I've Monopolized Mkae's Blog Enough

I figured it was about time that I wrote my own damn Doctor Who season finale blog entry, seeing as I've damn near taken over the comments area on poor Mkae's post. I kept thinking that I didn't really have anything new to add to this discussion, or that it really isn't that important in the great scheme of things. However, I can't get it out of my head, so I suppose this is my attempt to purge it so I can go back to, you know, devoting my full energy to raising the offspring and whatnot.

That being said... As you may have guessed, big fat, honking spoilers after this point for the season one finale. I may even talk a little about the half-hour or so of S2 David Tennant that I've seen courtesy of some bootlegged stuff on YouTube. You have been warned...and 3...2...1...

So, my choice of picture is symbolic. CE couldn't skate away from Doctor Who fast enough, could he?

I realize that sounds bitter on my part when I see it typed out like that without the benefit of vocal inflection, but I really don't mean it to sound that way. I honestly understand why you would leave after one season if you wanted to ever be taken seriously in another role ever again. The Doctor is iconic (which is odd, considering how much he changes in different incarnations) and it would be difficult to reach escape velocity if one were to stay in the role too long. I completely get it. Not everyone is Patrick Stewart or Ian McKellan, who seem to be able to catch on in at least one role other than the big "franchise" roles they came to be associated with.

I also really feel I'll miss that actor in the role, even more than I missed Tom Baker after Doctor 5 showed up. I suppose my disappointment that CE's run was only one season long is a compliment. I really liked his work and his chemistry with other characters, Rose especially. While I realize that people I respect have said that David Tennant is doing a bang-up job as Doctor 10, I find myself wishing that wasn't the case, so I would have an excellent excuse to stop watching the show and let it all end for me along with Doctor 9.

A side note on Christopher Eccleston, before I consider the cessation of the beating of this deceased horse. After reading his entry on Wikipedia (yes, I told you, I was pretty bummed out that he left the show, and I went looking for answers—this includes a drive-by at Wikipedia) I conclude that I could walk past him on the street and never realize it was him. He looks different in every single picture! At first I thought it was the close-cropped haircut showing off the ears that made the Doctor look different from his previous roles, but there's another picture of him in a buzz further down the wiki entry and he looks different there as well. That's actors for you, eh?

Another random factoid I read while trying to purge all this from my brain is a rumor that the part of the ninth Doctor was offered at one point to Bill Nighy. I have such mixed feelings about that. I do like Bill Nighy and I can't begin to imagine the Doctor he would make, but I wouldn't trade the CE season to see it. I did think it was interesting, though, and I thought those of you who also like Love, Actually might like to hear what we almost had, casting-wise.

Maybe this is all guilt from when I was sitting in my brother-in-law's basement/rumpus room watching Rose and I thought to myself, "Oh, come on. Tell me that goofy-looking fucker is the Doctor." I got over that quickly, before the end of the episode, in fact, and now I can truly say that I thought he was...fantastic.

(Okay, mind. Can we move on now?)

(Yeah, right. You know you can't let the 'ship go.)

(sigh)