Doctor Who cruises past the 800 episode mark with the debut of the 12th Doctor! Spoiler Alert: don't read if you haven't seen the episode!

Dinosaurs, robots and the aftermath of a regeneration - a rather strange combination for a Doctor's debut episode. But if anyone was up to the task of making it all work perfectly, it was Steven Moffat, who also penned the fantastic opening episode of the 11th Doctor's run. And did he live up to expectations? Yes, he did, and while Deep Breath isn't quite on the same level as The Eleventh Hour, it's still a fantastic episode in it's own right.

Deep Breath sees the new Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and Clara (Jenna Coleman) 'crash' in Victorian London, where they are quickly embroiled in a case of mysterious spontaneous combustions. With the help of Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh), Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart) and Strax (Dan Starkey), their investigation of the murders quickly lead them to the Half-Faced Man (Peter Ferdinando), who wants nothing more than to reach the Promised Land.

From the moment the episode began, it was obvious we were in for a very enjoyable ride. The Doctor's grand appearance in the form of the TARDIS stuck in a t-rex's mouth may quite well be the strangest beginning to a Doctor's debut episode (but by no means the stupidest; sorry Time and the Rani!), but things immediately became interesting once Peter Capaldi stepped out of the blue box. And wow, what a performance he gave! Much like Matt Smith 4 years ago, Capaldi had me sold on his Doctor within seconds. The way he delivers the dialogue, the way he moves around on set is such a drastic change from Smith's often manic acting that it makes a refreshing change. That's not to say anything against Smith, though, but it can't be denied that Capaldi does bring a certain gravitas to the role that's been missing since Christopher Eccleston's time on the programme. However, if there's one complaint I had to make, it's that he often mumbles his lines. I'd like to think that this is a fault of the episode's sound design, as he was rather difficult to hear and understand at certain points. Hopefully this will improve as the series continues, and we get the full Capaldi experience.

The episode also gives us Jenna Coleman's best performance as Clara. While the fact that Clara is somewhat struggling to cope with the Doctor's regeneration does seem heavily contrived, Coleman nevertheless completely sells the discomfort and sense of loss her character feels. It's also nice that Clara's beginning to get some serious character development as well. While she always had nuances to her personality, I occasionally felt that they were somewhat buried in the subtext of an episode - though this is no doubt due to the prominent 'Impossible Girl' arc during Series 7 Part 2. Here though, she's begins to get fleshed out a lot more; her egomanical and control freak tendencies are brought to light, but it's also shown how much she trusts Doctor after she is chillingly abandoned by him in the monster's underground lair. The moment where she had to hold her breath and failed was great stuff indeed.

Deep Breath also sees the reappearance of the Paternoster Gang, and for the first time since they debuted in 2011's A Good Man Goes To War, they finally received some character development. Unfortunately though, this is rather limited - the extent of Strax's is a midly funny conversation with Clara and an attempted suicide when cornered by the clockwork droids. Vastra and Jenny's, on the other hand, consists entirely of them reminding the audience that they're married every two seconds. It feels as if Moffat's constantly trying to shout how 'progressive' he's being, but by doing so, he's shooting himself in the foot. We know that Jenny and Vastra are married, and perhaps you only needed to mention it once for new viewers, but four or five times? It's like being hit over the head with RTD's Jesus imagery all over again.

Every so often in my review of an episode, I will lament that the villain doesn't actually do anything (The Snowmen, The Power of Three). And in a way, that is the case here - the Half-Faced Man basically talks and nothing else, and the clockwork droids attack some main characters before being dispatched Phantom Menace style. But in this instance, I think it actually works to the episode's benefit. With the 12th Doctor debuting, naturally the focus should be on the new Doctor, and not the threat. And that's what I was expecting. Thus, nothing could have prepared me for how amazing Peter Ferdinando's performance is. The way he moved, the way he ennounced his words, it was all pitch perfect, and he managed to give quite a lot of depth to an otherwise generic villain. In fact, I would go as far to say that he gave the best villain performance in the entirety of the revived series. He was that good.

Also noteworthy was the pace of the episode; it was noticeably slower than the tail end of the 11th Doctor's tenure. And while this slower pace did mean the episode dragged a bit in the middle, it also allowed for longer scenes - something that worked very well. The Doctor's discussion with the tramp regarding his face and his 'attack eyebrows' is an example, as are both of the restaurant scenes. They all contained very important character moments, and had some of the best dialogue in the episode - the aforementioned 'attack eyebrows' in particular. However, it is the second of the restaurant scenes that will undoubtedly be the most discussed and talked about for the remainder of the series: did the Doctor push the Half-Face Man out of the doorway, or did he convince him to jump? The answer to that question is thankfully left ambiguous, no doubt in order to give a sense of uncertainty regarding how far the 12th Doctor will go. I personally think that the Doctor did push, but I look forward to the answer no matter what it is.

However, the highlight of the episode, for me at least, was the 11th Doctor's phone call, but not because 11 had a cameo. No, instead, I thought the exchange between 11, Clara and 12 was simply wonderful, and is the most the show has ever done to demonstrate that two Doctors are actually the same person. It's a brilliantly written scene - probably one of Steven Moffat's best. As that brief, wonderful scene ends though, we are introduced to the person who will obviously be the 'big bad' of the series. Who exactly is Missy? Only time will tell, but it's always fun to speculate until the answer is revealed.

In conclusion, Deep Breath is a wonderful debut episode for Peter Capaldi and the 12th Doctor. The acting is phenomenal, the longer scenes shine with brilliance, and, despite not doing much other than talking, the villain is very compelling. Other than a few minor niggles concerning characterisation and sound design, this episode starts of Season 34 of Doctor Who with a bang.

 8/10