Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor
Dec. 27th, 2010 07:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellefliesI've just finished my rewatch of the Ninth Doctor episodes! And so my marathon continues...
The Ninth Doctor was my first Doctor. I really wasn't aware of the show until![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ignited forced it on me. I think I watched the first two episodes and liked them but wasn't really compelled by them. My response was mostly 'Meh'. I ended up puting the show aside and walking away. ignited wasn't having any of that and finally got me into the show by sitting me down and marathoning all of the Ninth Doctor with me. Well, Series 1 and The Christmas Invasion. New Earth hadn't aired yet. regala_electra who was supposed to be engaged in a different marathon at my place with my roommate, ended up in my room watching it with us.
SO MY OBSESSION WAS BORN.
I have to admit that even though I loved Nine and flailed like crazy at the end of The Parting of the Ways (that ending still gets to me - every time!), it wasn't until Ten appeared that I REALLY became hooked. Hooked to the point that my love of the show transcended Ten and I embarked on a marathon of all the Doctors. One can't really know a character unless they've seen all the episodes. Or so my twisted logic goes. I adore the Doctor. I absolutely love that man and while I may not be madly in love (or even particularly like) some of his incarnations. I still love him.
I knew my perspective on New Who was going to change based on watching all of Classic Who but I was still surprised when I found myself reacting differently to Series 1 than I had the first time I watched it.
I really have to give RTD credit because there are two way to get into New Who. There's the way I originally got into it where I knew nothing of this Doctor fellow and I experienced everything through Rose's eyes. I was just as lost and confused as she was and the way they introduced the Doctor and the TARDIS and the world he lives in was an introduction that took place through Rose. It's part of the reason I love her so much. She was the first one to introduce this world to me - I discovered it as she discovered it
The second way of getting into the show is through the Doctor himself. If you've watched the Classic Series, if you know who this fellow is and what he does and what he represents than you're more likely going to be approaching the show from his point of view. The Doctor isn't as much of a mystery if you're familiar with the Classic Series, it's more like getting to know an old friend again after a long separation.
The Doctor's point of view, his perspective on things was how I watched the show after watching Classic Who. I'd just spent a year and a half with eight incarnations of this one character. I felt like I knew him to an extent. Companions had come and gone and even the physical likeness of the Doctor had changed but he himself remained. I could see the Doctor in Nine and it was exciting to see how he was the same person as the First Doctor and all that came after him - he may have been a bit more broken and a bit more hurt but he was still the Doctor.
Surprisingly enough I found myself becoming annoyed with Rose. I was prepared for this shift in focus and I was surprised when I realized I was a bit irritated with her at times. The first time I watched Series 1 and subsequent times after that (but before Classic Who) I'd never been annoyed at Rose. This was quite the first. I'd forgotten how young she was in Series 1 and how very unpolished - or maybe a better phrase might be universally insular. In my head, I was so used to Journey's End Rose - who was knowledgeable and competent (I blame fanfiction for this, not Classic Who). Not to say that Series 1 Rose isn't competent and knowledgable, she very much is, but in a completely different way. I kept getting irritated because it was like I felt she should know and accept things that someone in her situation never would, simply because I knew who the Doctor was and what he did and trusted the character when Rose had very little reason to do so.
My irritation didn't fade until after Father's Day - after the mess that was that adventure I think Rose wised up a bit, she certainly learned a lot over the course of Series 1. That was also the peak of my irritation. When the Doctor was standing in her flat looking thunderous, I felt it right along with him and I was annoyed that she just didn't get it!
I loved Classic Who, but I really love how New Who approaches things - they allow their characters to be fallible more than Classic Who ever did. Oh, there were screw-ups aplenty but I don't think Classic Who embraced them like New Who does, and that's part of what makes it interesting - that the characters are allowed to grow. The companions especially are allowed to grow and to be more than just an insert in the Doctor's life. When New Who companions enter the TARDIS they bring their past with them in ways I don't think Classic Who companions ever really did and by bringing their pasts with them, the Doctor gets an added element in his life he's not prepared to deal with (Watching the Doctor and Jackie interact, for example, is always hysterical.)
I'm really looking forward to Ten's run. He's MY Doctor in so many ways and there will be about seventeen episodes from his tenure that I've never seen (I know, I know, my watching habits are strange to say the least) so even though I'll be revisiting old favorites, I'll hopefully be making new friends.
Allons-y!
The Ninth Doctor was my first Doctor. I really wasn't aware of the show until
ignited forced it on me. I think I watched the first two episodes and liked them but wasn't really compelled by them. My response was mostly 'Meh'. I ended up puting the show aside and walking away. ignited wasn't having any of that and finally got me into the show by sitting me down and marathoning all of the Ninth Doctor with me. Well, Series 1 and The Christmas Invasion. New Earth hadn't aired yet. regala_electra who was supposed to be engaged in a different marathon at my place with my roommate, ended up in my room watching it with us. SO MY OBSESSION WAS BORN.
I have to admit that even though I loved Nine and flailed like crazy at the end of The Parting of the Ways (that ending still gets to me - every time!), it wasn't until Ten appeared that I REALLY became hooked. Hooked to the point that my love of the show transcended Ten and I embarked on a marathon of all the Doctors. One can't really know a character unless they've seen all the episodes. Or so my twisted logic goes. I adore the Doctor. I absolutely love that man and while I may not be madly in love (or even particularly like) some of his incarnations. I still love him.
I knew my perspective on New Who was going to change based on watching all of Classic Who but I was still surprised when I found myself reacting differently to Series 1 than I had the first time I watched it.
I really have to give RTD credit because there are two way to get into New Who. There's the way I originally got into it where I knew nothing of this Doctor fellow and I experienced everything through Rose's eyes. I was just as lost and confused as she was and the way they introduced the Doctor and the TARDIS and the world he lives in was an introduction that took place through Rose. It's part of the reason I love her so much. She was the first one to introduce this world to me - I discovered it as she discovered it
The second way of getting into the show is through the Doctor himself. If you've watched the Classic Series, if you know who this fellow is and what he does and what he represents than you're more likely going to be approaching the show from his point of view. The Doctor isn't as much of a mystery if you're familiar with the Classic Series, it's more like getting to know an old friend again after a long separation.
The Doctor's point of view, his perspective on things was how I watched the show after watching Classic Who. I'd just spent a year and a half with eight incarnations of this one character. I felt like I knew him to an extent. Companions had come and gone and even the physical likeness of the Doctor had changed but he himself remained. I could see the Doctor in Nine and it was exciting to see how he was the same person as the First Doctor and all that came after him - he may have been a bit more broken and a bit more hurt but he was still the Doctor.
Surprisingly enough I found myself becoming annoyed with Rose. I was prepared for this shift in focus and I was surprised when I realized I was a bit irritated with her at times. The first time I watched Series 1 and subsequent times after that (but before Classic Who) I'd never been annoyed at Rose. This was quite the first. I'd forgotten how young she was in Series 1 and how very unpolished - or maybe a better phrase might be universally insular. In my head, I was so used to Journey's End Rose - who was knowledgeable and competent (I blame fanfiction for this, not Classic Who). Not to say that Series 1 Rose isn't competent and knowledgable, she very much is, but in a completely different way. I kept getting irritated because it was like I felt she should know and accept things that someone in her situation never would, simply because I knew who the Doctor was and what he did and trusted the character when Rose had very little reason to do so.
My irritation didn't fade until after Father's Day - after the mess that was that adventure I think Rose wised up a bit, she certainly learned a lot over the course of Series 1. That was also the peak of my irritation. When the Doctor was standing in her flat looking thunderous, I felt it right along with him and I was annoyed that she just didn't get it!
I loved Classic Who, but I really love how New Who approaches things - they allow their characters to be fallible more than Classic Who ever did. Oh, there were screw-ups aplenty but I don't think Classic Who embraced them like New Who does, and that's part of what makes it interesting - that the characters are allowed to grow. The companions especially are allowed to grow and to be more than just an insert in the Doctor's life. When New Who companions enter the TARDIS they bring their past with them in ways I don't think Classic Who companions ever really did and by bringing their pasts with them, the Doctor gets an added element in his life he's not prepared to deal with (Watching the Doctor and Jackie interact, for example, is always hysterical.)
I'm really looking forward to Ten's run. He's MY Doctor in so many ways and there will be about seventeen episodes from his tenure that I've never seen (I know, I know, my watching habits are strange to say the least) so even though I'll be revisiting old favorites, I'll hopefully be making new friends.
Allons-y!
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no subject
Date: 2010-12-28 02:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-28 02:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-28 02:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-28 05:42 am (UTC)I do adore Nine. He'll always be my first (even though I have vague memories of seeing Four here and there on PBS) so I'll always be fond of him.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-28 05:05 am (UTC)btw, I've put in word to a few people asking when we learn the Doctor stole the TARDIS but no definitive answer yet.
And congratulations again for finishing the whole original series. That's quite a feat. My hat is off to you!
no subject
Date: 2010-12-28 05:41 am (UTC)I totally deserve merit badges for that accomplishment. It's too bad that regular people can't conceive of just how difficult it was.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-28 09:36 am (UTC)On a related note, I remember sort of being annoyed with how young Rose acted early on, especially in Father's Day, and that's before I re-watched S2 to death and read so much fic that sometimes I forget what actual canon is. =X
Also, I'm with you that while Nine is my first Doctor, Ten is hands-down MY Doctor. Seeing Ten in an ad in BBC America is what finally convinced me to start watching. I marathoned S1 just to get to him but was surprised at how much I did grow to adore Nine.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-29 08:58 am (UTC)