Doctor Who Series 8 Episodes 1 & 2 [TV Review]

Ok. I bet you were shocked that I did not write a review about Doctor Who series 8 last week. You should have been. However I needed more time to process Peter Capaldi's take on the Doctor. So this is a bonus review! I'm going to review episodes one and two from series 8.

All serious conversations shall now occur on these steps.

I should begin by saying that I've liked Capaldi in the other two things I've seen, which were of course related to Doctor Who. One was the episode The Fires of Pompeii and the other was in Torchwood: Children of Earth.

So lets move on to my review of Deep Breath. 

4.5 out of 5 stars

Now that is a potato's entrance!

I actually think that one of the reasons I really loved this episode was actually the return of Vastra, Jenny, and Strax. They are a really nice ensemble cast that brings in both action and humor.

There are time when I wonder if Jenny is the other Jenny...

The plot of the episode was actually pretty easy to surmise. For some reason I knew right off the bat what who-villain we were dealing with. The clues were right there... almost too obviously. It was as if they wanted to add even more links to the previous continuity. I don't really mind them reusing modern villains, in fact it is something that Doctor Who should do more often. A little less reliance on the Daleks and the Cybermen would be fine. They both in many ways resemble the Borg of Star Trek, massive almost unstoppable villains. They should be used a bit more like the Borg, sparingly (or you'll end up like Star Trek Voyager).

I say all this and still really enjoyed the episode.

Cmon, it was a little bit obvious who they were, right?

There was plenty to enjoy.
The interactions between Clara and the Doctor were great. The constant back and forth with Vastra and Jenny was good too. Strax is always a winner. The dinosaur bit... was odd, not precisely bad but not really good either. It was a teething episode that had many of the right elements in the right spots. It still had some rough patches, but it was good.  

There was one line I really loved (out of many).
"This face. Why did they give me this face?"
It was a nice reference to the fact that perhaps the Doctor's face was the choice of the Time Lords on Gallifrey, and that he had seen it before, in Pompeii. 

I liked Matt Smith's inclusion, but do not think it was required.

You can't swing a dead Cyberman without hitting a Dalek.

Okay moving on. Next episode.

Into the Dalek.
Sigh, Daleks already? We have had only one single episode since we saw the Daleks. We've seen them in the Day of the Doctor 50th Anniversary Special and the Christmas Special. We have enjoyed only one single episode between Daleks.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Stop starring at me!

I just cannot get past the fact that we are actually getting way too many Dalek episodes. We keep hearing about how they are nearly all killed off, but that appears to be a complete and total falsehood. They just keep coming back. Same with the Cybermen. Why not make up some new villains? Pull a Tom Baker season where almost every enemy is new! Try it.

The whole bit about the Dalek was kinda meh-tastic. Some good lines, some more introspection by the Doctor (a running theme?), but really nothing super special. The more interesting question from the episode is who or what exactly is Mr. Pink going to be? Also, the reappearance of Missy. These are the real questions from the episode, nothing at all about Daleks. That is merely been done before... the entire inside of the Dalek seemed like a combination of Star Trek DS9's One Little Ship, and the movie Fantastic Voyage. A motif that has been done before, and before, and before. Too much time spent on reused ideas, not enough time spent on the new questions.

I hope the third episode is an upswing from this latest. 

I'll be back with a new review on Doctor Who next week. 

Companion or not?