Deep Breath (Doctor Who)

242 – "Deep Breath"
Doctor Who episode
The newly regenerated Doctor asks the Half-Face Man if he can remember where he acquired his current face, while at the same time wonders the same question about himself.
Cast
Doctor Peter Capaldi (Twelfth Doctor) Matt Smith (Eleventh Doctor)
Companion Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald)
Others Neve McIntosh – Madame Vastra Catrin Stewart – Jenny Flint Dan Starkey – Strax Peter Ferdinando – Half-Face Man Paul Hickey – Inspector Gregson Tony Way – Alf Maggie Service – Elsie Brian Miller – Barney Ellis George – Courtney Mark Kempner – Cabbie Graham Duff – Waiter Peter Hannah – Policeman Paul Kasey – Footman Michelle Gomez – Missy
Production
Directed by	Ben Wheatley
Written by	Steven Moffat
Script editor	Derek Ritchie
Produced by	Nikki Wilson
Executive producer(s)	Steven Moffat Brian Minchin
Incidental music composer	Murray Gold
Series	Series 8
Length	76 minutes
Originally broadcast	23 August 2014 (2014-08-23)
Chronology
← Preceded by Followed by → "The Time of the Doctor" "Into the Dalek"

"Deep Breath" is the first episode of the eighth series of the British science fiction television programme Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One and released in cinemas on 23 August 2014. It was written by showrunner and executive producer Steven Moffat and directed by Ben Wheatley.

The episode stars Peter Capaldi in his first full episode 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. Capaldi's predecessor, Matt Smith, also appears in a cameo.

A dinosaur materialises in Victorian London and spits out the TARDIS onto the banks of the river Thames, from which emerges the newly regenerated Twelfth Doctor—suffering from post-regenerative trauma—and Clara Oswald. They are greeted by the Paternoster Gang, consisting of Silurian Madame Vastra, her human maid and wife Jenny, and Sontaran butler Strax. Vastra instructs the police on how to calm and contain the dinosaur and takes the Doctor and Clara to their residence. While the Doctor rests, Vastra confronts Clara about her prejudiced attitude to the Doctor's changed face. Clara admits that she is struggling to adapt to the new Doctor, due to his stark difference to the old one, particularly his apparent age. The Doctor awakens to hear the dinosaur's pleas for help. He leaves his room and, gambolling along London's rooftops, he calls out to assure the creature that he will return it to its proper time, just before it bursts into flames. Stealing a horse to reach the dinosaur, the Doctor then joins Clara and the Paternoster Gang, who have followed him to the river, and learns from Vastra that this is not the first recent incident of spontaneous combustion. The Doctor spots an unfazed man across the river and jumps into the water to investigate. Clara returns home with the others to start their own investigations, hoping they will cross the Doctor's path.