Rec: Eleventh Doctor

[redblueskies]

I've decided to post a recommendation of a slightly different sort this week. Instead of recommending a fanwork, I'm going to recommend a TV series. Or.. well, a part of a TV Series.

This recommendation is for Doctor Who, but I'm not going to be talking about all of Who. I'm only going to tell you about the Eleventh Doctor.

Doctor Who is one of my

Comments

[elisi]

I draw hearts around this whole post. And am blushing at all the recs...

♥

ETA: Day of the Doctor is not on your list? Or do you not count it as specifically Eleven-y?

[redblueskies]

This post started as a larger 'rec everything including fanworks post', and in its original form I had an explanation in for all the recs that read like this:
Unlike most fandoms I fall into, I have found the actual ‘fandom’ side of the Eleventh Doctor rather difficult to navigate

[elisi]

Imma just gonna go sit over here and be very quiet and do this for a while:

[redblueskies]

Oh... well, I suppose I can let you do that :)

[elisi]

OK, am back again.

Suffice to say, I have found this fandom difficult. Intractable. Sometimes even frustrating. More than once, I’ve been on the brink of giving up. But… you see, I almost give up only to be dragged back in by elisi, who writes some of the best fics, generates some of the best meta and recs some of the best works. She always drags me back in. So - if this post is dedicated to anyone, it’s dedicated to her.* This whole bit... I just don't know what to say. The thing is, I'd charaterise myself as definitely being on the edges of fandom. I'm not on Tumblr, or Gallifrey Base, or anywhere like that. I am very sensitive when it comes to things I love - see my endless efforts to be optimistic about everything! - so I actively avoid naysayers. The thing is, even so I can absorb stuff by osmosis, and the general 'mood' of fandom reaches me easily. (Rambling now - think I meant to comment on the 180 degree turn from 'RTD is evil, we hates him, all hail Moff!', to the opposite. I remember being pretty much a single voice

[redblueskies]

My thoughts on The Day of the Doctor actually resemble my thought on The Power of Three in a few key ways

[elisi]

I'm... not quite sure how to reply to this. Did you read my Day of the Doctor meta? (If not, then I'll point you towards that first, as otherwise I'll end up repeating myself a lot.)

Re. War Doctor, then I'll say he's obviously the Doctor... The whole word play when he's introduced points to this explicitly - Eleven says he is NOT the Doctor, and a second later letters flash up on the screen introducing John Hurt as 'the Doctor'. (As Promethia said: 'It's character versus writer, the winner takes the franchise!') And the fact that there was a war Doctor explains so much. Normal people have issues - the Doctor parcels them out into a whole person! Who is him, no matter that he tries to distance himself afterwards. As Matt Smith said

[redblueskies]

I will admit, I have not read your meta about the episode. I'm off to do it right now

[elisi]

Just, but. I can't really articulate why it doesn't entirely work for me, but it doesn't.
Well if something doesn't work, it doesn't. I hope I can make you look at it in a slightly more positive light though... (My daughters ADORE the War Doctor. They want him as a plushie.)

As for Twelve. I hadn't thought of it like that. I think you're probably right. It makes so much sense now you've said it!
It's not all mine! This post does a nice job of laying things out. Although considering he's the first of a new cycle of regenerations, a re-boot seems sensible. Also, he's quite like One. :)

ETA: Have you seen Fear Me, I Killed All Of Them? Still gives me chills, and v. relevant re. Day of the Doctor. (I even wrote meta on it!)