Doctor Who: Series 8

[E.Davis]

Looks like we have a start date and a teaser!
BBC America will debut the eighth season of Doctor Who — ahem, the first season featuring new Doctor Peter Capaldi — at 8PM ET on August 23.

[darquegk]

Doo wee ooo.

[wonkit]

I will truly miss Matt Smith, just I missed David Tennant.

[E.Davis]

Finally a trailer with some scenes. I am excited that Vastra is back, which means we get Jenny and Strax too.


Doctor Who: Series 8 Full Trailer

[Addison D.]

Thanks for posting that!

I fell in movie-actor lust with Peter Capaldi back in 1988, when he played Azolan--the henchman who reports back to Valmont on what Mme. de Tourvel is eating, writing and drinking--in 'Dangerous Liasons'. Sharing the screen with Malkovich, Pfeiffer and Close, he still somehow managed to stand out in my mind.

I have grown quite fond of each 'New Who' Doctor in turn, but this is the first one that I have looked forward to with such eager anticipation.

If I have any hesitation, it is with regard to his chemistry with Jenna Coleman--I think her bright and perky Clara may spin at the wrong RPM for his Doctor. We shall see...


ETA: For you kids, 'RPM' = revolutions per minute. Back in the day, we listened to music recorded on circular, vinyl discs that spun on platters. Different-sized "records" spun at different speeds, and the discs were referred to by their speeds--'78's, '45's, etc. A record played at the wrong speed sounded bad.

[Islander_fan]

One thing that I have felt is that it takes me awhile to warm up to each new doctor. It does happen, but also does take me a few episodes to "get to know" so to speak, the new doctor.

[kec]

Tonight's the night!
Doctor Who Season 8 Preview

[sabrelady]

some of the "inner circle" have seen this and r very happee indeed.

[kec]

Good to know...

[bwayrose7]

Less than an hour to go (at least in my time zone)! It's been a long 8 months- here's to a fantastic new season!

[E.Davis]

Who is the woman in the shop.

I think I am going to like this Doctor.

[sabrelady]

8.5/10 Like Capaldi, story only so much. Nice effects. Oh and the jokes while clever now- r going to seem dated later.

Didn't like the pleading tho.

[Taryn]

I felt pretty meh about it, overall. Watching Capaldi is very strange just because I've watched him as the evil Cardinal in The Musketeers so recently, but I'm sure I'll get used to him.

[Plum]

I thought the greenscreening and effects were actually hilarious, sabrelady, but maybe that's the screen I was watching on. Capaldi is, as expected, sensational. I remain skeptical as to whether Moffat can do anything except repeat the same tricks over and over again (he even admitted it with the "Girl in the Fireplace" allusion), but if he can at least do those tricks well again this can be a pretty good season.

[BroadwayBenny]

I felt the whole episode spent way too much time trying to apologize for him not being Matt Smith anymore, and begging fangirls to like him in spite of having "lines on his face and being grey." It just felt forced and fell very flat to me. I hope they got all that out of their system and just get on with the new doctor. It was hard to enjoy Peter's performance with all the pleading.

The cinematography and acting were top notch, but the direction and script were greatly lacking.

[OperaBwayLover]

I already like Capaldi's doctor. He's just the right blend of gruffness from Classic Who (think 2nd and 3rd doctors) and humor from Nu Who (thinking of 9 here). There were so many lines that were funny, and while I could have lived without the appearance of 11 (catering to the fangirls there *eyeroll*), it wasn't bad.

The regeneration stories are always interesting because they can get away with a level of whackiness that isn't possible later on (don't believe me? Go watch Tom Baker's regeneration story "Robot"). The "speaking dinosaur" bit was definitely the silliest part for me.

[darquegk]

I rather liked the guest appearance of Eleven. The new show has become increasingly reliant on regeneration as plot point and not necessity. The old Doctors are not "gone" anymore, they are just "not here." As long as the actors are available, I believe more guest appearances are not out of the question, especially with Tom Baker's reappearance as The Last Doctor in the previous special.

[Addison D.]

A darker path for the Doctor was laid out with resolution of the Time War arc in the 50th Anniversary ep.

The Doctor made peace with his actions, prevented the annihilation of his people, and the Pacifism connected with having been witness to/cause of all that death was erased. His cool willingness to have a drink and kill the bad guy in this episode clearly suggests that the Capaldi Doctor will be a very different character than we have come to expect. Exciting, but unsettling.

Although I agree with BroadwayBenny that way too much time was spent "begging fangirls to like him in spite of having "lines on his face and being grey.", I DID enjoy the exchange between the Doctor and the mechanical man from which the image above was taken.

For all the time they had to write and shoot this episode, I thought the script was kind of sloppy and there were way too many poorly (or NOT) thought-out moments.

And I am just over Strax.

[darquegk]

Season 7 was about getting back to the now-unpopular basics of the character. Almost every arc was intended to bring back either a piece of Old Who mythology, a previously obscure character, or the less peaceful and sentimental, more capricious and inscrutable, aspects of the character.

Capaldi is an Old Who doctor in a New Who world.

[orangeskittles]

"I felt the whole episode spent way too much time trying to apologize for him not being Matt Smith anymore, and begging fangirls to like him in spite of having "lines on his face and being grey.""

Christmas Invasion was the same way. Rose spend the whole episode crying and even Harriet Jones (Prime Minister) said "He's not my Doctor". It's not just about Moffat/Matt Smith and the fangirls. It's reasonable to have that kind of holdover sentiment played out onscreen when the companion has to adjust to a new Doctor too. We just haven't seen it for a long time.

[BroadwayBenny]

I didn't feel the same "please like this doctor too" vibe from Christmas Invasion, though yes, Rose and co. had to get used to him it all was in more fun and felt less whiny than here. We also already had a very drawn out goodbye for Matt, so it felt redundant here with the whole phone call scene. It would have been ok if they touched on it of course, but I was just turned off by the "please see me" bit and wanted to see the new Doctor kick into gear. This new psychotic Mary Poppins looking chick seems promising though.