"I'm not the man I was. Thank Goodness."

[Count Zero]

So says the Fifth Doctor at the end of The Five Doctors after he's said goodbye to his predecessors.

And, weirdly enough, I felt for him. Even though my favourite Classic Doctor is Jon Pertwee it was rather apparent how old-fashioned the first three Doctors were, especially One and Three. There seems to be a tangible gap in modernity between them and Five. Whereas the Fifth Doctor wouldn't be out of place on the new show, the First and Third are very much products of their time, so to speak.

However, I wonder how that sentence was received by the fans? As sacrilege? As something the new goody-two-shoes-Doctor didn't have any right to say?

On that matter, I'm also curious how the Fifth Doctor was seen at the time.

 

[diankra]

I don;t recall anyone commenting on it particularly at the time, certainly I just read it as the Fifth Doctor's low-key version of the way that in Three Doctors the Third Doctor seems horrified to be reminded what he used to be like in his last incarnation, the second isn't that keen on the idea of becoming Three, and Hartnell is less than impressed by either of them (and back in Brain of Morbius, Tom's Doctor comments "I used to have a grey one [head]. Some people liked it."). The current Doctor always reckons his current incarnation is the best he's had...

 

[Candlelight]

It's like the old saying "you can pick your neighbours but you can't pick your family".

I'd imagine each subsequent incarnation views his past selves as some embarrassing uncle or brother.

 

[sidious618]

I wasn't alive at the time it aired, but seeing it now I like the line and the fifth Doctor is my favorite. Found him to be a very tragic figure, much like my second favorite, the ninth.

 

[Count Zero]

I suppose the way you all have understood the Fifth Doctor's line is the way it was intended. I also read a comment by the then current show runners on the past into it.

Found him to be a very tragic figure, much like my second favorite, the ninth.

Interesting. I have yet to see his final season but so far he doesn't seem to be a tragic figure. I'm curious to hear why you think that (preferably without spoilers).

 

[Mr Awe]

I saw The Five Doctors when it originally aired in the States, for once before the UK!

There really was no flap over that line. For one thing, it was meant as humor. But, also Pertwee and Troughton were picking up with their bickering where they had left off in the Three Doctors. The Fifth was far enough removed from it that it must've seemed like ancient history. Really no different then the ribbing the Doctors gave each other in Day of the Doctor.

Mr Awe

 

[Sindatur]

I suppose the way you all have understood the Fifth Doctor's line is the way it was intended. I also read a comment by the then current show runners on the past into it.

Found him to be a very tragic figure, much like my second favorite, the ninth.

Interesting. I have yet to see his final season but so far he doesn't seem to be a tragic figure. I'm curious to hear why you think that (preferably without spoilers).

I've never been able to put my finger quuite on it, and first time I saw his episodes, I didn't see it, he just seemed young and fun. But, having seen them all several times now, there's something underlying in his performance, that shows that Tragedy (And of course, there's the events from the last few Tom Baker Serials still weighing on him, as well as the events of Earthshock, which came fairly early during his run.)Maybe it's the fact that his performance comes off much more mature than many of his previous incarnations?

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

I see regeneration as a parable for change. I'm in my late thirties now, and honestly - were I to have met my 30 year-old, 25 year-old and 18 year-old selves, I'd have said the same thing... Right before punching one in the face and telling all of them to lay off the Chef Boyardee.

Mark

 

[Captaindemotion]

I always just saw it as being in the tradition of Two and Three squabbling in The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors, as well as One lamenting his successors as 'a clown and a dandy.' The tradition has carried on with Ten and Eleven squabbling in Day of the Doctor or Eleven referring to his predecessor's 'vanity issues.'

 

[sidious618]

Found him to be a very tragic figure, much like my second favorite, the ninth.

Interesting. I have yet to see his final season but so far he doesn't seem to be a tragic figure. I'm curious to hear why you think that (preferably without spoilers).

He sees the most violence and seems to be the Doctor that is most personally hurt by seeing such violence. More than any of the other Doctors, the fifth Doctor feels every death and even his victories tend to be hollow. Curious to hear what you think when you finish his final season.