Television Doctor Who

I'm not going to lie, part of me really wants to say that Davies did a better job and that Ten was the better Doctor, but I'd only be lying to myself. Though I praise RTD for reviving our sexy thing and giving us two great Doctors, I do enjoy Moffat's non-linear writing. I also feel like Matt Smith has done the role as much justice as Eccleston and Tennant, if not more. He's remained true to the role while adding his own quirks here and there. I will agree with Roxam that it might seem like a bit of a stretch to say he is still "absolutely the same man," but isn't that what this show is about? Every new Doctor is supposed to reinvent the role while still suffering the pains of his predecessors, and while Eleven's goofball attitude is quite different from Nine and Ten's cool and energetic personalities, that's the point! He still suffers the same pain and memories, but he is a new man so to speak, and he will have undoubtedly let go of some of that heartbreak -- granted Amy and Rory are hurting him just as much as Rose did back in the day, if not more.
The point is, it's still the same show, despite the direction it may take or who runs it. If everything were to stay the same, it just wouldn't be worth watching.

Also, that prequel killed me at the end. DAMN MOFFAT!!!1!
And there's my rant for the week.

 

I think the disconnection from 9 and 10 wasn't just for the sake of making it feel 'new', I think it also lies in Eleven's character (which well, Moffat made).

Spoiler

Going back to Ten's regeneration, he really didn't want to regenerate, as he so painfully stated with his final words. Seconds later, Eleven comes in, the complete goofball he was, showing no traces of remorse or desire to return to all the people he'd come across as Ten.

In my opinion, Eleven sort of ignores his past to a certain extent (hence his reaction to meeting River again, perhaps.) He hides his pain, his anger and all those feelings under his happy 'face of a 12 year old' persona. One really good example was in Let's Kill Hitler when pulling up that interface while he was dying; he couldn't bear to see Rose, Martha and Donna's faces, or at least didn't want to see them. Eleven likes to escape his problems (as with the farewell tour in Series 6) and avoid mention or confrontation as much as possible. He has this false notion that he hated everything of his past selves, that he was better now, and that everything from here on out will be okay. When this was disproven with the Ponds' departure, he snapped. He's changed, that's for sure, but whether he will bury his problems even deeper or become more open with Clara remains to be unknown, though knowing him I think he might choose the former.
I like how Moffat added this to his character, but then there's the downside of cutting off virtually anything from RDT's run. Seeing as the denial was an internal trait of The Doctor, Moffat could've still brought in elements and characters, maybe victims from the Time War, (thankfully UNIT is back) and then some. Maybe we'll see this clearly in the 50th anniversary, maybe we won't, who knows.

Brian WAS a good addition! Almost reminiscent of Jackie and Wilfred, it actually helps me connect Moffat's run to RDT's coz it gives Amy and Rory's real life a little more depth, just as the previous companions did.

 

Names of the following two episodes revealed, but not the finale. Oh the suspense.
http://doctorwho.tumblr.com/post/46641595103/the-next-three-titles-of-doctor-who-series-7-2

 

Eleven quickly worked his way into my heart, right from "The Eleventh Hour." "Demons Run" has to be one of my more favored episodes. We get to see an even darker side of The Doctor. I know there has been some moments in Tens and Ecclestons, but Smith has done an excellent job portraying The Doctor in a different light. He can switch so fluidly from a fun loving and easy going guy, to a completely serious and most assuredly rage filled man. "Demons Run" is a prime example. I honestly don't think there was a better choice out there to fill the role of the eleventh Doctor. Moffats directing and Smiths acting go hand in hand.

Don't get me wrong, I loved nine and ten, but eleven quickly became my new favorite.

As for "The Snowmen," I do like (this is awful to say) to see a broken Doctor. The more The Doctor breaks, the more we get to see someone pick up the pieces (i.e. Oswin). There's already an established connection between The Doctor and Oswin.

Spoiler: Spoilers

If you refer back to the episodes, just prior to Amy and Rory's end. I think The Doctor needs to help, or at least find out about, Oswin as closure. Things happened so fast, he never really got to say goodbye. And we all know, The Doctor can't be left alone to fly around in the TARDIS for too long anyway.

Spoiler: Spoilers Two

My favorite line from the show, "Demons run, when a good man goes to war." Closely followed by The Doctors speech at the Pandorica.

 

Yea, I meant "A Good Man Goes to War." I was thinking of the quote from the show.

If you think about it, eleven has always been broken. He went through so much with Amy and Rory, and even River. Honestly, I think elevens back story is more touching than nines or tens.

Spoiler: Spoilers

Nine didn't really lose anyone, save for all the innocent people who get caught in The Doctors wake. Ten lost his companions, but the only one who died was Dr. Song. Eleven has to live, knowing what happens to Dr. Song, and losing Amy and Rory. Technically, he lost Rory twice, but that never really happened in a way. He just lost Oswin, or one Oswin anyway. Which is also the second time he's had to lose her, well different versions, but still. I think eleven has been through more than nine or ten.

Alas', we all have our likes and dislikes. I almost quit watching DW when ten bid farewell, but then fell in love with eleven in the end.

 

I'm not sure I can agree. Eleven may have started out less broken than nine and ten, but he had to suffer through a lot of hardships. Honestly, I think that the way he was in "The Snowmen" is how he's always feeling. Before, he had reason to raise a mask to hide it though. After the events of "The Angels Take Manhattan" he really didn't have a reason to hide that side of him.

I certainly agree that nine and ten were broken, but saying that eleven was far less broken is a bit of a stretch. If you think about it, he's carrying over all the past burdens anyway. He doesn't really forget things from his past regenerations, he just doesn't like remembering them. So, consecutively, eleven is the most broken.

 

I think what's so wonderful about the show is that it can undergo any number of reboots and rebrandings (or, well, that's possibly limited by our previous discussion on Time Lord regeneration but I won't bring that up again, hah). With the ability to cycle the casting of the main character the show can effectively run forever. It's the same way for the lead writers. That excites me so much--they can bring in a new Doctor, a new writer, a new companion, and shake things up. I may not always like the new directions, or at least, might prefer an older one, but there's always hope for another. One of the requirements of being a fan of Doctor Who is keeping an open mind--which I struggle with personally, because imagining someone replacing Matt Smith is really hard for me, and I fall to pieces when I consider that

Spoiler: End of series four spoilers

River will, eventually, leave the cast.

Both Moffat and RTD are tremendously talented and entertaining writers. The change between them can be jarring and I understand that people have personal preferences--I happen to really like what Moffat did with the show and the Doctor, but I love it all, really.

My biggest beef with Moffat is the Ponds. Don't get me wrong, I love Amy and Rory, but I got kind of... sick of them, towards the end. I understood why they remained for series six,

Spoiler: Series six spoilers

because (imo) the series was almost entirely focused on River Song (whom I love dearly), and they are her parents.

But towards the end of series six and into series seven they were really wearing on me. Their arcs felt forced and self-contained (here's looking at you, divorce subplot), their outro overdone (Rose's departure in S2 was sudden but that made it all the more effective; the Ponds had episodes upon episodes of build up, and while suspense is good, when we got to S7 I was just "enough already" about it), and I think even their personal relationships with the Doctor became dull.
That's why I'm so excited for Clara, I want to see Moffat change it up, try new territory, and to have things develop.

~ the rest of this is one big spoiler ~
But one thing I must really laud Moffat for is his development of the Doctor's character. I think the past iterations (mind you, I have only watched New Who) have all had different though intertwining personalities, and Eleven fits in perfectly with it. Eccleston had a largely hidden rage and sadness to him, because the Time War was so recent for him. He was sassy and a bit goofy, too, of course. He meets Rose and this is calmed, which continues into Ten. Ten is more "human," of sorts. He's still very war-torn, he has his vicious moments, but I do believe he has begun to move on. Nine died for love and turned into Ten with Rose right there with him--I don't think it's any coincidence, then, that Ten is more emotionally open, more compassionate.

Ten has his fair share of hard knocks, though. He loses Rose, is left by Martha, has his arc with the Master & the potential for the Time Lords to return, is racked by guilt over Donna, and then once again is confronted with his guilt over the Time Lords in The End of Time. And he regenerates into Eleven, alone in his TARDIS, after seeing his companions moved on from him--and only after they've done so did they reach some form of happiness. I think he loses such faith in himself, seeing all that death, and seeing all the wrong he has done, however unintentionally, his companions. Him seeing the younger Rose is what kills me the most, because he looks at her so pure, so innocent, so happy, and thinks "this is what she would be like without me."

So now, left with guilt over not only the Time War but also his last few attempts to form some kind of connection with people, to not be alone, what does he find but an innocent little girl? He puts on this silly, goofy face for her--he's essentially acting like a child for the first few hours of his regeneration. I think that definitely leaves an imprint ("Who are you?" / "I don't know yet. I'm still cooking."). He loves the fantastical ("Amelia Pond"), he wants to believe in a world where the good guys always win and nothing bad ever happens. He puts on this face that the little girl will trust.

But this can't last long--Amy sees the sadness and rage within him, first through observation (The Beast Below) and later firsthand ("You are everything I despise. The worst sin in all creation. I've defeated you time and time again. I've defeated you. I sent you back into the Void. I've saved the whole of reality from you. I am the Doctor and you are the Daleks!"). And the Doctor learns fast that everything with Amy is, indeed, not all fun & games. The fantastic complexities we see in Nine and Ten are still, though, buried under the childlike antics. And that's where I love Eleven, because as goofy and odd and carefree as he can seem, we get this glimpses of what goes on under the surface. Those glimpses, being so rare, are made all the more terrible by it. My favorite examples...

• Previous quote from Victory of the Daleks
• The Doctor's Wife ("You gave me hope, and then you took it away. That's enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it will do to me! Basically... run!")
• A Good Man Goes to War ("Good men don't need rules... today is not the day to find out why I have so many")
• The Girl Who Waited (manipulating Rory and old!Amy to believe there is hope)
• The God Complex
  • srsly tho this entire ****ing episode
  • His rage over losing Rita
  • "Of course... who else?"--seeing himself in his room
  • The parallels drawn between him and the Minotaur ("'An ancient creature, drenched in the blood of the innocent, drifting in space through an endless, shifting maze. For such a creature, death would be a gift.' Then accept it. And sleep well... I wasn't talking about myself.")
  • "I stole your childhood and now I've led you by the hand to your death. But the worst thing is, I knew. I knew this would happen. This is what always happens. Forget your faith in me. I took you with me because I was vain, because I wanted to be adored... I'm not a hero. I really am just a mad man in a box. And it's time we saw each other as we really are."
• The Wedding of River Song ("River, River, this is ridiculous. That would mean nothing to anyone, it's insane. Worse, it's stupid! You embarrass me.")

Eleven loathes himself. He fears what he does to people, what he turns them into. He's lonely but he will keep pushing people away because he doesn't want to hurt them, leaving him in a vicious circle. He puts Amy and Rory into horrible, horrible trouble so many times. I think he really does believe the things he tells Amy in The God Complex, and that he will die alone & unloved.

And what I love most about him is that he can still hold onto that childish naivety, that optimism, even after all he goes through. He wants to confront his past ("You want to be forgiven." / "Don't we all?"), he holds onto his kindness, his altruism. (“I am, and always will be, the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes, and the dreamer of improbable dreams.”). He understands the need to put the bad into perspective, weigh it with the good ("The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things; but vice-versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant."), and the value of each living thing ("Nobody important? Blimey, that’s amazing. You know that in nine hundred years of time and space and I’ve never met anybody who wasn’t important before.").

This is what I'm so excited for with Clara because it seems that finally he's being given some good, some real hope. His companions don't need to die--they exist, in some form, all over the galaxy. And that he deserves a little good in his life.

WOW THIS IS REALLY LONG OMG I'M SORRY I JUST HAVE A LOT OF EMOTIONS ABOUT ELEVEN

 

Misty........ That was so beautiful I just can't ;___;
No seriously, as a fellow Eleven die-hard, from the bottoms of both my hearts thank you, that was brilliantly put. (And did you memorize all of those quotes?? 0___o)

I like your perspective on how Eleven views Clara, I hadn't really looked at it that way! Think I'll rewatch The Snowmen again tonight and figure that in.

 

some of them
Most of them I knew bits of but googled to make sure I had it all right! There are lovely people out there who do transcripts of episodes.

It is a nice prospect but it also concerns me! I touched upon it here.

 

Yeah, I've seen some transcripts in my travels of the internet, I love our fandom.

Spoiler

Yes I guess Clara's nature could have that effect on him too, other than intriguing the Doctor with the whole 'only mystery worth solving' biz. I like how she really went after Eleven in The Snowmen, how she chases after him, evades Strax and even goes so far as to locate the TARDIS up on a cloud. All that plus she's crazy clever, impossibly charming and overall just a challenge to him that he can't resist (waving at Clara from the pond, testing her with the umbrella). Everything about her not only pulled Eleven out of his isolation but got him so hopeful and excited that he took off in search of her with no plan or lead whatsoever. He's incredibly vulnerable now, so Clara's loss will break him, if and when it happens. So it'll go both ways, one before the other I suppose.

 

However, it can all be good if Clara gets a happy ending.

... Oh who am I kidding, this is Doctor Who.

 

Well some of the other companions though changed by the Doctor, turned out okay..?
Then again yeah given Clara's current track record I don't see a happy ending coming.

 

Actually . . .

Spoiler: Personal Thoughts

I'm thinking this might be the one. The universe does owe him this one. The one that lives. The one that doesn't have to end like the others. But i'm also thinking, and please don't hate me Misty I hate myself enough for this, that she'll be the end of The Doctor. I'm thinking it comes down to her or him, and The Doctor being The Doctor will choose to save her. Hopefully this wouldn't be the end of the series, but the pace things have taken . . . I'm not sure. The universe owes him this one. But we all know someone has to lose and be lost in the DW universe. I have that aching feeling that this is it.

 

Nights why ;__________; But okay I do see your point, it may well be Clara with him Trenzalore. But then again he'd just regenerate wouldn't he? How do you mean 'end' of The Doctor?