Friday, August 08, 2014

Doctor Who - Series 8: World Tour Begins (Spoilers)

Well, it started yesterday in both Cardiff and London and will be heading to places such as Mexico City, New York, Sydney and Seoul over the next week but yes, the tour for Doctor Who has begun and it certainly got off to a wonderful start with fans and press out in their droves to catch up with the cast and crew.


At the Cardiff premiere we saw showrunner Steven Moffat on the red carpet along with the man of the moment himself - Peter Capaldi, posing here with co-stars Jenna Coleman and Samuel Anderson, the latter who will make his debut as maths teacher Danny Pink in the episode Into The Dalek (which the BBC released some exclusive clips from). Many pictures showed the trio signing autographs, talking to fans and even posing with the Cybermen, who have been confirmed to reappear in the final two episodes for the upcoming eighth series. Of course, the highlight of this tour was the world premiere of Capaldi's debut story, Deep Breath, which going by reviews has gone down a treat with audiences.


So, what can I reveal about Deep Breath that isn't too spoilery? Lots it seems, thanks to the plethora of reviews that have been posted in the last twenty four hours but here are the highlights ...

- The episode itself along with an assortment of extras (including Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor) will be released on a vanilla DVD from September 8th, which is the same day a boxset for the 50th Anniversary Specials are being released. Series 8 comes out on DVD from November 17th.
- While Peter Capaldi excels in his debut (he's certainly a no-nonsense, less flirty Doctor), it seems that Jenna Coleman is the highlight of the episode as Clara goes through the gamut of emotions as she struggles to get to know the new Doctor.
- There are extended scenes, giving the episode time to breathe and also to showcase some better character moments.
- There's a new title sequence, based on a fanmade one. I've heard mixed reviews on it but it's got clocks, spirals and cogs in it as well as Capaldi's eyes too supposedly. I haven't seen it myself.
- The main arc for the series is definitely set up here but more so in the episode's closing moment.
- According to The Sun, there's a returning character in the episode. I know who it is as I suspect many who have been reading spoiler threads over the last few months.
- A callback to a previous Moffat episode in the RTD era is connected to the main threat of this episode and there are some genuinely gruesome scenes to witness.
- Elisabeth Sladen's husband Brian Miller makes a brief appearance in the episode too. He previously appeared in the third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures.
- There's some callbacks to adventures from the 1970s and even David Tennant's first season.
- There's a certain Scottishness in the episode too. It'll make sense when you see it.

And that's all I'm saying on the matter. I'll link you to a thread on Digital Spy which has several links to the variety of reviews that have been released but suffice to say, with only fifteen days left to go, I seriously cannot wait for Series 8 to arrive.

Reviews Thread: http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1993798
Into The Dalek Clips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rvpElcXUi8

Series 8 of Doctor Who will air on BBC1 and BBCAmerica from August 23rd.

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