Why Matt Smith Isn't A Good Doctor

Let it be known, I love Doctor Who. I remember watching the old 60s and 70s episodes when I was little and fell in love with the Doctor. He's kind, considerate, always hilarious, and, as his title says, a being who wants to mend and heal broken people and worlds. He banishes hate-filled species like the Daleks and the Cybermen. He's flawed, he does make wrong decisions, but he always makes up for them two-fold. He is the defender of the Universe.

Like most fans of the show, Tom Baker was my favorite Doctor up until David Tennant came around. Tennant has this ability to make his viewers laugh and cry. He lets you see his pain, his happiness and joy. He lets you see his relationships with other people and his companions, he allows himself to have relationships with them. He's sweet and compassionate and sees the good in every life-form, no matter how evil they seem, even the Daleks.

Matt Smith and Series 5, however, don't live up to my expectations of the Doctor. Granted, Lankasaurus and I have only watched about half of Series 5, but I think it's safe to make some observations:

One- The feel of the whole series feels more American and less clever. The direction is very American and the music is very film-y, not Doctor Who-y.
Two- The theme song is pretty lame now; the lightening sounds are the icing on the cake- they're cheesy and take away from the song. Also, the theme is so quiet compared to all the synth noises surrounding it.
Three- The Daleks are really not intimidating or menacing anymore, they look like plastic-coated toys.
Four- In the second episode on the Starship UK, Matt Smith does a couple weird things. When he is talking about the Time Lords, he doesn't exude the amount of pain he should be feeling, especially after the End of Time. Also, when Amy figures out the the Star Whale wouldn't kill everyone riding on it, the Doctor made her feel bad and didn't even congratulate her on her ingenuity. David Tennant would have called her brilliant.
Five- He's pretty slow- Amy seems to be more clever than him, which shouldn't be. When talking about the images of the Weeping Angels, the other Doctors would have caught on quick that Amy was in danger, but Matt Smith didn't figure it out til almost too late.

Overall, he's pretty mean. He told Amy and River to 'shut-up' more than twice. If the director is going for a moody Doctor, be dedicated and make him depressed or angry for a reason (say, the fact that he banished the Time Lords yet again to a Time Lock), not emo for the sake of emo American viewers. He barely says 'thank you' or congratulates Amy on her smarts. So far, I'm extremely disappointed. Then again, I can just watch David Tennant any time I want.


I haven't watched the whole of Series 5 just yet, so this will be updated.