Doctor Who: Pure, Unadulterated Love
Nov. 1st, 2008 06:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
butterflyBecause I keep thinking of this show and... I have loved this show so much. So much. And... I mean, it's not over yet, of course. But Series Four had some fairly large game-changers in the end.
Five hours left in Doctor Who for RTD, David Tennant, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson, and then it all gets handed off to the new people. David Tennant wasn't my first Doctor (though Chris Eccleston was), but he is my Doctor, the one that well and truly stole my heart. He was the first Doctor that I watched in real-time -- I watched all of Series One in one great gulp, basically. Second series is when I started watching week-by-week.
Only five hours left and he'll be gone. And that's going to be weird. Watching Nine regenerate made me cry buckets and I wasn't as emotionally invested in him as I am Ten.
I hope that he gets as good an ending as Nine -- Nine got to end having completed his character arc, choosing not to be a killer but finding hope again in Rose.
Ten manages to combine everything that I've enjoyed in the previous Doctors (and I have, at this point, seen at least a little bit of every Doctor and every television companion, though I haven't ventured into the audios). He's charming and dangerous and just alien enough to make a person pay attention. He can be ruthless and manipulative or he can be tender and even hesitant.
And, of course, there's the love story. I'm a big fan of a good love story. The Doctor and Rose's story started with Nine, but Ten got the majority of the time with it -- he got the flirty honeymoon stage in S2, he got the aching painful separation in S3, and he got the joyous (and complicated) reunion in S4. It couldn't have been done without the set-up of Nine and Rose's relationship, but most of the pay-off came from Ten and Rose.
David's acting has always been stellar. Even in cases where the writing may have failed him, he delivered. And the character of the Doctor has gotten to experience so much over the course of the last four years -- he's gone through so many emotional highs and lows, and both of the actors who played the Doctor did such brilliant jobs with it.
Speaking of characters, I have so much love for Russell's. They leap off the page with vivacity and strength. He's had three incredibly strong female companions and yet they aren't the least bit interchangeable. All of them capable of powerful and impressive feats, but all different ones. And they each had a very individual relationship with the Doctor. Epic romance. A crush fading to friendship set against a grieving man attempting to find himself again. Pure platonic friendship. Three very different shades of affection.
So many amazing guest stars, as well. There's just been so much talent and so much heart involved in the revival of the show. I don't really want to let David go, let the tenth Doctor go.
But just as I respect Russell T Davies for telling his story and then leaving (as he did with QaF, as well), I respect David for leaving when he chooses. He has so much talent. He could do anything he wants, and he should.
So, favorite episodes is, I think, the game that I'm going to play right now:
My very favorite episode of S2 is the second half of TIP/TSS and my second favorite is "Doomsday" for the epic quality, but S2, for me, is something that I really appreciate more for its whole than for the individual episodes. I love how fun and healthy and lovely the Doctor and Rose relationship is throughout the series. I mean, it's all leading up to the heartbreak of "Doomsday", but that's also part of why it works so well in retrospect -- you need those sweet, sweet moments of connection in order to make the pain of DD as powerful as it needs to be to justify the grief of S3.
I remember watching S3 and constantly being surprised at how strongly the absence of Rose was felt (which was why I was delighted but not entirely shocked when I learned that she was returning in S4 -- story balance really did require it). It was in "Gridlock" that I realized that RTD was letting the Doctor grieve for Rose as fully and completely as the fans who had loved her were doing. And that's a gift that's rarely granted by a show -- too often on television, grief is rushed through so that the happier stuff can start up again. They didn't do that here. They let the Doctor grieve naturally.
My favorite story in that series was Paul Cornell's two-parter, which just hit every emotional beat perfectly and (just as his S1 story did with Rose) used Martha so well as a companion.
I can still recall the jolt that I felt when I saw Rose at the end of "Partners in Crime". We already knew that she would be coming back, but that was the moment that I knew she would be coming back right, in a way that would weigh enough to balance S3.
Series four was nearly perfect. Donna and the Doctor had such a biting and funny chemistry that easily slipped into more serious discussion. Russell hit it out of the park with his final four episodes, too -- "Midnight" was brilliant and holds the title of the only "Doctor Who" episode that has managed to scare me (joining Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "Hush" as one of only two episodes of television that have ever frightened me -- interesting enough, both involve stolen voices) and competes with "Turn Left" as my favorite episode of Doctor Who. Martha came back in the middle (and end) of the series and was fantastic -- I thought she provided just the right balance to "The Doctor's Daughter".
And, of course, there was the reunion between the Doctor and Rose.
Billie and David's chemistry is remarkable. Both of them are the kind of actors that have chemistry with tons and tons of people (as seen with Billie in Secret Diary of a Call Girl and by David in... too much stuff to count, really), and, together, they take it to another level. Series One was a brilliant realization of love for the Doctor and Rose, but series two through four really delve into the complicated issues of what happens after mutual attraction and caring has been acknowledged. When each person is willing to sacrifice everything for the other, what next?
Which is part of why I love "Journey's End" (though if Russell chooses to revisit things in any of the specials, I certainly wouldn't be upset!). The Doctor and Rose both get to simultaneous realize their dreams and sacrifice them. They get both the happy ending and the romantically tragic one. And that feels more real for the two of them than either ending alone. Because the Doctor remains the Doctor, however much he loves Rose. And Rose is still human. There is a gulf there, one that fate (or, possibly, Bad Wolf) reached over to give what happiness could be found.
I did wander off a bit, there, from the topic of 'favorite episodes'.
There may be quite a bit of rambling in my future, as I adjust.
I'm absolutely abrim with curiosity over what Russell is going to do with his last five episodes. Very much looking forward to the Christmas episode (and to S3 of Torchwood, for that matter). It's been crazy and mad in this fandom but, overall, despite some of the drama (oh, the drama)... to quote Rose (and Sarah Jane and Tosh) I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
I've a boatload of lovely people on my flist because of this show and... I got introduced to some fabulous acting talents that I'd never heard of before and that I plan to keep watching throughout their careers, and I saw "Hamlet" in Stratford, which is a bit more awesome than anything my other fandoms inspired me to do.
It's been a hell of a ride and it isn't over yet. Given that RTD has yet to disappoint me, I expect that I will thoroughly enjoy Russell and David's final five episodes.
Five hours left in Doctor Who for RTD, David Tennant, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson, and then it all gets handed off to the new people. David Tennant wasn't my first Doctor (though Chris Eccleston was), but he is my Doctor, the one that well and truly stole my heart. He was the first Doctor that I watched in real-time -- I watched all of Series One in one great gulp, basically. Second series is when I started watching week-by-week.
Only five hours left and he'll be gone. And that's going to be weird. Watching Nine regenerate made me cry buckets and I wasn't as emotionally invested in him as I am Ten.
I hope that he gets as good an ending as Nine -- Nine got to end having completed his character arc, choosing not to be a killer but finding hope again in Rose.
Ten manages to combine everything that I've enjoyed in the previous Doctors (and I have, at this point, seen at least a little bit of every Doctor and every television companion, though I haven't ventured into the audios). He's charming and dangerous and just alien enough to make a person pay attention. He can be ruthless and manipulative or he can be tender and even hesitant.
And, of course, there's the love story. I'm a big fan of a good love story. The Doctor and Rose's story started with Nine, but Ten got the majority of the time with it -- he got the flirty honeymoon stage in S2, he got the aching painful separation in S3, and he got the joyous (and complicated) reunion in S4. It couldn't have been done without the set-up of Nine and Rose's relationship, but most of the pay-off came from Ten and Rose.
David's acting has always been stellar. Even in cases where the writing may have failed him, he delivered. And the character of the Doctor has gotten to experience so much over the course of the last four years -- he's gone through so many emotional highs and lows, and both of the actors who played the Doctor did such brilliant jobs with it.
Speaking of characters, I have so much love for Russell's. They leap off the page with vivacity and strength. He's had three incredibly strong female companions and yet they aren't the least bit interchangeable. All of them capable of powerful and impressive feats, but all different ones. And they each had a very individual relationship with the Doctor. Epic romance. A crush fading to friendship set against a grieving man attempting to find himself again. Pure platonic friendship. Three very different shades of affection.
So many amazing guest stars, as well. There's just been so much talent and so much heart involved in the revival of the show. I don't really want to let David go, let the tenth Doctor go.
But just as I respect Russell T Davies for telling his story and then leaving (as he did with QaF, as well), I respect David for leaving when he chooses. He has so much talent. He could do anything he wants, and he should.
So, favorite episodes is, I think, the game that I'm going to play right now:
My very favorite episode of S2 is the second half of TIP/TSS and my second favorite is "Doomsday" for the epic quality, but S2, for me, is something that I really appreciate more for its whole than for the individual episodes. I love how fun and healthy and lovely the Doctor and Rose relationship is throughout the series. I mean, it's all leading up to the heartbreak of "Doomsday", but that's also part of why it works so well in retrospect -- you need those sweet, sweet moments of connection in order to make the pain of DD as powerful as it needs to be to justify the grief of S3.
I remember watching S3 and constantly being surprised at how strongly the absence of Rose was felt (which was why I was delighted but not entirely shocked when I learned that she was returning in S4 -- story balance really did require it). It was in "Gridlock" that I realized that RTD was letting the Doctor grieve for Rose as fully and completely as the fans who had loved her were doing. And that's a gift that's rarely granted by a show -- too often on television, grief is rushed through so that the happier stuff can start up again. They didn't do that here. They let the Doctor grieve naturally.
My favorite story in that series was Paul Cornell's two-parter, which just hit every emotional beat perfectly and (just as his S1 story did with Rose) used Martha so well as a companion.
I can still recall the jolt that I felt when I saw Rose at the end of "Partners in Crime". We already knew that she would be coming back, but that was the moment that I knew she would be coming back right, in a way that would weigh enough to balance S3.
Series four was nearly perfect. Donna and the Doctor had such a biting and funny chemistry that easily slipped into more serious discussion. Russell hit it out of the park with his final four episodes, too -- "Midnight" was brilliant and holds the title of the only "Doctor Who" episode that has managed to scare me (joining Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "Hush" as one of only two episodes of television that have ever frightened me -- interesting enough, both involve stolen voices) and competes with "Turn Left" as my favorite episode of Doctor Who. Martha came back in the middle (and end) of the series and was fantastic -- I thought she provided just the right balance to "The Doctor's Daughter".
And, of course, there was the reunion between the Doctor and Rose.
Billie and David's chemistry is remarkable. Both of them are the kind of actors that have chemistry with tons and tons of people (as seen with Billie in Secret Diary of a Call Girl and by David in... too much stuff to count, really), and, together, they take it to another level. Series One was a brilliant realization of love for the Doctor and Rose, but series two through four really delve into the complicated issues of what happens after mutual attraction and caring has been acknowledged. When each person is willing to sacrifice everything for the other, what next?
Which is part of why I love "Journey's End" (though if Russell chooses to revisit things in any of the specials, I certainly wouldn't be upset!). The Doctor and Rose both get to simultaneous realize their dreams and sacrifice them. They get both the happy ending and the romantically tragic one. And that feels more real for the two of them than either ending alone. Because the Doctor remains the Doctor, however much he loves Rose. And Rose is still human. There is a gulf there, one that fate (or, possibly, Bad Wolf) reached over to give what happiness could be found.
I did wander off a bit, there, from the topic of 'favorite episodes'.
There may be quite a bit of rambling in my future, as I adjust.
I'm absolutely abrim with curiosity over what Russell is going to do with his last five episodes. Very much looking forward to the Christmas episode (and to S3 of Torchwood, for that matter). It's been crazy and mad in this fandom but, overall, despite some of the drama (oh, the drama)... to quote Rose (and Sarah Jane and Tosh) I wouldn't have missed it for the world.
I've a boatload of lovely people on my flist because of this show and... I got introduced to some fabulous acting talents that I'd never heard of before and that I plan to keep watching throughout their careers, and I saw "Hamlet" in Stratford, which is a bit more awesome than anything my other fandoms inspired me to do.
It's been a hell of a ride and it isn't over yet. Given that RTD has yet to disappoint me, I expect that I will thoroughly enjoy Russell and David's final five episodes.