Not everyone seems to like Matt Smith’s Doctor after three episodes… So what were people saying about David Tennant after just three episodes?

I’ve just gone through the entire Tooth & Claw thread (from 2006). Here is every single comment about David Tennant from that thread:

Postitive comments: (7 in total)








Negative comments: (7 in total)







Quite a split opinion back then, for a Doctor who went on to be possibly the most popular.

New Earth was execrable however.

It also heralded the start of the cringeworthy "byplay" between Dr Who and 'Rose' - awful stuff.

The relationship between Doc Who and Amy is nowhere near as hideous.

Interesting.

I must state now though that Matt Smith, for me, is the best Doctor since Tom Baker.

Eccleston was better than DT anyway in my humble.

DT will be the current generation of kids' equivalent of what Tom Baker was to kids in the 70s though, i have no doubt about that.

Yes I remember reaction to DT being quite mixed during series 2.

I feel he really grew into the role during series 3. I think his performances were a bit hit and miss in series 2.

I feel the same about CE...

Oh do put a sock in it, there's a love

I wasn't a huge fan of The Xmas Invasion- I only really liked Harriet Jones in it. New Earth wasn't a highlight of the series either, although Cassandra's final scene was a redeeming aspect. I personally liked Tooth and Claw for its fast pace, for the Torchwood set up and the references to 'something of the wolf' about Rose, which was quite haunting.

As someone who liked Tennant's Doctor, I can say that he didn't stand out to me early on and that it was the supporting cast that carried the early second series- he only really came into his own after he encountered Sarah Jane in School Reunion- The Girl in the Fireplace was his first outstanding performance. Nonetheless, I bare in mind that the series is not filmed in chronological order, and that this is a sign that the scripting is often more important than the actors performance.

I agree with a lot of that apart from the comment about TGITFP which I find to be his worst performances in the show, with the exception of The Idiots Lantern.

I feel that it was around the time of TIP/TSP he seemed to settle in more....mind you i've no idea what order those episodes were,filmed in to be fair!

I don't recall how I felt about Tennant three episodes in, but in retrospect I'm not sure the first couple of episodes of series 2 were very strong. However I definitely liked The Christmas Invasion immediately.

I did like TCI a lot, but DT is really only a supporting character in that one, tbh. It's carried by Rose, Jackie, Harriot and Micky for the most part....

TIP/TSP were the final episodes of the second series to be filmed. Many complained about Billie Piper's 'weird' performance in what was technically her last adventure.

well that makes me feel quite smug since i do feel he really seemed to fit the part then...

I thought BP was pretty good in this one, apart from the scene at the start with the annoying laughing which makes me want to chuck something at my tv set...

what a shame she couldnt have left then and spared us the awful focus and ending of "Doomsday".

I liked it (had to google excrable since I'd never heard the word before and don't agree that it was poor quality.) I liked the relationship between Tennant and Rose too. Amy would definitely wear the trousers so probably better to keep the the relationship completely platonic.

I didn't really enjoy the Christmas Invasion that much - I was distracted because it was Christmas etc. but on rewatching I love it and it's now one of my favourites - however I absolutely loved New Earth on first watch and really enjoyed DT in that. I think I accepted DT as the Doctor quite easily looking back, probably having Rose as a constant and her acceptance of him so quickly probably helped. I do remember the scene in Doomsday where he walked in the room with Rose and the Daleks being the moment I realised I completely accepted him as the Doctor, but I do agree DT's best series, in terms of the performance and stories matching in quality was series three. I really think the introduction of Martha and the focus on the Doctor's lonliness leading up to the Master allowed him to shine.

However I not sure what showing that the comments were mixed proves, other than people opinions change and the wider public opinion probably varies from the opinion on the forum. It won't change how people feel at this moment, only time will do that. It's often cited about how negative people were about Catherine Tate and how she proved people wrong, but for me it wasn't like that, I had some reservations before she started and although I enjoyed her performance for the most part I still had some of the same reservations at the end. So what's true for one isn't necessarily true for another.

I think its fairly well accepted that the stunt casting of Tate alienated millions of fans and did not have the expected boost on ratings.

Series 4 easily had easily the highest ratings average of all four series of the RTD era...pop along and look at the ratings breakdown in the ratings thread pal.

Dizzy, thanks for collecting all those quotes. Trolls aside, a good idea for a thread.

Yes it had a small net increase over the previous years but was far, far lower than what the suits hoped for.

Tate attracted her own hard-core group of fans to Dr Who but she also clearly alienated and repelled millions of others.

check out our Ken's comments on DT...he is going to be in so much trouble when Tigs see's what he said!

oh please, we all know that in a past life you predicted she would cost the show millions of viewers, instead she attracted more people to the show. The suits indeed...

oh the series average for series 4 was half a million up on series 3. That is a pretty big increase.

I posted it because there are a lot of people acting as though Matt Smith has “blown his chance”, and I wanted to point out that this is really early days for a new Doctor, and it probably won’t be until the end of this series that we have a good idea of how successful Matt Smith is really going to be.

Personally, I love Matt Smith’s Doctor and when I think that this is one of the first episodes he filmed, it gives me tremendous hope about the future.

But IIRC she took a while to warm to DT herself...

I disagree that a lot of people are acting like that about MS. I think the comments are generally highly favorable about him, even from many of the people who haven't liked all the episodes.

I do find this thread interesting from the perspective that it shows that fans didn't all immediately embrace DT as seems to be widely assumed these days.

Indeed I would go so far as to say that at this point in MS is probably more popular with fandom than either DT or CE were (that is after three stories).