Change Is Okay Sometimes

For the last two weeks I've been gung ho about returning to Ireland within the next month. Then the Iceland volcano erupted and I thought that put the kibosh on the trip. It still might, but right now (as of this day and this hour) things are looking up. However, when the reality of the effect of the volcanic ash set in, I got really frustrated and sad and not exactly in a blogging mood. Today's my birthday, though, and I intend to keep my chin up for the entire day, no matter what, and finally put words to my thoughts about, well, the Eleventh Doctor.

What does Ireland or volcanic ash have to do with Doctor Who? Well, there is The Fires of Pompeii episode, but I'm not trying to connect anything here anyway. The point is that Matt Smith appeared as the newly regenerated Doctor this past Saturday and it is way past time to reflect upon it.

David Tennant was my first Doctor, so I am relatively new to the series. In fact, since the series started in 1963, I am really new here. At any rate, I loved everything about him. His humor, his physicality, his emotion – it was the whole package that made up this skinny Scottish bloke that appealed to me. I swore my first Doctor was the best Doctor, and I hated that he was leaving the show after three seasons (although it felt more like four with all of the specials). Like other Who fans before who had their favorite Doctor, I was not anticipating the regeneration that opens the door for a new actor to pick up the role. I was going to miss David Tennant sorely, and today when I found this YouTube musical montage about the Tenth Doctor, it soothed me.

So, how did the Eleventh Doctor fare? Well, color me surprised, because Matt Smith was great. My initial reaction was that he might be too energetic and too frantic for me to keep up with week to week. I mean, he was just all over the place at first, and in the beginning when he was tasting dozens of different foods to find out what his "new" taste buds craved (you see, it's the same Doctor with the same memories, intelligence, etc., but a new body and personality), was kind of annoying. He was too crazy and off the wall. However, when little Amelia Pond told him about the crack in her wall and the voices she heard, and he got his investigative hat on, I started to see him pull on the Doctor mantle I know and love. At the end, on the rooftop, when he confronted the aliens and told them that he defends the Earth, he became the Doctor for me. He is not David Tennant, by any means, but Matt Smith will keep me watching. Even if it will take some getting used to the TARDIS overhaul.

Photo by Ben Sutherland. License: Creative Commons Attribute

And that's my indulgent Doctor Who moment for the day.

Now back to that job hunt.