I think I hate the Doctor

[RoJoHen]

I am a little behind on my nuWho, but I finally managed to start watching the back half of Season 6. I just finished "The Girl Who Waited," which might just be one of the most depressing stories I've ever seen, and I think I am starting to hate the Doctor. When he shut the door on Old Amy after promising to rescue her, I could not believe what I was watching. "The Doctor lies" is becoming the motto of the show, and I am really beginning to dislike him.

And honestly, I think that it's absolutely fantastic. How often do you have a show where the protagonist behaves in such a way? He is wild and crazy and loves having his fun adventures, but there are moments like in this episode that pull you back down to reality and remind you just how detached and alien this character can be.

Also, Amy and Rory are fast approaching John and Aeryn from Farscape as my favorite TV couple of all time.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Going back further to the classic era, the Seventh Doctor actually made me think the Doctor hadn't always been on the side of the angels. He actually put the "who?" back in Doctor Who, IMO, as we learned the Doctor has many secrets and many plans, some of which are decades--if not centuries--old.

The Tenth Doctor's handling of the Family was a little wake-up call that the Doctor can be vicious at times when pushed too far. "The Wrath of the Time Lord," indeed...

 

[RoJoHen]

Had a little marathon and finished up the season. I think Moffat needs to work on his season finales. Both "The Big Bang" and "The Wedding of River Song" were giant clusterfucks of nonsense. Not everything needs to result in the end of the universe.

Anywho, after my original post, I thought it was kind of funny that the next couple episodes were about the Doctor saying goodbye to Amy and Rory because of how much harm he causes.

 

[Skywalker]

While I found Season Six kind of uneven overall, I agree with you about the Doctor and I love how dark he gets at time. What's even better about it is it comes off as being completely natural, despite the fact that the rest of the time he's this fun, goofy, absent-minded nut.

Oh, and Rory's awesome.

Amy's not bad either.

 

[RoJoHen]

The more I see, the more I wonder just how far away from himself the Doctor has run. The dark moments seem to be his true character, while all the goofy antics almost feel like overcompensation for the monster that he knows himself to be. I'm quite curious to see how Season 7 tackles this. "Doctor Who?" indeed.


I was also surprised at how little actually got wrapped up in Season 6. Other than learning River's identity in "A Good Man Goes to War," we really didn't learn much about the Silence or what caused the TARDIS to explode in Season 5 (I hope that plot point doesn't just get dropped).

 

[Kelthaz]

I haven't been enjoying the show since Moffat took over, but even I'll admit that the Doctor's character is perfect. Matt Smith manages to portray the Doctor as both childlike/ancient and goofy/dangerous. It's wonderful to see him switch back and forth between those extremes while remaining perfectly believable.

 

[Sci]

I've always been fascinated by the way the Doctor can become a very craven, very cowardly, or very cruel man. He's all over the map in "Dalek," for instance -- trying to run and hide the instant he realizes there's a Dalek in the room, then deciding it would be fun to torture it once he realizes it can't hurt him. In "The Christmas Invasion," he has no qualms about deposing the legitimately elected Prime Minister of Great Britain whom he'd previously claimed would lead the United Kingdom into a golden age; he runs away, selfish, ignoring all the cries around him like a coward in "The Fires of Pompeii," and is damn near ready to do the same to the entire crew of Bowie Base One in "The Waters of Mars" before he really loses it. He gets numerous people killed in "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood" before he finally decides to essentially torture the Family for all eternity. And, of course, he's willing to turn his back on Older Amy in the name of saving Current Amy.

He's a good man with a strong moral compass... most of the time. But like all of us, he can be deeply amoral when the conditions are right.

 

[RoJoHen]

and is damn near ready to do the same to the entire crew of Bowie Base One in "The Waters of Mars" before he really loses it.

What I find most interesting about this one is that he realized that he had gone too far. As soon as the Ood appeared to him at the end of that story, he broke down and then ran away. The Doctor is always running away from himself. I guess he never learned his lesson.

 

[Sci]

and is damn near ready to do the same to the entire crew of Bowie Base One in "The Waters of Mars" before he really loses it.

What I find most interesting about this one is that he realized that he had gone too far. As soon as the Ood appeared to him at the end of that story, he broke down and then ran away. The Doctor is always running away from himself. I guess he never learned his lesson.

Well, he says it himself in "The Sound of Drums:" He was one of the ones who ran away, and he's never stopped running.

 

[Whofan]

I think each incarnation of the Doctor has had his 'dark' moments-going back to the first story in 1963.

 

[Cutter John]

Folks forget that despite his heroic tendencies, hes still a Gallifreyan, a race known for their arrogance and at times deviousness. He plays by his own rules.

 

[David cgc]

I've been finding myself especially unsympathetic towards the Tenth Doctor, recently. I look back, and he's really a dick, going all the way back to "The Christmas Invasion" where he killed the alien captain after he went back on his oath (on the life of his people) without blinking an eye, and then deposed Harriet Jones, essentially just for showing him up and not letting him be the swingingest dick around. Sure "They were leaving." Ten minutes earlier, their captain had surrendered, and we saw how that turned out. I doubt the Doctor would've been so forgiving of them if they'd killed Rose or Mickey to prove a point rather than one of Harriet's people.

And then you compare the beginning of "The Impossible Planet" to the end of "The God Complex" and it's downright embarrassing.

 

[Iamnotspock]

I think each incarnation of the Doctor has had his 'dark' moments-going back to the first story in 1963.

Indeed. Possibly the "darkest" thing he's ever done is come close to bashing a wounded caveman over the head with a rock to speed up his return to the TARDIS.

 

[TedShatner10]

he runs away, selfish, ignoring all the cries around him like a coward in "The Fires of Pompeii,"

He saved one family, but he didn't have the time or means to get everyone else out, plus the people of Pompeii were going to get fucked by the Pyroviles anyway (from what I can vaguely remember).

He gets numerous people killed in "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood" before he finally decides to essentially torture the Family for all eternity.

When the Family showed up, raising hell, the Doctor was slow to turn back because his disguise was too total, too perfect in mind and body (in that he was a human and not a Time Lord, pretty much an entirely different person).

And, of course, he's willing to turn his back on Older Amy in the name of saving Current Amy.

A pragmatist telling lies and sacrificing one person to preserve the entire space-time continiuum (which on two occasions now have been torn apart by crucial events changing, with detrimental consequences).

 

[Dick_Valentine]

I don't like the darker edge to the Doctor.

For me The Doctor is always the comedy hero, he'll make you laugh and he'll goof around but when the chips are down he's the one to count on to do the right thing and save yours and everyone else's lives if it comes down to it.

The hero with a dark side thing has been done countless times before in so many series, there's no need to retread that ground with the Doctor, particularly as its a series popular with young children.

For that anti-hero notion we've got River (and had Jack, and who knows might do again...), the Doctor himself should remain pure and a force for good.

Just imo.

 

[RoJoHen]

^Sounds pretty boring to me.

 

[Dick_Valentine]

^Sounds pretty boring to me.

It seems to work for 95% of the stories for over 45 years!

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

I don't like the darker edge to the Doctor.

For me The Doctor is always the comedy hero, he'll make you laugh and he'll goof around but when the chips are down he's the one to count on to do the right thing and save yours and everyone else's lives if it comes down to it.

The hero with a dark side thing has been done countless times before in so many series, there's no need to retread that ground with the Doctor, particularly as its a series popular with young children.

For that anti-hero notion we've got River (and had Jack, and who knows might do again...), the Doctor himself should remain pure and a force for good.

Just imo.

River and Jack aren't really nearly as interesting as The Doctor. Because we, the audience, has got them basically figured out.

As for morality... let's try not applying our human moralities to an alien being like a bunch of stupid apes.

 

[Starkers]

he runs away, selfish, ignoring all the cries around him like a coward in "The Fires of Pompeii,"

He saved one family, but he didn't have the time or means to get everyone else out, plus the people of Pompeii were going to get fucked by the Pyroviles anyway (from what I can vaguely remember).

He gets numerous people killed in "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood" before he finally decides to essentially torture the Family for all eternity.

When the Family showed up, raising hell, the Doctor was slow to turn back because his disguise was too total, too perfect in mind and body (in that he was a human and not a Time Lord, pretty much an entirely different person).

And, of course, he's willing to turn his back on Older Amy in the name of saving Current Amy.

A pragmatist telling lies and sacrificing one person to preserve the entire space-time continiuum (which on two occasions now have been torn apart by crucial events changing, with detrimental consequences).

I think you're missing Sci's point about Human Nature/Family of Blood. The Doctor proved he could take the family out with relative ease, it was the fact that he didn't, and that instead went and hid in 1911 that caused them to show up and kill a whole heap of people. As Joan Redfern says "If you hadn't come here would those people have died?"

 

[David cgc]

That was something of a recurring element, with the Doctor being kinder to his enemies than his friends. He went out of his way to try to give the Family a natural death, and how he nearly gave his life to give the Sontarans a second chance he knew they wouldn't take, but look at how quickly he dumped Adam or Rose the first time they screwed up, or what he did to Harriet Jones.