Although Ten is my least favorite of the main new Who Doctors, that’s really only because the bar is so high – I utterly love Nine, Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen and would be hard-pressed to choose between them, so Ten being on a slightly lower tier isn’t a real knock against him. He was also my second Doctor, and it’s never easy to move on after your first regeneration. All of which is a probably needless-wordy way to say that I do like him a lot, even if I don’t think he’s the absolute cream of the crop.
At first glance, Ten seems like a big departure from Nine. Even though Nine is a nuanced character with multiple facets, he’s often chiefly defined by his trauma and guilt after the events of the Time War. If series 1 is the story of Nine’s journey toward healing after what happened there, Ten might appear to be a signal that he is healed. He gives off this air of being bright, excitable, and almost perpetually delighted, and he frequently is (Nine can be too, but he’s far less often noted for it.) Get ready for madcap adventures in time and space, because the universe is brilliant and why are we standing around still talking about it when we should get out there, there’s so much to see, let’s go!!!
But what’s interesting about Ten is that, while the sense of wonder and fun is definitely a genuine part of who he is, it’s also something he employs as a mask to hide his lingering pain. Not only are the shadows of the Time War still with him, but the continuing demands of his role in the universe are as well – there’s a reason his most oft-repeated phrases are, “Brilliant!”, “Allons-y!”, and “I’m sorry – I’m so sorry.” Delight, enthusiasm, and regret. In his first episode, not long after he absentmindedly quotes The Lion King, he kills the Sycorax leader with nary a flinch. It’s only after he’s offered an opportunity to resolve things peaceably, of course, but once he feels it’s what needs to be done, he doesn’t hesitate.
And that can weigh on him, heavily. In numerous episodes, Ten laments always having to be the one to make these choices, to be forced to use stronger measures against bad guys who never accept his olive branches. The cheery grin turns to gritted teeth, and he buckles under the load he placed on his shoulders so many lifetimes ago, stumbling but still staggering forward.
Of the new Who Doctors, Ten feels the most “conventional” to me, the most like a leading man you might find on another show. He’s still uniquely the Doctor, of course – his goofy humor, his lust for new experiences, his deep compassion, his ageless understanding, his desire to solve problems with a screwdriver instead of weapons – but he doesn’t feel quite as atypical to me. I can’t deny that part of this is likely the relationship drama that threads through his era of the show. Ten and Rose feel a lot more boy-girl to me than the beautiful soul connection between Nine and Rose, and I’m annoyed with him throughout a lot of series 3 because his mooning leads him, in my opinion, to take Martha seriously for granted. This is in part why series 4 is easily my favorite season with Ten – after all the romance and heartbreak and unrequited love, it’s such a relief to see two close friends running around the universe together helping people. With Donna, I think Ten is the most of what I like about him, and I’m more able to appreciate that.
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