I wonder if I could have instead picked something more interesting, such as the initial visit to the cottage?

In fact the finale might have been of more interest too…

But I’m old enough to remember watching Tom Baker merge with a harlequin in the most WTF in Who-history and turn in a nice fellow dressed in the most ridiculous outfit ever, well, until JNT unleashed the Sixth Doctor as Mr Jekyll in outfit rejected from The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It’s hard to have criticism of modern Who when one can remember watching JNT drive the whole thing into the ground with a whimper.

I have to say despite how the new series have won me over, it hasn’t been all good. All one has to do is watch the weekly wank-fest that was “Doctor Who Confidential” where RTD couldn’t stop talking about every script he wrote was BRILLIANT! could wear on a person. I wish I could unsee the moment Elton was insinuated to get a blowjob from a face embedded in a paving stone. I want the censor who let that one by sacked and fed to Monty Python’s mØØse.

As much as I came to like Tennant, I’m not sorry to see him go. It’s entirely reasonable that he would jump ship with Davies and his band of sycophants. As much cringe-worthy input he injected into the show, at least we owe him a debt for rescuing Who from the trashcan of history.

I was always wowed enough by Steven Moffat’s writing to be overjoyed with him taking over. If you watch tv long enough you know that while movies are a director’s medium, tv is a producers. All one has to look at the horrid JNT era of Who and the uneven era of RTD to know that’s never more true than with Who. I get the whining. After 2 Doctors looking hip, here comes a geeky looking guy in a bow tie and braces. To quote the Brigadier from so long ago when entered Tom Baker “Oh no, here we go again.”

I say relax, enjoy the ride. I can’t wait to see River Song show up again, nor the Weeping Angels and whatever else Moffat has in store. It’s not going to be the same; it never was and it never will be. I’m sure that there’ll be things I and others won’t like, but I bet it will better than ever before. Bog knows the bar hasn’t always been that high to begin with.

Allons-y!

As an old skool female Who fan, it didn’t even occur to me that you were using “fangirls” there in the derogatory (and, yes, misogynistic) sense of calling men who act weak or silly “girls.” I had assumed that you were genuinely referring to the (much larger now than it was back in The Proverbial Day) female sector of the fandom. Since I’d been seeing both men and women expressing resistance to Matt Smith’s incoming tenure as the Doctor in roughly equal proportion, I did find it rather annoying that you seemed to be identifying it as a primarily female response — not only because it seemed somewhat sexist, but also because I thought it *wildly* inaccurate. Your explanation, while hardly reassuring on the sexism front, at least makes the title make more sense!

One of the more interesting effects of the growth of the internet, in my opinion, has been its role as a catalyst in forcing people to realize just how problematic or parochial our language choices can sometimes be. It’s certainly happened to me. It’s good for us, really, if sometimes rather painful. Apology accepted.

what i don’t understand are the folks who don’t get that it’s possible to be upset over and mourning the departure of Tennant’s Dr. while also 1) still being a fan of DW and 2) looking forward to seeing what the new season will hold. Humans are complex; emotions aren’t always black and white.

And your article also makes it seem like fans have been weeping for years, which is really disingenuous. you state that it’s been over a year since Tennant’s departure was announced so get over it already. Um, there’s a big difference between Tennant announcing his departure and then actually seeing that very emotional departure fulfilled on screen, and that happened less than a month ago, even less from your article date.

look, i’ve been a fan of your site for a while, which was one reason why the article annoyed me, plus i can’t stand the “you’re not a true fan if ” arguments that tend to erupt in all sorts of fandoms but scifi in particular. But your current article title just makes the site seem as immature as the fangirls you’re railing against.

any actor who followed Tennant was going to have his work cut out for him. I’ve never seen an actor and a role so well-matched as Tennant and the Dr., and by your own admission he did a brilliant job and millions of people feel the same. it’s a simple fact that many many people will be mourning Tennant for some time…while also enjoying the new series. believe it or not it can be done. but telling people to “get over it”? that’s not helping one bit.

Matt Smith is entering during a difficult period in SF fandom (if not society in general) where it seems to many people’s behavior has only 2 settings: utter apathy and complete over-the-top psychosis. Back in 2005 you had people grumble about Tennant - and Daniel Craig - but they got over it fairly quickly and moved on. Now you have so-called fans shouting from the rooftops that they’ll never watch Doctor Who again, on the basis of 30 seconds of Matt Smith. It’s insane. Couple that with the fear and loathing about a possible US Torchwood, and much as I don’t want to think about it, Doctor Who could be entering its most danger period (in terms of survival) since Michael Grade put Colin Baker in the penalty box for 18 months back in 1985.