Good one. I really need to start my posts in a word processor.
What a coincidence. I’ve been told on more than one occasion that mine belong in a food processor.
As one who prefers Smith over Tennant, I will say that Smith does “900 years-old” far better than Tennant, who I always thought of as a bit of a dandy.
Unlike Smith and Tennant, Eccleston never seemed to be the Doctor, he was a guy who played the Doctor and it shows. What bothered me the most about Eccleston was his smile - sometimes he would just smile out of nowhere, a big smarky smile, and at that moment, I am reminded every time that he’s just an actor playing a role.
I never got that impression with the last two Doctors.
Amy Pond in her first season is perhaps the loveliest thing to appear on TV. She speaks to the Scottish in me like no other actress. 
Rory is good as well and brought a lot to the team.
Rose… ugh. Good looking to gaze upon (if you like blondes with black roots, that is), but my biggest impression of her is pouting, and that’s not a good thing. OTOH, the ladies in my household adore Rose, so what do I know?
Ah, see I view that as a feature of Eccelston and not a bug. His Doctor was playing at being the Doctor. He was trying hard to be a happy go lucky fun Doctor in order to hide the fact that he was tortured and deeply depressed. He was the suffering Doctor who was trying to fake it so he could cope. There is a lot of nuance in his acting of the role that becomes more readily evident if you watch the first series in marathon form after having already seen it. It’s not a take that works for everyone, but I think Eccelston is easily the best actor of the three NuWho Doctors and pulls off some really startling work especially concerning the evolution of that Doctor’s personality. Which is not to say he is the best of the three in terms of how much I like him as the Doctor. I think I have to go with Tennant on that front, who isn’t a shulb of an actor at all but really doesn’t have anything on Eccelston.
Smith is good. But I personally feel his Doctor lacks depth.
You’ll be fine. He’ll never be Tennant, but YNFYFD.
Amy sitting in Vincent van Gogh’s garden, surrounded by sunflowers, made my heart stop.
Concur. Nine was, hands down, the hardest Doctor to play because he had to be recognizable as the Doctor but still have the guilt of having committed double genocide evident in his character.
IMHO, Eccleston’s greatest moment comes in “The Doctor Dances”:
It’s heartbreaking when you contrast it to what he has done.
I agree - Eccleston’s Doctor was so tragic, going through the motions, until Rose brought him out of his funk (which is too light a word, but all I could come up with). And just as he’s learning joy again, he regenerates. That in itself is heartbreaking.
StG
Thanks for the reassurance everyone… Still dreading the switch, but at least I know it won’t be a huge let down.
Even though I didn’t know much of the back story, that moment was what got me first hooked on Doctor Who.
Eccleston era: The best Doctor character depth
Tennant era: The best episode depth
Smith era: The best companion character depth
Without the support of some very enjoyable scripting in Tennant’s era, and the support of the finest companion acting and characterizing in Smith’s era, they would have not stood up to Eccleston’s tenure IMO.
I have to agree with the previous posters - Eccleston did a phenomenal job of portraying this broken person trying so damn hard to fake it til he makes it - until he does, and that ends up tragic also. He’s just a perfect introduction to the whole universe, and to that torturous responsibility that the Doctor carries, now made so much harder.
I have to say that I **like **Tennant’s 10th Doctor best, because he is just so much fun, but Eccleston’s 9th is MY Doctor, and always will be.
My husband has a weird quirk that he always mis-remembers Smith’s episodes as having Tennant in them - so he’ll be talking to me about something and say it was the 10th Doctor, and after he describes the episode (or mentions Amy or Rory) I have to gently remind him that it’s actually Smith, not Tennant.
What’s funny is that he insists that he doesn’t actually have anything AGAINST Smith, just that Tennant is his Doctor, and that fact keeps overwriting the memories of the good 11th’s episodes. 
I don’t think it will be a let down at all. It’s not all about the doctor anyway and I think Amy/Rory are a huge upgrade in the companion department, all due respect to Donna.
Speaking of companions, the one saving grace of the Davison era:
http://i47.tinypic.com/2edmgqw.jpg
GEORGE: Yeah, but nothing happens on the show. You see, it’s just like life. You know, you eat, you go shopping, you read. You eat, you read, You go shopping.
RUSSELL: You read? You read on the show?
I agree with all of this. But I do like the depth of the story arc with Smith.
Oh my god yes.
That is my favorite line in the new series. Especially the way he says it. No other line captures the character like that one. Contrast that to how he acts when he realizes that gwyneth is dead in “The Unquiet Dead.” That is why 9 is my favorite. Having said that, Tom Baker is My Doctor. But that’s mostly because of my advanced age.
I started with Jon Pertwee, and went through all of Tom Baker. I did not like the guy after Tom Baker, I saw the opening episode of him and just could not find the chemistry to watch at all. Then nothing until I caught Eccleston, and I was thrilled because I found a new Doctor that I actually liked.
Rory is my absolute favorite companion.
Although I do love River Song, though you can’t really call her a companion …
The Matt Smith era is darker and more long story arc than the Tennant years. Some people like season long arcs. Me? I find them extremely frustrating.
It may very well be. There are people who adore Tennant like you do, who absolutely cannot stand Smith.
I watched them all from Eccleston on in order, back to back very quickly. Here’s my take…
Eccleston was just good, and his episodes weren’t that great. Tennant was great and his episodes were great. Smith is great, but his episodes haven’t been that great.
I feel like the writing, the companions, the overall plot and storylines under Tennant were just the tops.
I like Smith a lot but he’s nothing like Tennant. However, as stated above, I don’t think his episodes or story arcs have been as clever or interesting as Tennant’s were. Also, Donna was the absolute best companion, followed by Rose and Martha. Not a huge fan of Smith’s companions, especially since the show seems to be all about THEM and not the Doctor. But, eh, it’s still pretty fecking good.
Also, keep in mind that Tennant’s last “season” were actually 4 movies… which you may need to hunt down as they might not be aired, and you’ll never see the transition from Tennant to Smith (this happened to one of my friends and he was confused). The movies are:
The Next Doctor
Planet of the Dead
Waters of Mars
The End of Time
I loved Eccleston and Tennant and I think Matt Smith is pretty fantastic! In fact, his performance is pretty much the reason I’m sticking with the show even though I don’t like Moffat’s companions or stories much.
Yup. Him and River Song. The only reasons to keep watching, really.
I like Smith well enough. I’ll certainly keep watching. I mentioned this in another thread, though, because it really bugs me - where are his eyebrows?! I have no idea why it bothers me so much the sparseness/lack of brows. But it really, really does.