David Tennant

Dear Gary—

David Tennant is born into the role of the Tenth Doctor almost in a coma that he is reluctant to wake from; he goes out kicking and screaming. In between his Tenth Doctor is heroic, romantic, and charismatic; he is also self-absorbed, self-aggrandizing, and self-righteous. Through it all and above all he is entertaining. In short he is the epitome of New Who.

This is Doctor Who all grown up; and yet he has never been so juvenile.

It starts with Rose. The Ninth Doctor was smitten but managed to rise above. The Tenth wakes into this young girl’s fantasy and he lowers himself to her mentality. At times I think Bill and Ted are more mature in their adventures. The Doctor and Rose hit their low point in The Idiot’s Lantern when their hijinks tend to the mean-spirited. For the most part, though, the two are well intentioned even if a little too class clown and cliquish.

After Rose’s dramatic departure Martha continues the adulation of the Doctor. However, the Doctor keeps Martha at arm’s length. As cloying as the Doctor’s relationship with Rose was, I’m not sure that this aloof approach is an improvement. There are some genuine moments between the Doctor and Martha but they are brief and far between. I think the closest the two get is at the end of Gridlock.

 Both Rose and Martha feed the Doctor’s ego. He manages to have a deeper relationship with some one-shot guest stars, most notably in The Girl in the Fireplace and HumanNature/The Family of Blood, only to return to the doting girls at his feet. Thankfully Donna puts an end to the fawn fest.

 Donna is Doctor Who getting the companion right. The two have fun together but not at the expense or exclusion of others. There is a compassion and warmth and understanding with these two. There is also a respect and admiration without the worship. Donna is always eager to help the Doctor but never hesitant to challenge him as well. The Fires of Pompeii is one of many fine examples of this. When the Doctor wipes Donna’s mind Wilf bemoans the fact that she was better when she was with him. However I think it is the Doctor who is the bigger loser. Donna makes the Doctor a better person.

Companionless in the specials, the Doctor begins to revert to the exclusionary demeanor he had with Rose. If he can’t have one companion forever and always by his side, he reasons, then he’ll have none. The Doctor has had countless people traveling with him through his many generations; countless TARDIS crew have come and gone. School Reunion with the wonderful Sarah Jane Smith explores this heartbreaking reality of his life. Now at the end of his tenth generation and after 900 plus years he finally has enough. This tenth generation stamps his foot and will have no more of it.

Delving into these emotional depths is an interesting development in New Who; but there is a danger to it. New Who has put so much emphasis on the Doctor, his relationships, his feelings, his psychology; New Who has made the adventures secondary. The adventures are now all in service to the Doctor and to the season story arc that will reveal some deep dark secret or explore the Doctor’s nature or bring the Doctor face to face with the ultimate decision/peril/destiny. The show is called Doctor Who for a reason; the Doctor should remain a mystery. New Who is so fascinated with the enigma of the Doctor that it over indulges. It shines a glaring spotlight on him to reveal his innermost thoughts and then tries it’s hardest to throw him back into the wonder of shadows. It wants to keep things about the Doctor hidden yet it continually harps on those very things. There are only so many times you can ask the question ‘Doctor Who?’ before you are compelled to answer it; but then you have to answer it in a way that doesn’t quite answer it so that you can continue to ask the question and then you have to come up with more half answers to keep stringing along. Let the title alone ask the question and stop hitting us over the head with it.

Sorry Gary, I got off track there with a bigger Who issue, although it has its beginnings with the Tenth Doctor. One outcome of this disturbing trend of trying to illuminate and at the same time enshroud the Doctor is the emerging picture of a hallowed nature. From his congregation of young girls to his sometimes godlike powers to images of angels flying him heavenward, this Tenth Doctor flirts with divinity. That is one of the things I love about The Waters of Mars; it shows up this lonely lord as a false idol.

With David Tennant we get some lighthearted fun ala New Earth, Partners in Crime, and The Unicorn and the Wasp; we get some tender and moving fare ala School Reunion, The Girl in the Fireplace, and Human Nature/The Family of Blood; and we get some psychological fare ala Midnight. We get action adventure, spine-tinglers, and extravaganzas. We get a little bit of everything and most of it is good. However there are also some bad, including three that I would put at the bottom of my all time Doctor Who stories: The Idiot’s Lantern, Fear Her, and The Lazarus Experiment.

I have struggled in writing this entry, Gary, as I have for most of the Tennant serials. I don’t want to be as negative as I sound and yet it keeps coming out that way. I really enjoy David Tennant as the Doctor and in my original rankings had him in fourth place. However when I come to final placements I will probably move him down at least one notch. David Tennant is the most charming and entertaining of all of the Doctors and that covers many flaws; but I have uncovered the flaws and they nag at me.

I continue on my slow path, Gary, weary though it has become . . .