Question for hardcore Doctor Who fans

[The Serpent]

So this spring/summer I've been watching from the revival in 2005 up until the latest episode ("A Good Man Goes to War"). This means I've been through three doctors in a matter of months. 9, 10 and 11. Now, I love them all, and don't be fooled by my Avatar; I'm not one of the "I miss Tennant"-/ "I wish 10 could have been the Doctor forever"-/ "Smith is no Tennant"-people.

But I do have one big problem with 11.
How can they justify that he's so socially awkward?

I know the Doctor has a very strange relationship with people. He has a companion, then he meets new people in times of great peril, and then he does clever diplomatic, swashbuckling stuff and often never sees those people again. It's not the best way to learn about social interaction. I also understand that 11's social awkwardness is hilarious, and I think it actually worked well in The Lodger (because there the jokes were about the Doctor not understanding how to be a roommate to a human, which makes sense, not about general awkwardness).

However most of the time they really overdo it and it make no sense. The Doctor is over 900 years old. He's been a father, he's had countless romantic interests and great friendships. He understands every language, he understand diplomacy and different cultures...how on earth can he be socially awkward?! I'm sure even the most reclusive hermit would get over their awkwardness after hundreds of years of traveling in company of others. Even with the Rule of Cool ( http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfCool ) it is ridiculous. It is just to preposterous to me no matter how funny it is in a "Ha. Ha. The Doctor, savior of the universe; is a clueless nerd"-way.

I do actually love that they continually make jokes about how he has a terrible sense of style ("Bows are cool", "Fezzes are cool" etc.). That makes perfect sense, and is funny. I also love how nice and approachable the Doctor is even though it would make more sense if he were a detached weirdo like Doctor Manhattan and Yoda, but socially awkward? No way.


So to all you Whovians out there; how do you justify the Doctor's sudden extreme awkwardness (9 and 10 were much less awkward)? Did you have a problem with it?


(And as I disclaimer; I still love 11 and I think Smith is doing a great job. ;D)

 

[Antitonic]

Probably a side effect from putting off the regeneration long enough to see everyone. For me, at least, it's the easiest way to explain it without having to go too in depth.

 

[Tyr2440]

Guess they wouldent keep watching it if he was a arrogant know it all, i mean he knows it all , so if he knew people too well as well it would be over kill.

I sorta think itss along the lines of other "super" hero's that have a weakness or a flaw thats sometimes preyed upon or exploited , it makes them more identifiable to the reader.

Anyway, i guess it also brings in some humour into a "theyre all dead" sorta genre

 

[TheTechnomancer]

Well the way I see it, The doctor is over 900 years old and practically imortal. He also has a mind far more intellegent than the majority of other life forms in the universe. Add to this the fact that he knows he is the only one like this in the universe (excluding The Master). I'm not surprissed that his social skills haven't developed because he is so different from everyone else that it must be almost impossable to understand them. I know that I spent 5 years in secondary school as a social outcast, not because people didn't like me, because I was very differnt from them and struggled to understand why they did what they did. There's a part of me that enjoys being socialy awkward even now because thats part of who I am.

Also each time he regenerates his personality changes too and it could just be stubornes on his part.

 

[ReservoirAngel]

He's not awkward, he's just a lot more alien than some of his other incarnations. When the Doctor regenerates, his entire personality gets reshuffled, bringing different traits to prominence in his character, so this time around he's just not as 'human' because... I don't know exactly, but he's just more alien in his actions.

Personally, I think it works. You get this eccentric, borderline-insane but magnificent bastard and it really just works for me. I'm loving Matt Smith's Doctor quite a bit more than I liked Eccleston's or Tennant's. They were good at it, but their characters were too... normal. They didn't really seem like aliens, they just seemed like abnormally smart people.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

He's an alien. Plain and simple. Earth is his favourite planet and humanity his favourite alien race but that doesn't mean he understands everything about them. He's always learning and never fails to be surprised. I'm sure that anyone, even if they knew a culture inside out in theory, would still have a little trouble fitting in when the need arose.

Besides, he regenerated, which means a whole new appearance and personality. He retains the memories of his past incarnations but he's technically a new person. I'd say that's a good enough reason to explain his social awkwardness. Not that I can admit to ever noticing the change myself.

Besides, I don't think I've ever really thought of the Doctor as being particularly confident in any form of relationship. Tom Baker's Doctor was always quite abrupt with his companions, Colin Baker just outright walked all over Peri and Peter Davison's Doctor really ballsed up his departure with Tegan. I think Tennant just made us all believe he was some kind of cool and charming savior but then we all know Tennant was PERFECT. He could have done with a few more of Eccleston's angry flaws or Smith's socially awkward flaws.

Wow, that turned into one hell of a rant!

 

[Bassik]

If you take a look at the older doctors from before the revival, Matt Smith seems a lot more like those guys. The first two Doctors where especially just as socially awkward, but in different ways. Tom Baker was kind of a nut, too, and Mc Coy could be outright scary. This character is not a human, and it shows.

 

[The Serpent]

I'm liking the reasoning so far. I personally can't accept that the Doctor's (sudden) awkwardness is a result of his life, but that it happened during the re-shuffling of his personality when he regenerated could work (though I still think they overdo it a bit here and there). Also the fact that he is an alien (though I don't see why a Time Lord wouldn't learn about stuff like privacy and intimacy which seems to be the stuff 11 consistently gets wrong).

The fact that the first thing 11 did when he regenerated was invite himself into the house of a little girl in the middle of the night, does help the theory that this regeneration is just a bit more clueless about such things than the others.

 

[Plinglebob]

Wow, that turned into one hell of a rant!

But it was a good rant that I agree with. The Doctor should come across as PhD graduate who is forced to play and socialise with 6 year olds and not like a teacher with a class of students (as he seemed to be in Tennant's era).

 

[Thaluikhain]

How can they justify that he's so socially awkward?

They can't, they just hope the audience doesn't notice. The same way he can miss the blindingly obvious despite supposedly being a genius, that Sontarans march in formation in enemy held buildings despite being the ultimate soldiers, that Rory can still be utterly clueless despite being 2,000 years old...

The writers assume the audience is too thick, or has too short an attention span, to notice the Doctor on screen is different to the Doctor in the endless fanwank speeches everyone has about him.

The fact that the first thing 11 did when he regenerated was invite himself into the house of a little girl in the middle of the night, does help the theory that this regeneration is just a bit more clueless about such things than the others.

Actually, no. It looks odd (though, more like the writers have overlooked this), but then all of a sudden he points that if she's not worried about him, she must have really serious problems.

 

[Durananrananrananran]

He's an alien. Plain and simple. Earth is his favourite planet and humanity his favourite alien race but that doesn't mean he understands everything about them. He's always learning and never fails to be surprised. I'm sure that anyone, even if they knew a culture inside out in theory, would still have a little trouble fitting in when the need arose.

Besides, he regenerated, which means a whole new appearance and personality. He retains the memories of his past incarnations but he's technically a new person. I'd say that's a good enough reason to explain his social awkwardness. Not that I can admit to ever noticing the change myself.

Besides, I don't think I've ever really thought of the Doctor as being particularly confident in any form of relationship. Tom Baker's Doctor was always quite abrupt with his companions, Colin Baker just outright walked all over Peri and Peter Davison's Doctor really ballsed up his departure with Tegan. I think Tennant just made us all believe he was some kind of cool and charming savior but then we all know Tennant was PERFECT. He could have done with a few more of Eccleston's angry flaws or Smith's socially awkward flaws.

Wow, that turned into one hell of a rant!

This, this is it. Smith is good example of how the Doctor should be played. Tennant's doctor was a bit wrong, often quite badly written, and, in his first series, seriously annoying, with the constant gurning and what have you.

 

[WolfThomas]

But I do have one big problem with 11.
How can they justify that he's so socially awkward?

Senility...?

But seriously my favourite theory is that it's basically an act, he hides how freakin' scary he is with a facade of silliness. He also has cultivated this behaviour to avoid having companions form such strong romantic attractions to him like what happened with Rose, Martha and almost happened with early Amy Pond.

 

[CommanderKirov]

RIGHT!

He is old but each one of his Incarnations has unique psyche so even though he carries his years of knowlege through regeneration his mentality and outlook on life changes dramatically making another opportunity for the writers of the show to get him through a certain "Puberty" period where the new personality is established and strengthened. This is most evident with the Seventh doctor where by the events he is encountering a personality formed in the end is much different than what we initially saw after regeneration.


EDIT: Just to say, 9'th was never saw after the regeneration so we did not saw him in his original state. 10'th was very reckless at first piloting tardies in a way that cloister bell actually rang when he tried to land it first time.

 

[Thaluikhain]

This is most evident with the Seventh doctor where by the events he is encountering a personality formed in the end is much different than what we initially saw after regeneration.

I don't know about that. To me, it seems that the writers and the BBC really got their act back together towards the end of his run, after a shaky start. It's not just him that's different, the earlier 7th doctor stories tended not to come together well (originally, Mel was supposed to be a strong useful computer expert companion, not an insufferable screamer and nothing else). Once they settled down, and brought Ace in, things picked up.

Oh, and BTW, the latter 7th Dr stories are great examples of how to create a story arc. It was decided to revitalise the series by mentioning 3 Time Lord deities, Omega, Rassilon and a mysterious Unknown, who turns out to be the Doctor. Although this never came ended up coming to anything (the series being cancelled and all), the hints were still stuck into some of the stories that were made, but so subtly that you only pick them in hindsight.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

Wow, that turned into one hell of a rant!

But it was a good rant that I agree with. The Doctor should come across as PhD graduate who is forced to play and socialise with 6 year olds and not like a teacher with a class of students (as he seemed to be in Tennant's era).

This is a good way of describing it. I prefered the days of Sylvester McCoy strolling around with all the answers while Ace just wanted to blow everything up with Nitro 9. Perhaps the companions have been made smarter in the new series, maybe that contributes to the overall effect.

This, this is it. Smith is good example of how the Doctor should be played. Tennant's doctor was a bit wrong, often quite badly written, and, in his first series, seriously annoying, with the constant gurning and what have you.

Quite right. Don't get me wrong, I was a big fan of his when he was around and I always considered Series 2 (Tennant's first) to be the best... until now.

But near the end of his run he had become far too pompous, his ego was so large I couldn't even see the other characters and oh, oh so self righteous. It is respectable to say you will never, ever use a gun and to be dead against them... but the episode "The Doctor's Daughter" showed that you can't base an entire episode around the concept. When she said "Look dad, I didn't kill him. I could have killed him, but I didn't!" I just had to cringe, is that how the Doctor would bring up his children? Also: "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Nuff said.

I don't blame Tennant in the slightest, he's a great actor and I wish him all the best. I'm just glad that we have a whole new team of writers. The scripts were running a little stale by the end.

 

[k-ossuburb]

I'd say he's more "enthusiastic" than socially awkward. He's always excited to see something new and have an opportunity to figure it out. You can see it every time he's confronted by something that has the capacity and will to completely annihilate him, but instead of running away scared, he laughs at it and has this look of unbridled joy like a kid seeing a rainbow for the first time.

He is still intelligent and can be serious when the need arises for it, but most of the time he's just passionate about what he does. Smith is basically playing to his strengths, and portraying the Doctor the way he thinks it should be played, which is what you should expect from Doctor Who, every actor brings something new to the table; that's the beauty of regeneration.

 

[Shymer]

Being 900 years old and one-of-a-kind and with such a dense, dark and twisted history of fleeting personal interactions with near-constant tension and demands on your emotions is going to leave you, at the very least, different to everyone else you meet. That difference will, almost inevitably, lead to social awkwardness of some kind.

The Doctor's various incarnations have demonstrated consistent use of eccentricity and a childish delight in hiding his true nature and feelings - which I would take to be a defense mechanism. However the incarnations have somewhat varied in presentation and proportion of time spent in seriousness, as opposed to larking about - and also how much they have apparently cared about how others perceive them. This might explain the perceived differences between 9, 10 and 11.

Incarnation 4 was socially awkward, but clearly didn't much care how people dealt with his childishness and eccentricities. In fact he revelled in his quirks.

I have attempted to roleplay characters that are hundreds of year's old (Princes of Amber etc.) and when you start to think about how they interact with other characters, many of whom are shorter-lived and have a massively restricted view of time and space, social awkwardness is part and parcel of the gulf between their experiences along with seemingly random behaviour and an inability (or frustration) with trying to explain oneself.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

But I do have one big problem with 11.
How can they justify that he's so socially awkward?

When the regeneration happens, each regeneration has it's own set personality, often due to the trials of the previous regeneration.

From the film onwards:

Sylvester McCoy (Vindictive, Thoughtful) (Assassinated) changed to Paul McGann(Flamboyant, Naive) to (Time War) Christoper Ecclestone (Forthright, Aggressive) to (Destruction) David Tennant (Wacky, Over-emotional) to (Slow Death) Matt Smith(Exuberant, Awkward).

You can also see it earlier from the Old Man to the Clown to the Dandy to the Bohemian to the Gent to the Blusterer to the Gardener.

The regenerations don't grow from their earlier point...they grow from every point. The Doctor is just having his puberty late.