I've been re-watching early New Who because whenever I attempt to remember the Tennant-era, a red mist descends and I am filled with a sense of righteous indignation. But it can't possibly be that bad since everyone seems to like it so much. Hence, the re-watch.
I've barreled through Eccleston's run. I've noticed a few things that I've forgotten.
The pilot is bizarre: The music is terrible and way too loud; the characters speak really quickly and have thicker accents; Mickey is immediately likable; there's clearly romance brewing between the Doctor and Rose, even before he regenerated; the Doctor says some really weird shit like he can feel the Earth rotating; and Rose clumsily swings on a chain to save the Doctor.
Other stray observations: RTD really, really likes killing one-off characters. The show is horribly pessimistic about like everything, especially with the Fourth Great Human Empire stuff. Parting of the Ways is bullshit; Rose becomes like a time wizard and just beats all of the Daleks with magic. Also, the Daleks literally fell through a time-hole and escaped the Time Lock, so no one should be shocked that similar bullshit can be pulled to save the Time Lords.
Overall, however, I liked the first season a little more than I remembered. Even though not every episode was great, it was still fun, and I could tell they were trying really, really hard to modernize the show. I think they went a little overboard with stuff like killer reality shows (except the Anne Droid, which is a really good gag), but at least it wasn't boring. Even the farting alien episodes were vaguely entertaining.
Moving on to Ten, The Christmas Invasion is also better than I remember, even if it has that weird, misogynistic ending and the aliens look like the bad guys from Galaxy Quest. I liked that he just fucking iced that guy. Then I fell asleep during New Earth because it was so boring.
There was a bit of talk about it earlier in the thread, but I think one of the key differences between Moffat and RTD is that the latter writes a very pessimistic view of the universe; he writes a Doctor who is tortured and constantly facing a series of bad choices where he tries to pick the least bad thing, and that often involves death and destruction all the same, hes a universe where it's a constant battle for survival -- he ultimately writes that humanity becomes desperate at the end of the universe and tries to travel through time to murder and steal from their own! It's grim. Even the reality TV show stuff; you look at it and on the surface it's silly and camp, and it is -- but then you actually think about what's being said about the nature of humanity in those shows existing in Doctor Who's vision of the future and you realize how awful it is. Or you have The Master being camply evil and dancing around, but then suddenly he's revealed to be beating his wife and suddenly everything else he does is tainted (in a good way for the story) by it.
Moffat's view of Doctor Who, as personified in Day of the Doctor's time war reveal, is that there isn't a single situation where the Doctor wouldn't somehow find a better way. It's generally an optimistic world view versus a pessimistic one, and it's actually a fascinating way in which their eras differ! Neither one is better or worse for it, IMO, just... different. Interestingly, Series 8 has trended back towards how it was under RTD, with Moffat depicting a much less kind worldview, which is interesting; so I guess a degree of it had to do with Smith being an incredible fairytale Doctor.
That 'turn of the earth' speech is, I think, one of the best snippets of dialogue there's been in the show. It's just great:
"Do you know like we were saying, about the earth revolving? It's like when you're a kid, the first time they tell you that the world is turning and you just can't quite believe it 'cause everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it... The turn of the earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour. The entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour. And I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world. And, if we let go...
That's who I am. Now forget me, Rose Tyler. Go home."
It's just a great 'who are you' moment for the character that's rarely bested. There's a lot of charm in the other way, too... one of my favourite moments in New Who history is the Amy/Doctor exchange at the end of The Eleventh Hour -- "Are you from another planet? // Yeah. // Kay." So simple. In, out, done.
