Deconstructing the Doctor: Peter Capaldi & the New Series

doctor who, peter capaldi, twelfth doctor, television

peter-capaldi-c-bbc-doctor-who.jpg

Over at Word & Film, I wrote a bit about how much I'm liking the new series and Peter Capaldi's Doctor, and what's next for series eight:


And what of the Doctor himself? After a slightly uncertain start in "Deep Breath," where the Doctor's drawn-out regeneration recovery hearkened back to David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in "The Christmas Invasion," we've been shown the outline of the full range of Capaldi's Doctor in the three episodes since. "Into the Dalek" wasted no time in pitting Twelve against a rogue Dalek and carving him out a place in the grand tradition of facing off with canon villains, and also immediately painting him as a dark, troubled man. "Robot of Sherwood," on the other hand, showed us the sillier side of the show. It's a goofy episode, inconsequential but enjoyable, and shows the Doctor's less serious side. It's during episodes like this that I still believe the oft-trotted-out line about this being a children's show.

But this past week's episode, "Listen," is a standout, not just of the season but of the rebooted series as a whole. It's one of the most frightening episodes I've seen, up there with "Midnight," "Hide," "The Waters of Mars," and, of course, "Blink." The scariest Doctor Who episodes prey on very primal fears - things that move when you can't see them, water that will kill you if you touch it (let alone drink it), loss of control over your voice and your movements, and now, of course, what it is that lives in the darkness under the bed.

Read the rest here!

Doctor Who Posts

Aug 14, 2015

SF Review: Doctor Who: The Drosten’s Curse by A.L. Kennedy

By Escape Reality, Read Fiction!

My Review: Tomorrow, Saturday August 15, has been declared Doctor Who Comics Day by Titan Comics, who, of course, publish Doctor Who Comics. While I didn’t have a Doctor Who...

Aug 13, 2015

SF Review: The End of All Things by John Scalzi

By Escape Reality, Read Fiction!

My Review: If Doctor Who is the story of a “madman with a box” then The End of All Things is at least partially the story of a brain in...

Jul 15, 2015

Review: Space Cowboys & Indians by Lisa Medley

By Escape Reality, Read Fiction!

My Review: While Space Cowboys & Indians isn’t really like the 2011 movie Cowboys & Aliens, it also isn’t not like it. Along with a bit of Farscape or the...

Jun 08, 2015

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #11

By Comics Worth Reading

I know big, galaxy-risking, four-part stories are seen as more important, but it’s the one-off, quieter, more personal scenes that I really like in this series. I shouldn’t be too...

May 24, 2015

Doctor Who Summer Comic Event Crosses Over Four Doctors

By Comics Worth Reading

In keeping with the tradition of the big summer event, Titan Comics has announced that they will publish a five-part weekly crossover in August among their ongoing Doctor Who comic...

May 03, 2015

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #11

By Comics Worth Reading

I haven’t been talking much about the Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor series. I liked companion Alice, but she quickly got lost in adding a couple more creatures traveling with...

Apr 05, 2015

Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #1

By Comics Worth Reading

Completing the modern run of Doctors with their fourth title, Titan Comics has launched Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #1. This one’s a miniseries, five issues, written by Cavan Scott...

Mar 12, 2015

Review: Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman

By Escape Reality, Read Fiction!

My Review: Fair warning, if you have an eARC of this book, it probably does not include the last story, Black Dog. I’m lucky I had a published print copy...

Feb 21, 2015

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #1

By Comics Worth Reading

I was curious to try the launch of the Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor comic series, because I lost interest in the show in the second half of the Eleventh...

Feb 21, 2015

Doctor Who Photo Covers Create New Companions

By Comics Worth Reading

The Doctor Who comics, like so many these days, are available with multiple covers. There’s usually a main art cover, possibly a painted variant, but there’s also been a lot...