My problems with the tenth Doctor's regeneration

AKA "Why the 10th isn't my favourite Doctor anymore".

I loved the 10th Doctor, but his final episode didn't turn out at all the way I wanted it to, and it ruined the character a little bit for me. I still love some of his older episodes, but he got an incredibly shitty exit from the show.

I started watching Doctor Who at series 1 episode 1, Rose, like I guess most people do. I loved the 9th Doctor, but I didn't break down in tears when the time came for him to change into a new Doctor. I had accidentally come across a spoiler and was kind of prepared for it. His regeneration was very fitting though. I loved how his last words were about how he and Rose were fantastic, and he went with a smile on his face.

And then he was replaced by David Tennant, who simply blew my mind with his portrayal of the next Doctor. He was just so much fun! I actually felt more upbeat and in a good mood after watching one of his episodes, whether they were funny or more dramatic. He was always so energetic, hyper, and rarely stopped talking. He was a bit of a cooler, younger doctor than the previous one. And I really liked the "larger than life"-aspect of 10, if that makes sense. ("People have waited over a hundred years to find me, and then you manage it in a couple of hours.") I grew really attached to him, and I dreaded watching his last episode.

But the time came, and boy was I disappointed.

I'm glad the Doctor saved Wilf's life (of course he did), and I'm glad Wilf tried to tell him not to do it. But I never expected the Doctor to react the way he did! In so many of the previous episodes, he’s been prepared to die if he has to. And why shouldn't he? He doesn't really die! He comes back! And just five minutes earlier he's prepared to sacrifice himself to get rid of Rassillon, but after he hears the four knocks... he cries? Throws a tantrum? And what's with all the talking about another man replacing him? You are a Time Lord, you have done this before, you big sissy! You aren't going to die!

Poor Wilf. How could the Doctor just leave him like this, thinking he had killed the Doctor?

At this point I was quite disappointed with how things had progressed. I didn't want this great Doctor I had came to love so much to regenerate alone. So I was relieved when he went to see his friends. But I just wanted him to find some friends to be with when it happened, not say goodbye to everyone like he would never see them again. And it drags out forever too!

It was sort of a nice touch that he goes to see Rose right before the end, even though I really disliked Rose. And then sees an Ood, and stumbles into the TARDIS all by himself. So much for "being with friends in the end". Well, I sort of accepted it, and thought "okay, he's going to die alone, fine, please just smile a little before you go." But he looks sad for a little while, the camera zooms in on his face, and then after a pause he exclaims "I don't wanna go!" and explodes in a yellow light....

I am sorry, but what? I have never ever been so disappointed with a TV show in my life! I was really sad up until this moment, tears running down my face, not wanting him to leave, and then suddenly, it all turned into one big WTF. I think I spent an hour or two complaining about it to my very nice flatmate, who had patience enough to listen to me rant. I wanted the amazing 10th Doctor to go out with a smile on his face like the previous one did. But he kept doing the opposite of everything I hoped for.

Here's a fairly long quote from this video, that points out most of the things that really bothered me:

My problem with the tenth Doctor's regeneration is that it comes across as a shameless manipulation on Russell T. Davies' part. If you look at the ninth Doctor's regeneration into the tenth, he embraces his regeneration, and in doing so leaves the transition a little easier for the viewer to handle. By having the tenth Doctor make his final statement that he doesn't want to go, he instantly alienates the new Doctor in a great number of the fans' eyes. They won't take to the new Doctor, because the old Doctor didn't want to go. In fact, the Doctor spends the whole Christmas special lamenting that he's going to die, and unlike his ninth incarnation, he never accepts it. He shows no growth in his character in coming to terms with his inevitable regeneration (views it as a death). It should also be noted that despite the face changing, the man is still The Doctor. So having him mope and complain about his 'death', is just another way of alienating the fans against the new Doctor. And it worked. You only have to look on the web to see comments from people stating that Tennant never really wanted to leave, and that he will be back. Russell T. Davies did more harm than good with his handling of Tennant's regeneration. And instead of him going out like a champion, he went out with a whimper. Which only casts a dark shadow over the actor who brought out some of the best in the Doctor. This in turn left Matt Smith and the new head writer Steven Moffat with an even bigger battle on their hands, to make sure that the fans stayed with the series.

I get that the Doctor was happy with his current form, and didn't want to change. But that still doesn't change the fact that there was something really off about this episode. It felt like the writer Russell T. Davies was writing this as the loss of the actor and the show instead of the character. I just couldn't quite understand what the motivation for the Doctor's actions in this episode were. What was his problem?

Had there really been an indication that the Doctor thought that this was it, that he would actually, properly die, I might have been more understanding of his behaviour. But nothing points to him not coming back. Of course, the viewers know that the show isn't going to be cancelled, so that's one. The only indicator we get to the possibility that he's going to die, is the woman in Planet of the Dead. Why would he believe her? And why continue being whiny after he gets radiation poisoned? Because he's actually regenerated from that before, so he should know he could survive.

Is the problem that he's sad about losing a body that he's comfortable in? I can understand that bit. But that's absolutely no reason to go on a meaningless trip to say goodbye to everyone when he's going to come back soon. I don't see the logic in the sad goodbye, because when you are going to be back from the dead soon, that wasn't a goodbye, it was a "Goodbye friends, I'll be back soon, but you will never gaze upon this pretty face ever again." Did he think he wouldn't care about them anymore after he regenerates? What about Sarah Jane, the Brigadier etc? He still loves them six regenerations later. There was no need for the goodbyes.

So what was the deal with this episode? I feel like it all boiled down to one thing. Russel T. Davies saying goodbye through the Doctor. And that made the episode make no sense at all.

The way the 10th Doctor acted in these two last episodes puts the new Doctor in a really bad light. "Still feels like dying", "Some new man goes sauntering away." What are we supposed to make of this? That the new man that replaces him won't be the Doctor? He has regenerated so many times before! Does he mean he's not the same man as Nine was? Isn't that like a big slap in the face to the fans? "No new Doctor will ever be as good as me"? I can't understand what the writer was thinking here. I really don't. This really ruined 10 for me. I just can't look at him the same way I did before.

Wow, look at that, he's not dead! What a surprise.

After all that drama, the Doctor regenerates into a new form. Jeez, what a surprise. 

The mood shifts almost uncomfortably fast, and a newly regenerated eleventh Doctor counts his limbs and realises that the TARDIS is about to crash. Cut to credits.

And then I just sat there not quite knowing what to feel, but not feeling particularly keen on watching series 5. 

The 2010 Christmas special had already aired at this point, so I had access to the entire 5th season if I wanted. I had actually been looking forward to watching it, but after all the talk about the next Doctor "not being the same man" etc, it just felt wrong.

I took a day's break before I started watching The Eleventh Hour, and boy, the 11th Doctor turned out to be even more the Doctor than the 10th was.

When I rewatch this now, I feel like that sudden change in music was very fitting for the 11th Doctor, but back then it kind of put me off that the mood changed so fast. I went being super sad and going "Please don't die" before he regenerated, to "WTF was that" at his last words, to "Eeeh" when the mood suddenly changed. It felt a little weird after all that sadness.