[Ed. Note: After the success of Speed Me Deadly, our weekly Breaking Bad recap series, we're pleased to welcome our friend and colleague Scott "Fill-in host" Williams on-board to talk about Doctor Who. As always, there are spoilers abound in these articles and you should watch the episode in question before reading beyond the header. Geronimo Whatever-the-new-Doctor's-catchphrase-is etc!

Also, we're trying out a new column name since the old one was getting pretty outdated.]

Doctor Who, Episode 801: Deep Breath

“Who frowned me this face?”

Plot synopsis: The Doctor tries to get to the bottom of the mystery of how he became Scottish.

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Just as everyone hates an ending, everyone loves a beginning. There’s a lot of high hopes and potential floating around. We all seem pretty ready to fall in love with this show again. “Deep Breath” is light enough not to get too bogged down even as it throws some pretty heavy examination at regeneration and the Doctor-Clara relationship. It’s an enjoyable episode, although I said that (and meant it) about pretty much every instalment of the oft-maligned Series 7, so who knows? I’m clearly not in tune with the rest of the show’s fandom.

The plot itself – like many introductory episodes of Doctor Who – isn’t really much to write home about. Finding themselves in Victorian London, with a T-Rex in tow, the Doctor must battle his post-regeneration loopiness, Clara must come to terms with the fact that he no longer appears to be the man she knew, and all the while some nefarious force is out there stealing body parts. The thing about these post-regeneration episodes is that we’ve had a few of them already and as viewers we kind of know the routine, so while the plot might not be too important, the real meat of the episode comes in establishing Peter Capaldi’s portrayal of the Doctor, and getting through a bit of rigmarole of what regeneration means to him and his friends. Vastra seems pretty well-acquainted with the concept and uses her outsider status as a Homo Reptilian to draw some meaningful parallels for Clara’s benefit. As the viewpoint character, Clara can’t be too much angstier than the audience, and I think they find more or less the right tone for her doubts that she should continue traveling with the Doctor.

The show does a lot to work with reassure Clara that this is the Doctor, which may veer into “laying it on a bit thick” territory, because we know it’s the Doctor, and we’re ready. It’s a fine line to walk, because at times I wanted to roll my eyes at writing the show about itself, but each time they touched on it, they made a point quick then got back to the story. There’s a line near the end about whether or not the Doctor is her boyfriend that really sealed the deal for me – basically because I’m a huge fan of platonic male-female relationships in fiction because gosh darnit you don’t see enough of those, and the Doctor, at the best of times, is a good case for how a man and woman can share screentime without the need for sexual tension. In fact, his and Clara’s bickering reminded me a good amount of Ten and Donna, who was by no coincidence both the least romantic companion, and one of the biggest fan-favourites.

For other people, the moment that did it was likely one where Clara reaches behind herself, trusting that, if he’s really the Doctor, he’ll be there. The final handing of the baton, which comes in the form of a cross-time phone conversation, may not even have been necessary, but allows one last chance for skeptical viewers to get on the trolley, and for others to take one last tearful look before sealing up the past.

Capaldi performs exceptionally, as it happens, to the surprise of nobody. Like, spoiler here, the guy in charge of the show has a really good eye for which actors would be good in the role. As usual, he kind of has to spend his first episode playing zany, and Capaldi does a great job hitting notes distinct from Matt Smith or David Tennant but still very familiar to the Doctor we know and love. There’s a lot of talk about the Doctor being older and being Scottish – “I can complain about things now!” as well as a bit of rumination about his facial features (his Scottish “attack eyebrows” want to cede from his face form their own independent state.) All this time we’ve been informed that the Doctor is really quite old inside despite his outward appearance, and we’ve just had to go along with that with the occasional young actor playing grumpy, but in some of the quieter scenes we see Capaldi throttle it back and play old genuinely – not cranky or doddery, but experienced, wizened, irritable but patient and capable of arguing quietly for ages.

It may also have been a smart move – for Goodwill’s sake - to bring back the Paternoster Gang of Vastra, Jenny and Strax. It almost feels too easy to get laughs out of them, Strax doing Zoidberg jokes, Jenny and Vastra going back and forth about who serves the tea; Jenny, over the course of her appearances, has become delightful, and Vastra is always great as a surrogate Doctor herself, the protagonist of a show that doesn’t yet exist for some reason. They do some of the heavy lifting early in the episode while the Doctor goes on his own (to have a memorable scene with an old school hobo,) but don’t crowd the Doctor and Clara too much. It’s a good way to ease the viewers back in, similar to the way “The Christmas Invasion” was largely about Rose, Jackie and Mickey.

The episode is structured very well, allowing for not only moments of suspense and action, and an especially good backbone speech from Clara, but also a strong one-on-one scene between the Doctor and the head bad guy. Choosing the replacement part aliens from “The Girl in the Fireplace” was a deft pull, not only bringing up another fan-favourite that there was maybe more to do with, but also drawing strong, if on-the-nose, connections between their MO and the Doctor’s regeneration. Still, being able to thematically link the threat of the week to a facet of your character’s persona is hardly a bad thing. It leads up to a deliberately ambiguous moment that is probably going to be hotly debated for a time to come, followed up by an enigmatic scene to end the episode that sets up what appears to be this season’s mystery arc. I’ve spoken to a few people prior to the premiere that may find this development disheartening.

Series 8 premieres at a time when I sense the audience for the show is as conflicted as it’s ever been (I know I’ve had my difficulties discussing the show in public, because nobody seems to want to admit liking it unconditionally any more.) They wanted a female Doctor, but they are also quite keen on Capaldi. They hate Moffat’s writing, but he’s been at the helm to steer the show to its highest visibility in its half-century existence. I don’t want to speculate into the hearts and minds of jaded fans, but there’s got to be some bitterness that this fan-unfriendly (or at least overly-teasing and insensitive) person is still heading up this show, and at least to me, writing a show that remains compelling and entertaining.

I feel like we’re in for another year of conflicted fan response, but the freshness of a new Doctor may wear Moffat’s writing tics better than a fourth season of Matt Smith would have. I think series 8 will be regarded better than series 7 even if the episodes themselves aren’t that different. But thank goodness this article isn’t intended to be about the response to the show, it’s about the show itself, which was entertaining as heck, and sure won me over in a hurry.

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You can hear more of Scott Williams’ thoughts about things at his official site, which we will one day engulf like latter-day Marlon Brando did cakes.