The beginning of the school year may have brought us back to the whirlwind of tests, homework and iPad controversies, but not before it swept us into the world of the Doctor. August 23 was one of the student body’s last remaining days of freedom and I spent it glued to my TV as Season 8 of the BBC’s Doctor Who premiered. With the excitement of the 50th anniversary and the sorrow of Matt Smith’s departure, I, along with most of the viewership, was filled with anxiety at what the “Deep Breath” episode would bring.

While each season of the timeless show always brings new adventures, Season 8 also brought a new face for our beloved hero. Peter Capaldi’s incarnation of the 12th Doctor has been much anticipated as the fans waited through the show’s hiatus. Living off of the few glimpses pieced together from various trailers, the Christmas special, and the 50th anniversary episode, the fandom quickly formulated their own predictions on just who the new doctor was going to be. While we don’t know a lot about this Doctor yet, one thing’s for sure: he’s not Matt Smith.

Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is a fact we have to recognize. Smith’s cuddly, puppy-like take on the Doctor is not Capaldi’s. Neither is Smith’s relationship with Jenna Louise Coleman’s character, Clara, the same as Capaldi’s. In fact, a running theme through the premiere episode is centered around the Doctor and Clara getting to know each other again. This is an excellent technique used to help the audience get to know Capaldi’s Doctor and how he relates to Coleman’s character. A relationship once driven by infatuation, must now be replaced with a more mature love. Writer Steven Moffat described the change in an interview with SFX magazine. He said, “They’re great friends and all that, but she has to be his human interface with everybody else.” In the premiere episode, Clara herself comes to terms with this aspect of their relationship when she realizes despite his new appearance, she knows the Doctor the best out of anyone.

Overall, this season is turning out to be chock-full of depth and dramatic flair, but it definitely has its sweet moments. We even get a final glimpse of our beloved Matt Smith, who tells Clara (and us) that while Capaldi’s Doctor is obviously a new man, he is still the Doctor we know and love. This season also contains classic British humor that the show is known for that provides some comic relief from the dense nature of the new episodes. In Season 8, Moffat perfectly executes the type of writing Joss Whedon described when he said, “Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke.”