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 "Deep Breath" is the first story of Season Thirty Four (New Series 8). After a brief cameo in "The Day of The Doctor" and a short appearance at the end of "The Time of The Doctor", this story marks the full first appearance of Peter Capaldi in his first full story as the Twelfth Doctor. Alongside Jenna Coleman, as his companion Clara Oswald, it also features Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewart, and Dan Starkey reprising their roles as Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, and Strax. Peter Capaldi's predecessor, Matt Smith, also appears in a cameo as the Eleventh Doctor.
This story has been written by head writer and showrunner, Steven Moffat and runs to a feature-length 75 minutes. Executive Producer Steven Moffat announced to the fans that this story was going to be a 'big introduction' for Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. He said that there would be 'plenty of action and nonsense and jeopardy, as there ever is in Doctor Who'.
This story was directed by Ben Wheatley. He is the director of the first two stories of this season, which comprise Block One of production. Ben Wheatley is a highly regarded British television and film director whose debut feature was Down Terrace (2009). This was followed by Kill List (2010), Sightseers (2012), A Field in England (2013) and Freakshift (2014). This is Ben Wheatley's first work on Doctor Who.
During the read-through of the script for this story, which took place on the 17th December, 2013, the cast and crewmembers filled the room with laughter when Peter Capaldi reached the lines ridiculing his eyebrows.
Recording started on the 7th January 2014 in Cardiff - beginning at the Maltings and later at Mount Stuart Square on the 13th. Scenes were also filmed at Queen Street on the 28th January. Recording of this story finished on the18th February 2014.
Matt Smith filmed his scene on the 5th October 2013. This was the last day of the recording for "The Time of The Doctor". Steven Moffat joked that Matt Smith's return was the fastest return ever, considering the fact that he last appeared in the previous story.
Barney (the man who shares a conversation with The Doctor about new faces) is played by Brian Miller who appeared as Dugdale in the 1983 Fifth Doctor story, "Snakedance". He also provided Dalek voices in "Resurrection of the Daleks" and "Remembrance of the Daleks" and also appeared in "The Mad Woman in the Attic", the second story in the third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures.
Paul Kasey, credited as ‘Footman’, has appeared numerous times in the show - from an Auton in 2005 to a Zygon in 2013!
Michelle Gomez (Bad Education and Green Wing) plays the part of the mysterious Missy. As revealed by Steven Moffat she will join the cast of Doctor Who proper later in the season playing the part of the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere.
This story saw the debut of a new title sequence designed by Billy Hanshaw after Executive Producer Steven Moffat saw a video of his conceptual Doctor Who titles sequence on YouTube and decided to draft him aboard to do a professional version of his sequence. The new titles feature a vast expanse of golden-bronze clock gears whizzing by in empty space, and then the TARDIS flying through a tunnel of Roman numeral clock face numbers spiralling into a literal depiction of a time vortex with glowing engravings of circular Gallifreyan. The TARDIS then passes across the screen in a way very similar to the Season Twenty Seven (New Series 1) title sequence as the TARDIS jumped from the blue to red time vortex, and then travels past a group of planets. Peter Capaldi's piercing eyes are shown, rather than a full insert of the actor's face.
During the title sequence this story's name is not in capitals, as has been the norm for previous stories in the show.
This story's premier broadcast date, (the 23rd August), is also the same date that the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble arrive in Pompeii in the 2008 story "The Fires of Pompeii", in which Peter Capaldi made his first appearance in the show as Lobus Caecilius.
This is not the first time that an actor has appeared in the show before being cast in a major part. Colin Baker, before he became the Sixth Doctor, played the part of Commander Maxil in the 1983 Fifth Doctor story "Arc of Infinity" - where he actual gets to shoot The Doctor; Lalla Ward played the part of Princess Astra in the 1979 Fourth Doctor story "The Armageddon Factor" before she became the second incarnation of Romana; and Karen Gillan played a soothsayer in "The Fires of Pompeii".
In this story it is revealed that The Doctor can speak dinosaur. This is not the first animal he has talked to. In the 2012 Eleventh Doctor story "A Town Called Mercy" it was revealed that The Doctor can speak horse.
In his confusion, The Doctor thinks Clara is the regeneration of Handles - a Cyberman head that assisted the Eleventh Doctor in "The Time of The Doctor". He also thinks that Strax is one of the seven dwarfs from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, calling him 'Sneezy', 'Bashful', 'Dopey' and 'Grumpy'.
The Cloister Bell is heard ringing as The Doctor collapses on the bank of the Thames.
When The Doctor is in the alleyway talking to the vagrant, he comments on the cold, saying he should get a long scarf, then immediately dismisses the idea. This is an obvious reference to the Fourth Doctor’s scarf and it’s not the first time, shortly after a regeneration, that The Doctor has felt drawn to this item of clothing. Both the Seventh Doctor and the Tenth Doctor tried on long scarves reminiscent of the one worn from "The Leisure Hive" to "Castrovalva" but in both instances, the item was swiftly rejected.
The Doctor once again has a Scottish accent, an accent he hasn't had since his Seventh incarnation. Madame Vastra is also heard using a Scottish accent to calm the newly-regenerated Doctor.
As Clara is struggling to reach for the sonic screwdriver with her legs, The Doctor mentions he misses long-legged Amy (see the 2011 Eleventh Doctor story "The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon").
The Doctor and Clara yell 'Geronimo!' as a code word to spring the Paternoster Gang into action. This was a catchphrase used by the Eleventh Doctor.
The Doctor states that he is over 2,000 years old. (see "The Time of The Doctor" and "Tales of Trenzalore: The Eleventh Doctor's Last Stand").
The Doctor once again confirms that he does not see the human race as 'small' (see "The End of Time" and "Hide").
The Twelfth Doctor often reflects that he finds the current situation of robots harvesting human organs to repair a ship to be naggingly familiar (see the 2006 Tenth Doctor story "The Girl in the Fireplace"). While trying to remember the events of the "The Girl in the Fireplace" The Doctor is seen sniffing roses. A possible reference to Rose Tyler - The Doctor's companion during this earlier story.
Even though the space ship in this story - the SS Marie Antoinette - is the sister space ship to the SS Madame De Pompadour - the space ship in "The Girl in the Fireplace" The Doctor does not make the connection as he never knew the name of the space ship in "The Girl in the Fireplace").
The Doctor is heard quoting Walt Whitman’s poem of 1865, O Captain! My Captain!, a work written to honour Abraham Lincoln.
The Doctor's speech to the Half-Faced Man somewhat paraphrases a scene from the popular sitcom Only Fools and Horses. In an episode of this sitcom the character Trigger is heard to say that he has replaced the head and handle on his broom several times and the others question how it could possibly be the same broom. The Doctor compares the changes in regeneration and collection of replacement body parts to constantly replacing the head and handle of a broom so that it is no longer the same broom.
In a flashback scene Clara recalls having a difficult time controlling her pupils in her first days as a teacher at Coal Hill School (see "The Day of The Doctor").
This is the second time that Clara asks The Doctor who Amy is, as she previously did when he referenced her as 'Amelia' (see "The Time of The Doctor".
Clara refers to Marcus Aurelius during her heated conversation with Madame Vastra. It’s not the first time we’ve heard her allude to this Second Century Emperor - in the 2013 story "The Day of The Doctor" she quotes him during a lesson at Coal Hill School.
According to Strax, Clara is now 27 meaning that she has been travelling with The Doctor for 2 to 3 years as she was only 24 when they met in "The Bells of Saint John".
While performing a medical examination of Clara, Strax makes an observation on her thorax as did Linx with Sarah Jane Smith, in the 1973/74 Third Doctor story "The Time Warrior", as well as Commander Skorr to Martha Jones in the 2008 Tenth Doctor story "The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky".
The Paternoster Gang are located in the Victorian era. (see also "The Snowmen" and "The Crimson Horror").
Madame Vastra claims she hasn't seen dinosaurs since she was a little girl.
Madame Vastra’s comment, ‘Well then, here we go again’, echoes The Brigadier’s remark when he witnessed the Third Doctor regenerating into the Fourth Doctor. Immediately following that regeneration the Time Lord’s old friend said exactly the same thing (minus the word ‘then’) with his observation becoming the final line of dialogue in the 1974 story "Planet of the Spiders".
In previous stories we’ve seen a number of connections between Madame Vastra and Sherlock Holmes. In this story:
The policeman assisted by the Paternoster Gang is called Inspector Gregson - Gregson is a character from A Study in Scarlet. An Inspector Tobias Gregson also features in several of the original Sherlock Holmes stories, including The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter, The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge and The Adventure of the Red Circle.
The Paternoster Gang uses 'Paternoster Irregulars' to find The Doctor. 'We’ve got the Paternoster Irregulars out in force…' Sherlock Holmes had a band of raggedy youths who used to help him scour London looking for people and clues. Called the Baker Street Irregulars and led by a lad called Wiggins, they were introduced in the very first Holmes adventure - A Study in Scarlet.
After discovering the newspaper advertisement, Madame Vastra is heard to exclaim; ‘The game is afoot!’ These words are originally from Shakespeare’s Henry V but are most closely associated with Sherlock Holmes. The detective has made the declaration in numerous film and television adaptations and in short stories including The Adventure of the Abbey Grange.
At one point, Jenny indicates that Madame Vastra is investigating the 'Conk-Singleton forgery case' and the 'Camberwell poisoning case'. Both cases are mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes series.
At another point Madame Vastra is shown reading the agony column, a frequent habit of Sherlock Holmes.
Jenny is seen snapping at Madame Vastra for calling humans monkeys, or apes, as Silurians often have (see "Doctor Who and the Silurians" and "A Good Man Goes to War").
Strax mentions using deadly acid again as he did in the 2013 Eleventh Doctor story "The Crimson Horror".
Strax continues to call Clara 'boy', as he still has trouble telling male and female genders apart (see "The Crimson Horror").
The Doctor has enhanced the TARDIS control room with furnishings such as a chalkboard, bookshelves, and a recliner. He has also changed the cold blue neon piping in the time rotor to a warmer amber.
After entering the TARDIS towards the end of the story Clara is heard saying; ‘You’ve redecorated - I don’t like it!’ She could be deliberately quoting The Doctor here as she was present in "The Day of The Doctor" when, after glancing around the ‘new’ TARDIS interior, the Tenth Doctor commented, ‘Oh, you’ve redecorated! I don’t like it!’ Many years earlier, the Second Doctor delivers a similar line in the Tenth Anniversary story "The Three Doctors" and again in the Twentieth Anniversary story "The Five Doctors". The Eleventh Doctor makes the same observation in the 2011 story "Closing Time" when he arrives at the house of Craig Owens.
The Doctor is heard to state that he wishes he had more 'round things' in his updated console room.
After leaving Victorian London The Doctor accidentally takes Clara to present day Glasgow.
At the end of this story Clara learns why the TARDIS telephone was hanging off the hook when she returned to the TARDIS after the Eleventh Doctor began regenerating in "The Time of The Doctor". Because the Eleventh Doctor did not patch it back to the console unit, he dragged the phone by its cord into the entrance of his console to make a private and final phone call to Clara in the near future.
The call from the Eleventh Doctor to Clara is shown from the Eleventh Doctor's perspective from his final moments before regeneration on the planet Trenzalore, which reused some footage from "The Time of The Doctor" and included new footage with a surprise cameo by Matt Smith. The Doctor reassures Clara about his new incarnation still being him and that he needs her help the Twelfth Doctor as he gets used to it.
This interaction with the Eleventh Doctor takes place on the phone, mirroring the first interaction she had with him (see "The Bells of Saint John").
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The Firsts:
The first story of Season Thirty Four (New Series 8).
Peter Capaldi's first full story as the Twelth Doctor.
The first Doctor Who story to be directed by Ben Wheatley.
Claire Pritchard-Jones' first involvement in the show as Makeup Artist.
Harry Barnes' first involvement in the show providing special sounds.
The debut of a new title sequence designed by Billy Hanshaw.
Michelle Gomez's first appearance in the show as Missy (AKA The Master).
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(Position = 6 out of 12)
