# Doctor Who Revival S8E1 -- Deep Breath (boxed spoilers until it airs on the West Coast) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2014, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-revival-s8e1-deep-breath-boxed-spoilers-until-it-airs-on-the-west-coast/696274 "2014-08-23T04:47:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-revival-s8e1-deep-breath-boxed-spoilers-until-it-airs-on-the-west-coast/696274/141 "2014-08-28T16:50:30Z")
Going with the Rani. Weren’t there hints of a relationship between her and the Doctor in the old series? We could easily discount Dimensions in Time, leaving her last seen trapped with the t-rex. She takes on other personas (impersonating Mel for instance). Missy carries an umbrella, a nod to the last Doctor she met: the Seventh. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-revival-s8e1-deep-breath-boxed-spoilers-until-it-airs-on-the-west-coast/696274/142 "2014-08-28T17:25:37Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > I was all prepared for a grim and dark Doctor, so I appreciated the humor. And I loved Clara driving the action, and Jenna Coleman getting to show her chops. The veil scene, with Madame Vastra, I really enjoyed - it seemed to hint at Vastra’s … well, can’t really say “alienness”, since the Silurians were here before us naked apes showed up - her non-humanness. She is an interesting character (and a good actress) that I’d love to see further developed. > > . That’s one of the things I didnt like. I mean, sure we have to suspend disbelief to an extent. But a Lesbian anthrophagus Reptilian creature, living in Victorian England, calling people “human scum” and bossing around the police- all of this being accepted by Victorian society?:dubious: And why would a Silurian be attracted sexually to a human anyway? (Yes, I know she kinda hides her “marriage” but still…) And then, if you think about it, her “rescue” did nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-revival-s8e1-deep-breath-boxed-spoilers-until-it-airs-on-the-west-coast/696274/143 "2014-08-28T19:22:23Z")
I don’t think it’s common knowledge that Vastra is not human, let alone that she sometimes eats people. Most people probably assume that she’s got some sort of disfigurement, like Joseph Merrick. Which also gives her a lot more latitude for being an independent woman. Nobody would expect her to get married, after all, looking the way she does. Her relationship with the police relies entirely on her relationship with the chief inspector, who just needs to be open-minded enough to realize that Vastra is routinely able to close cases that the police barely even understand. As to cross species romance, isn’t it the aspiration of every horny adolescent sf geek to someday fuck a green chick? I don’t see why that has to only go one way. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-revival-s8e1-deep-breath-boxed-spoilers-until-it-airs-on-the-west-coast/696274/144 "2014-08-28T22:28:06Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Missy = Mistress = gender-swapped Master. Oh, good catch! More fuel for the “Master is back” fire! > [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > I like this theory. I like it a lot. The way Missy acts is not dissimilar from Mr Saxon, and the ‘my boyfriend’ could be a play on the perceived romantic tension between the Doctor and the Master (that aspect may not play well with the audience after the reveal in this case), and the Master is set to return this series. Yeah, I’m putting my money (10 Gallifreyan Pandaks) on you being right, here. [Ah-hem!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17666932#post17666932) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-revival-s8e1-deep-breath-boxed-spoilers-until-it-airs-on-the-west-coast/696274/145 "2014-09-15T15:54:22Z")
I’m taking the spoiler box off seeing as the episode aired some weeks ago. > [@Octarine](#): > > I liked those moments where the Doctor said things aloud about his foes, and you could see it dawn on him that what he was saying also described himself. The example that’s in my head right now is when he shows the clockwork guy his face in a mirror/silver dish; when he held it up, he saw his own face as well while saying “you don’t even know what your own face looks like” (or something along those lines). I have a feeling the writers crafted these aliens especially for moments like those - the whole aspect of literally taking others faces contrasted with the Doctor’s regeneration. It’s not just a feeling - the false face he peels off when dropping his disguise is a actually a cast of Matt Smith’s face. It’s a re-enactment of the regeneration, him literally taking off an old face to reveal the new one. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-revival-s8e1-deep-breath-boxed-spoilers-until-it-airs-on-the-west-coast/696274/146 "2014-09-15T16:33:31Z")
> [@Sean\_Factotum](#): > > Why is Strax such an idiot? He seems to be getting dumber and dumber instead of more attuned to the humans he is in contact with on an almost daily basis. Sontarans are egostic, not moronic. Strax “died” in “A Good Man Goes to War”, being revived with advanced medical technology. Perhaps some brain damage occurred? Currently he’s neither a nurse nor a soldier, it may be working for Vastra and Jenny are a sort of disability retirement for him. > [@](#): > > Why is Clara so freaked out about this change? She is the one and only companion who has seen every single Doctor. By this time, she shouldn’t be concerned with his physical appearance. She has seen other regenerations, but not really lived with them. Her saving of him was typically a very brief encounter, sometimes without the Doctor even being aware of her and her actions. Capaldi’s Doctor is the first one other than M. Smith’s that she has interacted with extensively. > [@](#): > > And why doesn’t the Doctor remember Madame De Pompadour? Especially once he read the name of the sister ship to the Marie Antoinette? Immediately post-regeneration he tends to be disoriented, as well as sleeping/passing out a lot. This was established as far back as the Third Doctor. Memory lapses are part of the baggage. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-revival-s8e1-deep-breath-boxed-spoilers-until-it-airs-on-the-west-coast/696274/147 "2014-09-15T23:49:46Z")
[QUOTE=Broomstick] …the false face he peels off when dropping his disguise is a actually a cast of Matt Smith’s face. {snip} [/QUOTE] Says who? (“Who”? Get it? 😃 ) But for reals, where does that info come from? Because if you’re talking about the disguise he was in when Clara reached her hand back, then that actor doesn’t look anything like Matt Smith. I’m confused… [QUOTE=Broomstick] Strax “died” in “A Good Man Goes to War”, being revived with advanced medical technology. Perhaps some brain damage occurred? {snip} [/QUOTE] IMO, could very well be. I also suspect that the character of Strax is a comic reversal of the “noble savage” trope as seen with the fourth Doctor’s companion, Leela. Or something. I think Strax is hilarious, but I agree that he shouldn’t be overused. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-revival-s8e1-deep-breath-boxed-spoilers-until-it-airs-on-the-west-coast/696274/148 "2014-09-16T06:41:57Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > And then, if you think about it, her “rescue” did nothing. I did notice that as well. The Doctor’s escape and abandonment of Clara at least led to the exposure of information. What better way to get information than be taken prisoner? (He actually said that last week.) But Madame Vestra, Jenny, and Strax are supposed to be the back up rescue squad, but all they manage to do is get themselves inserted into the middle of the death zone. Meanwhile, the Doctor is off chasing the leader up the elevator shaft. ---
**Author:** ![BOOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c4cdca/32.png) [@BOOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BOOM)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2014, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-revival-s8e1-deep-breath-boxed-spoilers-until-it-airs-on-the-west-coast/696274/149 "2014-11-14T13:27:28Z")
I watched this on the Player last night and found it to be another convincing parable by Moffat on discrimination (this time, specifically age and judgement by appearances) and, as ever, a discussion on relationships – although now the shift is towards a more general ‘friendship’ rather than the flirty besotting of the era just passed. Also, Clara’s journey to acceptance was rather wonderful. All my adult life I’ve observed with some awe the huge emotional journey women make when moving from one man to the next, and it was nice to see it portrayed in a gentle, positive way (rather than the usual ugly way relationships end). So unusual, so smart. Loved that moment when she tested him – and his hand was there: the beginning of trust: game on. She is now an independent young woman, here on her own terms. Then there was the lesbian marriage and even a close up kiss – sorry, ‘breathing help’. The educational agenda sometimes seems so subversive in Dr Who – until you remember it’s a BBC kids show, so part of its remit is exactly that. It really is very modern, and subtle. Kudos Moffat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-who-revival-s8e1-deep-breath-boxed-spoilers-until-it-airs-on-the-west-coast/696274.md?page=7)