DW: The clock strikes Twelve

(SPOILERS AHEAD OF COURSE)

I remember when it became announced Peter Capaldi (The thick of it, FortySomething) was going to be The Doctor, and I wasn't at all surprised. Not that I was 'bored' by the choice, but I felt he was the right man to take over as the enigmatic alien with his magical box. I am glad to know I wasn't wrong either, for there is something quite beautiful with his portrayal. He has a certain classic-Doctor feel about him, something I felt for example David Tennant lacked. Capaldi's Doctor is very alien, and his moral-code is certainly questioned from the series opener 'Deep Breath'.

We are left in doubt about whether or not he made someone plunge to their death, and then he asks Clara in 'Into the Dalek' if he is a good man. There was never any doubt about Matt Smith's childish, energetic portrayal, though perhaps that was because he concealed it well. In a previous episode Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) was warned about a 'sliver of ice in his heart' ('Hide'), and we are all aware that Eleven was perhaps not the absolute empathic of them all, quite selfish in some aspects. I feel in some ways this has been pushed forward, and we are truly placed right at the beginning with how the Doctor's first face felt in 1963.

We're not sure, and I delight in the not-knowing. Capaldi's Doctor feels like the beginning of a new relationship, yet I recognize the patterns. Perhaps not 'boyfriend material' unlike Smith's Doctor. A fact they pointed out, which perhaps thrust forward Danny Pink (Samuel Anderson) to be romantic interest.

I can say however, that his character impressed me from the mere few minutes of screen time, which I haven't entirely felt about other characters during Moffat's time on the show. Usually his characters must grow on one a little, their lives of little consequence, though luckily he has begun to fully flesh out Clara's, making her more than just a mystery girl with her mystery ways. Now, we are left to furrow our brows over the umbrella-wielding Missy (Michelle Gomez) instead, which is sort of nice.

I am looking forward to the rest of series eight, the tone is rather dark, but I feel like we've stepped into a new era, which is nice. It certainly helps that the series isn't broken in two, and the episodes aren't being little films themselves.