| 
The announcement of David Tennant's casting was in no way a surprise - I
can remember it being talked about quite confidently even before we knew Christopher
Eccleston was leaving. The clues were all there: he was a rapidly rising star, known to be
a Doctor Who fan, and crucially had just worked with Russell T Davies in
Casanova. The only question was:
how was he going to play the Doctor? The tenth Doctor is manic, energetic and cheeky. But
he's also a mass of contradictions. He seems to have got over the survivor
guilt of his previous self, and is far more proactive in the fight against evil. He's
still the compassionate Doctor of before, but with a more ruthless streak - he'll spare a
defeated enemy,
but he'll only give them one chance. He's pragmatic and accepts that
sacrifices might be necessary - but he also feels a deep, personal sense of responsibility
for any loss. He knows he can't save everyone but it cuts him up when he doesn't. The
flipside to this is a self-righteous arrogance - it's as if, knowing he's the last Time
Lord, he's taken
all of his people's powers and responsibilities onto himself. There's
also a great sense that the Doctor is having fun on his travels, finding excitement and
enjoyment in even the most dire situations - sometimes quite inappropriately - and also
seeing the beauty inherent in the universe, even in terrible things. It's
also interesting to see the Doctor sitting down to Christmas dinner with Rose and her
mother - especially as his predecessor so assiduously avoided domesticity - showing a
warmer and perhaps more human side.
|
