Palindromatic said
I haven't gotten around to watching the new season yet, but what you said about it really makes me regret not watching it sooner. How's Peter Capaldi? I've heard from a few people that he's great, but not great as the Doctor. I feel for the most part it's people just comparing him to Matt Smith, though.
I agree completely with this last part. People will always compare the new Doctor to the one that came before, saying they're not as good - only to (generally) develop a fondness for them over time. People don't seem to grasp the concept that as the Doctor regenerates, he truly becomes a new man, and so we get a new take on the Doctor's personality. :/ Comparing him to Matt Smith just doesn't work since he
isn't the same Doctor.
But yeah, I think Capaldi's great. He is, as we were told he would be a long time ago, a much darker Doctor (in fact he kind of reminds me of Jon Pertwee, the Third Doctor), but I like that. I'm already really starting to love that face, too, because hot damn can that man
scowl. He knows how to glare at the camera in just the right way to deliver all the intensity of the Doctor in a single look. It really is impressive. @_@ I can see why this was the feature they chose to showcase of him in Day of the Doctor.
As for his episodes, I like what I've seen so far. Deep Breath was great as far as post-regeneration episodes go. Not a perfect episode overall, but it was a fun ride with quite a few amusing callbacks to older episodes. Oh, and a lot of Fourth-Wall-leaning moments which seemed to be responding to a lot of fan reactions regarding Capaldi's reveal...

And Into the Dalek, well, I already gave my opinion on that one. Though I will add that the first two episodes together make a much better introduction for Capaldi than the first episode alone - he was still in a post-regenerative haze for most of Deep Breath, after all. Into the Dalek gives us a much better look at this new Doctor's character, I think.
Oh and holy balls do we get an intriguing overarching season-long plot this time. o.o I mean so far we've seen very little of what's going on, but, based on what we have been shown? Yeah... this is definitely interesting. o.o
Oh oh oh and the new opening animation. Wow. Just wow. o.o It's gorgeous and outside-the-box and a real breath of fresh air. I heard that it was originally fan-made and found its way to Moffat, and he just had a few minor tweaks made for the final version. And if that's true, then that just makes it even more amazing.