My fiancee is a HUGE Doctor Who fan and has been trying to get me to watch the show for months. I've known of the 2005 relaunch for quite a while -- including back when Matt Smith was introduced and just about everyone on this board had a Doctor Who avatar at some point -- but never really paid much attention. I used to catch the old shows on re-run on rare occasion, but never paid much attention. After I made her watch Game of Thrones and she subsequently loved it, she said it was only fair I try Doctor Who. Needless to say, I'm glad I did.
The Doctors
Ninth Doctor: I know it's an extremely controversial statement, but I preferred Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor. He didn't have as much to work with, as Russel T. Davies seemed to be trying to find his groove with the first season. But I still liked his slightly darker and edgier character. The little glimpses into his past with the Time War were great. I've been a fan of Eccleston for years and he's usually the best part of a lot of really shitty programming. He really seemed to balance the darker, brooding character with the more jovial and fun-loving Doctor really well, despite some pretty weak scripts. It's a shame he only stuck around for the one season.
10th Doctor: That's not to say the 10th Doctor was bad. I've seen David Tennant in Broadchurch and Fright Night, so I was kind of surprised to see a bit more of a jovial Doctor. He had much better material to work with and the chemistry between he and Billie Piper's Rose Tyler was so much better than Eccleston. I really wasn't sold on him at first because I liked Eccleston so much. It really took about a half a season for me to finally accept him and really appreciate the character he brought. I have to say the 10th Doctor is much more layered and really felt like a better character. I guess my appreciation for Eccleston is more because of the actor.
The Companions
Rose Tyler: I get she was the first companion and really the most "important" in a lot of ways. But man, I really didn't care for Piper or for Rose Tyler at all. I was more of a fan of Mickey than her. She did improve a bit, though, going from an annoying self-absorbed teenager to a bit more relatable character. Really didn't like the relationship they were trying to force between her and the Doctor. It just came off as so hollow. Part of that had to do with the lack of chemistry between Piper and Eccleston, but the relationship still felt pretty lackluster. I was extremely underwhelmed when she was transported to the alternate dimension and it was supposed to be this extremely gut wrenching moment.
Mickey: While I'm not really a fan of where they took his character -- at least up until the last episodes I saw, where he's a "freelancer" and married -- I still liked him. He always felt like a tag along and I thought he played that up really well, even if the romance between he and Rose wasn't all that well developed. Still, an entertaining character.
Captain Jack Harkness: My first exposure to him was when I watched Torchwood Miracle Day, so when he showed up in World War II London as a time traveler, I was really shocked. But his character -- albeit a bit on heavy on the American stereotype -- was extremely entertaining and I always looked forward to his appearances. I thought he played off well with both Doctors. I think I'll go back and watch Torchwood after I'm caught up so I can continue his adventures.
Martha Jones: I really was not impressed with her character in the early episodes. She just came off extremely annoying. And then they tried to force another relationship between a companion and the Doctor. I was screaming at the TV on several instances, lamenting how writers often have such a difficult time having an opposite sex pairing that's not falling in love with each other. But she improved as the show went along and I liked how they continued to bring her back. While they tried to push Rose as some sort of savior, I really felt Martha was the most naturally developed by joining UNIT.
Donna Noble: Now we come to my favorite companion, Doctor Donna. For once, we didn't have a companion trying to fall in love with the Doctor. She wasn't some damsel in distress, like Rose was a lot of the time. She was capable and mouthy with a great attitude. I'm not going to lie, I got some serious feels with how they handled her character in the end. It was so tragic and so well written. She's probably my favorite character in the whole show, up to this point.
Favorite Episodes
Season 1, Dalek: Aside from The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances, this was my favorite episode of the Eccleston season. It really gave some levity to the Daleks and made them something more than just faceless, evil creatures. I also like how it brought out some of the darkness and guilt in the Ninth Doctor. It's certainly one of the few episodes where the Daleks -- even if it's just one -- felt like a true, frightening enemy. As the show went along, they really just become jokes. I remarked to my fiancee, they seemed to treat the Daleks in the early seasons like the Borg in Star Trek Voyager. It's hard to fear when they show up when they've become such jokes.
Season 1, Father's Day: It's not that remarkable of an episode, but having lost my father, I really empathized with Rose. The one thing that made her a bearable character in the first season is her sadness over not having her father. This episode brought that to a forefront and I really enjoyed it. Then it all went to shit with later episodes and the alternate dimension.
Season 2, The Impossible Planet/Satan's Pit: For some reason, I kept getting Dead Space vibes from this, I guess due to the possession aspects of it. Really liked the two-part episode and the introduction of the Ood. I liked the episodes throughout the show that deal with alien entities that aren't really explained.
Season 3, Human Nature/The Family of Blood: I really didn't care for the first half of this two-parter, but the second half really made up for it and helped me appreciate the story as a whole. A friend of mine, who watched these recently, hated it and said it was "anti-war," which I guess it was in a way. But I still liked how it delved into the Doctor's character a bit more and teased what his life would be as a human. That montage of John Smith growing old and having a family was truly touching. But man, when the Doctor got pissed, that was scary. Throwing someone into a collapsing star? Trapping someone in a mirror? Damn. I loved Son of Mine's monologue:
There's too many to name in season four. I especially loved the finale because it at least made the Daleks seem formidable again. And it was nice to see all the previous companions come back for one last adventure. As I said, it was still a shame to see what happened to Donna. That was perhaps the most gut wrenching moment of the whole series, up until the end.
The Post Season 4 Specials
I really didn't think I was going to like these. Most of the Christmas specials weren't that interesting. But after losing Donna, the specials really showed a different side of the Doctor and one that really made me appreciate Tennant's take on him much more. The Next Doctor was the weakest of the much, but still touching in its own way. Though I think it got a bit ridiculous with the giant Jaeger-sized Cyber Man walking around Victorian London. Planet of the Dead reminded me a lot of Pitch Black and still was a nice one-off episode. But it was the last two -- The Waters of Mars and the End of Time -- that I loved the most and were probably my favorite 2+ hours of Doctor Who. Seeing the Doctor face and accept his own mortality was a great idea from the writers. Tennant nailed it amazingly and the performance of John Simm as The Master was brilliant.
I'm still confused on the whole timeline aspect of how the Time War is locked out of time, but is still concurrently happening and how the Time Lords are alive, but stuck in time and all of that. But it was great to see the amazing Timothy Dalton show up, even if he did go out pretty weak. I was actually expecting him to make it out -- hoping Ood Sigma would be wrong. But then when Wilfred knocked four times, my heart sank. I liked Wilfred. He was always a great character and he really accented Donna's character a lot. So I didn't want to see him die. But I knew it was coming and seeing the Doctor who back and visit all of his old companions was just the topping on the cake. If the show had ended there, it would have been a perfect finale.
Though, I say that without having seen the 11th Doctor Yet. So I'm going to start on those soon. I've seen a couple episodes of Matt Smith's Doctor and I'm not really a fan. I just hope he has that same balance of humor with the emotion behind it. And damn you, Davies, why did you have to end Tennant's run with that heart wrenching line?
