 10.
Fair enough to both of you, I haven't seen his other series as many times as his first, but in this series, almost every single episode is one of my all time favourites. Partly because of some really good sci-fi concepts, partly because his brazen sarcasm is at its funniest here.
I find a lot of it kinda tedious and boring. S9 and 10 are far better in my opinion.
@@littleredruri I'm just the opposite. I thought the stories of those series were mostly much more dull and the constant 2 parters really annoyed me. I like 2 parters every now and then, but I prefer episodic shows to more serialised ones, and if I don't like the plot or concepts of a 2 parter, that just means I have to endure a story I dislike even longer, making me resent it.
I always love how they leave the fate of the half face man ambiguous. Did he fall? Did he jump? Or was he pushed? We know the Doctor has that darkness in them and that if it came to it they would take a life. And with you know those first post regeneration moments being chaotic and the Doctor being unstable and unpredictable after regeneration combining that with the inner darkness we know the Doctor has makes that a very interesting moment.
It's not really ambiguous though. The Doctor threw the robotic man off. It's all in the preceding dialogue. The bot says that self-termination is against its basic programming to which the Doctor responds, "And murder is against mine." After the physical struggle between them ends, 12 adds that one of them is lying about their basic programming. Which one was lying? The Doctor, of course. We've seen the Doctor kill before and know that they were willing to murder two whole species to end the Time War. They don't relish killing, but they will do it. We know the Doctor is the one lying. The Doctor killed the robot man.
@@MarkWiseTechnowatching this episode today, the tone in which the robot says yes in response to ‘one of us is lying about our basic programming’ I felt it was clear that it was him lying.
I remember once disliking Capaldi's doctor but now I wish I'd just accepted it from the start, he's now my favourite doctor of all time, and sure I grew up watching Tennant and smith but Capaldi's doctor truly cemented my love for the show. Every episode capaldi is in just becomes better just thanks to his absolutely brilliant performance. I miss his doctor far more that any other and I'd pay to no end just to see him back in the show even for a minute.
The Final confrontation between the Half faced man and Capaldi have always made this episode for me, along with the final scenes between Clara and The Doctor, adore them
I also love how they’ve always left the “did the doctor kill the half faced man or did he jump?” ambiguous
@@NileSWPhotography Exactly, especially considering I've heard different people be assured that he killed him or assured that he didn't. The ambiguity means depending on how you read Capaldi's doctor, particularly in Series 8, he could be someone who would kill him to save everyone or in fact that the half faced man decided he was past his time and that he should not go on further and never had anything against self destruction. Regardless the day is saved but the Doctor stands above the dead body
@@X08-Chill yes!!!!!
Deep Breath fixes all my issues with the Smith-era almost instantly. It's such a triumph of a story that still is so underappreciated. Series 8 goes up in my estimation every time I rewatch it.
So you must love the simple and normal Chinball era?
@@mayotango1317 ???
@@mayotango1317 This is the most, "if you like pancakes then you must hate waffles" comment I have ever seen. How are you drawing any sort of comparison here?
@@BlueSparxLPs its sarcasm i thought...
2014 was definitely a game changer for fans to accept Capaldi as the new Doctor. It took me till “Listen” to accept him as the Doctor.
This episode was a nice start for a solid season. Can’t believe it’s almost a decade since it premiered, I feel old. (But I’m still young)
same xD I was 12 when this aired and can't believe its almost 10 years since he started as 12
Took me all the way until Flatline before I really saw and accepted him as the Doctor (in his first big speech really, where he exits the TARDIS and declared he is the Doctor and is there to defeat the monsters). Perfect moment for him to click and I've adored him ever since.
@@TheMoodbeam yeah that was a good moment and have to admit took a few episodes to accept him and now I look back and can't even imagine having to go that xD
Hm.
He clicked for me near instantly, from his very first scene at the end of Time of the Doctor. Throughout Deep Breath I was already fully on board and I think that definitely contributed to him quickly becoming my all-time favorite incarnation.
Having studied paleontology at uni, I have to take umbridge with your feathers comment. My tutor worked on fossils so detailed you can tell what colour they were, and that is absolutely incredible
Oh I have no doubts they had feathers, I just think it looks lame lol
@@HarboWholmes I disagree. It looks real and visceral, more so than the movie-monster style we're used to. It makes them into what they always were, animals.
Also, some of the scariest animals on the planet today are fluffy as hell, so we know for a fact that your fuzziness has very little impact on how scary an animal can actually be.
@@HarboWholmes I can't imagine you saying lol help
@Harbo Wholmes
Wow
The first time in history where an opinion was wrong
Current understanding is T rex didn’t have feathers (except maybe juvenile fuzz). But on dinosaurs which definitely had feathers, like raptors, I think it can look cool. The fan shaped tails, and feathers crests. Massive upgrade from the JP design
3:40 This is just Moffat saying "don't question the T-rex being the size of Godzilla".
I remember seeing this in the cinema and I really enjoyed Capaldi as the Doctor because of this being more philosophical about whether he is a good man etc.
He and Coleman’s chemistry was immediate as well.
I also realised as well that Coleman does a lot more slapstick humour than any other companion in NuWho, I could not see any other companion getting a newspaper thrown at them (which is hilarious because it’s so different to the humour we’ve seen before), or getting pushed into the shaft by Missy in s9.
When Capaldi was announced I was also really excited to see DW go back to the roots of “grumpy old man”/educator role/not love interest like we saw from Classic Who. Series 8 as well is such a good consistently strong series. Nothing but praise!
Por esos motivos que empezó a agradarme Clara más conTwelve que con Eleven. Con Clara y Twelve la chispa se notó de inmediato desde que tuvieron esa cita en el restauran
How tf did you watch this episode in a cinema
I love 12 and his attack eyebrows (I also love his numerous callback references to older doctors that remind the viewer "these are all the same person")
I'm such a hardcore Deep Breath defender, glad I have some allies in the community
I didn’t realize people hated it, I’ve always loved and sung it’s praises
Series 8 was my introduction to the show and to this day Capaldi is my favourite Doctor. I just love everything about 12. The banter, the outfit, the distracted rambling, the age, the accent, the eyebrows, everything just works to make me fully believe that this is a man who has seen galaxies fade into nothingness over the course of his life.
Can’t be bantering. The Doctor is against bantering. lol
The Capaldi era is my absolute favourite era of the show, and Deep Breath my second favourite new Doctor introduction - I'm so happy that you really gave it the justice it deserves!
Also, i LOVE Capaldi as the Doctor. Everything about his performance is so raw and real it hits me hard
I think we can forgive the 9-10 regeneration out of action period for a good reason, the doctor absorbed the heart of the tardis from Rose which nobody is supposed to do and did a lot of damage to his body. In other doctor deaths have been relatively minor in comparison needing less sleep..
When new who first aired, I watched pretty much every episode, but stopped watching just before the end of Series 7A (I did see DotD though) so I didn't see Matt's regeneration. So when the phone call scene happened in deep breath it was a very powerful scene for me as a viewer. I figured a new Doctor would be the best point to jump back into watching Doctor Who, but I wasn't expecting to get to see Matt again. Such an amazing scene both in the programme itself and how it works outside the programme to transition viewers from 11 to 12 as you say. One of the most memorable scenes in the whole franchise imo.
"Even if Moffat starts writing one-handed again" had me chuckling.
Oh wow, the obsessional infatuation he had toward Clara Oswald and his own muse Jenna Coleman. 🤣🤣
Awesome review (:
While I completely agree with you about 12 and the episode in general - I feel like people always hate too much on Clara's reaction, and the episode doesn't help that at all. I mean, I never felt like it was all about his appearance for her, and she even practically told Vastra as much. It wasn't the mere fact of him appearing older, but more about how he was behaving, leading up to and then following his regeneration. She was worried about his condition, and about the future of their relationship, which is understandable.. But she never actually judged him or rejected him.
I think what I mean becomes super apparent when you take the events of "Time of the Doctor" into consideration too.. I mean talk about an emotional rollercoaster!
Let's think of it from Clara's POV:
1. She wakes up Christmas-eve morning, nervous about having to cook dinner for her entire family. She's clearly stressed and it's not going great. The food won't be ready on time and to top it all, she made the mistake of inventing a boyfriend. When she calls to ask the Doctor for help, he hardly even listens (I know, he had more important stuff going on, but again we're thinking about everything from Clara's POV).
2. When he does eventually show up, he meets her family naked - embarrassing her, and then promptly leaving (as far as her family is concerned), sticking her with having to explain everything like always.
3. He then drags her into an adventure, which is fair enough - But as soon as he realizes what's going on, he sends her away without any warning or explanation. Again, we as the viewers understand why it's way to dangerous for Clara to stick around, and we might even understand his reluctance to say goodbye. But, for Clara, it was sudden af.
4. Once she does get back, after a 300 year long trip through the time vortex (which has gotta be scary and traumatic by itself), he's not even apologetic. And still, she forgives him as long as he promises to never send her away like that again. He promises, only to ofc, break the promise mere minutes later - Sending Clara away AGAIN, with no goodbye.
5. She has to go back home to her family dinner, thinking she's never going to see him again, and having to "act normal" while her step-mom talks her ear off about setting her up with someone else.. Like it was any other "break up", or as if the Doctor was in any way replaceable.
6. When she finally gets back to the Doctor - It's only to say goodbye to him, as he's literally dying. It's worth noting he wasn't the one to bring her (Tasha Lam was), and he seems surprised to see her there, which indicates he wasn't the one to ask for this goodbye. Understandably, she can't act too mad at him given the circumstances, but it doesn't mean she forgot about everything that happened so far.
7. The Doctor then regenerates, which yeah, is also like saying goodbye to a friend in a way, even if she does understand that he's still the same person. He also puts them both at risk, given the fact that he knows better than regenerating in the TARDIS mid-flight by now, and yet he still does it anyway.
8. After being chased by a T-rex and crash-landing in victorian London, he proceeds to act rude towards her, doubting and not listening to Clara in the least, even about facts such as her own name. Now, again. we as the viewers know that it's regeneration sickness. We understand why he's being more erratic than normal, why he's having a hard time remembering things and why he keeps passing out. But Clara doesn't. She might have met other incarnations of the Doctor before, but this is still her first time experiencing the actual regeneration process, and the Doctor (of course) hasn't prepared her for it in the least. She's scared, and worried, as anyone would be given this situation.
9. She then has to deal with judgment from Vastra - which again, wether you feel like it's justified or not, I think it's clear that what Clara really needed at this point was reassurance and compassion.. Not someone to rub salt in the wound and come at her with accusations. Even 11 understood this, which is why (I think) he made that phone call in the first place.
10. The Doctor then proceeds to disappear, leaving her to once again, worry about his well-being... But now, she also starts to worry about being stranded alone in Victorian London.
Note that up to this point, THIS HAS ALL CANONICALLY HAPPENED IN A SINGLE DAY FOR CLARA.
10. The next day, she wakes up to Strax checking her over like a "new recruit". He's acting like she's truly there for good, which practically confirms her fears that the Doctor might not be coming back for her. This gets even worse, when she finds the ad in the paper. At this point, Clara is understandably furious. The Doctor not only disappeared on her, leaving her to worry about him all night long, but now he's playing mind games.
11. Minutes after finding out that the ad wasn't from the Doctor, he practically leaves her behind for real while in clear danger (!), under the guise of saving himself. This was the worst possible thing he could have done in this moment, since Clara was clearly already struggling with everything that's happened in the last couple of days. It wasn't about his face, or the fact that he's somehow less "dashing" now. I seriously think everyone would be just as worried and upset given what she's gone through.
12. Even after finding out that the Doctor didn't actually leave her in danger, it understandably does very little to assuage her concerns. He's still playing games in a way which, from her point of view, seems to not care at all about her or her feelings.. He could have said something to clue her in on the plan, but instead he chose to use her fear/tears, against the robots. That is jarring from someone who's supposedly still her best friend. She needs to see that he's still the same person, but he's making it incredibly hard. E.g. He then leaves her AGAIN, taking the TARDIS with him - and once again, it's without a goodbye or any explanation. She's truly unsure if she knows him anymore, and who can blame her.
I feel like the context of Time of the Doctor is so important here, and yet people constantly ignore it - choosing to attribute Clara's doubts to the fact that he's no longer a young-looking, dashing guy. That might be partially due to how her actions were framed in this episode, which is the only part that ever truly bothered me about it.
I get that Moffet was trying to have Clara be a surrogate for the audience like you've said, but in points it still undermines Clara's character.. I feel like they could have focused more on any of these other points above, as a reason for her wanting to leave, without putting so much emphasis on the Doctor's change in physical appearance. It made a lot of people think of Clara's rejection as purely shallow or whatever, when really - When you look at it from her perspective, I think that her reaction makes sense just as much as the Doctor's hurt does. Basically, neither of them is truly wrong or at fault here, they just see things differently and it's part of the beauty of this story imo.
Sorry for the long rambling comment lol.. But Clara is my favorite companion, and that's something that always bothered me about the way people view this episode.
Other than that, I do agree with everything you've said. This episode was a great start to 12's arc, a great introduction to his Doctor and a fun story overall. I just wish the whole Clara side of it was handled a bit better, but maybe that's just me IDK.
Agree 100%, Clara is overhated
Wua! Es sorprendente que todo esto salieran de tu mente, hasta pensaria que solo copiaste y pegaste, pero no. Es evidente que eres un fans real de la serie y de Clara. ¿Que si estuvo largo tu comentario? Para nada sigue asi, en lo personal me encanta leer comentarios largos que muestran y explican con argumentos de manera tan profunda. Es extraño y escaso encontrar este tipo de comentarios a cerca de la serie y eso es lo destacable de un fans verdadero, porque hay algunos que solo lo ven por mirar y ante cualquier disgusto que no les agrada solo se lanza a criticarla sin analizar el contexto real con comentarios simples y cortos.
En lo respecto a Clara, el desarrollo de su personaje tuvo evolucion en la 8-9serie. Admito que no me agradaba al principio con 11th. Pero luego de ver este episodio y el dialogo con Twelve en el restaurant cambien el concepto que tenia de ella. Siendo unos de mis duos favoritos y perfect en la serie
so excited to see you taking on capaldi's era! (I scoured your videos for ones on the twelfth doctor when I first found your channel like a month ago, so I'm glad the timing of your reviews through all the series means i didn't have to wait long!) I think this is such a good episode for establishing that yes, clara will finally get the proper characterization and character development that she deserves and that the dynamic between her and the doctor is going to be vastly different and much more interesting now that we've left behind the pedestal of the impossible girl storyline.
i also think this episode does a really good job of reassuring the viewer that the flirtatious vibe of eleven and clara will not be issue here by having it actually be acknowledged and discussed. It would've been confusing if they established the new twelve and clara dynamic without ever confronting the elephant in the room, especially since in The Time of the Doctor, she literally admitted in the truth field that she fancied him. I think it's handled really well because we get an admittance of romantic feelings from the Doctor ("I never said it was your mistake") paired with a very clear, 'but things cannot be like they were before, and if you continue travelling with me you have to know that i can't be that for you' ("clara, I'm not your boyfriend"). and then instead of dramatizing the issue with a drawn out thing, the scene moves on. their dynamic is endlessly more fascinating than the flatness of straightforward flirtation that we saw with eleven and clara, and i think that little scene in deep breath is so important in clarifying how the relationship will evolve moving forward. (I also think it's fascinating because the struggle to define what their relationship means is key throughout all of series 8 and then in series 9 the writers have given up on pretending that they're not deeply in love lol, but that's just how i see it)
They are so deeply in love by season 9 trueeeee
This episode leaked early prior to release but without the visual effects and most of the music. The scene at the end of the episode where the Doctor says "just see me" was so much more impactful without the silly, chirpy music they ended up with in the final edit
Great review of Deep Breath! I remember this story was broadcasted on the first week of my senior year in High School and it was a great way to wrap up the first week of my senior year. I really do like the dark direction they took, and I was like this is pure Doctor Who. I love Peter Capaldi in this story and Peter Capaldi is my second favorite Doctor in the new series. I really do love the 11th Doctor's phone call to Clara and that was such a touching moment and this story is a good sequel to The Girl in the Fireplace.
While I think Capaldi got saddled with very hit or miss scripts, when the scripts hit, they hit fuckin' hard. Heaven Sent was a genius episode that I don't think could've been carried solo by any Doctor besides Capaldi. He's so intense.
Honestly, I don't know if it was the writing in Deep Breath or the fact that I already liked Capaldi as an actor but it was honestly one of the easiest Doctor transitions for my mind to except right out of the gate.
It was also probably helped that it was Vastra giving the lecture because I totally had a crush on her so of course I would agree with her reasoning lol
Deep Breath was the first Doctor Who episode i ever watched live, after binging the whole new series on netflix a few months prior, right after my 11th birthday. it has such a special place in my heart to this day, and Twelve will always be my Doctor because of it and the rest his seasons, because i was there to experience it in real time. it’s almost been ten years since then, but i will always look back on that year, and this episode, with love
I’ve watched this episode maybe 6 times and I only just noticed this. When he tells the robot dude that he bets ‘you don’t even know where you got that face’ then shows him the mirror. The other side of the mirror is The doctor looking into the mirror too, releasing he still doesn’t know where he got his own face👍🏽 brilliant use of camera work.
Agreed. A lovely, subtle touch!
I always loved how it was open ended if the Doctor pushed the half faced man or if he jumped. It was also alluded that since he’d been alive for millions of years that he didn’t want to carry on.
I always liked the post regeneration episodes because it allowed the actors playing the Doctor to have some fun. This in turn allows the audience to have fun and get in the laughs and comedy in preparation for the more serious moments
I love Deep Breath. "Who frowned me this face?" What an incredible start to what would become one of my favorite Doctors ever. Capaldi was so underrated when his episodes were airing, I'm so glad to see a lot of people nowadays talking about how brilliant he was.
I didn't like Clara during the Matt Smith era because she felt so one-note to me. It felt like she was only on the show because of "impossible girl" mystery. But Deep Breath was the first episode where I actually started to like Clara.
Yes, she and 11 had good chemistry but it felt like a rehash of Amy having the hots for 11. I was so damn tired of companions being attracted to the Doctor it completely soured me on Clara.
But with Deep Breath, I was so happy to see a different side of Clara and I love that they moved her relationship with the Doctor in a new direction. I think her relationship with 12 is so much more compelling and complex than what she had with 11. Also we hadn't had a companion follow the Doctor through a regeneration since Rose (and Jack). It was cool to see a companion have to adjust a new Doctor.
Clara in 7B is such a textbook Manic Pixie Dream Girl. She’s instantly a much better and actually good character from Deep Breath onwards.
Estoy de acuerdo con lo que mencionas.
Es verdad que al principio no me agradaba Clara(aún no superaba a los Ponds) pero con Twelve luego de ver este episodio cambie de opinion, el desarrollo de su personaje va en evolucion a medida que avanza la serie 8y 9.
Que ellos se volveron mi dúo favorito
Capaldi frequently played 12 as a Stoic. Clara even references Marcus Aurelius, this ties in with Capaldi's Roman other, but more so his character and the stark contrast with 11s fidgeting, manic character. 12 is constantly concerned about his character, is he a good man? All his greatest speeches in this era are about character. Do what is right, good, honest, decent, kind. 12 the Stoic.
For me this was my most eagerly anticipated start to a new Doctor. It really didn't disappoint. And it also has my favourite Doctor and Clara scene, which was the really funny conversation about the newspaper ad at the restaurant.
it's so weird to me to learn that fans didn't like capaldi at first. i got back into DW with 11 but 12 quickly became my favorite of new who. he was so scattered and dry, but i loved it.
i really feel like the veil scene is the only time i emotionally connected with madam vastra in the entire time she was ever on my television screen
Fantastic review -- you really pull a lot of threads together, even getting to Missy! I've loved Peter Capaldi forever -- literally for 2/3 of my life, since his amazing performance in Local Hero in 1983. Thanks for loving him, too.
"I won't review Children of Earth out of spite."
Damn, dawg...
Fun Fact: A black and white screener of this episode made its way onto the internet nearly a month before airing
I loved it overall, the only downside for me is that I felt Capaldi was channeling a little too much of 11's energy at times early on, but once he was out of the dressing gown and into his outfit he really started to cement his own personality on the role.
To be fair, that works quite well given he's literally just been 11 and is trying to work out who he is now.
I think that’s the point tbh with him been post regeneration and Capaldi portrays it perfectly
To be honest, every single succeeding Doctor channels some of their previous incarnation mid post-regenerative crisis since the Davidson Era. The previous personality doesn't totally rubs off after regeneration: it just get blotted upside-down, and had the vestigial remnants gradually fading into non-existence.
None of the four early Doctors ever showed this tendency during their post-regenerative traumas, so it was speculated that the reason why the Doctor started to showcases some vestiges of his former incarnation creeping and fading were due to the d*ing Fourth Doctor merging with The Watcher mere seconds prior regenerating, that their fusion somehow affected any of his ulterior incarnations. This is after all since then that the Doctor started to suffer of outbursts of regenerative energy going overdrive. You could no longer approach him when he was regenerating since then, and that was well before the Ninth Doctor absorbing and expelling back the Time Vortex energy emergy out of his body and having any of his regenerations going nuclear, literally, ever since.
I think that's what make him a good actor. He could portray 11's personality really well
Looking forward to being able to pile on the love for 12 & Clara over the coming reviews!
This episode is criminally underrated. The more I watch it the more I like it (which is the case with Twelve's whole era tbh). I even rate it higher than Eleventh Hour at this point, not because it's better but because it feels like a progression of that, less accessible to general audiences but more made for fans.
Tbh Eleventh Hour is by far worst season opener of them all (in my opinion ofc)
i still remember when i watched this episode in broadcast for the first time in a chilly sunday morning and i really liked it, coming from the 50th expectations were high, but Capaldi became my favourite Doctor ever since, hard to believe 9 years has passed and even harder to believe that i’ve been watching this show for 13 years
0:24 at last, i've found someone talking about doctor who that actually has good taste. couldn't agree more, 12's era is the best of the show in my opinion, and for every reason people say they are "bad" are the exact reasons I love it so much. heck yeah love your videos so much! just listened to the listen one lol, so good!! really great thoughts, one of my favorite eps!
I still remember what I was like in high school and after so much time has passed I don't envy my teachers and I appreciate what they were going through back then.
Clara was already in my top 2 companions before this episode even came out but deep breath cemented her as my favourite, would I have wanted to see more smith and Clara? Yeah. But at the expense of 12 and Clara? Absolutely not
You've convinced me that this is a really good episode, and everything's thematically linked really well. However, I still can't believe that Clara would have that reaction after having seen all of the Doctor's prior incarnations literally episodes beforehand, and after she had just interacted with three different incarnations all at once in the 50th.
Her best friend of several years suddenly has a different face and personality, it doesn't really matter if you know it's possible, experiencing it firsthand (which meeting the previous incarnations is not, as, while they are technically the same person, it's easy to separate them from your version. It's like she says in the climax of the 50th "I never pictured YOU doing it") is very different.
I mean to be fair while she probably knew regenerations existed, she'd never seen it happen in person so it's probably still a shock.
A perfect start for a perfect Doctor.
Moffat's one-handed writing really has been getting to you.
God the cinematography in this episode is surprisingly brilliant omg so many great and aclectic shots!!
Clara and the Doctor's relationship changed from being flirtatious into something closer to a married couple. They have to trust each other completely and be honest. I didn't understand it when this season first came out, but it makes a lot more sense rewatching it years later. It's a romance of unsaid words.
Cuanta vetdad tienes en lo que mencionas y fue mas evidente ver todo eso y la nteraccion entre Clara y twelve en la serie 9
Of course Clara want sure about 12. Just look at the way he treats her in the first half of the episode, it's very different to how ten treated rose. He completely disregards her as if she's a glob of dog poo on his shoe. Sure, we can attribute that to post-regen amnesia, but it always annoyed me that madame vastra was so hard on her for being hesitant. Like HER doctor disappears and this new guy is rude and angry, and not just the eyebrows.
I just rewatched this yesterday. The difference in quality between this and the previous series is so noticeable. Steven Moffat actually writing a script that isn't over-ambitious and actually feels redrafted. It feels like one of his series 5 (or series 1-4 scripts) and it's just a joy. Not to mention Capaldi instantly shines as a brilliant actor!
that whole "feathers thing" is definitely true though
and feathered dinosaurs are awesome it's sad when people can't see that
I was guilty of dismissing Capaldi's Doctor at first. I was burned out from 7B, and the new dark, abrasive incarnation just put me off of the show completely. I came back a few years later to give it a second chance, and he's my favorite incarnation now. I love the sense of humor, I think he was the perfect choice for the character arcs the show explored, and even when the scripts weren't that great, Capaldi always brought everything he had to every scene he was in. I could've watched him be The Doctor for 3 more seasons at the very least.
Kinda wild people thought Capaldi was too old for the character, considering how well he ended up conveying the energy.
To me, the perfect case of continuity includes Deep Breath. Peter Capaldi's first appearance was in Day Of The Doctor. During the "All Thirteen!" scene, you can see Capaldi's hand pull the lever upon the TARDIS console. However if you look in close, the tint on the TARDIS is still the 11th Doctor's TARDIS 7B console room blue. This makes me connect Deep Breath and 12's inclusion within Day Of The Doctor with one scene. I'd like to think he had this scene immediately after 12 left Clara behind with Jenny and Vastra back in the 1880s. This might've been the 12th Doctor's first little outing to himself. Who knows how many hours, days, months or years he had spent out by himself, seeing the universe again with new eyes and a new body.
During this time, he might've gotten pulled out of his own time to be apart of his own boot strap paradox. Remembering his involvement with Gallifrey's saving, 12 must have remembered he had to be apart of this redemption and thus gave us the "all 13" scene, meaning that scene with his eyes took place after Deep Breath BEFORE IT EVEN HAPPENED!! Then as a self congratulations, he decided to redecorate and change the vibe to his TARDIS to give it a more homely life.
Just rewatched Deep Braeth (that makes 3 times, and it exceeded my expectations from what I remembered.
this was the first doctor who episode i got to watch at release! i remember going to see it in the movie theater with my friends from middle school. i’d been watching since elementary school but this was the first time i’d got caught up enough to see the episode air. great memory and a great episode
The problem back then was Capaldi is a big change from the youngest Smith.
I fancy classic old grumpy frowny doctor
3:50 What do you mean by that??? Dinosaurs having feathers is proven fact. T-Rex probably didnt have full bird-like flight feathers, but it almost certainly had at least something vestigial resembling the hair on elephants at least
I really enjoyed the Capaldi as the Doctor. It was risky and brave how they drastically changed the character. One of the issues I had with this era though was the color scheming. They definitely wanted to reflect more serious tone of the show through it, yet at one point you realize everything has these bluish grey tones and to the end of season 10 you really get tired of it. They really overused this color scheme. Although that's not that crucial
My headcanon for the ending is that, during the fight, the Half-Faced Man realised that the Promised Land _wasn't_ real and simply gave up. This means that, whilst the Doctor wasn't _forced_ to kill him, he still feels the guilt for inadvertently pushing the Man off.
I don't even mind this episode for 12 or any of that. The one thing that made me mad was Vastra stealing the Brigadier's "here we go again" line in a context where it made less sense (it made less sense because the Brigadier saw the 2nd and 3rd doctor before his regeneration into the 4th, while Vastra only saw the 11th and still used the word "again" here because REFERENCES TO CLASSIC WHO).
Great review! A great intro episode to what would become one of the greatest Doctors of all time! I would say his series 8 Doctor is just really good, but his series 9 & 10 Doctor is outstanding!
I grew up with Tennant but series 8 sold me on Capaldi. His performance is great and I wish I watched his run while it aired. I can’t wait for the rest of the reviews
Absolutely worth the wait
You were in top form with this video and I'm glad you took the time to do it right
When 12 leaves and comes back, I think thats when he goes to help bring Gallifrey back.
I LOVED Capaldi's Doctor and think he is one of the Best Actors to play the character (My favourite is still split between Pat Troughton and Matt Smith but it's really close up there). Deep Breath was great and a fantastic launching point for the new Doctor.
The biggest mis-step however, that dragged this series down, was Clara and Danny Pink. Clara had done her job and taking this series to phase her out, choosing to stay with Danny only for him to die and her leaving heartbroken was bold, brilliant and felt right. Only for a last minute rewrite on "Last Christmas" to ruin that.
Anyway, Deep Breath gave us a new direction for the Doctor, the Time War was now resolved and part of his past. He had still been shaped by that past, but he was no longer the fairytale wizard that made the world magical to forget his past. He was still the Doctor, but with a new perspective.
I hate to be honest, but as much as Capaldi is THE Doctor…
The first half of this super long special kinda drags for me.
I’m not a fan of this episode because I feel like it’s at fault unintentionally for alienating the Doctor who fan base and leading it to its loss of cultural relevance (even though it’s still pretty popular today)
Part of it is the Victorian trio just completely dumping on the whole clara/Eleven thing and talking down on her like it was an egregious thing. It just felt like a direct nod to how the fans of Doctor who were in love with the smith and Tennant era and idk if it’s just me but it rubbed me the wrong way.
It was kinda like a slap to the face.
As much as I love the Capaldi era, first impressions are very important, and this first half definitely stumbled a lot with its pacing.
THAT BEING SAID, everything past the restaurant scene is GOLDEN!!! Like that is top tier doctor who. And I freaking cried during the final scene with Elevens call.
I loved Capaldi from the start and to this day he’s still my absolute fave with Series 10 and 9 been two of my fave series’ of all time
The Strax newspaper gag elevates this episode by A LOT of points
Great video!! This was the first episode that I ever got to see aired live and it holds such a special place in my heart. I'm so glad that, as you point out, it managed to hit the ground running
One thing I've noticed is that, when the show is in trouble, the Doctor's costume becomes more outlandish and colourful (Colin Baker's Sixth and Jodie Whittaker's 13th)
I never went past Angels in Manhattan throughout every watch through. I’ve only gone past now (as in a literal week ago) because I wanted to see Trenzalore, but I didn’t go past the loss of Amy and Rory because they were my very first companions - i didn’t want them to die so I never let myself see it happen.
When I saw 11s regeneration I was sobbing like a baby because he was *MY* Doctor. And then I immediately had the same reaction as Clara to 12’s line about his kidneys.
It really threw me off but I liked it. I watched this episode initially being skeptical of Capaldi and the new direction, but he genuinely won me over and now I think he’s me 2nd favourite already and I’m only a few episodes in.
It’s not that he’s not Whimsical or bombastic, but that he is in a much different way to Smith and early Tennant. Plus the outfit is so goddamn cool
As much as I like Eleventh Hour, this is my favorite “New Doctor introduction” episode. Capaldi became my favorite Doctor over his run and it began here. Plus they sort of gave us “Governess/Barmaid Clara” back and I feel she was written a great deal better starting from this episode. Plus Missy. The Missy arc is one of my favorite things in the new series.
Great review! It’s always nice when you can tell a reviewer has done their research and it’s always appreciated
I know it isnt for everybody, but I LOVE the P Gang. I giggle at every silly joke with Strax. Seriously my favorite background characters.
So real. Strax is my guy.
I'm just now finding out that Clara by Deep Breath traveled with the Doctor for 3 years. How did I miss that?
I've been hoping you would do a capaldi era doctor who review. Glad you've finally done it. Thanks for the content!
This episode resonates with me so much because when mat Smith originally regenerated I was sceptical and didn't think capaldi fit the roll, i never gave him a chance and stopped watching the show.
When I re watched the entire show at the start of the pandemic lockdowns, I gave him a chance and now he is my favourite modern incarnation of the doctor.
The Clara Capaldi era has to be one of my favorites
Was wondering why it took so long for this to come out but turned out to be well worth the wait!
First, I agree that this was a wonderful episode and a great way to introduce Capaldi's Hartnell/Colin Baker influenced Doctor, which was a gutsy move by Capaldi and Moffat. One point, though: you should have credited Peter Ferdinando by name, as his performance as the Half-Face Man was brilliant, especially his half man/half machine voice and his superb eye acting, which told a terrific story by itself.
3:50 I hope aliens reconstruct you without ears.
Welcome back to reviews!
Finally I'm watching them "live" (ok, a few days late) since I finished the backlog.
I’ve always taken the 12th doctor/Clara dynamic to be a second attempt at a Six/Peri, only with a competent writing and production team behind the scenes. The Capaldi doctor was exactly what this show needed, as it was a 180 degree turn from the somewhat twee sachrine turn Matt Smith was basically coasting on. The Capaldi doctor was everything odd and abrasive about the character without the personable sheen of 10 and 11.
Thank you thank you thank you for starting your series 8 coverage, been watching your coverage along with the rewatch of the show. So interested to see how you feel about this one :)
If only more people realized that the "final sanction" joke had been borrowed from "Dylan Dog: Dead of Night".
Once you cock the hammer on the gun, all you've got left to escalate threat is shaking it at the target.
i just hate how the t-rex is far far bigger than an actual one.
Fun fact: the homeless man that Doctor took the coat from was played by Brain Miller, who is the husband of Elisabeth Sladen
OK can we take a moment and acknowledge the fact that Smith‘s doctor had not one but two desktops through his run he’s the only doctor that ever changed his desktop mid run. Remember the original one that we saw him with was this whimsical kind of kiddush, yellowish, and old glass desktop but now or later he changes it to be more space ship after the ponds got lost in Time one would assume that Homie feeling or whimsical feeling must have worn off in the spaceship by is him brooding because it’s more mechanical more stone cold. It reflects what he was feeling at the time which is why he needed someone like Clara.
Glad to see the reviews are back Harbo! (Though I have enjoyed your non-review content!) Been REALLY anticipating your Series 8 reviews due to your beforementioned love for the Capaldi era. I recently rewatched the whole era, and upon rewatch, I love the era much more than I did back in the day. For this episode, for example, I remember not loving "Deep Breath". But on rewatch it's great! Particularly, I LOVE Clara in this episode! I love how it forces her into a unexpectedly uncomfortable situation, having to deal with a Doctor who is so different from one she knew. Really is Jenna's episode! And alot of my nitpicks from back in the day I've put aside, too. Oh, and that end scene is GREAT! However, this is just me personally, but I still don't love how Moffat dialed up the quirkiness on The Doctor to...well...12, in this episode. I know he's just regenerated, but I feel it went a bit too far. Plus I felt it didn't land the "Am I a good man?" take they were doing with 12 that later episodes would do better. Overall, though, thumbs up for "Deep Breath", and anyone who hasn't watched it in a while, perhaps give it another go, as Harbo says. It may surprise you...
Capaldi's right up there as one of my favorite of all Doctors, hands down.
I was actually one of the people on the Dr. Who periphery and only seen 10 and 11, After seeing some highlights of 12's tenure, I think I was way too quick to dismiss the show when it switched leads... Thank you for making these reviews, I always wanted to chew on the messaging from these shows some more and your channel is a great way to gauge what flavors are being presented.
I can't wait to see the next reviews of this era. Capaldi was my favorite Doctor and series 8 was one of my favorite series of the show. Can't wait for the next reviews.
Been waiting for these to start for months!!!! Thanks Harbo!!