My personal opinion is that there is an obvious change from the old series to the new. Many people criticize Eccleston’s Doctor but I think that he was perfect, the Tenth Doctor says it himself that when he 1st met Rose he was full of war and hatred. We have to take into account that Eccleston’s Doctor had just left the Time War and it had changed him. In later episodes of the revived series, The Doctor says that he became a torturous monster in the war and when we meet Eccleston’s Doctor I realized that he was clearly a changed Doctor. Throughout series one of the revived series, the 9th Doctor constantly takes more violent approaches to things, and by the finale, Rose has helped the Doctor calm into a more peaceful person, like he used to be. When the 9th Doctor has to make the choice to use the Delta Wave, I think he would have pushed the trigger if it were the beginning of the series, but with Rose’s help he thinks about what he is doing.
The Doctor clearly knows himself that he is a changed man, but he knows he is not changed enough, I think this is why he greets regeneration not as deeply, he knows that he will come out of it an even better man. The Tenth Doctor comes out as a more emotional man, he is more thoughtful and uses his intelligence to it’s full advantage (something I didn’t see in Ecclestone). The Tenth Doctor lives life as well as he can and tries to adventure and have as much fun as possible. This is where I began to see him becoming more like the Doctor we saw in the old series. The Tenth Doctor is upset when he is dying because he doesn’t want to change into a new man, it is clear that after the Time War and his 9th incarnation, he likes his new self and is worried of what he may become.
With the 11th Doctor though I saw a childish but highly intelligent Doctor. His previous incarnations were all as brave as him but most of them found running away more fun. The 11th Doctor however, stands in the face of battle and embraces his enemies. I likes this about him.
That’s how I have seen the series’ revival but I never really like Matt Smith’s era. I liked his portrayal of the Doctor and the storylines were well written, what I didn’t like was the way the show was done, The TARDIS, the aliens and the setup in general looked like a children’s program and I didn’t like the changed style of the show, until….
When I watched series 7 part 2 with Clara as the companion, the show had a slight re branding and the hole thing looked 10 times better. When I found out that Smith would be leaving at Christmas, I was devastated, but in a completely different way from when Tennant was leaving. I had just started liking the direction of the show with Smith at the center and BAM! He’s gone.
On the plus side Peter Capaldi is going to be taking over the prestigious role as the iconic Doctor with Clara at his side, and I think he will bring a change to the show that could easily be for the good. There is nothing wrong with an older Doctor.
That’s all just my opinion though,
Cameron.
