About the Ninth Doctor, it seems more envy than an observation. I know it is almost an automatic response to think Ninth Doctor =Angry. I think the Ninth Doctor was broken hearted and humbled(by any affection or sincere sorrow (Jabe
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Absolutely agreed re Rose in Father's Day. yamx wrote an excellent fic that made that point, as well! I think she gets a lot of undue flack for that episode - it was Nine's job to know better =/
I would compare all of the Doctors to a plumber who fixes your pipes and leaves you a mess of oil, dirty water, and discarded disposable tools to clean up.
The Slitheen's statement does put the question as to how Davies feels about the Creator.
FWIW, I could be misremembering, but I'm pretty sure that RTD has gone on record as being an atheist (which is somewhat amusing, as he uses so much religious imagery in his work).
I think the Doctor believes he has godlike responsibilities.
Which can be a massive problem. Because when you have godlike responsibilities, it's extremely tempting to think you should have a god's privileges to go along with them. I mean, he risks his life, repeatedly, to keep the universe intact or the earth turning; why shouldn't he get what he wants?
You can practically see this train of thought going through the tenth Doctor's mind, now and again, and it's always scary as hell, because there's no-one to stop him if he really decides to act upon it. It's evident in "The Waters of Mars," but also distinctly noticeable in "The End of Time," when he demands to know why the hell he should give up a life for Wilf, he's sacrificed everything for the world and he deserves better-Despite his sorrow and fear, I do feel that the tenth Doctor's regeneration was a triumph, because that was when he finally rejected that train of thought. "Deserve" has nothing to do with anything. Rewards have nothing to do with anything. You save
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Despite his sorrow and fear, I do feel that the tenth Doctor's regeneration was a triumph, because that was when he finally rejected that train of thought. "Deserve" has nothing to do with anything. Rewards have nothing to do with anything. You save people because they need saving. Very much this. I think adjusting to the difference in being A Time Lord then the Last Time Lord caused Ten's stumbling with his power and knowledge meant. He had to have asked--what is all for, what am I?
I think Blon is doing everything she can to get under the Doctor's skin with the hope of obtaining her freedom. She sees a weakness and attacks it with gusto.
The Doctor, for his part, is still trying to come to grips with his new position in the Universe. When we first meet Nine he seems to be on a suicide mission, happily risking himself to destroy the Nestene. Rose's, and later Jack's, presence in his life brings with it a new desire to fix any situation he happens upon. He will not shirk his responsibilities, or run away from them, because they are difficult as Blon suggests. The Doctor can't help, helping people. That is just what he does. If things don't always turn out the way he hoped, it wasn't for lack of effort.
Blon is an excellent observer - as most carnivores are - and she is sadistic; we saw that in the way she gleefully addressed Rose and Harriet while hunting them down. That's a toxic mixture; she's going to say things based on those observations, that are still essentially wrong, or misdirected. They are made to throw him off balance, not to enlighten him, and both she and the Doctor know that
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I think Blon is doing both. She's trying to get him to see things her way, to make her actions look no worse than his.
The thing is, in some ways she has a point. Though, maybe not on a grand scale, Time War etc aside, but definitely on a smaller scale. At least in New!Who. The Doctor often seems to be running away from something. Be it an old companion, an event he wants to avoid, a loss he doesn't want to face.
In some ways, I definitely think the Doctor believes this about himself. But more Ten. Don't get me wrong, I think Nine is running and he knows it, but I think he's running for a specific reason. Ten on the other hand seems to be running from so many things...
Nine is told "Always moving on 'cos you dare not look back." It doesn't actually appear to faze him much. I mean he may have angsted over it later, but we don't see that.
On the other hand, in Journey's End, Ten hears a very similar line from Davros "The Doctor... the man who keeps running, never looking back, because he dare not, out of shame." This line
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I agree, Bion knows how to stike. She must know of Nine's guilt. He owns the worst kind of survival guilt as he is responsible for the destruction of his own people. Does he truly, fully believe he had no other path? I don't believe he did, at least until Rassilon showed upTime Lords --and even then, he has help in the Master, so he will always question what other help was there, maybe even from another species. Not all of Gallifrey were Time Lords. That's like blowing up Washington DC because the legilators are wicked. What about the average citizens? This has got to weigh on him. Nine, because he is the Last of his kind, must also feel the burden of having to go on because we he stops being, well, we see in Utopia Time Lords are forgotten, not even a legend. He's seen all the things that seem to have gone wrong with his old friends etcSeeing Martha and Sarah Jane with ability to destroy everything, and prepared to use those means--must have filled the Doctor with the worst memory. Martha does the one thing that we have
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Eleven on the other hand. Given in canon there's little acknowledgement of any incarnation/companion/event prior to his time, it's hard to say, but doesn't seem to really fit.
Except that when Rose, Martha, and Donna show up as faces for a hologram interface, he does say he feels guilty about all of them. Also, when Amy asks why he decided to buy them a house and leave them, he says (paraphrased from memory), "Because you're still breathing." (Which could be a reference to various one-time acquaintances like Astrid, or it could be an even more distant call-back, to Old Who and Adric and so forth.) So I think it's safe to say that "trail of destruction" and so forth is still on his mind.
So I think it's safe to say that "trail of destruction" and so forth is still on his mind.
I agree with this, however I don't think it sits anywhere near as close to the front of his mind.
He does say he feels guilty about Rose, Martha and Donna, I don't argue that. But when you consider it, yes he leaves Amy and Rory behind, but he goes back. At least once, however given that they're still classed as companions for S7 it suggests he is going to look back again.
Nine never seemed to even glance behind him, let alone pause, turn around and look at wha was there. Ten had a couple of quick looks and was terrfied. Eleven seems to turn around only once or twice, but when he does he actually appears to stop and look.
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I would compare all of the Doctors to a plumber who fixes your pipes and leaves you a mess of oil, dirty water, and discarded disposable tools to clean up.
I. Love. This. Comparison!!
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FWIW, I could be misremembering, but I'm pretty sure that RTD has gone on record as being an atheist (which is somewhat amusing, as he uses so much religious imagery in his work).
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Which can be a massive problem. Because when you have godlike responsibilities, it's extremely tempting to think you should have a god's privileges to go along with them. I mean, he risks his life, repeatedly, to keep the universe intact or the earth turning; why shouldn't he get what he wants?
You can practically see this train of thought going through the tenth Doctor's mind, now and again, and it's always scary as hell, because there's no-one to stop him if he really decides to act upon it. It's evident in "The Waters of Mars," but also distinctly noticeable in "The End of Time," when he demands to know why the hell he should give up a life for Wilf, he's sacrificed everything for the world and he deserves better-Despite his sorrow and fear, I do feel that the tenth Doctor's regeneration was a triumph, because that was when he finally rejected that train of thought. "Deserve" has nothing to do with anything. Rewards have nothing to do with anything. You save ( ... )
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The Doctor, for his part, is still trying to come to grips with his new position in the Universe. When we first meet Nine he seems to be on a suicide mission, happily risking himself to destroy the Nestene. Rose's, and later Jack's, presence in his life brings with it a new desire to fix any situation he happens upon. He will not shirk his responsibilities, or run away from them, because they are difficult as Blon suggests. The Doctor can't help, helping people. That is just what he does. If things don't always turn out the way he hoped, it wasn't for lack of effort.
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The thing is, in some ways she has a point. Though, maybe not on a grand scale, Time War etc aside, but definitely on a smaller scale. At least in New!Who. The Doctor often seems to be running away from something. Be it an old companion, an event he wants to avoid, a loss he doesn't want to face.
In some ways, I definitely think the Doctor believes this about himself. But more Ten. Don't get me wrong, I think Nine is running and he knows it, but I think he's running for a specific reason. Ten on the other hand seems to be running from so many things...
Nine is told "Always moving on 'cos you dare not look back." It doesn't actually appear to faze him much. I mean he may have angsted over it later, but we don't see that.
On the other hand, in Journey's End, Ten hears a very similar line from Davros "The Doctor... the man who keeps running, never looking back, because he dare not, out of shame." This line ( ... )
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He owns the worst kind of survival guilt as he is responsible for the destruction of his own people. Does he truly, fully believe he had no other path? I don't believe he did, at least until Rassilon showed upTime Lords --and even then, he has help in the Master, so he will always question what other help was there, maybe even from another species. Not all of Gallifrey were Time Lords. That's like blowing up Washington DC because the legilators are wicked. What about the average citizens? This has got to weigh on him.
Nine, because he is the Last of his kind, must also feel the burden of having to go on because we he stops being, well, we see in Utopia Time Lords are forgotten, not even a legend. He's seen all the things that seem to have gone wrong with his old friends etcSeeing Martha and Sarah Jane with ability to destroy everything, and prepared to use those means--must have filled the Doctor with the worst memory. Martha does the one thing that we have ( ... )
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Except that when Rose, Martha, and Donna show up as faces for a hologram interface, he does say he feels guilty about all of them. Also, when Amy asks why he decided to buy them a house and leave them, he says (paraphrased from memory), "Because you're still breathing." (Which could be a reference to various one-time acquaintances like Astrid, or it could be an even more distant call-back, to Old Who and Adric and so forth.) So I think it's safe to say that "trail of destruction" and so forth is still on his mind.
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I agree with this, however I don't think it sits anywhere near as close to the front of his mind.
He does say he feels guilty about Rose, Martha and Donna, I don't argue that. But when you consider it, yes he leaves Amy and Rory behind, but he goes back. At least once, however given that they're still classed as companions for S7 it suggests he is going to look back again.
Nine never seemed to even glance behind him, let alone pause, turn around and look at wha was there. Ten had a couple of quick looks and was terrfied. Eleven seems to turn around only once or twice, but when he does he actually appears to stop and look.
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