In the opening monologue to Listen, Peter Capaldi really commits to the Doctor's manner of talking to himself. Capaldi is a very expressive, dramatic actor who is willing to try all sorts of things to make a scene the best that it can be. This monologue is a prime example of that, as are his frustrated slams against the TARDIS console in Death in Heaven. As such, he should be given more opportunities to stretch his performance-wings, so to speak. Peter Capaldi is also quite capable of being funny, without resorting to the aforementioned cheap shots towards Clara. He can be baffled by human habits and he can be goofy like his predecessors, but his seriousness has thus far been underrated. Seriousness can equal grumpy, but it does not always have to be so. Finally, the best thing the show could do for itself is...
Sara Habein is the author of INFINITE DISPOSABLE. She is a staff writer for Persephone Magazine, and the editor of the Word Riot blog. Her Doctor is number Eight, but the Twelfth is right behind.
