Story highlights
Peter Capaldi officially begins his run as the 12th Doctor on Saturday's 'Doctor Who' premiere
The new Doctor is very different from the last one
Jenna Coleman's Clara is a standout in the episode
Previous Doctor, Matt Smith, makes a surprise cameo
The wait is finally over.
On Saturday night, “Whovians” (“Doctor Who” fans) finally got their first full look at Peter Capaldi in his role as the Twelfth Doctor (with no karaoke or mimes in sight).
He almost literally landed with a splash, as we first saw him and companion Clara being swallowed by a dinosaur who ended up in 19th century London.
Because, obviously.
Here are five of our favorite moments of what was a spectacular season premiere.
1. The new Doctor himself
The Doctor was still in a bit of post-regenerative hysteria, which led to some hilarious lines. He also, of course, took a few shots at his new look, especially the eyebrows (“These are attack eyebrows! You can take bottle tops off with these!”) and the fact that he’s now Scottish.
That was probably one of the biggest surprises: For a Doctor who is darker than the ones we’re used to recently (he certainly doesn’t have the wackiness of Matt Smith), there was a great deal of humor in the episode.
When we saw his final costume toward the end of the episode, we’ve gotta say, the Twelfth Doctor is looking sharp.
2. Clara back how we remember her
When Clara first officially met the Doctor, she was in Victorian dress. Having ended up in the 19th century, she was dressed for the times once more.
Whether it was a callback or not, the producers seemed to know that the look really suits Jenna Coleman (In fact, a lot of the memorable parts of this episode seemed to do with the clothes - see Madame Vastra and Jenny’s battle gear as well).
With a few episodes under her belt, Clara is the “veteran” of the show, and much of it revolved around her, especially with the Doctor being in a confused state for much of it.
She had some trouble getting used to this new Doctor, having fallen for the last one (see below), but she had instant chemistry with the Twelfth.
3. The icky new villain
A restaurant where you’re on the menu?
The half-visaged android the Doctor met could give Hannibal Lecter a run for his money. Their face-off (sorry) toward the end was one of the most memorable confrontations in recent “Doctor Who” history as well.
4. A dinosaur in the Thames?!
Not much to say here, except that tyrannosaurus rex was quite a way to kick off the season.
5. The Eleventh Doctor makes a call
The biggest surprise of them all was the Eleventh Doctor’s time-shifted call to Clara at the end of the episode, asking her to take care of the new him. (Though he wasn’t a big fan of looking old.)
We’ll miss you, Matt Smith!
What were your favorite parts of the episode?