Wonderful! I knew they’d do a multi-Doctor story eventually, and I’d been waiting for it. Davison was a great choice. I mostly watched Tom Baker as a kid, but I was so excited when I got a new Doctor, that I thought of him as “my Doctor” too. I think PBS only showd a few of his stories before going back to the Fourth Doctor, though.
I liked the line “You were my Doctor,” but I can’t figure out quite what it means coming from the Doctor (as opposed to Moffat or Tennant, who of course were just giving themselves fan-service.)
Also, doesn’t the Doctor usually recognize his future selves? I know he did in The Two Doctors. (Which I liked, BTW. I think Six would be an interesting choice for a future multi-Doctor story, maybe with Two or Five again. But Two’s gone, isn’t he?)
It’s Tennant being all meta. He was a bit too young for the Baker era; Davison was the one who got him hooked on the franchise. And he says he became an actor specifically so he could play the Doctor.
But in context, it can be simply that he modelled his current incarnation on one of his past generations, as he explains, youthful, with the energetic dashing about etc, so in that sense he’d be “my Doctor”.
I’m not sure how much control a Time Lord has over how his next regeneration will turn out, though. The Master suggested that he could choose to be younger…
Romana seemed to have some control over hers - she tried a few bodies out before settling on Lalla Ward.
YEs, but internally, like the 10th Doctor said, it’s also a reference to how the 5th Doctor was the one who added a touch of innocence and youth to the Doctor’s personality. That’s something that is really talked about a lot in the novels…
But yes, it’s mostly a tribute to Davison as the Doctor as opposed to Davison the Doctor.
Actually, Tennant has specified in interviews that Baker was “his” Doctor, but he also had a healthy appreciation for Davison. I think most of the meta-Davison-love in this episode came directly from Stephen Moffat.
Still very sweet, no matter whom it came from. What a treat for those of us who are just getting into Who with the new series, to see one of the former Doctors in all his glory.