The End of Doctor Who

During the height of the David Tennant years I was a regular Who-freak.  I bought the action figures and the collectables and devoured every episode of Doctor Who like it was the last.  The show was great with big budget special effects, interesting story lines, a gay sometimes sidekick and a perfect blend of camp and seriousness that made the show unmissable.

I didn't care for the first revamped Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, as I felt the characted was too dark.  Similar to the first Batman movie, Michael Keaton was serviceable but he wasn't the main draw.  When David Tennant first started everything changed.  Similar to when Val Kilmer first took over the role of Batman and at the end of the movie Batman Forever everyone couldn't wait for the next one.

David Tennant was not afraid to go there, and similar to Zack Morris in Saved by the Bell, he made you want to come along for the ride.  The stories could be complex, the villans were great, and while you felt the Doctor's fear at the Daleks and the Master, you also loved it when he laughed.

Fast forward to the recent season premiere of the Matt Smith led series.  The series had been going downhill since Matt Smith got involved and the new season has been waiting on my recorder for quite a while waiting to be watched, not usually the best sign of quality.

The double-episode season opener concerns a plot involving a race called The Silence and the rest of what happens is anyone's guess.  I did watch both episodes but the story was so convoluted with characters dying and then reappearing, Richard Nixon, and the ever annoying wife plot with River Song who should just die already, I defy anyone to watch it and discuss what happened. It was too confusing. 

At one point in the episode the Doctor makes his sidekick swear on something important to know she's not lying and she says "I swear on fish fingers and custard."  A hack inside joke played for laughs from three year old boys, there's no emotional depth to the series anymore, few light-hearted moments with any real levity, and the entire show has become unwatchable.

At the end of the episode they showed a preview of episode three, a Pirates of the Carribean themed plot wherein the Doctor actually dresses up like a Pirate.  Is there really no limit to how far they'll go to ruin this character?  Would you see Tom Baker dressing like a pirate and swinging on a rope???  No!

I remember wondering why the show ever went off the air with the level of quality scripts they were producing.  That question has now been answered and I seriously doubt the show will be on the air past this season.

The show is now unwatachable and Doctor I bid you adieu.