Doctor Who is back...

[byslantedlight]

...and I liked it! *g*

I wasn't sure I would earlier today, when I saw the trailer for Deep Breath, and then when the Doctor was all in his nightgown and discombobulated like we weren't sure who he was... which we weren't, and he wasn't, so wasn't that well done? Because then it turned out that it was him, with a rather cool side-helping of Madame Vastra and Jenny and Strax, and I even found myself warming to Clara. Well, except that Clara then lost me again at the end when she decided to... well, spoilers... *g* But luckily the thing happened, and the Doctor... well, said what he said, and... and that worked out.

Hmmn - maybe it's when Clara's Victorian that she seems more real...

Oh - new titles too, of course! Pretty different this time - what's happened to the time vortex?! But I quite liked them...

So to sum up... yes. *g* Anyone else watch? Oh, I need to see it again. Wonder when it'll be up on iPlayer... maybe now... *wanders off to look*...

Comments

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

It's always best to avoid trailers - they always give false impressions, whether for good or ill, and we then take those preconceptions with us into the show itself. I've learned that the hard way! I try not to watch them at all these days.

I think I'm going to like Capaldi's Doctor. I just hope the writing stays this character focused and doesn't go all EPIC PLOT again like it did last season! I think Moffat knows he let things spin out of control a bit last year - time to rein it back in again and get back to basics. Fingers crossed!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I don't really watch tv enough these days to see trailers, but I thought I'd try one for fun when I saw it come up on YouTube. I like the anticipation of them, to be honest, and they don't usually leave me with negative impressions. Luckily the impression vanished as I watched, though! *g*

I think I shall like Capaldi's Doctor too - can't wait for next week, now! *g* I don't mind epic plots, though, as long as I can feel the plot, which I'm not sure I did with the whole Clara/Impossible Girl thing. Sort of a bit, but... mind you, it didn't help having the season in two halves either, I wasn't keen on that. Not sure DW's ever been "character-focussed" really though, though I like it when it has been. Mind you, I never really warmed to Amy either, that everyone said they loved, and she was supposed to be all character-focus... They lost me a bit when they turned her into a model instead of a struggling strip-o-gram... But yes - fingers crossed! *g*

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

I haven't warmed to any of Moffat's characters - Amy's story was always plot-based rather than character-led, and her character was all over the place, just not as badly as Clara's. Bottom line, the 11th Doctor era was more interested in plot than in character and it showed - the characters were cogs in the wheels of Epic Plot because that's what Moffat likes to write, rather than the plots being used to explore the characters, which was more Russell Davies' style. Something in between the two - where, yes, we can feel the plot instead of having it grafted onto the characters and jerking them around - would be ideal.

Mind, I thought Davies went a bit too far the other way. I'm sure a balance could be struck somewhere between the two extremes but no one's managed it yet! Keeping my fingers crossed season 8 finally manages it!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think the idea would be a mixture of plot and characterisation - but then I suppose people will always have different ideas of what that means, and how it should be combined and so on anyway! Basically, I just always hope that the ride is fun enough for me to enjoy, where ever we end up getting to! *g*

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Basically, plotty stories are good - there has to be a plot - but the story should be about the characters. It's a fine distinction and can be hard to pull off. But taking time to let the characters react as people is a good start! So I appreciated Deep Breath because it used the plot to tell a story about characters, which is far more my cup of tea than, for example Time of the Doctor, which used the characters to tell a story about a plot.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Well I agree, it's characters I want to know about, and how they deal with things and who they are deep down. But I'm always amazed to find that there are people who seem to prefer the opposite - they want to know what happens, and all the little detail about how it happens, and they're really not bothered about who it happens to. And there are lots of people who seem to prefer that, judging by the sales and popularity of various best-sellers and films!

I'd have to watch Time of the Doctor again (such a hard life... *g*) but you're probably right there - I didn't like it nearly as much as Day of the Doctor, and that's probably why. It was more about what was happening around him again, rather than who he was. Mind you, I don't want entirely character-focused stories either, half the fun is the fact that he travels through time and space and anything can happen. I liked the focus on him there though. Same in Deep Breath, it fitted the story that it was about the Doctor, and Clara and what was happening to them as well. It's all about balance, and getting the story right... and isn't that always the thing!

[caffyolay.livejournal.com]

Me! I saw it! I wasn't sure at first either. The first half an hour with all that confusion and wandering and so on. But it soon settled into a proper Dr. Who episode. Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax are favourites of mine so that helped and I do like a bit of steampunk. And yeah... the ending! So it's a 'yes' from me too and can't wait for next week.

*Whispers* Still not mad about Clara. (Gather she might be leaving anyway...)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yeay! *g* And oooh that Clara might be leaving. I must say, I've not warmed to her enough that I'd miss her at all, although that might partly be a result of having the last season in two halves too, come to think of. Not enough of a run at her, if you know what I mean... It's a shame, but I'm just not seeing her... I do like Vastra, Jenny and Stax though - as you say, a bit of steampunk rarely hurts... *g* Hope we see them again this series!

Yeay! *g*

[(Anonymous)]

We're about to view that episode here in Australia tonight - about 7.30pm EST so I'm really looking forward to seeing it myself. I know how I like my doctors to look and I'm yet to be convinced this older version will still have the same appeal for me. I've always enjoyed that subtle flirtiness he has with his companions and now I'm worried the age-gap will spell the death-knell for it. Kiashi, Brisbane, Australia.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, interesting - I usually hear the complete opposite opinion, and I've got to admit to thinking the opposite myself! The one thing I really really didn't like was the flirtiness that this new Doctor had with his companions, and the whole possible-love-interest, and the horrible Rose-was-his-perfect-companion thread that ran through it for ages. I'm not even madly keen on the idea that the Doctor married River Song, but at least she seems mature enough to cope with it! It just seems wrong to me - maybe because I started watching Doctor Who with John Pertwee and went through Tom Baker, Peter Davison and the others without any of that. The Doctor just doesn't flirt, in my experience, so this has all been weird! It was saved a bit by lines that suggested he didn't really know he was doing it, or mean to do it, at least! So that's actually something I'm looking forward to from Peter Capaldi's older Doctor! *g* I hope you'll still like him anyway!

[(Anonymous)]

I'm sure he'll grow on me in time. . My all time favourite doctor is Tom Baker but I've come to appreciate David and Mat for their own unique quirkiness. . Ah, it has just started: not too keen on the new intro - the music sounds a bit tinny - maybe I'm just getting old. Kiashi

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

My all-time favourite Doctor is Tom Baker too! *g* I liked Chris Ecclestone alot too, and I was sorry when he only did one season, but like you I grew to appreciate David Tennant and Matt Smith too. And actually, The Doctor has always been quirky and gorgeously eccentric, hasn't he - I re-watched an old Peter Davison episode a while ago, and he was absolutely recognisable as the Doctor, just as DT and MS (and CE etc. *g) were the Doctor.

How fab that you're watching it now (-ish, it might have ended by the time I've replied *g*)! I blinked at the new intro, but I do like the images, so I've decided I like it. Oh, now I just want to watch it all again... *g*

[miwahni.livejournal.com]

I was so looking forward to this and it didn't disappoint. I never really took to Matt Smith I'm afraid, and it took me a while to warm up to David Tennant, but Peter Capaldi is just exactly right.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm glad you liked it too! I warmed up to both Tennant and Smith, and I'll miss both of them just as I miss the other Doctors, but I'm looking forward to more Capaldi too! *g* (Though annoyingly I might miss the second ep - or at least have to watch it on my wee laptop), as it'll be the day that I move into a houseshare, and although S warmed to the idea of having a telly "so that we can watch Doctor Who together" (though she wasn't looking forward to Capaldi...) I'm not sure it'll be quite the thing to insist on getting it set up and watching on my first night there... Ah well, we'll see! *g*

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I loved the steampunkness of it all - even the new opening credits! And it's always a treat to see Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax.

I got a bit weary of the "he's old!" protests - after all, the Doctor is very, very old indeed (and Matt Smith appearing to be a mere baby was the exception for Doctors, not the rule) - but I was very intrigued by the "Why this face?" question. I look forward to seeing a lot more of Capaldi.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes! The steampunk is fun... *vbg* (Interestingly, I really like the steampunk aesthetic and ideas, but I have yet to really get into a steampunk novel - they seem to get so caught up in letting me know how clever their world is rather than getting on with the story set in that world... if you know steampunk and have any recs, they'd be much appreciated! I want to read steampunk novels...!)

I can see the he's old thing though to be honest - Matt Smith might have looked the youngest of the Doctors (or perhaps behaved it?) but actually the Doctor does seem to have been getting younger for a while... well, since Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee actually! Smith was younger than Tennant was younger than Eccleston, who was perhaps younger than McGann, and younger than McCoy and even he was younger than Baker (Colin). So he's not really aged in appearance since Peter Davison (I had to work all that out just then - how interesting! *g*)... It realy has been a while that the Doctor seems to have been reincarnating with yet-younger faces... suddenly he's reincarnated with a face that would fit more with his first three incarnations... why?! *g*