Live from Master Closet Studios, you’re listening to the only podcast on the internet recording while holding their breath: It’s the Noobs and the Whovian!
My name is Austin and I’m the Whovian, and these are my sons Corbin and Tripp and we’re the noobs!
This is the podcast that introduces a whole new generation to Doctor Who by watching an episode each week and discussing it from the perspective of a dad who’s seen it before, and two sons who haven’t.
Welcome to Episode 115 covering the Series 8 opener: Deep Breath
This is the one where the Twelfth Doctor brings a T-Rex to Victorian London only to discover a clock-work droid making the WORST balloon ever.
Production notes
- Story # 242
- Originally aired August 23 2014 to 9.17 million viewers
- Written by: Steven Moffat
- Directed by: Ben Wheatley

Checklist
- Name of the episode spoken in dialogue?
- Did that count?
- Creatures of the week
- Clockwork droids
- Stuff the Doctor loves
- Jiggery Pokery
- Sonic
- It’s voice-activated!
- TARDIS
- Cloister bell sounded when he passed out
- You’ve redecorated. I don’t like it.
- Psychic paper
- Random
- Sonic
Other stuff we noticed
- You have a whole room for NOT being awake in?
- What the heck was that cartoon noise when the Doctor passed out?
Who’s Who?
- Who is Jenny?
- I don’t like her, ma’am, I love her. And as to different… she’s a lizard!
- Who is Vastra?
- She does a half-decent Scottish accent
- What was the symbolism of the veil?
- It is our intent to leave. If it is your intent to stop us, perhaps we ought to get down to business.
- Who is Strax?
- May I take your coat? Are you wearing a hat?
- Out of the way, scum! Jurassic emergency!
- Don’t scratch it, or you and your bloodline will be obliterated from time and space.
- We will lure him here to this place of safety and we will melt him with acid!
- Why can’t you stay dead, coward?!
- Who is Clara?
- She’s not Handles
- She is not impressed by pretty young men, but if there is anyone who could flirt with a mountain, it’s her.
- Strax: deflected narcissism, traces of passive-aggressive, and lots of muscular men doing sport
- Egomaniac, needy, game-player, that was me?!
- Never try to control a control freak!
- Hang on, she called the police. We should start doing that!
- Her first interaction with Eleven (barring the minisode where she met him as a kid) was on the phone, just like her last.
- Who is the Doctor?
- He’s annoyed by the English accents
- Door. Boring. Not me. (Looks out the window) ME!
- What’s he doing here? There’s trouble, where else would he be?
- I need a big long scarf. No, move on from that, it looked stupid.
- He recognizes his face. It’s all full of frown, but I didn’t do the frowning. Who frowned me this face?
- He has attack eyebrows
- He’s Scottish
- I hate being wrong in public, everyone forget that happened.
- Apparently, he’d appreciate a drink before being killed
- Murder isn’t in his basic programming. However, never underestimate how far he will go to protect humanity.
- Nice fourth-wall break!
- I’m the Doctor. I’ve lived for over 2,000 years and not all of them were good.
- I’m not sure I’m a hugging person now.
Can we talk about Clara’s reaction
Classic Who Connection
- Linx made a similar observation of Sarah Jane Smith’s thorax as Stax did with Clara in The Time Warrior
- In Classic Who, The Silurians often referred to humans as apes or monkeys
- We have another quote of “you’ve redecorated…I don’t like it.” After seeing the new console room. This time by Clara but in the past, it was the Second Doctor in The Three Doctors
- The Doctor spoke of having many round things in the console room. This was like a reference to the First Doctor’s TARDIS
- The Doctor recalled wearing a scarf once, referencing the Fourth Doctor
- In Planet of Spiders Lethbridge Stewart took one look at the new Doctor and said, “Well then, here we go again.” This time Madame Vastra said it.
- The Third Doctor also didn’t have any money and borrowed change from Liz Shaw to call UNIT in Spearhead From Space
Overall impressions
- Overall rating out of 10 –
- Jared – 8 Dinosaurs choking on the TARDIS
- Austin – 7 charred T-rex’s
- Corbin – 8 Intense stares
- Tripp – 8.5 claras passing out to soon
- Creep Level – out of 500
- Jared – 150
- Austin – 225
- Corbin – 100
- Tripp – 100
Theories
- Suicide or murder?
- Thoughts on Missy and Heaven?
- For the record, a fan pulled a Tripp. There was a special called After Who Live that aired the same day and someone tweeted in with the exact guess.
- Corbin & Tripp – The Half-faced man didn’t actually die but was put into a new body of some kind. That’s not Heaven, though it could be the Promised Land.
- Tripp – Missy is NOT a robot, perhaps their creator.
- Corbin – Missy is the bad guy, perhaps their creator.
The Game Plan
- As of right now, Bill & Ted 3 is still set to premiere on August 28th, so keep your fingers crossed!
- Next week we continue on with Series 8 Episode 2, Into the Dalek
Closing
Noobs and the Whovian is a production of Master Closet Studios, where it’s always smaller on the inside. Your Senior Producer is Austin Reason. Our Audio Engineer is Tripp Reason. Corbin Reason is our Production Editor. Special thanks to tardis.wikia.com for the trivia, and to Jared for the Classic Who Connection. Shout outs to Victor, Jared, and James for their Patreon support.
You can find us at facebook.com/noobsandthewhovian or twitter.com/noobswhovian and email us at [email protected]. Consider supporting us at https://www.patreon.com/noobsandthewhovian. Please subscribe and leave a rating wherever you found us, and share us with a friend not because we’re a great show but because we watch one.