I usually don't think "gee, that was out of character" but rather, like someone said above, I try to figure out why the character acted like that, and normally I can come up with a reason that works for me or at least doesn't bother me too much. (At least, up to Eleven's era, which has been too inconsistent overall, characterization-wise, for me to even know where to start.)
One instance where that fails is in The Doctor's Daughter, when Donna is rather cavalier toward the Doctor's sudden unwanted parenthood. She treats it like a joke, as if he's had some past indiscretion come back to bite him, when actually he was violated and his right to reproductive choice callously superseded. (In fact, the missed opportunity to explore that issue is my main beef with that episode, but I digress.) Her normal compassion finally kicks in only when he tells her he's had children before and lost them. That whole thing struck a sour note with me.
I have similarly squodgy feelings about Donna's ending, which was awful and badly-written on so many levels, but the thing that made me go "FUCK FUCK DO NOT WANT" was that... well, the show has almost always treated the contents of one's own head as just about the most intimate thing imaginable, and one of the most debilitating things to have violated. In the new series telepathy is almost a G-rated stand-in for sex, and that is something the writers did consciously. So the Doctor grabbing a companion and forcibly mindwiping her while she pleads with him to stop, and RTD milking it for fucking tragedy instead of sheer horror--having the gall to add it to Ten's outsize load of man!pain and try to get us to empathize while he feels sorry for himself--makes that scene almost unwatchable for me. It's just a bridge too far. I can't find it in me to believe that any Doctor, even Ten, would do that--perhaps especially Ten, after Midnight
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In the new series telepathy is almost a G-rated stand-in for sex.
For the most part, this is absolutely true. But on the other hand, does that mean Eleven's had metaphoric sex with Craig? XD
But yeah, on a more serious note, what happened to Donna is so damned uncomfortable to watch because it's such a violation, but is it actually out of character? Maybe you're right and it's that step too far, but the Doctor (Ten in particular) does have a long history of doing what he thinks is best regardless of how it impacts others. He loves humans, but I don't think there's any doubt that he thinks himself superior to them in a lot of ways, and sometimes that seems to make him think he has the ability to make choices for them even when he knows it goes against their express wishes.
Yes! Eleven/Craig: Plausibly Deniable Gay Duo. It r facts. (Also Doctor/Master: Much-Less-Plausibly-Deniable Gay Duo, because RTD just couldn't resist Hawt Tiemlord Brainsexings onscreen.)
I don't think that type of behavior is OOC for Ten, necessarily, more that it's such a horrific thing to have him do that it needed to be better-justified in order to be at all believable. Yes, he is high-handed and really good at convincing himself he had no choice but to commit Abomination XYZ, but only when it's something he kinda wanted to do anyway, like blow the Sontarans to kingdom come. But it's Donna. He cares about her and presumably doesn't want to do this, and yet, given that he's a resourceful bastard and even my puny human brain can come up with at least 3 ways in 20 seconds he could've saved her or at least stalled for time, the fact that he doesn't even try anything else is monstrously OOC.
Each time I feel like saying that the Doctor is OOC, I get a glimpse of the Classic Doctor: Yeah Ten was a major jerk to Martha, and when it comes to the images of POC, the entire series wavers between teeth on edge condescending and epic fails. However there is the infamous portrayal of Asians in the classic series, and Six strangled Peri, in a scene that still makes feminist cry out WTF. A violent Doctor is no surprise- not with wrestling sword fighting Three and Pretty Boy Five’s savagetry as he repeatedly shoots the Cyberman in the belly after Adric is killed. Eleven’s attack of the Dalek--which made perfect sense to me as the Dalek was an obvious Trojan horse-appears fairly mild. Ten’s angst for a perfectly healthy and safe Rose became a bit of an irritant, but I did not consider it OCC for Ten. His dependence and attachment to Rose was a principal part of who the Tenth Doctor was. His shabby treatment of Martha was an extension of his personality: he had become self-involved, insensitive, self-righteous, fickle, and
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One instance where that fails is in The Doctor's Daughter, when Donna is rather cavalier toward the Doctor's sudden unwanted parenthood. She treats it like a joke, as if he's had some past indiscretion come back to bite him, when actually he was violated and his right to reproductive choice callously superseded. (In fact, the missed opportunity to explore that issue is my main beef with that episode, but I digress.) Her normal compassion finally kicks in only when he tells her he's had children before and lost them. That whole thing struck a sour note with me.
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For the most part, this is absolutely true. But on the other hand, does that mean Eleven's had metaphoric sex with Craig? XD
But yeah, on a more serious note, what happened to Donna is so damned uncomfortable to watch because it's such a violation, but is it actually out of character? Maybe you're right and it's that step too far, but the Doctor (Ten in particular) does have a long history of doing what he thinks is best regardless of how it impacts others. He loves humans, but I don't think there's any doubt that he thinks himself superior to them in a lot of ways, and sometimes that seems to make him think he has the ability to make choices for them even when he knows it goes against their express wishes.
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I don't think that type of behavior is OOC for Ten, necessarily, more that it's such a horrific thing to have him do that it needed to be better-justified in order to be at all believable. Yes, he is high-handed and really good at convincing himself he had no choice but to commit Abomination XYZ, but only when it's something he kinda wanted to do anyway, like blow the Sontarans to kingdom come. But it's Donna. He cares about her and presumably doesn't want to do this, and yet, given that he's a resourceful bastard and even my puny human brain can come up with at least 3 ways in 20 seconds he could've saved her or at least stalled for time, the fact that he doesn't even try anything else is monstrously OOC.
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Ten’s angst for a perfectly healthy and safe Rose became a bit of an irritant, but I did not consider it OCC for Ten. His dependence and attachment to Rose was a principal part of who the Tenth Doctor was. His shabby treatment of Martha was an extension of his personality: he had become self-involved, insensitive, self-righteous, fickle, and ( ... )
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