In the last week or so I've been watching back some of the Ninth Doctor stories, and it hit me - I was enjoying the show a lot more than I have been over the last year or so. ( Major spoilers for Waters of Mars )
I actually really like that happy babbly scene at the beginning of "The End of Time" because it's so transparent that the Doctor is only doing that superficially as an extremely nervous response.
I'm not sold on the idea that the scene was written with that intention. I can believe Tennant chose to play it that way, but with the writing we've been given recently, it just feels like 'well, have to have babbly Doctor to start things off.' (tick!)
I absolutely think that's the way Tennant's playing it - you can see it in the body language. It's more evasive, and even more 10th Doctory than usual.
...and, as I said in the comment below, according to the commentary his reluctance to go there is an entirely deliberate attempt to spotlight the tenth Doctor's character flaws. He's trying to laugh in the face of destiny, and not really succeeding...
You might want to listen to the End of Time Pt 1 commentary -- RTD talks at some length about how that scene was written to show the Doctor's... he hesitates to use the word arrogance, but possibly selfishness, in not wanting to face the summons and go to his death. And he points out that it's the fact that he delayed -- as underlined by the Ood saying he shouldn't have -- which means that he's therefore one step behind the Master's resurrection rather than ahead of it, and therefore brings about the whole mess.
In other words, it's a classic tragic-hero routine, where his character flaw brings about his own destruction.
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In other words, it's a classic tragic-hero routine, where his character flaw brings about his own destruction.
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