Hello and welcome to In Too Deep Into Doctor Who, where I over-analyse each of the Doctors to find out which is best.
The way this is going to run is very simple: I take ten categories and give each Doctor points 1 to 10 along the way. Now some of this may seem familiar since I will be repeating myself, but I plan to have this be a be all and end all look at my favourite fictional character. So join me each week as work out which of the Doctors in my absolute favourite.
The Character
If Nine is the Doctor I’m most like, Ten is the Doctor I most want to be. He’s such a cool character. He’s self-assured, confident, funny. He is great to watch on-screen and goes through a fantastic character arc. Some may find him insufferable, but to me his arrogance is somewhat justified. But he can show the joy in life just as much as the sadness. 10/10.
The Costume
Okay I admit it: This is my favourite costume for the Doctor. Okay so it’s rather bland. A pinstripe suit with sneakers and a long brown coat. It’s not that impressive. In fact there’s very little to it… and that’s why I love it so much. It’s geek chic. It’s simple because it doesn’t need to be complicated. And yet it still has something more to say. It makes the Doctor look bigger when he wears the coat, makes him seem so much older. It’s both casual and formal at the same time. Honestly it’s my favourite costume and would be my first choice to cosplay as. 10/10.
The Introduction
The Story: Yet another standard alien invasion story. Not that great, but it does gain points for having a clever use of Christmas as a way of being threatening. A cute, clever little idea that works perfectly in an otherwise mundane and forgettable story. 6/10.
The Doctor’s Introduction: Boy is this a hard one to rate. He spends three quarters of this asleep in a bed, but when he appears, boy does he appear. He went from a stranger to a Doctor that captured my heart. He was cool. Everything about him was just cool. He comes out, gives a fantastic little speech, and saves the world in his pyjamas. Very Arthur Dent. 7/10.
Overall: The idea of having a story that shows how screwed we are without the Doctor is neat… but it’s not why I watch Doctor Who. While the Tenth Doctor has many chances to shine, I ultimately find the story to be a bit of a bore. Not terrible, but not great either. 6/10.
Final Verdict: 19/30 aka 6.3/10
The Companions
Rose Tyler: Yeah all the goodwill Rose built up is lose in these next seasons. Gone is the interesting, interdependent character. Instead we’re left with a clingy girlfriend who literally whines while the universe is in danger. The love story between her and the Doctor gets unbearable here, and the entire show starts to revolve around her. Honestly a waste of a good companion. 3/10.
Mickey Smith: He becomes a badass solely because they couldn’t get John Barrowman back as Captain Jack, he’s still a great character. He evolves nicely from idiot to hero. He gets over Rose and ends up with Martha. Sure it’s corny, but considering where we started it’s a great evolution of the character. 6/10.
Donna Noble: When I first heard they were bringing back the shrilly Donna Noble, I was despairing. She was terrible in The Runaway Bride, such an annoying character. But I’ll be damned if she didn’t go become my favourite new series companion of 10’s run. She didn’t love the Doctor like the others, she did the right thing even being scared, she was just fantastic. 9/10.
Martha Jones: Sadly a character shafted most by the Rose story, she never really got to evolve on her own. She probably goes through the most when it comes to travelling with the Doctor, but still stays by his side. A great character, a very loyal companion. Gets put through more than she deserved. 7/10.
Jack Harkness: Still as awesome as ever. 10/10.
Wilfred Mott: I love Wilfred. I love him so much. I want to see a series where you have a young Doctor and an old companion. A reverse of the very early stuff. But Wilfred is just such a great character that you just want to hug him. His dedication to the Doctor gets me every time. 10/10.
Final Tally: 45/60 aka 7.5/10
Best Story
Honourable Mentions: School Reunion was great for nostalgic reasons, as well as being the first time the show verified that it was in the same continuity. The Waters of Mars was a fantastically creepy story, while both Blink and Human Nature/Family of Blood would be on this list if they just featured a bit more Doctor.
Story: The Girl in the Fireplace. Let us count the number of elements we have in this story. We have: clockwork robots, a spaceship in the far future, a famous French aristocrat, a horse, a fire extinguisher, a collection of holes in time and at its core a fantastic love story. This is the story of the Doctor falling in love and in forty-five minutes we go from happiness to pure heartbreak. It should feel cluttered and disorganized but somehow it all goes together quite nicely. 10/10.
Monster: The Clockwork Droids seem like an idea that the marketing team wants to catch on but sadly never will. They’re a great concept and look fantastic… but don’t really have much more beyond that their a good concept. Good, but hardly the most memorable thing about this episode. 7/10.
Nostalgia Factor: School Reunion was when I warmed to the Tenth Doctor. This episode (say it with me now) is when I feel in love with him as a character. That brash cockiness was everything I wanted to be. He was a great hero, running around and saving the day. I always look back at this performance as being one of Tennant’s best, back when he was in his prime. And it’ll always stick with me about how good he is. 9/10.
Best Moment: There are many to choose from, but the bit that will always get me is near the beginning. The Doctor realises the clock is broken but the ticketing is there. Which is great. And then he looks under the bed… It’s been a long time since a Doctor Who episode made me jump, but that is what made me do it. Add to that the Doctor’s bravery and cleverness (along with his badass boast) and it’s easily the best moment in the episode. 8/10.
Ranking: If I had only twelve episodes of Doctor Who to watch, and I had to rank those twelve from best to worse, this would be number four, giving a score of 7/10.
Final Verdict: 41/50 aka 8.2/10
Worst Story
The Tenth Doctor – Fear Her (dishonourable mentions: Love and Monsters, Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks, The Doctor’s Daughter).
Dishonourable Mentions: Love and Monsters is a good idea that didn’t work, Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks is a good idea that didn’t work and The Doctor’s Daughter is a good idea that didn’t work. But there was one episode that wasn’t a good idea nor did it work.
Story: Fear Her features a girl who has the power to trap things within the world of crayon and paper. She has a monster in her head that allows this to happen. But fortunately the day is saved thanks to the power of love… Yeah this episode is terrible. Simple terrible. 0/10.
Monster: The Isolus was a cute little idea… but the girl playing the bad guy just cannot act to save her life. At all. And it’s not an even particularly scary villain. It just turns people into drawings and… No, wait, hang on a moment. If she was drawing a picture of the Earth on Earth, where the hell was it gonna go? Yet another thing that makes no sense. 0/10.
Guilty Pleasure Factor: I could give a point to the scribble monster and the Doctor’s callback to Susan in a small way… but I’m not gonna because this episode is just complete and utter garbage. 0/10.
Worst Moment: While all forty-five minutes are bad, this one gets extra points because Stephen Fry was gonna write a script at one point, and this was the one replaced it at the last moment. And yeah, it shows. 0/10.
Ranking: Ranking these twelve episodes from favourite to less favourite, this one comes in at number eleven, giving it a score of 0/10 and making it the worse episode of Doctor Who of all time.
Final Verdict: 0/50 aka 0/10.
Best Speech/Moment (Television only)
Believe it or not, this Doctor didn’t really go in the way of big speeches. Or at least none that really stick out in the mind as being particularly memorable. He had good confrontations, yes, but not many good speeches. I think, however, at a push I could come up with one good speech. Even though he doesn’t actually say that much at all:
- “WILF: Oh. I’ve always dreamt of a view like that. Hee, hee. I’m an astronaut. It’s dawn over England, look. Brand new day. My wife’s buried down there. I might never visit her again now. Do you think he changed them, in their graves?
DOCTOR: I’m sorry.
WILF: No, not your fault.
DOCTOR: Isn’t it?
WILF: Oh, 1948, I was over there. End of the Mandate in Palestine. Private Mott. Skinny little idiot, I was. Stood on this rooftop, in the middle of a skirmish. It was like a blizzard, all them bullets in the air. The world gone mad. Yeah, you don’t want to listen to an old man’s tales, do you?
DOCTOR: I’m older than you.
WILF: Get away.
DOCTOR: I’m nine hundred and six.
WILF: What, really, though?
DOCTOR: Yeah.
WILF: Nine hundred years. We must look like insects to you.
DOCTOR: I think you look like giants.
WILF: Listen, I, I want you to have this. I’ve kept it all this time, and I thought
(Wilf offers his revolver to the Doctor.)
DOCTOR: No.
WILF: No, but if you take it, you could
DOCTOR: No. You had that gun in the mansion. You could have shot the Master there and then.
WILF: Too scared, I suppose.
DOCTOR: I’d be proud.
WILF: Of what?
DOCTOR: If you were my dad.
WILF: Oh, come on, don’t start. But you said, you were told he will knock four times and then you die. Well, that’s him, isn’t it? The Master. That noise in his head? The Master is going to kill you.
DOCTOR: Yeah.
WILF: Then kill him first.
DOCTOR: And that’s how the Master started. It’s not like I’m an innocent. I’ve taken lives. I got worse. I got clever. Manipulated people into taking their own. Sometimes I think a Time Lord lives too long. I can’t. I just can’t. - WILF: If the Master dies, what happens to all the people?
DOCTOR: I don’t know.
WILF: Doctor, what happens?
DOCTOR: The template snaps.
WILF: What, they go back to being human? They’re alive, and human. Then don’t you dare, sir. Don’t you dare put him before them. Now you take this. That’s an order, Doctor. Take the gun. You take the gun and save your life. And please don’t die. You’re the most wonderful man and I don’t want you to die.
DOCTOR: Never.†- Why this moment above all else? Well because it represents the moment when Ten finally realises that he has to stop being a cocky little know-it-all and finally grow up. Many people had many criticisms about this Doctor, not all of them entirely invalid. But I think this is where the Doctor finally addresses them and takes responsibility. It’s a good moment… but not really a good speech. 6/10.
Expanded Universe
Onto a character adored by the expanded universe, the Tenth Doctor has had a refreshing range of stories devoted to him. Most of which fit into his character really well and highlight the good parts of him. Oh sure, the stories can become a bit repetitive in their nature (Doctor and companion land, are split up, come together and save the day) but the same can be said for the TV series. The good writers know how to make this character work and keep him interesting to read about. Likewise any audio stories set in his time also work as well. They’re good and serviceable. Not going to blow you away, but enough to satisfy. 6/10.
Regeneration
The Story: Let it never be said that Russell T Davies doesn’t know how to make a good cliffhanger. Not only do we have everyone on Earth turning into The Master, we have the surprise return of the Time Lords. Sheer brilliance as it keeps building on top of each other as things heat up. Sure at times it doesn’t work, but it’s still great fun to watch. 7/10.
The Final Moments: Okay this is split into two. The Doctor visiting all his old companions? Loved it, think it was a great tribute to Russell T Davies’ run, they totally earned it. The Doctor’s final words… Eh. Not terrible, not great either. It’s clear Tennant is saying them, not the Doctor. 5/10.
Overall: The concept that the Doctor’s time is nearly up went on throughout the entire year and gets brought to a head here. The Doctor knows that this is probably the end and angrily confronts Wilfred when he realises it’s unavoidable… but saves Wilfred anyway. It brings a tear to my eye to see the Doctor sacrifice himself to save just one man, one silly old man, cos that’s who he is. While the idea that regeneration equates to death is a bit melodramatic (though it makes sense when he thought it was going to be his last) it still works well. 9/10.
Final Verdict: 21/30 aka 7/10
Overall
The Tenth Doctor is perhaps the Fourth Doctor of our generation, since he became the man that defined who Doctor Who was. It was during this time it became one of the biggest shows on TV, and for good reason. A lot of this show works during this time, being something that helped keep it going. 9/10.
Final Verdict: 70/100
So there you have it. My look at this Doctor. If you disagree with anything, or have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment. Tune in next week for my take on the next Doctor on the list. Till next time.
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