hey guiz I know it's been awhile, pls forgive me! o wait no one reads this but myself, lolol
ALRIGHT, now that I've gotten that out of the way, I feel like talking about the latest show I'm marathoning on Netflix: Doctor Who. No, not Classic Doctor Who, because that's over forty years of content to watch, and also...I just don't want to, okay? Maybe when I've finished with modern Who I will, but right now I'm way too invested in what's going on to wonder if NuWho is canon, etc., etc.
So, here's how it's been going. I LOVED Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor, and, more importantly, I loved Rose Tyler and Company (Jackie, Mickey, Pete). This was a show that spent time making everyone special. Rose isn't just the damsel in distress--she's a fully realized character. Mickey isn't just the jilted boyfriend...he's a fully realized character. I made a comment to my roommate that it would've been easier to make Micky some kind of jerk so that we'd feel more comfortable with Rose and the Doctor's relationship, but that's exactly why showrunner-at-the-time, Russell T. Davies, didn't do that. It would've been easy and unrealistic. Also, Jackie Tyler is hilarious and sympathetic, not just your stereotypical loud mother.
When Eccleston left and Tennant came in, the show continued to be great. It was hard saying goodbye to the Ninth Doctor, but Davies wisely kept many elements of the story the same. When you lose a Doctor you loved, it's going to be difficult accepting the new one. Instead of just trying to make him forcibly likable, we have Rose representing the viewer...she doesn't trust this new Doctor, and she wants the one she's spent so much time with back. And instead of Rose falling in insta-love with Tennant, it takes a few episodes before she's really and truly used to him; at this point, I was really and truly used to him too (and it doesn't hurt that David Tennant is, um, amazing).
I love that Russell T. Davies KNEW he was asking a lot of viewers to love and trust a new Doctor. And it wasn't the hardest transition in the world because we still had Rose, Jackie, Mickey, and Captain Jack, all of whom are brilliant characters.
When Rose left (insert a picture of me weeping uncontrollably), we had firmly transitioned to the Tenth Doctor. It was hard losing Rose, but again...Davies knew this would be hard. Throughout seasons 3 and 4, there are countless references to Rose Tyler (and, as you know, she comes back in Journey's End and her story line is wrapped up). Martha Jones was yet another three-dimensional, fully-realized character that we rooted for and empathized with.
And, for the crowning achievement during Davies' run, in my opinion: Donna Noble. It's hard as a writer to create a close male/female relationship that has absolutely no sexual tension at all. As the Doctor says in The End of Time, Donna Noble is his BEST FRIEND. And I believe it. It would've been easier, I suppose, to make her like Rose or Martha (not knocking them, just saying they both had the hots for the Doctor), but he believably wrote a female character who loves and trusts a man yet feels no romantic attachment towards him. The saddest Doctor Who moment for me is still Rose's departure in Doomsday, but coming in a close second is Donna losing her memories of the Doctor.
This successfully brings us to The End of Time two-parter, in which David Tennant says goodbye as the Tenth Doctor. It was sad and heartbreaking. To this day, he played the Doctor longer than any other actor, and he is the face that many think of immediately when you say 'Doctor Who'. He was funny and charming and magnificent, but you also don't think of Doctor Who without thinking of his companions--three women who were also funny, charming, and magnificent.
I'm not trying to be a hater. I'm not. But....man, this transition from the Tenth Doctor to the Eleventh is becoming a struggle for me.
Let's examine the reasons why.
Davies knew audiences would be leery of a new Doctor, so he made the other characters leery too. Plus, every other element of the story save for the Ninth Doctor was still there. In comparison, in season 5 of Doctor Who, EVERYTHING is different.
The Doctor, obviously, is different. The TARDIS is different. The theme song is different. The opening credits are different. Every single character is different. The visual look of the show is different. And, instead of acknowledging changes like RTD did, Moffat, the current show runner, just throws it in our face and expects us to accept it. He has new Doctor Matt Smith acting all wacky and silly, as though these mirrored traits of Tennant's Doctor will immediately make us like him. It doesn't. I mean no disrespect to Matt Smith at all, by the way...I think he's a fine actor, and he's doing the best with what he's given. But as the viewer, and as a representative of the human race in general, we are resistant to change. We like the things the way we like them and are used to.
I went into season 5 with the same attitude I went into season 2 with..."meh, I don't want a new Doctor, I like Eccleston/Tennant". RTD successfully made me fall in love with Tennant. I really don't see that happening with Matt Smith.
Everything is just too different for me to adapt to naturally. As far as plot points and story arcs go, I do believe Moffat is a talented writer. But he had no awareness of what he was asking of his viewers. Why not have ONE single character who knew the Tenth Doctor in season 5 (just brainstorming, but here are some possibilities: Willard, Capt. Jack, Mickey, THE DOCTOR HIMSELF feeling strangely/mistrustful of his new transformation)?
Not only are we asked to immediately accept a new Doctor, we're also asked to immediately accept a new companion. The introduction of Amy Pond as a child at first is creative, albeit predictable (who didn't see the reveal that the attractive redhead in the same house was Amy?). But Amy's reaction to the Doctor's return doesn't ring true to me...where is the believable hurt? Sure, she's mad and annoyed, but being abandoned like that must have been devastating for her. I'm only halfway through season 5, but I've seen nearly no vulnerable moments from Amy Pond whatsoever. She's the poor-writer's ideal "strong, sassy female" character. She's hardheaded and opinionated. What Moffat fails to see is that these aren't really likable traits on their own...they're likable if they're there to mask a person's vulnerability, but so far there's no sign of Amy Pond possessing this sort of depth.
I could be wrong--like I said, I'm only halfway through season 5. Maybe Amy becomes a more empathetic character that we can relate to in the same way that we related to Rose, Martha, and Donna. But uh...I doubt it.
Having loved seasons 1-4 of Doctor Who so much, I honestly hope that I can eventually stop missing Tennant and his companions and embrace the Matt Smith era. When I've finished season 7 and am caught up completely, I plan on revisiting this post and commenting on whether or not I ever came around to liking the Moffat era of Doctor Who.
Now that that's all out of my system, anybody else out there have a hard time getting used to the new Doctor Who? Does it get any easier?
