The introduction of a Doctor is a delicate thing. Change is difficult, for good or ill, and a successful transition relies upon collaboration. There is a tacit agreement between viewer, scribe, director and actor to explore new ways of thinking without allowing fear to define the encounter. Its a hard turn left off a smooth and familiar highway and it has to hurt before it can get better. Writer Steven Moffat cleverly interweaves known quantities within the confines of his script to reassure the audience that while some things are not the same this is not an unrecognizable universe. The Paternoster gang is there to guide us forward and the nod to Moffats series two episode The Girl in the Fireplace reminds us that the 2005 re-invention of the show has existed long enough to have its own rich history. Deep Breath is not a jumping off point. It is a bridge between what was and what will be. It is gentle in its way and not dismissive of our trepidation but firm in its resolve to move the story forward.