Sorta, kinda unpopular 'Doctor Who' opinions

[arabian]

For the most part. Just reading comments here and there over the last couple of months and finding myself thinking but I DO like that or I DON'T like that, and after writing up this quite, quite unpopular opinion re: Donna post, I was inspired to compile a list and am just now putting it up. Now, I know one is extremely unpopular, and one I found out after I wrote the list, edges more towards popular and my goodness, can I ramble? Anyhoo, the list in no particular order ...

- I actually quite like "Love & Monsters." I wouldn't put it in my top ten, and I know it's both Doctor and Rose-lite, but I still enjoy it. I like the story, I like Elton and I think that it's a fabulous little mini Jackie story. Plus, I love the few moments we do get with the Doctor and Rose.

- Here's the biggie: I don't really care about Jack. I do not understand for the life of me why he is SUCH a huge part of fandom, why an entire other show was built around him, etc. He's handsome, but nothing to write home about in my book; he a decent actor, but nothing to write home about. And I don't get the whole great, fabulous, amazing friendship between the Doctor, Rose and Jack. They traveled together for what really amounted to one episode: "Boomtown." And sure, they had travels in between, and were all buddy-buddy and rah!rah!rah! in said "Boomtown," but Mickey fit in pretty nicely with those three and yet I don't see OT4 fics with them. I just don't get it.

On that note, I pretty much despise the OT3 thing with Doctor/Rose/Jack. I just ... ick, it gives me the ickies. Just yuck. The Doctor belongs with Rose. Rose belongs with the Doctor. Jack can have a raging hard-on for either one all he wants, but for me, it's all on him, and Rose is into the Doctor, and the Doctor is into Rose and if Jack were to attempt to insert himself in the mix, they'd be as squicked as I am.

So, yeah, that one was the biggie, the major, 'that is SOOOOOOOOOOO unpopular.' Moving along.

- Due to forms of character assassination ranging from mild to OHMYGOD!GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY SHOW!!!!, I've found that I only love "Blink" by Moffat. I love some of the moments in "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances" and do adore the overall concept, but the episodes themselves rub me the wrong way in light of Rose's characterization and some of the Doctor stuff too. I think that "The Girl in the Fireplace" is a gorgeously written, conceived and acted episode ... but one that does not even REMOTELY fit character-arc wise in RTD's Who. The less said about "Silence of the Library/Forest of the Dead" the better, other than that the only thing I liked about it was the alternate Donna-verse, but everything else? Meh to Noooo. "Blink," though? I loved. (Like lots of others, I know.)

- I've said this before and I know I'm not the only one, but I'll still add it: I love Ten, but I do love Nine just that little bit more.

- On that note, I think that Eccleston has more chemistry with Billie Piper than does David Tennant. (And on the chemistry note, I don't see anything but BFF chemistry between Piper and Tennant in real-life ... at all, nothing hinting at some underpinning of longing, etc.)

- Donna is not just my favorite companion (I'm sorry, Rose, I do adore you, but Donna is just ... Donna), Donna is my favorite character EVER on Who -- yes, I love her more than the Doctor (Nine or Ten). In fact, Donna Noble may be one of my top five favorite characters ever in ANY fandom. EVER! I love her so much.

- My favorite kiss is the Nine/Rose kiss from "The Parting of the Ways." None other comes close.

- I may be lynched for this, but {ducks}, I don't like David Tennant's hair in series four. I just don't. It's too short, too spiky, just not as ... yeah, don't like. It's okay in series three, but do not want in series four. I ADORE it in series two. A-D-O-R-E it in series two. I almost like his hair, series two, as much as I like Donna. But series four? Yeah, just no.

-I don't care if they keep popping up after being exterminated once and for all: I don't think I'll ever get tired of the Daleks. E-V-E-R!

- "The Unquiet Dead" is one of my favorite episodes. In fact, I won't be surprised if when I'm done rewatching the whole series again that it's in the top five, if not top three. I really, really love it.

- I apologize in advance to Christopher Eccleston because for the first time in forever I'm actually acknowledging that even he can't overcome something. It's not his fault, but still ... even he couldn't overcome the cheese of the "You need a doctor" line from "The Parting of the Ways." I keep hoping it will get better each time I watch it and I'll grin and glory in the romantic cheesiness, but no. It's just always groan-inducing cheese. Sigh. Not even the amazing Christopher Eccleston can save it.

- [verysmallvoice]I like the blue suit.[/verysmallvoice] I ADORE the brown pin-striped suit, but yeah ... [verysmallvoice]I like the blue suit.[/verysmallvoice]

- I like John Simm, he's a great actor, very charismatic. Still, I way, way preferred Sir Derek Jacobi over him and really wished that Jacobi had just stayed as the Master. (I know! This one rivals the Jack/OT3 above for unpopularity.)

- Poorly-conceived/written character or not, I think the biggest problem with Martha is that compared to most other regular/recurring actors on this show, Freema Agyeman is just not that good. I like her, I think she's very personable and quite lovely. I simply don't think she's a strong enough actress to make Martha work as RTD likely envisioned her. I just find it difficult to believe that a man who is so amazingly wonderful at creating characters and writing such fabulous character arcs and motivations for them would mess up so with Martha Jones. Therefore, I think the fault in the character lies in Agyeman not able to deliver on RTD's vision. (Why do I feel guilty writing this? It's not like she'll ever read it. Sigh, I DO like her, I just ... well, you know.)

- I really, really loved Yvonne Hartman. I did.

So share your thoughts, your own opinions that might be a tad outside the norm. Will be fun to read. :D (I know some of my other Who icons are much more appropriate, but new Billie icon! Squee!! I had to use it.)

Comments

[blackcat-1.livejournal.com]

TOTALLY agree about the Jack thing.
I like the blue suit too (provided it's not worn with the brown overcoat).
I actually prefered DT's hair this series to any before and I also much prefer John Simm to Derek Jacobi. I liked his manic /unstable portrayal of the Master.
The Nine/Rose kiss is lovely, but I also love the DW Confidential TenToo/Rose kiss.
I love Donna too. Probably as much as Rose, but in a different way. Certainly not more.

[main-hoon-emily.livejournal.com]

Totally agree about Jack. And...well, pretty much everything else you said, really! I've been completely underwhelmed by Jack since the minute he stepped onscreen. I'm still holding out hope that someone, someday, is going to not be at all impressed or flattered when he hits on them...

My unpopular opinions. Don't kill me.

[mysticalchild_isis]

I like David Tennant, and think he does an excellent job as the Doctor, but Christopher Eccleston is a far better actor.

I really didn't like a lot of the writing in S2. The only episodes I thought were awesome were "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit". I really dislike the way Rose was often written sounding more like the Doctor's groupie than his partner. I far prefer good Ten/Rose fanfic to most of the actual episodes.

There are some really cute moments between the Doctor and Rose in "The Idiot's Lantern" and "Fear Her", but other than those moments, I can't stand those episodes.

I loved Donna in "The Runaway Bride", long before we ever saw her in S4.

And I second you on A) The OT3 thing just not working, B) The PotW kiss being the best one, C) Freema not being a great actor (she's pretty, but she just doesn't have emotional depth), and most of all D) Billie and Chris having the best chemistry.

To expand on the last point- they were practically electric together, and not always in comfortable ways. The fought and challenged each other, and in doing so, often felt more like equal partners than Ten and Rose ever did. Rose with Ten often reminded me of friends of mine who change for their boyfriends- those girls who act dumber or more helpless than they actually are in order to attract their man. The few times Rose was allowed to go off on her own in S2 almost always ended badly (e.g., she gets her face sucked off & needs saving).

And sometimes fanfic makes this even worse- I cannot stand all the stories in which Rose is some helpless little victim that just needs the Doctor to come in and save her. If you want to write fanfic like that, why not use some of the more helpless classic Who companions?

And those are my unpopular opinions, complete with rant. All this being said, I'm still of course a huge fan. I rant because I love.

[the-spin.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I adore "Love and Monsters." I thought it was fun and creative and utterly charming. I really love Jackie as a character, so I liked that outsider's peek at her life that we got. Plus, stories about people drawn together into unlikely friendships always appeal to me.

On Jack: I enjoyed him well enough during the first season and I loved when he showed up for 'Utopia' because that entire episode was gold, but I've never been super excited for him. And Torchwood bores the hell out of me.

On the subject of the Jack/Rose/Doctor OT3, I can take it or leave it. How much I buy a pairing usually has much more to do with how well a fic is written/sets the pairing up than the canonical basis of the relationship itself. Like rallalon has a fantastic post-'Parting of the Ways' Ten/Rose/Jack series, but that's really the only one that's sold me on it so far.


You know this already, but I really don't love Eccleston as the Doctor. It's funny, because I tend to like Nine in fic, and I like Eccleston a lot as an actor in other things, and I like when he's playing the Doctor in angry moments, or sad moments, but he just has these moments of this sort of dopey goofiness that grate on me and I for the life of me cannot figure out why. I wish I liked him more! Season 1 is so good but whenever he says something like "bananas are good!" I am filled with this totally mysterious irritation. Seriously, I don't even know why!!!

I agree that having more Jacobi as Master would have been AWESOME, but... I adore Simm in that part, and I think the way they did the reveal as the Master was sort of perfect. 'Utopia' is one of my favorite episodes because I think the writing/pacing is like SUPERB.

My unpopular opinion: Midnight fucking OWNED every single Moffat episode, all of which I liked a lot. But Midnight KILLED THEM WITH ITS AMAZING. I also think Human Nature/Family of Blood were better than the Moffat episodes.

Another sort-of unpopular opinion: I like it when the Doctor is unhappy. I mean, I like him happy too, but I adore the angst. I'm not at all upset that the brown-suit Doctor is left on his own. I mean, 'Doomsday' is one of my favorite episodes purely for the indescribable heartbreak of those last few scenes. SO GOOD.

[little-aphid.livejournal.com]

I... actually agree with most of this.

I like Love and Monsters, although that's almost entirely due to Jackie.

Word RE: Jack. I love the idea of his character (woo mainstream popular bisexual FTW) but I just don't really care. I don't mind the Doctor/Rose/Jack threesome, although it's never an OTP, and I'm okay with Nine/Jack (mostly because of the red-light conversation in Utopia) but I hate hate hate Ten/Jack.
There, I said it.

Also, yes, the Parting of the Ways kiss is tops, and my single favourite moment between the Doctor and Rose.

You are right about the hair. I think in season 4 they were putting way too much product in, and it just made it sort of stiff and boring. Best Tennant hair in my opinion is easily Sound of Drums.

Last night I watched Utopia just for Jacobi. I would've loved to see more of him as the Master - Simm was good, but he was just too much, and the literal crazy doesn't seem like a natural progression for the Master. The characterization choice should at least've been explained so I don't have to fanwank theories.

And, uh... no comment on the blue suit. Ok, I will admit that it falls rather nicely, but that's all. ;)

Oh, and obviously I'm with you on the Moffat thing. *lives in fear*

I just read your Donna post, btw, and I can definitely see how her ending works. I think the execution was still a bit iffy (we should've had more evidence of a change from her mother) but I could easily see that as the intent.
I don't quite think she's my favourite New Who character (Rose still gets that honour) but my love for her is intense and never-ending.

Ok, I think that's all. (Clearly you're not the only one who can ramble like a pro.)

[nobleplatypus]

Total agreement about Donna, first off. ;)

And I think you already know my unpopular opinions, but oh, well...

-I liked Rose well enough when she was on the show, but I despised the way she was always lurking in the background after she'd left. The Doctor's lost companions under much more traumatic circumstances, and he's gotten over it. What's so special about her? Oh, wait, I already know what's so special about her, which brings me to the next...

-The Doctor was in lub with her. -_-;; More of the BBC deciding that sexing things up/adding unnecessary romance is the only way to keep people interested. They did it with Jane Eyre, and it pissed me off there, too. There's something to be said for platonic relationships besides "rest in peace," I think.

-I prefer old school to new school, hands down. That is "Doctor Who." Compared to that, what we've gotten the past few years is "Casanova in Space."

[shionthekid.livejournal.com]

Agree with you on L&M: didn't love it, but the Jackie bits were ace, Elton was fantastic and the bits of the Doctor and Rose in it were fun. Didn't much care for the whole face-in-the-tile thing, but I blame Ten's erroneous thinking process for that.

I adore Jack - TW!Jack, not so much - but not OT3 and Donna's definitely my favorite companion. I really don't think of Rose as a companion at this point, more a partner, so, no conflict for me.

I don't tend to have too many differing opinions in DW, but I do have a major one: like you, Nine blows Ten out of the water. I'll take snark, limited hair and a taciturn nature over angstapalooza any day. I believed him when he spoke and I still don't always with Ten, he can seem to lack sincerity. And the whole Davros and Master deals were ridiculous. Nine has one parallel to those in TPotW, but it's very understandable that he'd be reluctant to kill everyone and everything on Earth along with the Daleks, so many innocents and all. (Rose thankfully took that decision from him, a nice turn-around considering how often the Doctor makes decisions for his companions, as well as an equivalent to what 10.5 did.) Ten decides one timelord who's killed millions, possibly a billion and enslaved what was left, is worth keeping around and that Davros - who'd kill tons more with his Dalek fleet - deserves pity. 10.5 was completely right in his decision, which bumps him ahead of Ten in my book. It's a bit strange, but my order of docs in New Who now goes Nine, 10.5 and Ten.

As for Ten's hair, I only really liked it in S2 around TSP; looked like he owned a comb back then (Rose's influence, no doubt) ;)

[alexiscartwheel.livejournal.com]

Well, as I've said before, I share your unpopular opinion on Donna in "Journey's End." I think her fate is tragic, but fits so perfectly with the arc of the season. "Turn Left" in particular sets up how amazing she can be without the Doctor.

I am sooo glad to see you, and others in the comments, who are not totally enamored of Doctor/Rose/Jack. I find OT3, Doctor/Jack, and Rose/Jack all incredibly squicky. I do like Jack, but I don't love Jack. I really enjoy Torchwood, but I think I love Gwen and Ianto more.

The first time I saw "Love & Monsters" I thought it was a little silly, and was sad that the Doctor and Rose were hardly there. But I don't understand the hate towards it at all, and I find myself liking it more and more every time I see it. The Jackie bits are especially great, but the characters in general are a bit endearing.

With you on the Daleks! I don't get what all the fuss is about! Granted, I thought "Evolution of the Daleks" was very, very lame, but I'm still not bothered by the Daleks inability to die.

Though the brown suit is clearly superior, the blue suit does have it's good moments. I actually really loved it in "Planet of the Ood,"

Some more odd opinions:
I like all the new series full time companions, though admittedly not equally. At times it feels like Martha fans must hate Rose and vice-versa, which puts me in an awkward spot fandom wise. I liked Donna in TRB, and series 4 made me love her. I'm not really sure whether she or Rose is my all time favorite.

I ship both Doctor/Rose (Nine/Rose, Ten/Rose, and Ten II/Rose) and Doctor/Romana (in pretty much any regeneration for either), and would love to see Romana come back in the future. I get the impression, however, that many Romana and Doctor/Romana fans abhor the new series and/or Rose.

It bugs me in fanfic when the Doctor expresses something about how Rose is so much more perfect or understands him so much better than anyone ever could or will, or that she is the only person that he has ever or will ever love. I think he's completely in love with Rose, and that's not reduced at all by the fact that he has loved other people (romantically or platonically) during the past 900 years.

"Fear Her" has a really awful plot. It's only redeeming factor is the adorable flirtiness of the Doctor and Rose. If not for that... totally boring. (Of course, "42" really is totally boring, but I've never seen much love for that!)

I'm sure I have more... but that's what I can think of now.

[roryappletarts.livejournal.com]

- I love Love & Monsters too. It's really a great epsiode. Elton is pretty cool. And I like that we get to see Jackie a little differently.

- I get the thing about Jack. Though I do love him on Torchwood (which is insanely good for a spinoff), I'm not always the biggest fan of his when he's back on Who.

- Blink scared me. Not kidding.

- As much as I love Nine, I'm still a Ten fan.

- I love Donna Nobel. She is made of win. End of story.

- The Daleks are AWESOME! Nothing can compare to them. I say keep 'em coming. :D

- Of course "I think you need a doctor" is the cheesiest line evar. Ever, ever, ever. I just giggle because it's so bad.

- You and I are probably the only two in the world who like Blue suit. I find nothing wrong with him.

[marikenobi.livejournal.com]

I agree with you about Jack (I think he's quite funny and love every once in a while reappearances but yeah whatever); Donna is almost as awesome as Barney Stinson is!

I can beat you on unpopular Doctor Who opinions... which is why I rarely spend time on the fandom

1- I thought nine was just ok... never figured out what was the big deal

2- I find Rose a bit annoying and never ever shipped either Doctor with her (actually rarely have ever shipped the Doctor with anyone)

[miss-jen-b.livejournal.com]

Ohhh I love you! I agree with so much of what you've written here, so it's great to know I'm not alone :)

I agree with you on the Doctor/Rose/Jack thing. It's just... no. I went through a phase of liking it but then one day I just thought 'what are you doing? it's bad, Jack is their FRIEND'.

The Moffat thing - the library episodes make me cringe just thinking about them. *shudder* The only bit I liked was Donna's story. The rest of it is Not Good. And while I'd probably go as far as to name Girl in the Fireplace one of my favourite episodes, to me the characterisation just doesn't fit in with the story RTD built up. The history geek in me gets mad at parts of the portrayal of Madame de Pompadour (I do like her though, which I imagine is quite an unpopular opinion!), I don't like the way the Doctor gets turned into some sort of man whore (seems to be a theme with Moffat), and I don't like Moffat's treatment of companions. It seems like they keep getting shoved aside for the Doctor's Girlfriend of the Week - at least Donna and Rose do and it makes me mad. *gets off Moffat soapbox*

And I'm with you on the Donna thing. I'm SUCH a Doctor/Rose shipper, but Donna is one of the best characters in anything EVER. I love her. I want her to be my friend.

And oh, Martha. There's so much I could say here but won't. I'm not a major fan of hers, not because she's a bad character and not because I dislike Freema Agyeman (she seems so lovely!) but sometimes she just comes across as a little bland and she never struck a chord with me the way Rose and Donna did. And I don't get 10/Martha (don't get 10/River either, but that's another matter). *shudder*

I'll shut up now. *has rambled on for waaaay too long* Sorry about the length! It's nice to know there are other people who have somewhat unpopular opinions too ;)

[eolivet.livejournal.com]

Unpopular? I agree with you on practically everything. :D I really liked "Love & Monsters" (I actually think it's a very clever riff on fandom, and Marc Warren = love :)

even he couldn't overcome the cheese of the "You need a doctor"

Nooooo, I love that line. It's so Nine, because he's that goofy/cheesy playing-at-being-a-man -- it's perfect, IMHO. I grin every time I watch it. :p

I like John Simm, he's a great actor, very charismatic. Still, I way, way preferred Sir Derek Jacobi over him and really wished that Jacobi had just stayed as the Master.

I'll go even further than you: John Simm ruined DW S3.

Seriously. The whole Master storyline was odd and ill-conceived, and tonally really weird, and fandom was completely distracted by teh hawtness of Master/Doctor OTP!!!1111 to call it out for what it was: RTD's worst finale arc EVAH. Derek Jacobi as the Master would've eliminated about 65% of the problem. 3x12-3x13 (and 3x11, to an extent) had too many big personalities (DT, JS, JB) that plot became secondary/unimportant (to both RTD and the viewers :/ )

I can't lay Martha completely at FA's feet, though, because I'm not sure any actress could've pulled off how RTD wrote Martha. I always feel so duped when I think about it, because the Martha from 3x01 and the Martha from subsequent eps seem like two different people. That the minute Martha started traveling with the Doctor, she became a blithering idiot with a schoolgirl crush. And I just don't...get it. :/

(Yikes. For as much as I don't like a lot of S2 [saw "Fear Her" the other day... :shudders:], S3 was probably the worst season of the show. :x

But: agreed on the PotW kiss. :D

[kenshinno1hk.livejournal.com]

I think RTD bring Jack so late in Season 1 is to pave the road for Torchwood .As Torchood begins when DW season 1 end .It also contrasting how companion/s would change during their adventure together.Remember Adam ?He had behaved badly during 'the long game' and he was kicked out.But Jack rebuilt torchwood in the Doctor 's honours after Canary Wharf as he admits in 'the sound of drums'

[goldy-dollar.livejournal.com]

I'd say we're about 50/50. :D

Our biggest difference is probably that I tend to be very Ten/Rose focused. I love the Doctor/Rose relationship overall, and there's something so perfect and magical about the way they fell in love over the course of S1, but it was like Ten and Rose took up camp in my head and haven't ever left. And I love their chemistry, even if I think Chris and Billie had a more obvious UST-y vibe between them. David and Billie made their physical closeness seem so real, which I loved. I could have watched them bounce around hugging for seasons and seasons.

And... I do despise the blue suit and have probably even written some long drawn-out meta about it. Rose is my favourite companion, probably always will be, as much as I love Donna and Martha.

Otherwise:

-I agree about Tennant's S4 hair, overall. I liked it in Planet of the Ood, though! Actually, my fangirl appreciation for DT took a bit of a hit in S4. I don't really know what's up with that. He just seemed so tired and old for most of it. They should probably feed him more down in Cardiff.

-Doctor/Rose/Jack really does nothing for me. Well, not many ships besides D/R do much for me in DW. :D

-I, too, would like Moffat the hell away from my show. I just... don't like his version of the Doctor, is what it comes down to. And that's probably going to be a problem when he's running it.

-I also will never tire of Daleks. I just love them.

[avoria.livejournal.com]

Here's the biggie: I don't really care about Jack. I do not understand for the life of me why he is SUCH a huge part of fandom, why an entire other show was built around him, etc.

YES. SOMEBODY ELSE. I AM NOT ALONE.

I don't hate him. He's fine. Completely inoffensive, one might say.

I just totally don't get the hype O_O

On that note, I think that Eccleston has more chemistry with Billie Piper than does David Tennant. (And on the chemistry note, I don't see anything but BFF chemistry between Piper and Tennant in real-life ... at all, nothing hinting at some underpinning of longing, etc.)

Also, I agree. I think I write Ten/Rose more because I feel their chemistry was less explicit on-screen. I used to think that BP and CE were secretly an item and were going to get married XD I never once thought that about DT/BP.

Heck, you've pretty much said all the things I secretly harbour. Muhaha. I ♥ you for this!

[faith5by5-1013.livejournal.com]

I apologize in advance to Christopher Eccleston because for the first time in forever I'm actually acknowledging that even he can't overcome something. It's not his fault, but still ... even he couldn't overcome the cheese of the "You need a doctor" line from "The Parting of the Ways." I keep hoping it will get better each time I watch it and I'll grin and glory in the romantic cheesiness, but no. It's just always groan-inducing cheese. Sigh. Not even the amazing Christopher Eccleston can save it.

I agree with you completely. CE is an amazing actor, but no one could overcome the cheesiness of that line. I mean, when I was watching that episode the first time, I groaned at the cheese even though I was bawling at the time.

The Nine/Rose kiss is my favorite kiss too.

And I don't think that Martha is a bad character, but I think Freema just isn't a good enough actress. I'm sure there are people who could do way more with that role.