Fic: Protect and Survive

[jjpor]

Fic: Protect and Survive, Part VIII: Protect and Survive

The conclusion! Answers, though they may not be the ones the Doctor wants to hear, and a solution, of sorts; here's hoping it makes sense. More past Doctor cameos too. All of the quotations I have used as chapter headings in this fic are from the movie Dr Strangelove, and some dialogue in this part is taken from the Who stories Genesis of the Daleks by Terry Nation and Resurrection of the Daleks by Eric Saward. The Daleks belong to the Terry Nation estate. None of these things belong to me!

The link:

www.whofic.com/viewstory.php

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

*faints with excitement*

(By the time I recover, it might be up on the site. There's method in my madness).

The conclusion! Oo-er. :-D

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Well, I just hope it lives up to all of the build-up. It seems like a bit of an RTD solution, on reflection...er...hope it isn't a let-down, is all.

And now, all that remains is...ah, all of those other WIPs...

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

I left a review, but I'm terrible at those.

Yay, Obligatory Romana Reference!

Now for Sontarans Up the Jungle!

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much for the review! I have to keep beating that Doctor/Romana drum; God help me, but I feel it's like my sacred duty or something. :D

And, you know what? Sontarans Up the Jungle sounds like a good idea after all that misery and suffering; lemme see what I can do...

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

Indeed, you are now bound to your mission.;)

Hot, sweaty jungle nights...

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

But think of the Sontarans! They don't like that sort of thing...not one little bit...

(Yeah, I think we've had this conversation before! XD )

[clocketpatch]

Wow *remembers to breath* that's one of the most wonderful and haunting fics I've ever read. Seven's solution was as unexpected as it was brutal, and then the quick snap back -

I didn't find it a cop-out at all since you set it up so cleanly. I love the reuse of dialogue and description at the end (said that in the Teaspoon review too), though I feel compelled to point out a minor possible typo:

Nevertheless, there were people walking on long strand of beach

Pretty sure there should be a 'the' in there somewhere.

Thanks for the ride JJpor; it was magnificent.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Aha, so you spotted my deliberate mistake? LOL, no; I've corrected that.

Thank you very much indeed for your kind words, and for following this and egging me on to finish it. I'm glad the ending worked for you, because it was one thing I wasn't really that confident about. You know, after every chapter somebody said "I hope you have a way out of all of this!", and was like "Er...yeah..? Yeah, of course I do! Honest..." I guess this was my NAverse story; you should see some of the things they do to the Doctor (or, more often, the Doctor does to others) in some of those; dark and grim doesn't begin to cover it.

If you ever get a chance, read The Left-Handed Hummingbird; you'd get a kick out of it, I think, with all of its Mesoamericanisms. Unfortunately it has Ace-in-name-only in it and the overrated Benny Summerfield, but you can't have everything.

[clocketpatch]

Deliberate was it? Eh? Lol. I think that that was the only typo I spied in the whole thing speak volumes for your proofing skillz.

As for the NAs, I've got to get into those one of these days. Don't know what it says about me, but I'm rather fond of dark stories, and quite especially ones where there is a possibility of the hero going evil or being possessed.

Ace-in-name-only; would that be a poorly written Ace, or an off-screen Ace?

And Benny... I know less about her than I would like. She seems interesting, just from what I've heard, but she's over-rated you say? But she IS an archaeologist, so...

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Well, they...did things to Ace. Probably in a misguided attempt at being gritty and grown-up. I don't want to drop any spoilers on you in case you read them one of these days, but after a while she wasn't really the same character any more. I'm not saying she wasn't interesting or well-written some of the time, because she was, depending on the author, but it wasn't Ace anymore. You know, as if she hadn't already gone through her big growing-up character arc in the course of her TV stories.

Anyway...I think Benny is all sorts of amusing and a likeable companion (and I like the couple of her solo adventures I've caught up with just fine), but I don't know if she was the bestest companion ever as she was often thought of back in the 90s; she may well not be as overrated any more as she perhaps was then. She is in the Dying Days though, my possibly-second-favourite NA; my first favourite is Timewyrm:Revelation by Paul Cornell, which was early on in the range, before the "character-development" Ace went through. I like it because firstly, it's a twisty-turny hallucinatory sort of story, a bit like the Mind Robber or something, and secondly it's possibly the definitive portrayal of Seven and Ace, in any medium. And it has cameos from One, Three, Five, Four that I can think of, and I think Two and Six at least get a couple of lines. So, it's great all round, really. Or so I think, anyway...

Mind you, I also really like Transit, which is the NA that sort of split the fandom; all of the guns and violence and non-stop swearing put a lot of people off, but it was a cracking story, and Seven was great in it.

Anyway, enough of that. If I drop any cash on secondhand Who books in the near future, I think it'll be on some of the Missing Adventures/Past Doctor Adventures, because I never kept up with them as well as I did with the NAs (and my NA keeping-up-with was patchy after the first couple of years), and it has come to my attention that there are some crackers there too.

[clocketpatch]

Ah, I've heard tell of this tough-and-gritty ace arc. Though, doesn't she have about ten different arcs depending on the medium, all of them spiralling away in vastly different directions? Like motorcycle Ace, and Timelady Ace (??), etc. etc.

I've heard Benny in one or two audios, and read her in several fics, I really do have to bite down and read Dying Days since it *is* free after all. Also, I need to actually get myself better acquainted with Bernice before I go off accusing river of being a poor substitute for her. From what I've read/listened to though, I think I rather like Benny. She acts suitably archaeologisty; running off for the nearest drinking establishment at any opportunity.. and getting down and dirty with Eight, apparently.

As for Doctor Who literature and spending $$, I've heard *interesting* things about the title 'Blue Angel' and I think I need to find a copy just to confirm that it really is as weird as all that... Apparently the Doctor's mother is a mermaid, and Eight give birth to a fairy via his leg!??

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah, there was Time Lady Ace in Death Comes to Time (and, allegedly, Season 27 if it had ever been made); no-longer-alive Ace in the comics (which was a bit rough, I think); Motorcycle Ace was tough-and-gritty Ace a few more novels down the line, when they decided to redeem her a bit and cut her loose; that was around the time that Seven picked up two more new companions called Roz and Chris, who were futuristic police officers belonging to whatever futuristic police force the Master is pretending to belong to in that Three story where he wears the shiny uniform. I didn't read as many of the later NAs, though, so I never really had a strong opinion on those two one way or the other.

I think the online version of the Dying Days is a bit different from my old battered paperback copy, but still well worth a read; the Brig out of retirement yet again, Ice Warriors taking over Britain (they make it clear to the rest of the world that they only want Britain, and the rest of the world decides to let them keep it!), Eight being quietly awesome (the bit with the homemade hot air balloon/parachute thingy is just great; really). And Benny's great in it too; I think you may have a point there with regard to River, actually.

I will say one thing; the plot is suspiciously similar to Aliens of London/World War Three, but with Ice Warriors. Possibly the single greatest thing I've ever read in Who fiction, though, is the bit where the Ice Lord is being crowned King of Britain and isn't too enthusiastic about the oath he has to swear ("Who isss thisss Jesssusss Chrissst?? I challenge him to sssingle combat!" etc.) Either that or the bit where Eight's saying to Benny something like "Well, the Martian spaceship's been hovering over London for twenty minutes now and hasn't blown anything up; must be a good sign," and she replies with something like; "those big Martian cannon take twenty-five minutes to charge up."

Yes, some of the Eight novels are a little bit weird; Iris Wildthyme shows up in a couple of them, and then there's Larry Miles's Time-War-before-there-was-a-Time-War arc which they brushed under the carpet about halfway through the range.

There's one book which I can't remember whether it was one of the MAs or the PDAs, because I read it but never owned it; called "Rags"; it's basically an attempt to do something dark and horrible and character-torturing with Three and the UNIT family, who aren't really the obvious choices for such a treatment, if you ask me. As a Three fan, I don't know what you'd think of it, but if you ever get the chance to read it...

[vonquixote.livejournal.com]

I remember 'Rags', and vaguely remember thinking there was an awful lot of sex and violence, and Three forgetting who he is in a moment that seemed so unlike him. I agree that it was a curious choice of Doctor and associates to use for a dark, vicious extended homage to punk rock and exploration of its potential to provoke genuine and shocking violence. The Ragman himself was quite an intriguing creation, though, even if I can't see him and Three together without my brain revolting and saying THIS SHOULD NOT BE. He'd have worked a lot better opposite Seven, I think, just because 'dark but slightly ludicrous' is basically Seven's taste in adversaries right through.

I still enjoyed it, though: it's not badly written, the Ragged Army is an interesting conceit, and I admit to a little parochial thrill when the action kicked off in Princetown and the closest it came to the Home Counties was Glastonbury.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

I remember enjoying it too; as you say, the concept of it was intriguing, but at the same time it is hard to shake the feeling that sex+violence+Three=DOES NOT COMPUTE! I mean, Three from Season 8 on is about as cosy as Doctor Who gets (and I mean that as an observation rather than a criticism, Three fans).

I think it highlights one issue that the MAs/PDAs ran into; where writers tried to make them more than novel-length professional-standard fanfics, the effect was always a little bit jarring. On the one hand, people like Mark Gatiss and Gareth Roberts were writing spot-on pastiches of Two-era historicals or Three-Master Shenanigans or Season 17 hijinks, which were great reads, but unambitious. On the other hand, the stories that tried to actually do significant things to the characters came off as a little bit strange, slotted as they were into gaps in the onscreen continuity. I can't remember now whether they had some sort of reset button in place, but it stretches credulity that the UNIT posse could go through something like "Rags" and then all be back to cosy-cups-of-tea-in-the-lab and bantering-with-the-Brig the very next week.

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Now I will go read it all. (I prefer to have it all available before I start so I don't lose track).

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

I'm terrible for writing these things on the fly (not that I make them up as I go along...most of the time, anyway), and it causes all sorts of problems for myself and people who'd like to read them. Still, I keep doing it. I'd be very interested to know what you think of it anyway if you do get a chance to peruse it.

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

It's printed out and will be read probably Thursday night (my free evening). I will let you know when I'm done. And that I didn't read as you posted means nothing --- I've just decided that I should wait rather than read works in progress for now.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Well, I think that's sensible, because if it's someone like me writing it, you might suddenly get a six month gap before the next part (if there is a next part...). :D

[ravenskyewalker.livejournal.com]

Ohh... wow. Awesome. I have a bit of a thing about reading WIPs, especially when the suspense might drive me up the wall, so I read all the parts this evening, and just finished.

That's great Seven and Ace, and absolutely terrifying. I was gasping and having chills run through me in various parts. Part of it's the dark Doctor; part of it's being old enough to have grown up with the fear of nuclear war being a constant nightmare.

Because I don't have a Teaspoon account, I'll say here that I was amazed by your "Gaze Into the Abyss" Romana/Seven/Eight/Time War story, as well, and this hit about as hard as that one did. (I'm no fan of New Who, but if we have to accept the Time War, then your version of it is now my canon.) Congratulations and keep writing!

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've been tainted by NuWho, I'll admit; it's partly because it does have its moments, sometimes, and partly because I like messing with the continuity, trying to piece it all together and I suppose at the same time cementing classic Who's position, make it all a whole rather than trying to ignore some of the older stuff, as, er...certain NuWho fans may have a tendency to do. And I'll admit I find the idea of the Time War compelling, if only because it finally elevates the Daleks to the universe-stomping stuff-of-nightmares that is strongly implied by their concept and backstory, but which they maybe never managed to be onscreen (and I count their allegedly-epic appearances in NuWho season finales in that too).

Anyway, thank you very much for your kind words; I'm glad you enjoyed this and that you enjoyed Seven and Ace; I love writing them. I don't know if it was a good idea having Ace off-stage for the ending, but I suppose I was trying to ratchet up the stakes. And I'm glad the nuclear war stuff was suitably evocative too.

You know, if anyone asked me to pick a favourite fic I've written, I might go for "Gaze into the Abyss"; and not just because I'm a shameless Doc/Romana shipper; I just seemed to roll a lot of sixes when I was writing that one. Ah well, enough self-praise...

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

I like messing with the continuity, trying to piece it all together and I suppose at the same time cementing classic Who's position, make it all a whole rather than trying to ignore some of the older stuff...

Would that the writers of the NuWho series shared your viewpoint. There's fanfic out of canon, and then there's just screwing everything up because of a desire to appeal to a certain demographic. I've been living in terror (well, not really because it's not that big of a deal, but still) of what Moffat (whom I really like) is going to be doing with ClassicWho-NuWho continuity ever since I read somewhere that he said a story about time travel can't ever be written so as to lack continuity (or something like that). Still, since the continuity was shot to Hell by RTD and company (in my opinion, anyway), I suppose it can't get too much worse, no matter what Moffat does.

[vonquixote.livejournal.com]

The thing is that Moffat might mean something different by 'continuity' to what fandom means by 'continuity'. The Moff has been somewhat disrespectful towards the notion of perfect adherence to canon facts; he strikes me as being a very critical viewer who likes the show, but isn't a fan in the 'part of a fandom with fannish concerns' sense of the word. I think when he says 'continuity' he means internal consistency, and proper connections between events, and making sure that people don't suddenly know things we haven't seen them learning - the things that that word means as a production term, rather than the things that come closer to 'canon history'.

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

To be fair, it was a paraphrased quote to the effect that (or so it seemed) no matter what was written, it was never possible to construe anything as being lacking in continuity. I interpreted --- somewhat dejectedly and perhaps incorrectly --- this to mean he felt that it was all right to willy-nilly and glaringly contradict prior show stuff for the heck of it (e.g., Eleven suddenly didn't kill Sutekh, even though Four did, or Reapers don't exist for Eleven when they did for Nine) because time travel makes all things possible. I like consistency within a serial (I'm a crazy demon for it, in fact --- I got incensed beyond all proportion at a "House" episode where an actress had a pen behind her ear then turned up without it in the same scene after a cutaway), but I tend to extend it to an entire show. Right or wrong, I count Doctor Who back to 1963 as one entire show. I'm still quite looking forward to Moffat's take on everything, though.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

I have faith in Moffat not to screw things up any more than they already are, but I may be getting soft in my old age (I've been known to say nice things about RTD in the last couple of months, now that I'm getting over my Journey's End trauma). Still, watch the backlash against him when it comes (if it hasn't come already!); this time next year, he'll be worse than RTD ever was, in the eyes of some sections of fandom. Still, I don't think he's produced a bad story for Who yet (even if they aren't all the works of Bob-Holmes-level genius some people would have you believe). If he can just keep it up for a whole season...

Having said that, I have no reason to expect him to be any more respectful of canon than RTD was; certainly, some of his remarks suggest that he won't be. Still, he has actually made use of time travel as a plot point in at least one of his stories (which is a lot rarer than it should be in a show that's supposed to be _about_ time travel), so if he does go trampling all over canon, at least we can expect his handwaving to be more elegant and plausible-sounding than we're used to. :D

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

Truly, it is impossible to please all people all the time. Or even one person all of the time.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah; indeed. I think one of the things that led to the demise of oldschool Who in the 80s was excessive pandering to fandom. On the other hand, treating them with complete contempt isn't very smart either. I hope Moffat can find the middle ground, but whether or not he does remains to be seen...

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

one of the things that led to the demise of oldschool Who in the 80s was excessive pandering to fandom.

I was watching one of the special features on the Trial of a Time Lord DVD the other day and they were saying this very same thing. It's too bad how agendas can get in the way of a good show.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

I agree; from a cold-hearted BBC exec point of view, terminating Who around the time of Trial of a Time Lord made sense. It was ripe for the plucking after JNT and Eric Saward had done their best to turn it into unadulterated fanw*nk. The sad thing is that it had started seriously to pick up again in the later McCoy era, just as the axe fell. Much the same thing happened to the Star Trek franchise in the Voyager/Enterprise era. I can actually see what JNT was trying to do, to take the show away from the pantomime/comedy state it had fallen into in Season 17, to try and make it into serious science fiction again. I like Season 18 far more than a lot of people do. Still, I don't see how anyone can seriously argue that stuff like Twin Dilemma and Resurrection of the Daleks is an improvement over things like Horns of Nimon. I mean, it isn't, and to my mind, Horns of Nimon is far more entertaining.

On the other hand, I think that at times the RTD era has been almost dismissive of some of the qualities that made the original show so distinctive and so good, in its heyday. I really do think that there is a middle ground to be found here, but as I say, whether Moffat is the man to do it...time will tell.

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

Oops --- missed this. I struggle to be fair and toremember that Moffat faces, as RTD faced before him, a different kind of audience than Old School Who's audience. The problem is that I can't quite bring myself to believe it. Sex and pretty faces have sold TV programs as long as I can remember; I have no doubt that selling was always a factor in all but the very early years (if that even) of Doctor Who. I will say that 21st century viewers seem less capable, or are perceived by producers to be less capable (so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy) of thinking about and focusing on storyline; the emphasis on "character development" --- if that's what having a character wallow and indulge in immature behavior can be called --- over story virtually must lead to an overall decline in story and series. I'm hoping that, with a not-so-well-known actor playing the Doctor, the production team may let themselves return to a more story-oriented focus than character/relationship focus. Then we'll get things like "Seeds of Death"; they took an entire episode to set that one up without thrusting any relationship dynamic in our face and we still got to come away with a little more insight into not only Troughton's Doctor, but every other character in that serial.

As you say, however, time will tell.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to keep an open mind - I'm prepared to be positive about Moffat and Matt Smith until either or both of them prove me wrong. As you say, though, the received wisdom among people in the TV industry seems to be that in order to be popular and to remain popular in the modern environment, a show has to be done a certain way, with a certain type of emphasis. "Character driven", in other words, which is often just a syonym for low-grade soap opera. As you say, oldschool Who, at the height of its powers, was full of at times very subtle character insight (even in the case of very minor villains/guest characters in a lot of cases), without it ever being detrimental to the storylines or ideas. I think it was something television in general did better in those days. Still, to play devil's advocate, I think that the soapy stuff has been less prevalent in Seasons 3 and 4 of NuWho, while always present; maybe this reflects growing confidence on the part of the production staff as they realise they don't have to keep constantly ticking demographic boxes to keep their audience share. Whether this will continue into the new era is something that remains to be seen - I worry about what the year out may have done to the show's audience base, because if it has been affected I worry about what Moffat and co might do to try to win them back. There are already all sorts of stunt-casting rumours flying about, but I hope those are just the usual paper-talk.

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

"Character driven", in other words, which is often just a syonym for low-grade soap opera.

Or, to call a shovel a spade, adolescent titillation for the sake of nothing more than itself. Oh, and for the sake of ratings. On the other hand, I was a rather boring, cloistered adolescent. Perhaps I am not qualified to judge. (****snork****) Yeah, right. Like I'll ever cop to that.

I agree. I think a year's hiatus may have ultimately disastrous impact on the show's viability. A handful of specials does not a whetting of the appetite make. It's not like there was a rampant, 16-year-long, all-across-the-board collective howl into the wilderness for the show's return. Other brains in charge may well have decided that's Tennant's popularity (and I guess RTD's clout, but it's not like he has lots of teenyboppers throwing themselves at him the way the star does so it may not matter as much) simply wasn't strong enough to forestall moving right along to Eleven. I would have if I'd been in charge. Momentum is all.

Stunt-casting may be a little distasteful in concept, but it can be executed tastefully in practice. Pussy Galore in the Vervoid section of "Trial of a Time Lord" (sheez, I wanna call her Anne Francis but I know that's Honey West; I'm just channeling the guys in "Resevoir Dogs" --- I least I know it's not Pam Grier) was, I think and for what the story was, nicely executed stunt-casting. However, if it's all going to be in the service of feeding the self-pitying, solace-seeking trip we've seen in NuWho, then it'll be awful. I may very well stop watching then, and I'll be seriously pissed off because I'm actually prouder of my 31 years of Doctor Who appreciation than I am of my 21 years spent practicing law. Oif - How sad is that?

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Honor Blackman? That's her name, isn't it? She used to be in the Avengers at one point, I believe.

But yeah, I do think the hiatus may prove to be a serious mistake. Everywhere I go online nowadays I see young Tennant fans saying things like they aren't really as into Doctor Who as they once were, thanks to the long wait between new instalments. As if Matt Smith wasn't going to have a hard enough time competing with the runaway juggernaut that is the Cult of Tennant. I can only shake my head and wonder at what their reasoning was for doing things the way they have. I think you may have a point about them puttting off a painful change for as long as the could, but seriously, how cool would it have been if the Journey's End regeneration had been a real one - straight out of the blue - and in the middle of that blaze of publicity that accompanied the cliffhanger?? Momentum, as you point out, is everything, in televison as in anything else; I hope they can get the ball rolling again next year and that a lot of the young fans who have only ever known Tennant as the Doctor will stick around and given them a chance.

I think stunt-casting is often in the eye of the beholder; if you have the opportunity to cast a classy, big-name actor in a role, you should probably go for it, but some of the rumours you hear just make you want to scream NO! DON'T! Still, I don't know what they'd have to do to make me stop watching it now. Marry the Doctor off permanently to Rose and have them raise 2.4 Time Tots? I even forgave them Journey's End. Eventually. Well, when I say "forgave"...

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

Yes! Honor Blackman! Thank you! That was bugging me, as these things do. And yes, I Diana Rigg was her replacement, in fact.

the hiatus may prove to be a serious mistake

Not the first one the BBC has ever made vis-a-vis Doctor Who, and probably not the last. Unfortunately.

I can only shake my head and wonder at what their reasoning was for doing things the way they have.

I'll bet it's at least in part to revenue on Ten's action figure sales and a brutal game of hardball with Tennant's extremely astute and adept agent. S/he must be to have gotten him the sweet deal of "finagle on your contract and still get to hang around on your terms" he got. Alas, the show itself suffers after a dramatic rebirth.

...how cool would it have been if the Journey's End regeneration had been a real one...

Cooler than a penguin's soles. And something that could have propelled the show into perpetual, money-making popularity. Time Lords are supposed to regenerate, and it would have been well for the show to remind viewers of that then and there. Oh well.

You are better person than I am about all this, I think. I don't forgive. Instead, I take it as an opportunity to grumble.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

I don't know about a better person...easily pleased, maybe? I think I may be a little too forgiving of some of the crap that has been pulled over the last couple of years of Who, but then again, I seem to like most of the oldschool stories that most other fans think are real stinkers, so...

I mean, time will tell (pun? unintentional) as to how much harm this past year has done to the show. It remains to be seen how people will react to the new Doctor and whether he can win over some of the legions of Tennant fans. Maybe Moffat really will turn out to be the magician a lot of people thought he was before the backlash started, and maybe Matt Smith really will be the best Doctor ever. And maybe I'll win the lottery and become President of the World... XD Staying positive - that's the thing, LOL.

[vonquixote.livejournal.com]

I have read it and I thought it was mostly marvellous, especially around about the "Something you would do" line. I will try to muster some more coherent feedback when I'm not burned out from three days at a conference.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

I look forward to it!

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

Read it all and I have this to say:

This was brilliant. Too many brilliant things to point out anything specific. Although, I absolutely love how Seven still is/was/will be the Oncoming Storm at the end. Not everything can be changed.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much indeed, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. As you say, I wanted the idea at the end that this isn't something that's going to go away; that the Doctor's going to have to constantly watch himself and constantly keep control over his "dark side" if he doesn't want events to repeat themselves. In thought that was especially appropriate for Seven, because of the things we know he is capable of, but I think it would at least apply to Nine and Ten as well.

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

The thing that makes Seven fascinating is that his dark side is evident without catastrophic impetus. There's no Time War making him an angry PTSD sufferer or an easily flattered, girl-crazy, flip-flopping middle-aged crisis sufferer or whatever the hell is wrong with Ten. Seven is what he is, although he does tend to use his dark side powers for good, and without fear of it and without apology. Of course, that brings him into Master and Valeyard territory, but it's a natural culmination of the aging process and the Doctor's character traits that doesn't leave the viewer going "Huh? Where'd that come from?" I'll stop there, or I'll go on forever and I've got work to do.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

I don't know what's wrong with Ten either, and it's frustrating because I really like Tennant when he's having one of his good moments, and yet really despise Ten when he starts with the self-pitying whinging. Seven was a much more mature and serious operator; as you say, ruthless without making a big deal out of it, doing what he thought needed to be done without the unnecessary angsting. I think he probably would have won the Time War had he been participating in it, but that's probably a thought for another time and another fic. :)

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

it's frustrating because I really like Tennant when he's having one of his good moments, and yet really despise Ten when he starts with the self-pitying whinging

It's like I told shinodabear the other day, I think that Tennant did a fine job of bringing to life a character that I should like, because I always have and he should be likeable, but that I don't. Or rather, I like him in general but I don't admire him. The Doctor should be admirable in the end, no matter what his flaws.

I think he probably would have won the Time War had he been participating in it, but that's probably a thought for another time and another fic.

Yes, please.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

I think Tennant is a very likeable actor, and somebody, when you see him interviewed in real life, who really loves Doctor Who. On the other hand, the sheer...the only word is idiocy, that you get in things like Journey's End or the last Xmas special, just makes me want to throw things at the TV. I think the fault is down to the scripts rather than the actor. Gah, that scene in Journey's End when Davros tries to guilt-trip the Doctor...any other Doctor would have laughed in his face or been icily defiant, and it would have been yet another Crowning Moment of Awesomeness for the Doctor. I'm thinking of Five in Earthshock, or even Nine in Parting of the Ways. Because the Doctor is better than scum like Davros, or he should be, anyway. I guess Ten's self-doubt and guilt are supposed to make him more human and accessible, but - get this, RTD! - HE ISN'T HUMAN. He's better than human...

Ah well, hopefully when Eleven and Moffat come on the scene they will redress some of this stuff. I quite enjoyed Planet of the Dead, actually, in an undemanding sort of way, apart from a couple of moments of dodginess, so hopefully Ten's last couple of hours onscreen won't be too painful. I kind of dread the RTD-penned regeneration scene, though...

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

Because the Doctor is better than scum like Davros, or he should be, anyway.

Which I can actually hear Six saying to Davros.

Word on everything you've said here.