Deep Breath

Discuss this episode here (once it's been on, obviously).

OK, I thought that was fairly incredible. Very cinematic. And I do like Capaldi!

Overnight viewing figures are in (the final figure will be released in about a week). 6.79 million watched the episode on first broadcast, 32% of the overall viewing audience, making it the highest figure for the day. For comparison purposes, last years season opener The Bells of St John got an overnight of 6.2 million and a final figure of 8.4 million. A timeshift figure of around two million (factoring in those who watched on catch-up services) is about average for Doctor Who these days, so I'd expect a final figure somewhere between eight and nine million.

With the older appearance, graying hair, "Pertwee-lite" clothes and the more serious personality once he had settled down, I definitely got a third Doctor feeling about the new Doctor.

Very definitely. And like Pertwee, I think this version will still be a man of action when needed.

I saw it last night. Enjoyed it a lot.
I am really hoping this change means Clara will be developed. I get a "Martha" feeling about her, until now, where she's just about a cipher-female mooning over The Doctor. Which I don't like. Make her a real character, please.
As to The Doctor himself, I'm really reluctant to say anything. He's too new (although the focus on his age was annoying, even if it's leading somewhere) but I think I'm going to like him a lot.
Did you all get the "Blogging" from Strax telling you about The Doctor, or was that just here?
Overall, looking forward to more!

I think the Strax stuff was purely a BBC America thing.
As far as Clara goes, her first few stories limited her character a bit I think, because of the whole 'impossible girl' mystery. Hopefully, now that we know she's an ordinary person, we'll learn more about her.

Couldn't find the Strax stuff on the BBC's website.

Lucy McGough wrote:Couldn't find the Strax stuff on the BBC's website.

It'll end up as a DVD extra.

DVDs are so twentieth-century. It's all about the iPlayer now.

Lucy McGough wrote:DVDs are so twentieth-century. It's all about the iPlayer now.

Not for me. I like a physical product to own.

tony ingram wrote:Not for me. I like a physical product to own.

If internet service wasn't so spotty at home, I'd disagree. Plus things disappear (Netflix only has things for so long) and I just like owning what I want to watch, rather than relying on the net.

tony ingram wrote:I think the Strax stuff was purely a BBC America thing.

I saw it in the theaters.

tony ingram wrote:Hopefully, now that we know she's an ordinary person, we'll learn more about her.

That is definitely my hope. Not too fond of the "women as background fluff" thing too many shows have. If she's on my screen I want her to be a person, not a prop.

Mbast1 wrote:

tony ingram wrote:I think the Strax stuff was purely a BBC America thing.

I saw it in the theaters.

We didn't get it on BBC1...

tony ingram wrote:We didn't get it on BBC1...

I think it was mostly an overview of the series. Strax talked about how The Doctor had changed, and then walked through the differences in each version. Really all there was to it. I think it was for those who'd been dragged to the thater with no idea what was going on.

Mbast1 wrote:

tony ingram wrote:We didn't get it on BBC1...

I think it was mostly an overview of the series. Strax talked about how The Doctor had changed, and then walked through the differences in each version. Really all there was to it. I think it was for those who'd been dragged to the thater with no idea what was going on.

Still, you lot seem to get a fair bit of stuff that we don't. BBC America had a whole series of specials on different Doctors last year, didn't they? The BBC didn't show any of that over here...

Apparently, a grand total of six tw...uh, "concerned citizens" complained to the regulatory body Ofcom (Office of Communications) about the scene in which Madame Vastra gives her wife the kiss of life, with one stating that Doctor Who was "turning into porn". Ofcom have dismissed the complaints.

tony ingram wrote:Apparently, a grand total of six tw...uh, "concerned citizens" complained to the regulatory body Ofcom (Office of Communications) about the scene in which Madame Vastra gives her wife the kiss of life, with one stating that Doctor Who was "turning into porn". Ofcom have dismissed the complaints.

I saw that. Ridiculous, I think. Childish, if nothing else. My niece sent me an article last year where someone said they wouldn't watch DW because it promoted the gay agenda.
Good riddance. I wonder if they ever noticed how important respect for diversity is to the show. The Doctor takes great joy in seeing how many different things there are in the universe, but he's still supposed to keep to provincial bigotries? Yeah, I'll go with no.

tony ingram wrote:Still, you lot seem to get a fair bit of stuff that we don't. BBC America had a whole series of specials on different Doctors last year, didn't they? The BBC didn't show any of that over here...

I can't tell, I don't have BBC America. I wish I did, although I think my Dad has it on his satellite feed.
I think, though, around the 50th you talked about all kinds of things you all had that I don't think I heard about here. I just can't tell.

Yeah, but BBC America actually had programming that celebrated the anniversary all the way through the year. The BBC and UKTV over here started about the beginning of November.

My wife thinks Clara's hesitation to go with The Doctor now that he's not Matt Smith anymore was a meant as a none-too-subtle jab at those "fans" who started watching the show a couple years ago because David Tennant was "cute" and have cried foul now that The Doctor's old. I'm not sure if that was the intention or not, but once she pointed it out it didn't really seem like it could be anything else.

Great episode, though. I'm sad Matt's gone (as I was with Eccleston and Tennant), but Capaldi should do just fine.

I think that's pretty clearly what Moffat had in mind. "Please see me" meant "look beyond whether or not I'm a pretty boy". Whether they will or not is another matter. We'll see...

Final consolidated viewing figures for the episode are in. 9.17 million viewers. That's pretty bloody good.

tony ingram wrote:I think that's pretty clearly what Moffat had in mind.

Which would make Moffat more of a jerk, IMO. This from a man who has said he prefers to have The Doctor run around with young girls.
I find myself waiting for him to go back to just writing.

Have you read the attack on him by Philip Morris?

tony ingram wrote:Have you read the attack on him by Philip Morris?

No. I don't know that I recognize that name, either. I'll look.

Morris is the guy who recovered the nine missing sixties episodes last year (and is rumoured to have more). He's anoutspoken classic series fan who dislikes Moffat's approach, and it's been rumoured he's holding back recovered episodes while Moffat's still in charge.

tony ingram wrote:Morris is the guy who recovered the nine missing sixties episodes last year (and is rumoured to have more). He's an outspoken classic series fan who dislikes Moffat's approach, and it's been rumoured he's holding back recovered episodes while Moffat's still in charge.

I can't really respond to this, because it seems really childish. I know a lot of people who don't like Moffat, and I'm one of them (for a number of reasons) but this guy is going to hold out on all the other fans because he doesn't like the current direction of the series? No, I do not think that's ok.

Well, as I say, it's rumour, that's all-though it's a rumour he seems to have been bolstering rather than denying. If he doesn't have anything more, then he's definitely milking the situation for all it's worth.

tony ingram wrote:Well, as I say, it's rumour, that's all-though it's a rumour he seems to have been bolstering rather than denying. If he doesn't have anything more, then he's definitely milking the situation for all it's worth.

It just seems to me that if you truly love the show, you'd consider that other people do too and stop worrying about whether you like the current direction and take into account other fans and the history of the show.
Well, if he is milking it, he might try to remember how fickle people are, and when he pisses them off, they'll make his life miserable.

I think fandom in general is now running out of goodwill towards the man. And from the rumblings I'm hearing from insiders, so is the BBC.