Um perhaps inevitably I'm going to kick-off with my thoughts on the 1st two eps of the newest series.
Capaldi - wow, breath of fresh air here, he's playing the role much more dryly than Smith and Tennant did. I had high hopes since his reveal last august when he emerged clutching his lapels William Hartnell style! Yep he's proven excellent so far, as expected. I just hope he gets given scripts that match his acting ability, since I personally think Smith had great potential, but was let down by the writing.
Minor Spoiler Warnings for those who haven't yet seen eps 1&2 of series 8!
Deep Breath:
I really liked the slower pacing of this episode, and the tonal shift to a more considered style overall. Though weirdly despite the film director at the helm the pacing was a bit off, and certain shots just didn't work for me. I thought the script was passable, but a bit of a poor introduction!
As I said earlier, I adore Capaldi already - and his performance in this episode, especially all of the subtle and not so subtle nods to Pertwee, T.Baker, Smith, Tennant et al in his performance (that for the most part wasn't scripted) ...yea wow. And when his Doctor inevitably settled in - yea I loved the way he acted both the restaurant and scotch scenes. The script was v.v.Smith-era and I could easily picture how Smith would have read a lot of the lines compared to Capaldi. The scene with the tramp jarred slightly, but in a good way. I think that both Smith/Tennant would have acted up the "comedy" there quite a bit more, Capaldi played relatively straight/Tucker-esque/damned near terrifying at times that I can almost imagine that he mugged the poor man for his clothes in his post-regenerative madness!
Jenna Coleman also fabulous now that she's got a bit more to play with. But I don't like all of these new personality traits that Moffat has just declared that she has all of a sudden, or her inability to accept Capaldoc throughout the episode, not just at the beginning, which at least is understandable. After all knowing about death (read regeneration) rationally is one thing, but actually having it directly effect you is a rather different kettle of fish. But yea really dislike the sudden addition of narcissim, passive aggressive and control freak, to her personality. I think it should be a case of show not tell when it comes to personalities and drama; Moffat just Told us that she suddenly has all of these (often viewed as negative) traits.
Into The Dalek:
...And yea Capaldi just reconfirms how magnificent he could be given the chance I really hope this tonal shift in the Doctor's portrayal sticks! Very amused when I read that Moffat described the Doctor as "A raging Billy Connelly" to the scriptwriter!
Loved the rather filthy joke about proctologists and the rather cold/alien treatment of Journey during the opening scene and the line: "He's the top layer if you want to say a word"I thought the episode itself was v.reminiscent of both Dalek and The Invisible Enemy with plenty of subtle, but not over the top (unlike in the recent past), nods to past adventures.
And Zawe Ashton guest starred - I was surprised that they managed to get her to be honest, and yea she's one of my top candidates for Doc13...
Right I suspect this opening post has meandered/turned into something stupidly long...
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