Deep Breath (Series Eight, Ep. 1; 2014)
Viewed 25 Apr 2018

Doctor/Companion: Twelve, Clara Oswald
Stars: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman
Preceding Story: The Time of the Doctor (Eleven, Clara)
Succeeding Story: Into the Dalek (Twelve, Clara)

The end of the school year and start of our summer break has taken us down several different binge-watching paths. As I mentioned last time, for a while it was the MCU. More recently it’s been other programs. And I’ll be honest—with “Kill the Moon” next up in our Who marathon, I’ve not pushed them too hard to get back to it.

Before everything went sideways, though, I did manage to get them through the early part of Series Eight. New regenerations always make for interesting viewing, so I thought I’d record their reactions to this “new” Doctor to share here.

Of course he wasn’t new to them, which makes this an odd sort of not-quite-full-circle episode. The Twelve my girls know is actually rather different than the Twelve that first appeared on screen. Not only is his hair far too short here (I love that you can gauge where both Three and Twelve are in their regeneration based on how bouffant their hair is), but he’s still über antisocial (“I don’t think that I’m a hugging person now”). That persona put off a lot of fans at the time, and some of them never warmed to Twelve.

However, I’ve always held that early Twelve is a big hedgehog (prickly on the outside, but soft and tender on the inside). Perhaps having known his later, mellower self made it easier for my girls to agree with my assessment—or devise their own—and accept this awkward, uncomfortable goober as the Doctor. Whatever the case, they took him in stride and most of their comments and reactions were aimed at other characters.

As the story opens, and the authorities arrive at the Thames to investigate the sudden arrival there of a dinosaur, the girls are sad to hear that this is the last appearance of the Paternoster Gang. They giggle at several bits of the opening scene (e.g., “Your grasp of biology troubles me.”), gasp an appalled “No” when the aforementioned dinosaur meets its fiery end, and sympathize with Jenny when we see Vastra’s board and realize Jenny’s been acting an ornament rather than model.

Later, as the plot thickens, they’re fully invested in Clara. “That was…! That was pretty amazing,” H declares as Clara deduces the meaning of the message in the personals section. Then thing get creepy; the Doctor realizes they’re on the menu, and appears to leave his Companion to fend for herself. “Clara!” someone on the couch wails as the door slams between them.

Clara cottons on that her best bet is to pretend to be one of the robots, and attempts escape by holding her breath. Both girls involuntarily hold theirs in concert with her (as do I, despite knowing exactly what’s coming); I hear at least one of them let out a heavy breath at one point, well before Clara’s lungs give out (through the magic of television).

Then she is brought before the Half-face Man and interrogated. The girls are utterly silent throughout the ordeal, yet they don’t seem overly apprehensive. I suspect (again) that it is because unlike the original audience—unlike Clara—they already know and trust this Doctor. They know that Clara is right, if not in exact detail, then in spirit. They know the Doctor is still the Doctor, and he will be there for her.

When the Doctor confronts the Half-face Man, and they discuss the “repairs” the latter has done over the millennia, we have to pause. H has twigged the “patch up a spaceship with human remains” connection, but V (like the Doctor) still needs some context. Even bringing up the Madame de Pompadour isn’t quite enough, but she gets there eventually.

By the end, when Clara takes that one last phone call, the girls are rapt. They don’t need the reassurance, but appreciate that Clara does. I’ve always been slightly irritated that it took Clara so long to accept the Doctor, but I’ll admit that it’s at least in part because I’ve seen regeneration time and again. Realistically, it would be hard to accept in someone you know and love if you’d never encountered the phenomenon before.

So I smile with the girls’ giggle as the Doctor squirms in Clara’s embrace, and can’t help but grin at the fangirl squee of “Missy!” when she appears. Obviously there’s no mystery for my girls about Missy’s identity, so it’ll be interesting to see how they react to that plot line as it unfolds during the rest of Series Eight. But I think it’s a safe bet they’re going to be open to the “new” direction of Twelve’s arc in a way the rest of us might not have been at the time.

General reactions:

• H – already on board with Twelve, not fazed by the difference
• V – finds this version of Twelve a bit off-putting—mostly because of the hair
• mrfranklin – not the best ever story, but solid enough

If I’d had any concerns about whether or not my kids would accept this “uncooked” version of their first Doctor, I needn’t have worried; they took him—and everything else in this episode—in stride. There are still some tough stories coming up, but I think the girls will get through them just fine. With this introduction behind us, knowing that Twelve will become ever more the Doctor they know, I can breathe easy.