To most of the Doctor Who fandom, saying that you prefer Matt Smith’s Doctor to David Tennant’s is a bit like saying you prefer Justin Bieber’s music to Adele’s, or that Hitler seemed like a pretty nice guy. But Hypable’s Harri Sargeant is willing to say it. He argues his case, shield at the ready.
The general consensus among Whovians is that “your first Doctor” will always be your favourite. That makes sense in many ways, as you will warm to their character traits, speech habits and catchphrases. Each of the eleven actors who have so far played the nine hundred-year-old alien have put their own very unique spin on his (or should I say its) character. From William Hartnell’s frail, grumpy but grandfatherly First Doctor, to the unpredictable, sombre and manic Fourth Doctor portrayed by Tom Baker, every Doctor is unique. And every actor who follows your “first” will be compared to them.
David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor is widely recognised as the world’s favourite incarnation of the character, and he was also my “first.” However, he certainly wasn’t my favourite. I’m not denying that Tennant is a more than competent actor who did an admirable job during his tenure. He almost single-handedly cemented The Doctor in the collective psyche of a whole new generation, and I can only applaud him for that. But for me, Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor is better than Tennant’s in every way. I have three very clear reasons for this, and I hope to be able to explain them to you in a reasonable fashion – preferably before an angry mob of Tennant fan-girls arrive and exterminate me.
The Writing
By far the weakest component the of the Tenth Doctor was completely out of David Tennant’s hands. The writing during his time on the show was awful. Now, I’m not talking about every single episode of series two to four, but rather the work of one man: Russell T. Davies. He did a great job with the Ninth Doctor, making him a tortured soul, guilt-ridden over the Time War. We get to the introduction of Ten though, and suddenly none of that matters anymore. Instead, we are given a superhero-like character who is more Iron Man than a raggedy-man-with-a-blue-box. Davies took an intelligent, quirky and weighty sci-fi show and turned it into an action programme with a soap-like level of romance and over-sentimental fodder. Tennant was given cheesy dialogue, far-fetched plots and far too many deus ex machina solutions to big problems (with The Doctor reduced to a fetus-like creature and The Master taken over the world, everything is made okay by lots of people thinking about The Doctor, who then erases the last year of history) to ever really be taken seriously. If he wasn’t over-enthusiastically using his unofficial catchphrases “Brilliant!” and “OH, YOU BEAAAAA-UTY!” Ten would be telling some poor soul that he was “so sorry” as he tearfully admits to ruining someone else’s life – before jumping into the TARDIS and gleefully steering it to another galaxy to ruin.
The writing got more and more ridiculous as Tennant’s time on the show drew on – as it got to the 2009 Specials I really couldn’t wait for the character to be reinvented. RTD did contribute some interesting, thought-provoking sci-fi episodes like ‘Midnight,’ and ‘The Waters of Mars.’ But his attempts to turn The Doctor into some kind of Christ figure were really self-indulgent, clunky and ridiculous. I’m aware that Davies did a lot for Doctor Who, bringing it back from obscurity, and I know that there is a much wider debate to be had about Davies vs. Moffat vs. Classic Who (maybe next time). The Eleventh Doctor just has better dialogue, storylines, and a writer’s understanding of the genre. With catchphrases like “Bow-ties are cool,” and “Come along, Pond,” the Eleventh Doctor just has a quirkier, mad-cap professor-like air about his lines. Who could forget his epic speech to the many nasties of space and time in ‘The Pandorica Opens’ – the Doctor defeats a league of the most dangerous aliens with nothing but words – or his cravings for fish fingers and custard? Eleven is instantly put at an advantage to Ten, just by having a writer who knows how to have fun, and mix the high-octane emotion with interesting concepts and hilarious dialogue.
The Companions
Always a hard sell, companions have to be instantly believable, likeable, and share good chemistry with The Doctor or else a whole series can fall flat on its face. There’s something dodgy about a bloke who promises you all of time and space, but everywhere he takes you has a suspicious air of Cardiff about it. We have to believe a companion’s back story, motivations, and reasons for becoming a “companion” in the first place. For me, the only companion of the Tenth Doctor whose reasons for becoming a sidekick I believed in was Donna Noble. In fairness to Tennant and company, he only ever got one series with each companion. That means we got lots of goodbyes, lots of introductions and lots of reunions without much space to really have the characters grow on us. Still, it all got a bit over-sentimental, with The Doctor falling in love with one companion, obliviously leading on the second, and leaving his third in danger of having her mind explode just for remembering him. What a dick.
Companions are perhaps one of the few areas of Who where Ten has a small advantage over Eleven – we have never seen Matt Smith’s Doctor have to deal with the loss of a sidekick. Unless you’ve been stuck under a rock for the last six months, you know that will soon be rectified in a “heartbreaking” farewell to the current companions. I have little evidence to base this guess on, but I am sure it is going to blow any of Ten’s farewells out of the water. We have grown with Amy and Rory Pond, had the chance to know their personalities, feelings, and reactions to the Doctor. When Karen Gilan and Arthur Darvil leave the show later this year, they will be the longest-serving companions in New Who. We have had the time to know the Ponds, and therefore care. More importantly, so has The Doctor. When we see him lose the TARDIS couple, you just know that it is going to destroy the childish innocence of the Eleventh Doctor.
Acting
It’s close, but I still think it’s true – Matt Smith is better at playing The Doctor than David Tennant. With Tennant, we had a guy in his late twenties wearing trainers with a suit (the nerve!), talking fast and changing moods quicker than he falls in love. With Smith, we really get the sense of a very old wise man – despite being the youngest actor to take on the role. He keeps a child-like love of fun, and a quirky, dizzy tone. Tennant is a great actor, but I think he missed the mark at times with Who. Only just, but he still did.
Both great actors. Both great Doctors. But in my opinion, Matt Smith is the best Doctor of the entire series, and I dread the day when he eventually bows out of the show.
What do you think? I would love to get into some healthy debate with those of you who disagree, and explore the point further in the comments below.
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