Cricketthecat I was vastly let down with the bulk of "Deep Breath." I feel this episode, all 120 minutes of it, only communicated two ideas: 1)"Please don't hate 12th Doctor." and 2)"Clara is much tougher and brighter than you think." That's it really! An hour and a half's worth of dialog and action summed up. The episode seemed without a core plot but rather snippets patched together. I can imagine a meeting of the head writers: "Okay team, the BBC gave us a content quota: dinosaurs, creepy Victorian era, a crying scene, and lesbian action*. I don't care how you wanna include it, fellas, just make sure it gets in the episode. Oh, and make sure the tone seems darker than last season..." I wanted to get to know this Doctor better and start on a new story arc. But I got a bunch of Madame Vastra/Jenny romance, Strax slapstick, and a villain heavy on macabre but light on actual cunning. What is really disappointing is that I actually DO like the new Doctor, and Clara rose several notches in my esteem. I'm afraid I simply don't feel like having to sit through the poor storytelling and cheap thrills to enjoy them. Sorry Mr. Moffat, I just don't like it.*I felt the suffocation/holding breath scene was a blatant excuse to have two females kiss. "Let me share my lungs with you" Oh. Come. On!

gregory_quinn Totally a question of my age (58), I'm sure. The episode went totally over my head, found it overwrought and incomprehensible. The production values are amazingly good as are the special effects (gone are the days of "Doctor Eyes" against a blue screen. I'm afraid I prefer drama that's vaguely comprehensible, and liked the old Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee doctors. Sorry, didn't think much of Capaldi - I'm sure he's a great actor otherwise. Shows how out of touch I am with public thinking, but to me the show takes itself too seriously. Hoping there'll be a retro version of Doctor Who that I'll be able to relate to.

masonbingley2000 I didn't know what to expect at first but I was very shocked to see Clara not wanting to be a part with the Doctor. Her and Strax are hilarious together which gives lot's of laugh out loud moments. The episode is very chilling and frightening. A great start to Peter Capaldi's era. The Clockwork Droids were super and scary but not like old times. Great CGI. Sometimes it can become long winded but the script is fierce and frightening! Overall, it is a must see episode but the title song is quite weak for Doctor Who. And a good look into future episodes. Clara is fantastic and portrayed very well by Jenna. Super skills!

Tweekums As this episode opens one could be forgiven for thinking you were watching an episode of 'Primeval' as we see a tyrannosaurus rex rampaging through London… that is until it becomes apparent that this is Victorian London and it coughs up the Tardis! The Doctor who emerges from it is quite a bit older than the one in the previous series and he is having difficulty with the names of people he should know and with his new appearance. The Doctor and Clara are taken to Madame Vastra's house but the Doctor wanders off. It looks as if he and Clara are to be separated but she spots an advert in The Times which could only have come from The Doctor; it leads her to a restaurant where they are reunited and he tells her how he found her advert! Clearly it was a trap; they are in a room full of creepy automata and it would appear they are on the menu!.The first episode of a new Doctor is always a little difficult to judge; the character is familiar yet also unfamiliar; both for the viewer and the characters who know him. Much of the first half of the episode was given over to getting Clara, and through her the audience, to accept the change… then the real action started. The villain of the story was suitably creepy without showing us what he did in any detail… a family show can't show organ harvesting robots who have made a balloon from human skin! It isn't all scares though; we get a few laughs too, mostly from Strax.Peter Capaldi got off to a fine start in his first full episode as The Doctor; it certainly looks as though he will be quite different when compared to the other 'new-series' Doctors. He is still somewhat manic, so much so that I feared he'd end up in Bedlam as he wandered around London in a nightshirt! Jenna Coleman continues as assistant Clara Oswald so we don't need to get used to two new protagonists as we did when Matt Smith took over and the presence of Madame Vastra, her wife Jenny and Strax provide more familiar faces. The episode is almost double the usual length but at no point did I think the story was dragging. Overall I found this to be a fairly enjoyable episode and have a feeling I'll like this new Doctor.