History Recap / DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** When Strax [[DirtyMindReading scans Clara's subconscious]], he sees what he generously interprets as "[[GuyOnGuyIsHot men playing sport]]." (Given Strax's terrible track record at identifying the genders of humans, of which his tendency to call Clara "boy" is only one example, it might not be ''[[LesYay men]]'' "playing sport".)
--->'''Strax:''' Well... it ''could'' be sport...
** Considering the episode first aired less than a month before a contentious (and, at the time of broadcast, "could-go-any-way") referendum on Scottish independence, the Doctor's jokes about being Scottish, blaming the English and complaining, and the fact his eyebrows want to separate from the rest of his face are all surprising inclusions in a show aired by the state-run broadcaster, although BBC news has been criticised for its apparent pro-union bias (which, if true, makes it even more surprising an inclusion).
** The Doctor pours himself and the Half-Face Man a stiff drink on camera. Nothing too "crappy" in that, until you remember you're watching ''Doctor Who'', which up to this point rarely showed anyone drinking anything stronger than wine.
** The GroinAttack gag (see below) is also something the series would never have gotten away with a few years ago.

* [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology Artistic Licence -- Paleontology]]: The dinosaur in the first part of the episode is fairly accurate for a ''T. rex'', but two or three times the size of any therapod that ever lived. This is lampshaded when [[TheProducerThinksOfEverything Jenny and Vastra discuss this very issue]], with Jenny claiming that the fossils she's seen don't measure up to the living thing before them, while Vastra then points out that she was ''there'' and ''then'' and that they were generally that size.

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: The Half-Face Man, despite getting impaled on the Westminster Palace Clock Tower (the one which has Big Ben in it), wakes up in Paradise unharmed.

* BadassBoast: The Half-Face Man gets a chilling one as his automata surround the heroes, trying to earn some CardCarryingVillain cred:

* BerserkButton: In the same scene, Madame Vastra calls out Clara for her crush on the Doctor, which pisses her off to the point where she gives a pretty awesome ReasonWhyYouSuckSpeech to Vastra for assuming she knew everything about her.

** Lampshaded when Clara says that if the Twelfth Doctor really is ''the'' Doctor, then he's right there waiting to save her in the nick of time. He is.

* {{Bookends}}:

* BreakingTheFourthWall: After dealing with the Half-Face Man, the Doctor looks directly into the camera and at the audience.

* ByNoIMeanYes: Clara isn't cross, but it'd be the Doctor's fault if she was. Ok, she's cross.

** When Madame Vastra first sees the newly-regenerated Doctor, she sighs, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E5PlanetOfTheSpiders Well then,]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot here we go again.]]"

* CulturedBadass: Twelve quickly establishes himself as one by renovating the TARDIS: bookshelves, furniture and a fireplace, similar to the TV movie's console room. He decides to switch the colour of the neon piping in the time rotor from blue to orange, promoting a DarkerAndEdgier feel, but also evoking a warmer feeling. He picks a new costume that gives him a cutting figure, instead of a dorky one (No more bowtie).

-->"I was being chased by a giant dinosaur, but I think I've given it the slip!"\\

"''You'' have a dinosaur, '''[[ComicallyMissingThePoint too]]?!!'''"

--->'''Strax:''' Well ... it ''could'' be sport ...

* GroinAttack: Clara accidentally gives the Doctor one by kicking his sonic screwdriver up ...into his lap.

** When Vastra accuses Clara of seeing Eleven as her dashing young gentleman, "your lover, even" Clara dismisses this with an unconvincing laugh.

* HumanResources: The robots are using human parts to repair themselves and blend in. They resort to OrganTheft for this, and have a balloon made of GenuineHumanHide.

* NobodyHereButUsStatues: After the Doctor leaves her in the lurch, Clara blends in with the drones by holding her breath. Clara later gives the same advice to the Paternoster Gang.
* NotListeningToMeAreYou: Turns out the Doctor does this all the time, as an opportunity to catnap [[ItsAllAboutMe until it's his turn to talk]].

* SuperStrength: It's come up a couple of times throughout the series that Time Lords have much greater brute strength than a human, but it's not normally an issue with the Doctor because he prefers not to physically grapple with his enemies. In this episode, he overpowers the bulkier, robot Half-Face Man and pins him to a wall (and possibly throws him out of the airship), prompting the Half-Face Man to say the Doctor is stronger than he looks. The Doctor hasn't brawled with anyone since [[ShellShockedVeteran Nine]] knocked out a guard in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E12BadWolf Bad Wolf]]", one of many indications throughout the episode that Twelve's a darker character than his previous incarnation.

* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: Invoked in grand Who tradition, but played with. After his considerable efforts, it's unclear whether the Doctor's quarry willingly fell onto Big Ben's spike or was pushed.

* YouLookFamiliar: InUniverse, as the Doctor wonders why his face invokes deja vu. Been to Pompeii recently, Doctor?

* {{Adorkable}}:
** Clara during her "medical examination" by Strax.
** Vastra and Jenny during the "art posing" session.

-->'''Half-Faced Man:''' [[ICannotSelfTerminate Self-destruction is against my basic programming.]]
-->'''The Doctor:''' ''Murder is against mine!''...''(A few minutes later)'' I think one of us [[ImpliedDeathThreat was lying about our basic programming.]]

-->'''Jenny:''' OI! ''[smacks Vastra in the head, who hisses in response]'' Married!

--->'''Half-Face Man:''' Your friend is intelligent. He'll know better than to follow me.\\

-->'''The Doctor:''' Clara, I'm not your boyfriend.
-->'''Clara:''' [[BetterAsFriends I never thought you were.]]
-->'''The Doctor:''' I never said it was ''your'' mistake.

* HesBack: The Doctor steadily regains his senses while upgrading his wardrobe: pilfering a nightgown from Vastra, a coat from the tramp and a tailored suit from one of the clockwork drones; it is when he finally dons that last (and symbolically removes a face mask [[FreezeFrameBonus resembling Matt Smith's face]] that he finally gets back up to speed. Than, at last, he goes back to his TARDIS and cements his new outfit as an indigo-toned suit with a red velvet lining and is fully aware of who he is. The hard part is getting Clara to see the Doctor underneath the new look.

-->'''The Doctor:''' [[LastOfHisKind I am alone.]] [[TheDreaded The world which shook at my feet]], and the [[DoomedHometown trees and the sky, have gone]]. And I am alone now. Alone.
-->'''Clara:''' Are you translating?
-->'''The Doctor:''' The wind bites now, and the [[AlienSky world is grey]], and I am alone here. Can't see me. Doesn't see me. Can't see me.
-->'''Clara:''' Who can't see it? I think all of London can see it.

** To ''Disney/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' when the Doctor is trying to remember Strax's name.

---

Written by Steven Moffat. The first episode of Series 8 and the first episode to fully feature the [[Creator/PeterCapaldi Twelfth Doctor]]. Touting a feature-length run time of 76 minutes, this premiere is the most likely reason why Series 8 has only 12 episodes as opposed to the traditional 13, almost taking up the time of two normal-length episodes. It also featured the return of the Clockwork Droids, first seen in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E4TheGirlInTheFireplace The Girl in the Fireplace]]".

There's also [[TheCameo one last blast from the past]] and a [[TheMaster fright for the future.]]

The one where the Doctor [[CerebusSyndrome starts acting his age again.]] [[SceneryPorn And then turns the TARDIS into a study.]]

Being tied up and having to awkwardly pass the Doctor the sonic screwdriver using her feet has caused Clara to comment that a voice-activated function on the device could have easily gotten them out of that jam. The Doctor's reaction proves that the sonic does have such a function, but

* TakeThatAudience: the entire subplot about Clara having difficulty accepting this older-looking Doctor, and being upbraided by Vastra for it, was interpreted by many critics of the day as being directed at fans who were similarly upset that an older actor had been cast to replace young Matt Smith. Smith's cameo in which he asks Clara to accept the new Doctor was addressed just as much towards the viewers.

'''The Doctor:''' Well, I don't like it either! Well, it's all right up until the eyebrows -- then it just goes ''haywire!'' ''[points two fingers at his brows]'' Look at the eyebrows! ''[wiggles them]'' These are ''ATTACK'' eyebrows -- you could take ''bottle tops'' off with these!\\

* HowsYourBritishAccent: Vastra briefly adopts a Scottish accent when the Doctor thinks that English accents are a "fault". Vastra's actress, Neve [=McIntosh=], is Scottish and although she plays Vastra with a slight Scottish accent most of the time, she exaggerated it for the scene, giving the impression Vastra adopts a new accent when in fact she is emphasizing her own.

** When Strax [[DirtyMindReading scans Clara's subconscious]], he sees what he generously interprets as "[[GuyOnGuyIsHot men playing sport]]." (Given Strax's terrible track record at identifying the genders of humans, of which his tendency to call Clara "boy" is only one example, it might not be ''men'' "playing sport".)

** We never do find out how the Doctor and Clara regained control of the TARDIS and ended up inside a dinosaur.

* TheNthDoctor: Creator/PeterCapaldi makes his debut as the Doctor, while Creator/MichelleGomez makes her debut as [[spoiler:[[TheMaster Missy]].]]

The one where the Doctor [[CerebusSyndrome starts acting his age again]] [[SceneryPorn and turns the TARDIS into a study.]] As well as [[TheCameo one last blast from the past]] and a [[TheMaster fright for the future.]]

The one where the Doctor [[CerebusSyndrome starts acting his age again and turns the TARDIS into a study.]] As well as [[TheCameo one last blast from the past]] and a [[TheMaster fright for the future.]]

The one where the Doctor [[CerebusSyndrome starts acting his age again.]] As well as [[TheCameo one last blast from the past]] and a [[TheMaster fright for the future.]]

The one where the Doctor [[CerebusSyndrome starts acting his age again.]]

[[quoteright:348:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deep_breath_twelve_clara_2810.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:348:[[TheNthDoctor The clock has struck Twelve.]]]]