Capaldi's premiere story was an absolutely delight to this old school Doctor Who fan. Whilst the Scottish accent tended to occasionally make me feel like I was watching his old school/band buddy, Craig Ferguson, the man who would be Doctor #12 really delivered both on zane and darkness. Indeed, I counted no less than 3 occasions when the show went to places previously rarely visited...
1) Killing a sad lonely dinosaur in a massive fireball...
2) Mugging a homeless man...
3) Leaving Clara in the hands of the enemy...
Yes, nothing was in fact that clear cut... He did ultimately give the homeless man his gold watch as payment for the jacket... And he didn't actually leave Clara, so much as just allow her to be bait for his "trap"... And the dinosaur was - just a dinosaur - but these elements all added to the tone of the story, very much going places Smith rarely could.
The Doctor is dead. Long live the Doctor.
Love Smith (and Eccleston, Tennant ... and all previous incarnations), but it Capaldi is definitely bringing what feels like a slightly darker tone (of course, thats also the writer/director).
Great first episode, but it usually takes couple for the new Doctor to settle in the role, so Im excited at how much better this will get considering how good it started