First of all, people have said to me that Smith is somewhat similar to Tennant in the way he approaches the role. In fairness, this may be the doing of the writers and Steven Moffat (more on him later) more so than Smith, and even so it's not terrible really, particularly given that I loved Tennant's approach. Smith shares the same eccentricity (though somehow his seems more bizarre and less endearing than Tennant's to me, though that could just be a personal thing), but seems more given to sudden outbursts of anger (though Tennant had them too, of course). There is an argument that successive Doctors should be different, even contradictory. For instance, the serious, almost grim (albeit avuncular) Jon Pertwee was preceded by the clownish Patrick Troughton and succeeded by the completely insane Tom Baker. Sometimes, though, the difference is more of an evolution. To take another example, Christopher Eccleston's Doctor was scarred and bitter from the Time War, and what he had to do to end it; Tennant's Doctor still carried those scars, but had been improved by his exposure to humanity (notably, he was most like his predecessor when he encountered the Time Lords in 'The End of Time'). Perhaps the Eleventh Doctor is intended (partially, at least) as a continuation of aspects of the Tenth.
Each successive Doctor, obviously, is the oldest yet (which becomes confusing in multiple Doctor stories, when the youngest actors are playing the oldest Doctors). Of course, this means that Smith's Doctor is the oldest so far, and indeed Smith has been praised for how well he portrays the Doctor's sheer age (907, allegedly; best not to research the complex, contradictory canon on this matter if you want to preserve your sanity). In fairness, Tennant did this too, particularly in one of my favourite scenes of his, from 'School Reunion' ("I'm so old. I used to have so much mercy."). Smith plays a great old man, despite his youth. To be honest, though, after Tennant in particular, I rather wanted an older Doctor; someone middle-aged, perhaps. Younger actors have more energy, but I'd like to see an older Doctor for a change; a bit of gravitas would work very nicely, and it wouldn't mean sacrificing the eccentricity (look at Tom Baker). The romantic elements might have to go, but that needn't be terrible.
Speaking of romantic elements, I'd be remiss to ignore the wonderful Karen Gillan. Companions are a huge part of any series of Doctor Who, and I loved Amy Pond. She's smart, resourceful and just bizarre in the way she transfers her affections between Rory and the Doctor. I'm very glad that we'll be seeing more of her and Rory. All right, a large part of that is because, let's face it, she is rather easy on the eye, but there are also lofty reasons of characterisation and integrity and other big, important things in question.
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| Just look at her. Good Lord. |
I should also give a shout out to Arthur Darvill; Rory is another brilliant character. His cluelessness at first was endearing, and Moffat was wise enough to move things along quickly so that by the end of the series Rory was capable, useful and even somewhat secure, which was a little bit of a miracle.
Speaking of Steven Moffat, I was utterly delighted to hear that he was becoming the head writer. I had visions of every episode being a 'Girl in the Fireplace' or a 'Blink'. It hasn't quite worked out that way, but rewatching his series I have been reminded of just how good he is. The whole concept of cracks in reality was threaded through nicely, with relevance throughout, without the ham-handedness of a 'Bad Wolf' or a 'Mr. Saxon', to be paid off only at the end. The return of the Weeping Angels was handled well; the threat was stepped up nicely without becoming ridiculous. I didn't like that we saw them moving (mainly because it destroyed my "the camera counts as someone looking at them" theory, of which I was very proud), but they still managed to remain mysterious and frightening, even when one of them spoke (sort of). I loved the moral complexities and impossible choices in episodes like 'The Beast Below', which I didn't fully appreciate the first time around. I do have a quibble with Moffat, though; he does change the rules a bit too much, a failing he shares with Russell T. Davies. For instance, the Doctor's been jumping around his own personal timeline, and bringing people back on theirs, like nobody's business, notably in 'The Big Bang' and 'A Christmas Carol'. I will continue to trust to the Moff, though, and look forward to the next series in the knowledge that Stetsons are indeed cool.
Speaking of the next series, let us look to the future. Even though I haven't made up my mind about Matt Smith, I still want him to continue; I'd like to see what he has in store. There's a lot more to discover: who's beyond the silence? What's the deal with River Song? Are bowties really cool? I have a theory that Moffat is the biggest Doctor Who fan of them all; he's already delighted me by bringing back the Silurians, so I'm looking forward to seeing what else he might bring back from the archives. Given his reverence for Who history and Smith's noted penchant for dark rages and the sheer age of the Doctor, there's one trick in particular I'd like to see them pull off: the return of my favourite character (not that he's been gone a terribly long time). I think Smith's Doctor could really excel up against the Master. Tennant and John Simm had a great chemistry; given something similar, such a showdown could be something really spectacular. With that in mind, I'll leave you in the capable hands of Charlie McDonnell, with his song about the wonderfully complicated finale to series 5. By the way, since I haven't found room to mention it yet, I should say that series 5 is now my favourite since the programme's return, despite my uncertainty about the Doctor. Let's call it an auspicious start; show me something wonderful, Matt. Maybe get a haircut too. Cheers.
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