Doctor Who: Celebrating five years of the Twelfth Doctor

Five years ago today, we got our first full Doctor Who episode to feature Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor. We look back on what made him so brilliant.

Five years. It’s amazing to think it’s been that long already.

On August 23rd 2014, Deep Breath was broadcast. Doctor Who fans had been looking forward to this episode for a long time. Over a year since he was first announced in the role, and almost eight months since we saw him regenerate from Matt Smith, we finally got our first solid look at Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor.

How was his first episode? Personally, it’s not one of my favorites, but Steven Moffat did help to establish Twelve as a character nicely. He’s clearly less typically “nice” than previous Doctors, but he still had a deep attachment to Clara. We were unsure of him, but interestingly, he was also unsure of himself, which allowed for an interesting character journey.

That journey was a key part of Peter Capaldi’s first series. While it wasn’t handled perfectly, it did provide a fresh look at the Doctor, and his relationship with Clara. Sometimes, this relationship risked overshadowing the Doctor himself, but the Twelfth Doctor usually stood out on his own terms.

Development

However, as interesting as Twelve was in his first series, it was in his second series that we really got to find out just how much of a great Doctor he was. Capaldi’s Doctor still found it difficult to deal with people at times. But he was also more confidant, more sure of himself. Perhaps dangerously so. We found out how much Clara truly meant to him, and how far he was prepared to go for her, giving us arguably one of the greatest episodes ever with Heaven Sent.

Twelve’s final series probably featured him at his very best. With his new companion Bill, we got to see a whole new side to him – that of a tutor and mentor to his companion. In fact, the series featured several key friends for the Doctor. While he wasn’t as focused on as Bill, Nardole went from being a one-episode joke character to someone who would keep an eye on the Doctor, making him a much more interesting character as a result.

But perhaps most interesting of all was how the series gave us a friendship that we didn’t expect – Missy. Across a great deal of Series Ten, the Doctor’s oldest enemy was explored in a whole new way. It was interesting that, after centuries of fighting each other, the Doctor and the Master actually had a chance of becoming friends again. Of course, that chance was seemingly destroyed in the finale The Doctor Falls – by the Master’s previous incarnation, no less. But it was interesting to finally get a fresh perspective on their unique relationship.

Peter Capaldi

The Twelfth Doctor had an interesting journey, one unique compared to most Doctors, and he went through a lot of development. That’s why I love his story. But what I enjoyed most about the Twelfth Doctor was, of course, Peter Capaldi himself.

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Capaldi brought so much to the role. He gave it a sense of energy and incredible emotional depth that we haven’t seen from many other Doctors. He could handle comedy brilliantly, but he could also handle powerful and dramatic speeches perfectly.

I’ve written before about how Heaven Sent showed us just how fantastic Peter Capaldi was as the Doctor. In fact, I’d go so far as to say he was possibly the best actor we’ve had to play him in the New Series, regardless of the quality of his stories. And Heaven Sent gave us the clearest example of that by showing just how easily he can carry an entire episode on his own.

It’s been over a year and a half already since we’ve had to say goodbye to him in Twice Upon a Time. And yet, many of us still miss the Twelfth Doctor. And – like so many other Doctors for many fans – that will be true for a long time to come.

Were you a fan of Peter Capaldi as the Doctor? What was your favorite story? What do you think was his best series? Let us know in the comments below.