Who doesn't like a do over?

[grimorie]

This is a busy week and odd week for me so I'll just post thoughts in bullet points:

* I really think I've found my zen re: Doctor Who, its simply this: The showrunners and I have differing views on certain story points. I'm grateful for the characters they gave us to play with but I think its far better for me if I made a break from the show. I

Comments

[mls03j]

But as I viewed the vid again I’ve slowly start to appreciate Ten’s sense of whimsy and excitement and I can certainly understand how this could be one big adventure for Ten.

So can I. Unfortunately, I finally got to see “Handlebars” yesterday, and it made me realize that Ten’s whimsy is the main reason I don’t like him. If we’re supposed to believe that he remembers and regrets what he did in “The Family of Blood,” why is there no sign of that in “Blink”? He’s like a hyperactive toddler, and the whole of creation is his playpen. :P

[grimorie]

The thing of it is, the funniest thing is the closest I've come to liking Ten was in Family of Blood because I thought: Wow, this was an unflinching look at Ten, at how he is when crossed. I love that he was called on it by Joan, a woman who he respected and in another life loved.

I loved how ambiguous his actions were, the fairy tale quality of it. It was a harsh and cold thing to do and yet I understood why he did it and the very understanding chilled me. It also felt like the narrative wasn't condoning him. He did a terrible thing and his actions caused death and he was called on it. It's why I love Cornell's episodes because they are very character driven and they make *emotional* sense.

Now if Davis only wrote that way, if he only wrote in character examinations the way he did with Turn Left and Midnight then I'd be happy unfortunately he tends to smoke a lot of crack at the finales (excepting Parting of the Ways) and Ten comes off the worse rather than better.

And a reason why I don't mind Blink so much is 'cause he was

[scarletumbrella]

I think it's really interesting you say from what you've heard Tennant is down to earth because from what I've heard he's letting fame go to his head. But I digress

[grimorie]

Oddly, I have no trouble with The Doctor's ego mania or the way he thinks he is better than everyone because usually something comes along or happens that shows him how much of a geek he really is. Okay, from what I've seen that is-- Three was action guy but there was something disarming about Three, Four was a big ball of whimsy being all Teeth and Curls. Five I just adore, Six... I haven't seen his televised episodes but I love him in the audios. Seven I've only encountered in one episode and one audio and I know he is one scary mother but I haven't seen enough to judge. Eight I love purely because he's so... I dunno, he is so Eight. I love his audio adventures, the way he paints the world and knowing what he will go through makes me so sad for him and Nine. Nine will always be my first Doctor. Mercurial, tragic, struggling with what he did and terminally afraid of what he was capable of. He stood there and let Cassandra die in retaliation of the people who died, for his friend who died. Nine, raging at the Dalek as he sees his war

[scarletumbrella]

OK! :) So I have to admit first off that I've never seen Classic Who. And actually Ten was my first Doctor, and then I went back and watched Nine, and back again (out of order

[grimorie]

Ah... well, if he is your first Doctor then I understand that. I guess as fans we imprint on who we know first! Nine was definitely my first Doctor.

I think this is where YMMV principle applies and really I don't even know when my dislike for Ten kicked in full force. Also, I have such a love-hate reaction to the second season mostly because by that time Rose has become my POV character full time now that Nine was gone. Another factor I should add is that I had certain expectations about Rose's storyline (primarily I thought they were going to address the consequences to Rose taking on the Time Vortex) and when that didn't materialize I was disgruntled. I expected a sort of escalation in the stories just like how they did the first season (which, was for me beautiful in that it had a coherent arc) and much as I like the bouncing around the story I most loved in S2 was Impossible Planet/Satan Pit because of that sense of wonder tied together with a somber moody atmosphere

[firthgal]

If you want to not hate David Tennant the actor, check him out in Casanova! I fell madly, madly, madly in love with him in that show. And Blackpool (sometimes called Viva Blackpool) was pretty great too, but I was kind of indifferent towards his character and was in love with the bad guy (but I still swooned over David anyway). And I started watching Doctor Who purely for David, but I saw the Chris Eccleston episodes first, and I can't stop missing that doctor, no matter how hard I try to love Ten. I mean, I like Ten, but he doesn't grab my heart the way that Nine did. He's a little too dramatic, a little too smug, a little too righteous, and a little too hypocritical. But at the same time, the writing isn't as good as it was in the first season, and I'm fairly certain that after the Doc lost Rose, David started playing him as heartbroken, which made him act a little like a douchebag, and if he's heartbroken, that would make sense. He'd never been in love before (at least, I don't think he has, I don't know that for sure), so

[grimorie]

Oh, I've seen him in Casanova, I think way before I've seen him as Ten. Can't remember which came first, I saw the first few episodes of Blackpool but never finished it although I'm going to try and rectify that.

He's a little too dramatic, a little too smug, a little too righteous, and a little too hypocritical.

The smugness and righteousness shouldn't bother me since its part of almost every Doctor incarnation (perhaps not Eight since Eight is just so sweet, oh and Five, Five was fun!). He is dramatic but something about Tennant's performance doesn't work for me.

But at the same time, the writing isn't as good as it was in the first seasonAnd that's the biggest reason there because, for me, the first season was pretty much perfect. It worked as one whole story, it had Nine's trauma from the war and loneliness to tie in the season. It was the story of Nine rediscovering his love of adventure and travel and unexpectedly finding it through the help of one shopgirl who wanted more. I loved Nine's moods shifting at a drop of a hat