Now that we have gotten to see the 12th Doctor in action, what do you think of him? Personally, I love him! He's awesome! I wasn't expecting to like him, but he grew on me in his first (full) episode like a good Doctor should. Speaking on the new series, I sort of liked the 9th Doctor, but didn't really like him until his last episode. Then it was too late . It took a couple episodes for me to warm up to the 10th Doctor and it just took the first minute of screentime for the 11th Doctor. For 12, I liked his first line, but still wasn't sure about him. Deep Breath made me realize that he is awesome. My fanboy side aside, what are your opinions?
My sister isn't into Doctor Who yet she really likes the new doctor. I do as well. He's amazing and I really enjoy the new darker tone to the show.
He gets my vote of approval. He really is an homage back to when I was first watching Doctor Who, back in the Tom Baker days. 10 and 11 were too...manic. They had their moments, and I wouldn't call them BAD, per se, but they weren't my favorites. 9 could show excitement without forgetting how to use his limbs and turn into a dervish like 11.They were cartoony. But as for Capaldi, he's got the right mix of arrogance, sense of wonder, mystery, and sense that something isn't quite right with him that makes for a perfect Doctor. I think they've overplayed the eyebrows joke, though, and it'd be best if they don't keep beating that horse. But that's a writing thing, he's doing a great job with the acting.
I, too,enjoy the darker tone... and it will only get darker. *****SPOILERS!!!!!!***** There will be an episode with a mummy that can kill you if you look at it for 66 seconds, and Clara will decide to leave the Doctor in that episode, which is maybe three (give or take) episodes away! BUT she will face challenges in the next episode because of no Doctor!
I couldn't agree more, he does have a very Baker like air about him. I am loving Capaldi! (Just not those horrible pleated and tapered pants he wears ... but that's a topic for a completely different forum ...) I want him to do more than 3 seasons. I want him to pull a Tom Baker and be the Doctor for like 8 years! 1) Because I think Doctor Who needs that right now. If you look at the serials of the first 7 Doctors, Baker is used the most as the mascot for those. To many people Tom Baker is and will always be THE Doctor. I think its time the new seasons had that as well. Right now, you have your Tennantites and your Smithians (and few, like myself, who are Eccelstonians) but there isn't really A Doctor right now, as all have done either three or less seasons. 2)Because I do, really like Capaldi's Doctor. I like the TARDIS Desktop layout. I like the less fanciful and whimsical (like 11 with his original "Alice in Wonderland" Desktop layout for his first two seasons) darker side of the show. I enjoy that the more serious "we could all die at any moment" tone has returned from Season 1. I always felt that with Smith and Tennant, there was this feeling of invincibility (which is why the moments when that was taken away hit so hard.) But, that's all me, Capaldi's kicking major behind! As Steven Moffat himself said just before they revealed the new casting "They'd auditioned twice before, one for the 10th Doctor and one for 11. We felt that, at that time, they weren't right. While they were GREAT, it just wasn't the right time. NOW, is the right time and we know they're going to be fantastic."
Like him or hate him, I think it's great that he's a polar opposite of the last two doctors. He's also a lot more brutal / realistic. Quite a few people have died on his watch or around him and he basically brushes it off because people die - especially around him - and most of the time they die so he can get away. As opposed to Tennant who would cry for 5 episodes if even some minor cameo character died.
It always takes me about 3 episodes to decide if I really like a new doctor and every single time I end up hating to see them go. This one is taking a little longer, but it's not Capaldi (I think he's doing a great job), or the nature of the new doctor. It's the writing I'm having a little trouble with. The first episode really bothered me with the over-emphasis about his age. I mean there it is, now move on to the story. Also, they already set in motion the big mysterious arc that will likely end up being a season-ender or the more likely future Christmas special. It's a bit repetitive to keep doing that but this time around it's so in-your-face. I remember with Doctor 10, the Master finale (with Martha) had some tie-ins with earlier episodes and some neat easter eggs, but they were subtle. Either way, I'm always going to watch the Doctor through thick and thin.
^^^ I agree with Aren Sul ^^^^ Good acting, nice dialog...but the pacing is TERRIBLE! It reminds me of Fry on Futurama, "It took me 30 minutes to write. Shouldn't it take 30 minutes to read?" Oh, and about Missy....IGN has been critical because she hasn't been in every episode. Think about it...she's only saving people who sacrifice themselves to save the Doctor. No one did in the episodes she has not been in. (And this proves the Doctor didn't kill the robot.)
Okay, Here we are 3 months later and I stand by my initial assessment and want to push it further. The actors are great, but the writers have bottomed out. There is an incredible lack of originality, and where they are trying to be "creative" it's just ludicrous. I'm hoping by now everyone has seen all the Capaldi episodes to date so there are no spoilers (if not, come back here after you have). There are so many things with regards to originality, but I'll throw in a couple off the cuff. Yet again we get to hear the Daleks say that the Doctor would be a good Dalek (I mean that started with Eccleston's 2005 episode "Dalek") The doctor changes in a way that makes him be at odds with his current companion (Colin Baker anyone? And we know how well that worked) Matt Smith into his TARDIS phone at the end of Amy and Rory's wedding (paraphrasing) "What's that your majesty? An Egyptian goddess is loose on the Orient Express... in space?" And we get awfully close, but it's Mummy on the Orient Express As for suspending disbelief, these two things had me going beyond suspending it and cringing instead: The moon is an egg, destroys upon hatching and then immediately gets replaced (ignoring the actual make up of the moon, and how it gets recreated so quickly). A forest springs up overnight to protect the earth against a massive solar flare and then goes poof, but not before magically recreating a little girl who died (intact memories and all). And now I noticed in Christmas special. Twice the doctor wakes up from a realistic dream (no, not the Matt Smith episode with the Dream Lord, which did the same thing but oh so much better), and he is on the ground near a volcano? Wait. Isn't that what happened when Clara put (or did not put) the dream patch on him 2 episodes earlier? I am so praying that we don't get one of those hack, "the last X episodes were all a dream" device. I'm seriously hoping Moffat gets plenty of rest to re-energize both his brain cells and his ability to spot a weak script.
What about the end of the season when Santa Nick shows up asking for The Doctors help? And then when The Doctor shows up on the roof he 'rescues' Clara from Santa and their is animosity between the two ("No one even likes tangerines!") The sooner they get rid of Clara the Lying Girl, the better! Has there even been an episode where she hasn't told at least one big lie?
