The 12th Doctor

[FerniesApple]

Hi I dont know if non Tolkien related topics are allowed here so I am sorry if this is breaking any rules, its not a deliberate attempt to provoke. I am genuinely not sure.
Anyhoo if there are any fellow Whovians here maybe we could discuss the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi and the new episodes on BBC1.

My first impressions were the new episode called Deep Breath was weak. The first half was pretty boring and I nearly switched off but I stuck with it and it got better. The second half picked up in interest as Jenna Coleman as Clara was allowed to act for the first time, which is saying something seeing as she had been in one Whole season with very little character development. But Clara carried the show and very well acted too. Just showed how underused her talents were before. She suddenly became a real person rather than a plot device.

unfortunately this became one of the big negatives for me. Because Moffats episodes during the Smith era were very plot led, the characters being used to further the whizz bang fast pace the personality of the assistant didnt matter so much, it was a case of witty one liners shot off at speed, not very deep and meaningful. But now this new episode seemed to be wanting to be character driven, lots of time getting to know Capaldi and Clara as a team, the story was secondary, so it wasnt too surprising that the villains and plot were not too brilliant as they were just there in the background, what was important was the Doctor and Clara, getting to know each other. The problem is that Clara while being much more fleshed out just isnt as interesting a character as Donna or Rose once the 'Impossible Girl' thing has been discarded, she remains a bit bland so the whole episode fell flat.
Either they go back to shallow whizzbang or they get a more interesting assistant.

Capaldi was good, better than Smith, no more flirting, no more hugging, thats better. I like his maturity and alienness, his introduction started off with a boring very plodding sequence, very lacklustre indeed, but he got better, by the time they were in the restaurant this new Doctor had me sold. He is unknowable in a good way.