In classic Who where everyone refers to the female characters as 'girls'. "Bring me the girl!" "Leave the girl alone!"
Such lazy, casually sexist (I know it was of its time) dialogue.
Hmm interesting... watching 'Attack of the Cybermen' this morning; at the beginning of episode 2 the Cyber-controller calls out "release the WOMAN", rather than the ubiquitous 'girl'. The author of this serial is PAULA Moore. Says it all really.
Talma is under the impression that the word 'girl' was only used to denote the youngness of the companions ('cos Harry Sulivan got called a 'boy' all of the time of course, whilst the seemingly similarly aged Sarah-Jane would be 'the girl'. Oh wait, that's inaccurate; he didn't). This would seem to give some credence to the idea that it was rather a lazy, unexamined trope used by old-fashioned male writers.
That's nowhere near as annoying as the whole of the established history of the Silurians. None of it makes any sense whatsoever.
Dinosaur and humans never coexisted, dinosaurs didn't live in the Silurian or the Eocene, humans didn't live in the Silurian or the Eocene and the moon was formed before any life on Earth evolved.
I completely agree with you. I think the entire established history of the "Silurians" is past praying for. However, this is the minor irritations thread, and the phrase is exactly that.
Moreover, formally speaking, all the points you make are subject to the qualification "as far as we know": it is conceivable that future archaeological discoveries or a more developed understanding of the natural laws to which we currently subscribe might produce evidence of co-existing humans and dinosaurs or reasons to believe the moon is not as old as it appears now (or has not been in its current position for as long as is currently believed).
"Homo reptilia" is a different kettle of fish. It is an abuse of an existing closed system: these creatures are not part of the genus Homo (they themselves are keen to deny it), and instead of a species name, we have the class(!) name Reptilia slapped on by someone with no apparent understanding of what he is doing. From a Latinist's point of view, you cannot qualify a singular masculine noun with a neuter plural adjective. There are no conceivable circumstances in which the name "Homo reptilia" could be correct.
Hmm interesting... watching 'Attack of the Cybermen' this morning; at the beginning of episode 2 the Cyber-controller calls out "release the WOMAN", rather than the ubiquitous 'girl'. The author of this serial is PAULA Moore. Says it all really.
Talma is under the impression that the word 'girl' was only used to denote the youngness of the companions ('cos Harry Sulivan got called a 'boy' all of the time of course, whilst the seemingly similarly aged Sarah-Jane would be 'the girl'. Oh wait, that's inaccurate; he didn't). This would seem to give some credence to the idea that it was rather a lazy, unexamined trope used by old-fashioned male writers.
The authorship of Attack Of The Cybermen is open to debate. It has been speculated that Eric Saward wrote this story using his girlfriend's name as cover as Script Editors weren't supposed to be writing for their own shows. How true this I don't know but there has been some debate as to who exactly wrote the story, so it's possible a male writer wrote this after all.
Of the kids, he was one of the more natural actors. The others (especially Chloe and the one in Night Terrors) were forced performances. Or just not even trying...
The one kid that has truly impressed me in Doctor Who with his acting was the boy who played young Kazran in A Christmas Carol. He didn't have to do that much admittedly, but he fit in nicely right alongside Smith, Gambon and Jenkins at the end. He didn't have that 'annoying kid' factor to him.
I don't know if he counts as a child actor for the time it was filmed, but Thomas Brodie Sangster also offered a natural performance in Human Nature/The Family of Blood.
Another irritation I've been thinking about today and that's the Doctor's age.
I'm quite content not knowing how old The Doctor is, and can accept that there are conflicts between different stories as to how old he is. My issue is with how Moffat has essentially 'aged up' the Doctor and doubled his age across a couple of years in-show.
The Doctor stated he was 906 in The End of Time. By the end of Series 6 he was 1103 and just a few episodes into Series 7 he was 1200. Despite rounding down to 1000 when he met Clara, he aged by many hundreds of years in The Time of the Doctor, with some books suggesting that he is now over 2100 years old (which would make sense as he was on Trenzalore for centuries).
I really don't like this. I understand that The Doctor must grow older on screen faster than we see...there is a lot of time for adventures in between. But this is a ridiculous amount of time covered for The Doctor in no time at all in the show. We're to believe that the events of The Time of the Doctor alone lasted longer than everything that happened in Classic Who and much of NuWho as well.
I don't buy it. It distances you from the protagonist, which is not what Doctor Who needs when its protagonist is so mysterious and ambiguous in the first place. You clutch onto the fact that his companions mean the world to him, but the likes of Rose, Donna and Amy are now over a millennium ago to him. It seems to just undermine everything else.
Haha, for a minor irritation I have thought about this perhaps a little too much
The fact that if the events of name of the doctor stand (which I'm not sure either way of after time of the doctor) then it effectively means that the doctor has never now actually been the hero, He was always set to be defeated or killed, and it was always a version of Clara that actually saved the day, whether he knew it or not.
The fact that if the events of name of the doctor stand (which I'm not sure either way of after time of the doctor) then it effectively means that the doctor has never now actually been the hero, He was always set to be defeated or killed, and it was always a version of Clara that actually saved the day, whether he knew it or not.
The above is a cause of major irritation to me! The Dr was always the hero and every triumph has been down to him. The GI attempted to change that history and Clara thwarted him so that the Dr's original triumph still stood. Not sure why people still seem to think that Clara has been behind every victory we've ever seen in the show!
The above is a cause of major irritation to me! The Dr was always the hero and every triumph has been down to him. The GI attempted to change that history and Clara thwarted him so that the Dr's original triumph still stood. Not sure why people still seem to think that Clara has been behind every victory we've ever seen in the show!
I agree, the Doctor still saves the day all of those times, it is just that the Clara intercepted a new threat before the Doctor could be affected by it. He was still needed to defeat the original threat.
Besides, there have been many times when the Doctor would have died if it was not for his companions.
It is true, however, that Clara has been the principle reason for the success of almost every adventure during season 7, as well as Day of the Doctor and Time of the Doctor!
Mind you, for some reason, I don't find that irritating at all
Otherwise all we really know for sure is that Romana was simply left wandering around in a black and white photo at the gateway to E Space.
Anything else takes us into fan lore and spin-offery and that way lies the madness of the Yes, But Is It Canon? debate!
Otherwise all we really know for sure is that Romana was simply left wandering around in a black and white photo at the gateway to E Space.
Anything else takes us into fan lore and spin-offery and that way lies the madness of the Yes, But Is It Canon? debate!
I've been listening to the audios so long it never occurs to me not to consider them canon but, yes, it's not really official until it's acknowledged by the TV show
At least we have precedent for that, now, with Night of the Doctor
The Sarah Jane adventures two parter 'death of the doctor' had a beautiful scene where after the doctor mention's to Jo Grant that he is travelling with a married couple, she get's a little disheartened and says something along the lines of 'we only parted because I was getting married' and says how he promised he'd see her again one day but he never came. Then the Doctor proceeds to rattle of all the major details of her life and things that have happened to her since he left her, and explains how he never just forgets any of his companions and indicates that he sometimes looks back on them.
My irritation with this is that I think it such a shame that a scene so poignant and revealing another element to the doctor was not actually in an episode of the main show.
Being a kids show, I never watched Sarah Jane Adventures, apart from the Two doctor stories, and imagine many adults may have not even seen those, so I feel that the scene did not get the exposure or memorability status it would have got had it actually been played out on doctor who itself. I almost wish they could get some old companions into a Capaldi episode and do a similar scene, which gets that info about the doctor across actually in his own show
The Sarah Jane adventures two parter 'death of the doctor' had a beautiful scene where after the doctor mention's to Jo Grant that he is travelling with a married couple, she get's a little disheartened and says something along the lines of 'we only parted because I was getting married' and says how he promised he'd see her again one day but he never came. Then the Doctor proceeds to rattle of all the major details of her life and things that have happened to her since he left her, and explains how he never just forgets any of his companions and indicates that he sometimes looks back on them.
My irritation with this is that I think it such a shame that a scene so poignant and revealing another element to the doctor was not actually in an episode of the main show.
You know, I also found that scene irritating, but for the opposite reason. I find it kind of runs counter to the idea of the Doctor as a man that runs and never looks back. The Doctor should leave people to live their lives on their own terms.
Particularly since he states that this stalking occurred during Ten's regeneration - it was already stretching credibility (and many people's patience) that he'd be able to hold back the process long enough to visit his recent companions, let alone all of his past companions.
DOCTOR: No. Because you're right, I don't look back. I can't. But the last time I was dying, I looked back on all of you. Every single one. And I was so proud.
"I never look back. Except when I do, when I choose the least convenient time to do it. And instead of visiting, I'll just stalk your entire family."
You know, I also found that scene irritating, but for the opposite reason. I find it kind of runs counter to the idea of the Doctor as a man that runs and never looks back. The Doctor should leave people to live their lives on their own terms.
Particularly since he states that this stalking occurred during Ten's regeneration - it was already stretching credibility (and many people's patience) that he'd be able to hold back the process long enough to visit his recent companions, let alone all of his past companions.
"I never look back. Except when I do, when I choose the least convenient time to do it. And instead of visiting, I'll just stalk your entire family."
I agree that it was stretching credibility to suggest that he'd looked back on every companion during ten's regeneration, and they probably should have just said he looks back on them here and there as he thinks about them but I still think that small detail aside, the overall sentiment of remembering his past companions forever was greatly played and it was nice for viewers to know that the doctor never truly forgets his friends.
For so long we've been led to believe that indeed he never looks back, so it was nice to know that, secretly, where his friends are concerned, he can't always help it.
The implication in School Reunion that there was some sort of romantic chemistry between Sarah Jane and The Doctor, at least on the former's part, when this was never the case.
The implication in School Reunion that there was some sort of romantic chemistry between Sarah Jane and The Doctor, at least on the former's part, when this was never the case.
Quite true! Imagine Sarah Jane in love with Dr Tom?? I'd have believed it with Harry Sullivan, but not the Doctor!
Must admit, I felt that Jon Pertwee's Doctor had the hots for Jo Grant though!!;-)
Quite true! Imagine Sarah Jane in love with Dr Tom?? I'd have believed it with Harry Sullivan, but not the Doctor!
Must admit, I felt that Jon Pertwee's Doctor had the hots for Jo Grant though!!;-)
Indeed. It's just unimaginable.
I think you're right about Three/Jo Grant though. ^_^
Another small irritation of mine - That someone as adventurous and open-minded as The Doctor would spend so much time in the UK and US yet so little time in other parts of the world. Actually one of my criticisms of the RTD era was that it was so Earth bound. We didn't get to see much of other planets. That's less of a problem now, but it would still be nice if the stories that are set on Earth took place in as yet unexplored parts of the globe (within the show).
Being very pedantic but I really hate it when people refer to each Doctor by number. I.e. calling David Tennant "ten". It feels really impersonal and rude to boil down their years of work to one number. However, I appreciate it's a simple way to tell between Doctor' and I can't think of an alternative
Another irritation I've been thinking about today and that's the Doctor's age.
I'm quite content not knowing how old The Doctor is, and can accept that there are conflicts between different stories as to how old he is. My issue is with how Moffat has essentially 'aged up' the Doctor and doubled his age across a couple of years in-show.
The Doctor stated he was 906 in The End of Time. By the end of Series 6 he was 1103 and just a few episodes into Series 7 he was 1200. Despite rounding down to 1000 when he met Clara, he aged by many hundreds of years in The Time of the Doctor, with some books suggesting that he is now over 2100 years old (which would make sense as he was on Trenzalore for centuries).
I really don't like this. I understand that The Doctor must grow older on screen faster than we see...there is a lot of time for adventures in between. But this is a ridiculous amount of time covered for The Doctor in no time at all in the show. We're to believe that the events of The Time of the Doctor alone lasted longer than everything that happened in Classic Who and much of NuWho as well.
I don't buy it. It distances you from the protagonist, which is not what Doctor Who needs when its protagonist is so mysterious and ambiguous in the first place. You clutch onto the fact that his companions mean the world to him, but the likes of Rose, Donna and Amy are now over a millennium ago to him. It seems to just undermine everything else.
Haha, for a minor irritation I have thought about this perhaps a little too much
Although i am glad we have moved on from the rutt of the Doctor being around 900, his aging was a bit extreme in time of the Doctor.
His age has always kind of bugged me, sure we don't know his true age, i like the mystery it adds, but his aging has had no consistency throughout the entire show, he seems to add or remove hundreds of years when he fancies.
For example in Time and the Rani the 7th Doctor states that he and the Rani are 953 years old, the 9th Doctor says he has had 900 years police box travel (which he also gives as his age) but then the 10th Doctor gives his age as 903 in the Voyage of the Damned... so did the Doctor steal the TARDIS when he was 53 or 3?
Then, in Flesh and Stone the Doctor says his age is 907, so between them the 9th and 10th Doctors only lasted 7 years?
Then in the Day of the Doctor, the 11th doctor gives his age as 1200ish, the 10th says he's 904 and the War Doctor claims to be 400 years younger than the 11th Doctor, so around 800... but wait, didn't the Doctor say he was 953? So how do the 8th and War Doctor fit into this age system?
I understand that he can't remember but you'd think his age would steadily increase not jump back and forth so much!
Also, I think this could have been avoided by RTD, if instead of saying the Doctor has spent 900 years in the TARDIS and also giving his age as 900 (which makes no sense) i think he should have given his age as 1100. This could work because the 1st Doctors age was given as 250, so 900 years of phonebox travel would have worked, 900 is a reasonable estimation for someone being 1100 if you didn't know better or accurately, and it would have saved some disparities between his age in Old Who and New Who.
If he had still aged to 2100 by the end of Moffat's era then great, it would have seemed more spread out over the Doctors, rather than 1200 years as the 11th Doctor.
It particularly bugs me in the Day of the Doctor, the War Doctor gives his age as around 800 but it shoe horns in and takes away from the time spent in other incarnations.
Was he 953 as the 7th Doctor or 800ish as the War Doctor?
Where does the 8th Doctor come into this, in night of the Doctor it's obvious he had been around for a while, and the War Doctor more so having aged more obviously.
It's like theres not even been any attempts recently to have continuity between his aging, and aging of regenerations, more a case of oh lets just pull a number out of the bag!
A lot over nothing haha but its always really bugged me!
You know, I also found that scene irritating, but for the opposite reason. I find it kind of runs counter to the idea of the Doctor as a man that runs and never looks back. The Doctor should leave people to live their lives on their own terms.
Particularly since he states that this stalking occurred during Ten's regeneration - it was already stretching credibility (and many people's patience) that he'd be able to hold back the process long enough to visit his recent companions, let alone all of his past companions.
"I never look back. Except when I do, when I choose the least convenient time to do it. And instead of visiting, I'll just stalk your entire family."
Totally agree. I liked the farewell tour in TEOT but as per usual RTD had to over do it and push it into schmaltz. And in doing so yet again he wrote for himself and in his own voice, not the Doctors, just as he had with SJS. Like you say it doesn't fit with what we know of the doctor at all but because its what RTD wants hes willing to break the character to fit his own wishes. Fact is he should be too busy to care what Jo Grant is up to. Jesus, does he monitor Mel as well? Come off it.
Totally agree. I liked the farewell tour in TEOT but as per usual RTD had to over do it and push it into schmaltz. And in doing so yet again he wrote for himself and in his own voice, not the Doctors, just as he had with SJS. Like you say it doesn't fit with what we know of the doctor at all but because its what RTD wants hes willing to break the character to fit his own wishes. Fact is he should be too busy to care what Jo Grant is up to. Jesus, does he monitor Mel as well? Come off it.
Actually, that reminds me of why it bothers me. I don't agree that he should be too busy to visit, but given that he essentially dumped Jo without saying a proper goodbye (as he has done with other companions in the past), and she spent most of her life wondering and hoping that he'd turn up - surely the Doctor saying, "ha ha, I could have totally said hello but didn't, not because I couldn't or because I forgot, but because I'd watch you like a lab experiment" is quite a slap in the face?
Maybe it's another aspect of the Lonely God, Doctor-as-Jesus metaphor that Russell liked - he touched your life spiritually, and now he's an omnipresent force watching over you? When all she really wanted was her old friend to visit? Whether you like the Doctor being thrust into having a family like he did with River and the Ponds, you have to admit it's quite a turn around.
The Eleventh Doctor, unlike the Ninth and Tenth, does do belonging, and family, and Christmas dinner.
Comments
Hmm interesting... watching 'Attack of the Cybermen' this morning; at the beginning of episode 2 the Cyber-controller calls out "release the WOMAN", rather than the ubiquitous 'girl'. The author of this serial is PAULA Moore. Says it all really.
Talma is under the impression that the word 'girl' was only used to denote the youngness of the companions ('cos Harry Sulivan got called a 'boy' all of the time of course, whilst the seemingly similarly aged Sarah-Jane would be 'the girl'. Oh wait, that's inaccurate; he didn't). This would seem to give some credence to the idea that it was rather a lazy, unexamined trope used by old-fashioned male writers.
I completely agree with you. I think the entire established history of the "Silurians" is past praying for. However, this is the minor irritations thread, and the phrase is exactly that.
Moreover, formally speaking, all the points you make are subject to the qualification "as far as we know": it is conceivable that future archaeological discoveries or a more developed understanding of the natural laws to which we currently subscribe might produce evidence of co-existing humans and dinosaurs or reasons to believe the moon is not as old as it appears now (or has not been in its current position for as long as is currently believed).
"Homo reptilia" is a different kettle of fish. It is an abuse of an existing closed system: these creatures are not part of the genus Homo (they themselves are keen to deny it), and instead of a species name, we have the class(!) name Reptilia slapped on by someone with no apparent understanding of what he is doing. From a Latinist's point of view, you cannot qualify a singular masculine noun with a neuter plural adjective. There are no conceivable circumstances in which the name "Homo reptilia" could be correct.
The authorship of Attack Of The Cybermen is open to debate. It has been speculated that Eric Saward wrote this story using his girlfriend's name as cover as Script Editors weren't supposed to be writing for their own shows. How true this I don't know but there has been some debate as to who exactly wrote the story, so it's possible a male writer wrote this after all.
The one kid that has truly impressed me in Doctor Who with his acting was the boy who played young Kazran in A Christmas Carol. He didn't have to do that much admittedly, but he fit in nicely right alongside Smith, Gambon and Jenkins at the end. He didn't have that 'annoying kid' factor to him.
I don't know if he counts as a child actor for the time it was filmed, but Thomas Brodie Sangster also offered a natural performance in Human Nature/The Family of Blood.
I'm quite content not knowing how old The Doctor is, and can accept that there are conflicts between different stories as to how old he is. My issue is with how Moffat has essentially 'aged up' the Doctor and doubled his age across a couple of years in-show.
The Doctor stated he was 906 in The End of Time. By the end of Series 6 he was 1103 and just a few episodes into Series 7 he was 1200. Despite rounding down to 1000 when he met Clara, he aged by many hundreds of years in The Time of the Doctor, with some books suggesting that he is now over 2100 years old (which would make sense as he was on Trenzalore for centuries).
I really don't like this. I understand that The Doctor must grow older on screen faster than we see...there is a lot of time for adventures in between. But this is a ridiculous amount of time covered for The Doctor in no time at all in the show. We're to believe that the events of The Time of the Doctor alone lasted longer than everything that happened in Classic Who and much of NuWho as well.
I don't buy it. It distances you from the protagonist, which is not what Doctor Who needs when its protagonist is so mysterious and ambiguous in the first place. You clutch onto the fact that his companions mean the world to him, but the likes of Rose, Donna and Amy are now over a millennium ago to him. It seems to just undermine everything else.
Haha, for a minor irritation I have thought about this perhaps a little too much
I agree, the Doctor still saves the day all of those times, it is just that the Clara intercepted a new threat before the Doctor could be affected by it. He was still needed to defeat the original threat.
Besides, there have been many times when the Doctor would have died if it was not for his companions.
It is true, however, that Clara has been the principle reason for the success of almost every adventure during season 7, as well as Day of the Doctor and Time of the Doctor!
Mind you, for some reason, I don't find that irritating at all
She became president of Gallifrey
I'd love for this to be confirmed on screen.
Otherwise all we really know for sure is that Romana was simply left wandering around in a black and white photo at the gateway to E Space.
Anything else takes us into fan lore and spin-offery and that way lies the madness of the Yes, But Is It Canon? debate!
I've been listening to the audios so long it never occurs to me not to consider them canon but, yes, it's not really official until it's acknowledged by the TV show
At least we have precedent for that, now, with Night of the Doctor
My irritation with this is that I think it such a shame that a scene so poignant and revealing another element to the doctor was not actually in an episode of the main show.
Being a kids show, I never watched Sarah Jane Adventures, apart from the Two doctor stories, and imagine many adults may have not even seen those, so I feel that the scene did not get the exposure or memorability status it would have got had it actually been played out on doctor who itself. I almost wish they could get some old companions into a Capaldi episode and do a similar scene, which gets that info about the doctor across actually in his own show
Particularly since he states that this stalking occurred during Ten's regeneration - it was already stretching credibility (and many people's patience) that he'd be able to hold back the process long enough to visit his recent companions, let alone all of his past companions. "I never look back. Except when I do, when I choose the least convenient time to do it. And instead of visiting, I'll just stalk your entire family."
I agree that it was stretching credibility to suggest that he'd looked back on every companion during ten's regeneration, and they probably should have just said he looks back on them here and there as he thinks about them but I still think that small detail aside, the overall sentiment of remembering his past companions forever was greatly played and it was nice for viewers to know that the doctor never truly forgets his friends.
For so long we've been led to believe that indeed he never looks back, so it was nice to know that, secretly, where his friends are concerned, he can't always help it.
Quite true! Imagine Sarah Jane in love with Dr Tom?? I'd have believed it with Harry Sullivan, but not the Doctor!
Must admit, I felt that Jon Pertwee's Doctor had the hots for Jo Grant though!!;-)
Indeed. It's just unimaginable.
I think you're right about Three/Jo Grant though. ^_^
Another small irritation of mine - That someone as adventurous and open-minded as The Doctor would spend so much time in the UK and US yet so little time in other parts of the world. Actually one of my criticisms of the RTD era was that it was so Earth bound. We didn't get to see much of other planets. That's less of a problem now, but it would still be nice if the stories that are set on Earth took place in as yet unexplored parts of the globe (within the show).
There was a bit of affection there, but never really thought Harry felt that way about the Doctor eith....oh, I see.
Agree in retrospect that the whole Rose/Sarah Jane jealousy stuff was misjudged in what was generally a good, enjoyable episode.
Although i am glad we have moved on from the rutt of the Doctor being around 900, his aging was a bit extreme in time of the Doctor.
His age has always kind of bugged me, sure we don't know his true age, i like the mystery it adds, but his aging has had no consistency throughout the entire show, he seems to add or remove hundreds of years when he fancies.
For example in Time and the Rani the 7th Doctor states that he and the Rani are 953 years old, the 9th Doctor says he has had 900 years police box travel (which he also gives as his age) but then the 10th Doctor gives his age as 903 in the Voyage of the Damned... so did the Doctor steal the TARDIS when he was 53 or 3?
Then, in Flesh and Stone the Doctor says his age is 907, so between them the 9th and 10th Doctors only lasted 7 years?
Then in the Day of the Doctor, the 11th doctor gives his age as 1200ish, the 10th says he's 904 and the War Doctor claims to be 400 years younger than the 11th Doctor, so around 800... but wait, didn't the Doctor say he was 953? So how do the 8th and War Doctor fit into this age system?
I understand that he can't remember but you'd think his age would steadily increase not jump back and forth so much!
Also, I think this could have been avoided by RTD, if instead of saying the Doctor has spent 900 years in the TARDIS and also giving his age as 900 (which makes no sense) i think he should have given his age as 1100. This could work because the 1st Doctors age was given as 250, so 900 years of phonebox travel would have worked, 900 is a reasonable estimation for someone being 1100 if you didn't know better or accurately, and it would have saved some disparities between his age in Old Who and New Who.
If he had still aged to 2100 by the end of Moffat's era then great, it would have seemed more spread out over the Doctors, rather than 1200 years as the 11th Doctor.
It particularly bugs me in the Day of the Doctor, the War Doctor gives his age as around 800 but it shoe horns in and takes away from the time spent in other incarnations.
Was he 953 as the 7th Doctor or 800ish as the War Doctor?
Where does the 8th Doctor come into this, in night of the Doctor it's obvious he had been around for a while, and the War Doctor more so having aged more obviously.
It's like theres not even been any attempts recently to have continuity between his aging, and aging of regenerations, more a case of oh lets just pull a number out of the bag!
A lot over nothing haha but its always really bugged me!
Totally agree. I liked the farewell tour in TEOT but as per usual RTD had to over do it and push it into schmaltz. And in doing so yet again he wrote for himself and in his own voice, not the Doctors, just as he had with SJS. Like you say it doesn't fit with what we know of the doctor at all but because its what RTD wants hes willing to break the character to fit his own wishes. Fact is he should be too busy to care what Jo Grant is up to. Jesus, does he monitor Mel as well? Come off it.
Actually, that reminds me of why it bothers me. I don't agree that he should be too busy to visit, but given that he essentially dumped Jo without saying a proper goodbye (as he has done with other companions in the past), and she spent most of her life wondering and hoping that he'd turn up - surely the Doctor saying, "ha ha, I could have totally said hello but didn't, not because I couldn't or because I forgot, but because I'd watch you like a lab experiment" is quite a slap in the face?
Maybe it's another aspect of the Lonely God, Doctor-as-Jesus metaphor that Russell liked - he touched your life spiritually, and now he's an omnipresent force watching over you? When all she really wanted was her old friend to visit? Whether you like the Doctor being thrust into having a family like he did with River and the Ponds, you have to admit it's quite a turn around.
The Eleventh Doctor, unlike the Ninth and Tenth, does do belonging, and family, and Christmas dinner.