This is a Doctor Who rant.
SPOLIERS probably.
In my own opinion I occupy a slightly strange place in the grand spectrum of Doctor Who fans. Whilst I was born after the original series ended my Dad is a huge Whovian (and Science Fiction fan in general) so I'd seen a lot of Doctor Who's adventures on VHS and I was familiar with the mythology surrounding the series, I had familarity, I had expectations. When the TV film came in the ninties I was excited and whilst that fell through when the relaunch with Christopher Eccleston came in 2005 I was cynically interested, I was hardly a child that would happily accept anything new to the franchise but I wanted to like it. It took a few episodes but I enjoyed it. The first few wrankled me the wrong way but every show has teething issues and looking back they're pretty good for a show just finding it's place.
David Tennant was awesome, doing justice beyond the writing and overwraught emotional stuff. Whilst the writing of Tennant's last episodes diminished the character and the overlong death scene was just annoying there was nothing to fault with Tennant's performance.
With the big changeover in season 5, Tennant and RTD out, Long time staff writer Steven Moffat and relative unknown Matt Smith were now at the helm. I held my cynacism after all, Eccleston and Tennant had worked out. Why wouldn't Smith?
Now, it's easy for me to fault Matt Smith, considering the almost universal praise he gets nearly across the board it makes me want to nit pick because the amount of people singing his praises makes the fact I'm not won over all the more annoying. What are they seeing that I'm not? Why aren't they seeing what I'm seeing? To fault Smith as an actor is unfair. He is a good actor, perhaps a few years short of the kind of mastery Tennant and Ecclestone demonstrated in their time as the Doctor but nonetheless good. I find his antics though, a little over the top. Smith seems to be trying to out do Tennant's manic energy and confidence as the Doctor, Smith however doesn't have the same charm and charisma that made you want to believe in Tennant's Doctor. In 'The Impossible Planet' I could understand why the characters were willing to trust the Doctor. With Smith I don't feel it. He just seems arrogant and in places silly. With Smith I can't help but feel the Doctor would be better played down and emphasing the kind of Xanthos/Batman/Chessmaster type gambits he seems to be constantly involved in, it would offset his arrogrance and give his silliness an interesting undertone.
The writing contributes to the problem though. Steven Moffat demonstrated before he came to the forefront as head writer that he can put together genuinely interesting stories with 'Blink' and 'The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances' but also pretty tepid drama like 'Girl in the Fireplace and 'Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead'.
Part of the problem I have with Moffat is his love of trying to be clever. Whilst time lines crossing and future/present/past mess ups are all well and good they're hardly original and they're hardly clever. The problem is that everything begins to look contrived and for the convience of the story which is really annoying. And as much as RTD gets flack he was better about weaving in elements subtly across the season, things in the background and so on. With Moffat far too much effort is expended to make sure we notice the series long threads being woven. Moffat's love of messing with perception is getting old as well, The Angels which were cleaverly done in 'Blink' but after we saw them move in 'The Time of Angels' were forever ruined. The Vashta Nerada, which live in shadows, the Aliens you forget after seeing in 'The Impossible Astronaut'. I'm kind of fed up. Perception is interesting but as someone who was never really afraid of the dark and who knows there is probably a charmingly contrived solution next week it's not that fun.
As for the companions, they're for another time.
In my own opinion I occupy a slightly strange place in the grand spectrum of Doctor Who fans. Whilst I was born after the original series ended my Dad is a huge Whovian (and Science Fiction fan in general) so I'd seen a lot of Doctor Who's adventures on VHS and I was familiar with the mythology surrounding the series, I had familarity, I had expectations. When the TV film came in the ninties I was excited and whilst that fell through when the relaunch with Christopher Eccleston came in 2005 I was cynically interested, I was hardly a child that would happily accept anything new to the franchise but I wanted to like it. It took a few episodes but I enjoyed it. The first few wrankled me the wrong way but every show has teething issues and looking back they're pretty good for a show just finding it's place.
David Tennant was awesome, doing justice beyond the writing and overwraught emotional stuff. Whilst the writing of Tennant's last episodes diminished the character and the overlong death scene was just annoying there was nothing to fault with Tennant's performance.
With the big changeover in season 5, Tennant and RTD out, Long time staff writer Steven Moffat and relative unknown Matt Smith were now at the helm. I held my cynacism after all, Eccleston and Tennant had worked out. Why wouldn't Smith?
Now, it's easy for me to fault Matt Smith, considering the almost universal praise he gets nearly across the board it makes me want to nit pick because the amount of people singing his praises makes the fact I'm not won over all the more annoying. What are they seeing that I'm not? Why aren't they seeing what I'm seeing? To fault Smith as an actor is unfair. He is a good actor, perhaps a few years short of the kind of mastery Tennant and Ecclestone demonstrated in their time as the Doctor but nonetheless good. I find his antics though, a little over the top. Smith seems to be trying to out do Tennant's manic energy and confidence as the Doctor, Smith however doesn't have the same charm and charisma that made you want to believe in Tennant's Doctor. In 'The Impossible Planet' I could understand why the characters were willing to trust the Doctor. With Smith I don't feel it. He just seems arrogant and in places silly. With Smith I can't help but feel the Doctor would be better played down and emphasing the kind of Xanthos/Batman/Chessmaster type gambits he seems to be constantly involved in, it would offset his arrogrance and give his silliness an interesting undertone.
The writing contributes to the problem though. Steven Moffat demonstrated before he came to the forefront as head writer that he can put together genuinely interesting stories with 'Blink' and 'The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances' but also pretty tepid drama like 'Girl in the Fireplace and 'Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead'.
Part of the problem I have with Moffat is his love of trying to be clever. Whilst time lines crossing and future/present/past mess ups are all well and good they're hardly original and they're hardly clever. The problem is that everything begins to look contrived and for the convience of the story which is really annoying. And as much as RTD gets flack he was better about weaving in elements subtly across the season, things in the background and so on. With Moffat far too much effort is expended to make sure we notice the series long threads being woven. Moffat's love of messing with perception is getting old as well, The Angels which were cleaverly done in 'Blink' but after we saw them move in 'The Time of Angels' were forever ruined. The Vashta Nerada, which live in shadows, the Aliens you forget after seeing in 'The Impossible Astronaut'. I'm kind of fed up. Perception is interesting but as someone who was never really afraid of the dark and who knows there is probably a charmingly contrived solution next week it's not that fun.
As for the companions, they're for another time.