Doctor Who Newb dreading stuff: reassure me.

Cafe Society
41

Well, update time. I just watched “A good man goes to war,” so I’ve had quite a bit of time to settle in on Eleven. (OF COURSE THIS MEANS FROM THIS POST FORWARD, PLEASE NO SPOILERS PAST S6E7!) And the verdict… A begruding OK. I’m still enjoying the show, but I still miss Ten. Especially in this past episode, where it almost seems like Eleven is really, really trying to be the Ten of the end of “Family of Blood” or “The Runaway Bride,” and not quite pulling it off.

I think this summed it up perfectly:

That’s my take exactly. Ten (aside for his weird change of heart when faced with “dying”**) always treated humans as special. Almost equals, even when they clearly weren’t. His companions were his friends. Eleven always seems to know he’s too cool for the room. His companions seem like specimens, or at best favorite pets. He always seems like he might as well be saying, “Stand aside, little apes, let the TIME LORD handle this.”

I can see that as a valid interpretation of the character, (he is an alien, after all) but I don’t really like it.

Now, granted, this is changing a bit recently (recently for me, that is). And it’s going to have to change even more for him to actually pursue a relationship with River as they’re hinting. (Is there a stronger word than hinting? It’s beyond hinting now… bludgeoning?) Or with the revelations in this episode, maybe not. If the only human he could love is part time-lord, that’s maybe the only way this doctor could see her as an equal.

Anyway, I’m enjoying Amy and Rory very much and that’s helping me get over things. Though, I should say I enjoy them individually, but until the last handful of episodes, I’d had trouble buying their relationship. With all this “does she love the Doctor or Rory” business, I thought it was pretty clearly the Doctor. So when she declared otherwise once and for all in “Amy’s Choice,” it rang a bit false (though I loved that episode). Mind you, I’m glad that she chose Rory, because I wasn’t keen on another retread of the Doctor/Rose/Mickey triangle, or the Martha/Doctor unrequited bit. But the chemistry just didn’t seem to be there at the time, at least from her side. Starting around “The Doctor’s Wife,” I’m really starting to buy it, though, which makes me happier with the show as a whole.

Anyway, thanks for the reassurance when I needed it. Despite my qualms, I’ll be sticking with it.

** I will admit that “The End of Time” did help me get over my dread, but not in a good way. By the time he was 30 minutes into his “death scene,” even I, a true Ten fan, was saying, “Just die already!!” :slight_smile:

42

I though we were supposed to be giving him reasons to keep watching!

Seriously, once we learned her backstory, she became quite divisive in the fanbase. Then again, so is Rose after the first series or two.

It just dawns on me that Martha was my first companion, as I caught an episode in Series 3 before going back and starting from Rose. I wonder if that’s why I like her so much…

43

:slight_smile: Yeah, on the whole, I like River, but I can’t shake the feeling that I don’t like her nearly as much as the writers want me to like her. She might as well be walking around with a “look at me, I’m cool!” sign sometimes.

44

This is my problem. I can’t figure out where the transition between Tennant and Smith came. HELP A SISTER OUT.

And just because this thread got revived, I have to add that, as my first doctor, I will love David Tennant until the end of time. Love love love. Although I still can’t get over the Van Gogh episode, with Smith, which I just saw last week. It had me boo-hooing all over the place. It might be possible that I am a little too attached to the real Van Gogh anyway. I adore his work (like half the world, I know).

Anyway, I’m rambling. I have only seen about five episodes with Eccelston and I don’t much care for him. Since I saw later Rose episodes, I don’t much care for her early gangsta look. And I really didn’t like Donna much at all. She started out as such a dope I couldn’t get down with her character development at all.

45

I was only dimly aware of the existence of Who prior to the deluge of publicity in advance of Smith’s first season, which got me interested partly because the concept is so cool, but mostly because I find Smith arrestingly beautiful. His face just fascinates me. (Yeah, I’m shallow. What of it?)

So even though I saw The Water of Mars and The End of Time prior to the start of Smith’s season, Smith is still MY doctor, and I adore him. By the end of The Eleventh Hour, I was hopelessly hooked.

I’ve since seen all of nuWho, and I love Eccleston and Tennant too, but not as well as I love MY ancient, whimsical, dangerous and unmistakably alien Doctor.

I love the Ponds beyond reason. I also loved Donna. I prefer companions that aren’t in love with the Doctor. Martha’s unrequited thing was annoying, but IMO not nearly as annoying as the idea that a 900 year old alien could truly return the affections of a 19 year old girl. I also strenuously disagree with the idea that Smith’s doctor perceives his companions as pets or less his equal than Tennant’s did (although really, why WOULD the Doctor perceive any of us as his equal?). After all, Tennant’s Doctor was generally interrupted two or so minutes into his mourning of whomever by the arrival of his new bestest friend. (Of course this may prove true of Smith’s Doctor as well, when the time comes.)

46

Heh… might as well mention this here, even though it’s not so relevant to my original question. After watching the Van Gogh episode, I went online to see if other people agreed with my assessment of it and was SHOCKED at the outpouring of love and adoration for it. I may be the only person in the world who found it to be the most boring and predictable hour of television I’d ever seen. The actor looked a lot like Van Gogh, and the ending was neat where he got to see the future appreciation of his work, but aside from that, I can’t say a single good thing about. <bracing for thrown tomatoes>

47

She’s not a gangsta, she’s a chav.

48

Which is what?

Also: ::throws tomato at gonzoron::

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No she wasn’t, unless you reckon that chav = working class.

50

So when Cassandra took over Rose’s body in season 1 or 2 (I forget which), checked a mirror, and gasped in horror, “Oh my god, I’m a chav!” was she off-base? Serious question. I could tell a redneck from a hipster no problem, but I’m clueless on the topic of chavs.

51

“Chav” is a bit of a loaded word, to be fair. I think that it is a term that started relating to travelling people, and evolved radically, and unfairly, from that. A “Chav” nowadays would most often be a real nuisance, a member of the underclass, a person who has lost all contact with broader society. Where I’m from these folk are called “Neds”.

But “Chav” became a word that was sometimes fashionable in some quarters to describe a member of the working class*, or just someone who lives in social housing. Cassandra uses it as an insult, but Rose and her Mum both worked, getting by as best they could, in a council flat.

*by middle class mummy’s boys, mostly :wink: